The NCAA News - News & Features

I Transition Team divides work, sets timetable

In addition, the Council began confronting a tricky issue regarding Division I-AA football representation.

The Management Council met May 15 in Dallas and appointed subcommittees to study transition issues facing the division, including topics such as the committee structure, diversity, the legislative process and financial issues. A subcommittee on Division I-AA football issues also was created.

The four primary subcommittees, the transition issues assigned to them and their ros-
ters are:

Substructure

Issues: Division I substructure, including geographical representation; accommodation of Division I-A and I-AA independents; selection of chairs; Executive Committee representation; determination of terms; Division I Administrative Committee.

Members: James Jarrett, Old Dominion University, chair; Robert H. Aronson, University of Washington; Robert A. Bowlsby, University of Iowa; Linda Bruno, Atlantic 10 Conference; W. James Copeland Jr., Southern Methodist University; James Frank, Southwestern Athletic Conference; Nancy R. Hammant, University of Cincinnati; Carol J. Sprague, University of Pittsburgh; Wright Waters, Southern Conference; Charlotte West, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.

Will meet: Via telephone conference June 3, in person June 5-6 in Chicago.

Financial issues

Issue: Division I budget, including financial guarantees resulting from 1996 Convention Proposal No. 7-2.

Members: Laurence C. Keating Jr., Seton Hall University, chair; Eve Atkinson, Lafayette College; Jeremy N. Foley, University of Florida; Kathleen LaRose, University of Arizona; Rick Mello, University of Arkansas, Little Rock; Orby Moss Jr., Georgia State University; Jeffrey H. Orleans, Ivy Group; Eugene D. Smith, Iowa State University.

Will meet: Via telephone conference June 6.

Legislative process

Issues: Legislative process, override petitions, override votes, emergency legislation, membership authority to establish Convention program, membership authority to call a Special Convention, national and division championships.

Members: Arthur W. Cooper, North Carolina State University, chair; Percy Bates, University of Michigan; Joan C. Cronan, University of Tennessee, Knoxville; David Jamison, University of Akron; Edgar N. Johnson, University of Delaware; Chris Monasch, Northeast Conference; Greg Sankey, Southland Conference; Kelly Woodward, Northern Arizona University.

Will meet: Via telephone conference May 29 and June 5.

Diversity/term rotation

Issues: Diversity issues, rotation of conference seats on the Board of Directors; substitutes/alternates and selection of chairs of Board and Management Council, Executive Committee representatives, determination of terms for members of the Board and Management Council.

Members: Vivian L. Fuller, Northeastern Illinois University, chair; William C. Carr III, University of Houston; Daniel G. Gibbens, University of Oklahoma; Albert Gonzales, New Mexico State University; John C. Parry, Butler University; Peter Simis, California State University, Fresno; Michael D. Stickland; Deborah A. Yow, University of Maryland, College Park.

Will meet: Met via telephone conference May 21 and will meet via telephone conference May 28.

Other issues -- such as the matter of substitutes or alternates for Executive Committee, Board of Directors and Management Council meetings and the effective date of the transition to the new structure -- will be addressed by the full Management Council. Its next meeting will be June 12-13 in Marco Island, Florida, in conjunction with the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics convention.

Samuel H. Smith, president of Washington State University and chair of the Board of Directors, updated the Management Council on key issues and advised its members that items requiring legislation should be ready in concept in time for the June 25-26 meeting of the NCAA Presidents Commission.

In setting up a subcommittee to review Division I-AA football representation issues, it was noted that the subdivision contains three football-only conferences: the Gateway, the Pioneer and the Yankee. Those conferences are not represented directly in the Division I management structure; institutions that belong to them are represented through the multisport conferences in which they hold membership.

In some cases, individuals have expressed concern that the conference with which the institution holds multisport membership may not necessarily represent the institution's football interests. For instance, members of football conferences that award grants-in-aid may be represented in the management structure by a conference that does not give grants-in-aid for football.

The 11-member subcommittee will contain Management Council representatives from the three football-only conferences: Johnson, University of Delaware (Yankee); Parry, Butler University (Pioneer); and West, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale (Gateway). All three represent Division I-AAA conferences on the Council (Johnson the North Atlantic, Parry the Midwestern Collegiate and West the Missouri Valley).

In addition, the Management Council appointed Richard Ensor, commissioner of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, and Brenda McCoy, acting commissioner of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, to the subcommittee. Neither Ensor nor McCoy is a member of the Management Council (their conferences are represented on the Board of Directors Transition Team), but the Management Council thought it was important that all I-AA conferences be involved in the discussion.

Other members of the Division I-AA football issues subcommittee are Atkinson, Frank, Orleans, Sankey, Strickland, Waters and Woodward.

Independent institutions will choose a conference to represent them on the subcommittee. No chair has been designated yet.

Variety marks I Management Council

A total of 34 athletics administrators with widely varied backgrounds make up the Division I Management Council Transition Team.

The group, which is constituted in the same manner as the Division I Management Council will be when the new governance structure takes effect, contains athletics directors (16), conference commissioners (six, all in Divisions I-AA and I-AAA), faculty athletics representatives (seven, all in Division I-A) and senior woman administrators (five).

Since the Management Council Transition Team was announced earlier this month, the Big East Conference has chosen to confirm its current NCAA Council members as its representatives to the Management Council. Those individuals are Laurence C. Keating Jr., athletics director at Seton Hall University, and Carol J. Sprague, senior associate director of athletics for internal affairs at the University of Pittsburgh.

Division I-A
Atlantic Coast Conference

Arthur W. Cooper, faculty athletics representative, North Carolina State University: Cooper is in his sixth year as faculty athletics representative at North Carolina State University. He has been associated with the institution for 34 years, currently serving as head of the forestry department. Cooper joined the North Carolina State faculty as an assistant professor of botany and became a full professor in 1968. From 1971 to 1976, he served a five-year stint as North Carolina assistant secretary for resource management. He returned to North Carolina State in 1976 and became forestry department head in 1980.

Deborah A. Yow, director of athletics, University of Maryland, College Park: Yow soon will complete her second year as athletics director at Maryland. She began her career as a basketball coach, with stops at the University of Kentucky, Oral Roberts University and the University of Florida. Her administrative career began in 1985 as assistant director of the Florida Gator Boosters. She was associate director of athletics at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, before becoming athletics director at Saint Louis University, where she served from 1990 to 1994. She has been a member of the NCAA Council and currently is a member of the boards of USA Basketball and the College Football Association.

Big East Conference

Laurence C. Keating Jr., director of athletics, Seton Hall University: Keating is in his 11th year as director of athletics and recreational services at Seton Hall. Keating, currently a member of the NCAA Council, began his career in 1966 as assistant basketball coach at Stonehill College. Then, he served as head golf coach and sports information director at Hofstra University before being named director of athletics at Adelphi University. Besides his Council duties, Keating serves as chair of the NCAA Men's Basketball Rules Committee.

Carol J. Sprague, senior woman administrator, University of Pittsburgh: Sprague, a member of the NCAA Council, is in her 21st year in the Pittsburgh athletics department. She currently serves as senior associate athletics director for internal affairs, a position she has held since July 1995. She is responsible for overseeing all Pittsburgh varsity sports other than football and men's basketball and also oversees student services, athletics trainers, and strength and conditioning coaches. She began her career at Pittsburgh in 1974 as an assistant swimming coach. She also served as assistant athletics director for women's sports and, beginning in 1990, as associate athletics director with authority over men's and women's sports.

Big Ten Conference

Robert A. Bowlsby, director of athletics, University of Iowa: Bowlsby became Iowa's 10th athletics director in June 1991. He joined the program from the University of Northern Iowa, where he had served as athletics director since 1984. Bowlsby previously was assistant athletics director for facilities at Northern Iowa. He has served as chair of the NCAA Wrestling Committee, the NCAA Committee on Financial Aid and Amateurism and the NCAA Special Committees to Review Amateurism Issues and to Review Financial Conditions within Intercollegiate Athletics. He is a member of the executive committees of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics and the Division I-A Athletics Directors Association.

Percy Bates, faculty athletics representative, University of Michigan: Bates has been a faculty member at Michigan since 1985. He currently is director of programs for educational opportunity at Michigan, is a professor of education and heads the school's office of minority student affairs. He has served the school of education as assistant dean and as chair of the special education program and the division for curriculum, teaching and psychological studies. He also was deputy assistant secretary for special education with the U.S. Department of Education. He has been faculty athletics representative at Michigan since 1990 and is a member of the executive committee of the Faculty Athletics Representatives Association.

Big 12 Conference

Daniel G. Gibbens, faculty athletics representative, University of Oklahoma: Gibbens is in his 19th year as faculty athletics representative at Oklahoma, where he has been a member of the Oklahoma law faculty since 1962. He has been active in the College Football Association, serving on its board of directors from 1982 to 1985. In July 1988, Gibbens was awarded the title of Regents Professor of Law for outstanding service to the University of Oklahoma.

Eugene D. Smith, director of athletics, Iowa State University: Smith began his tenure as Iowa State's director of athletics in July 1993. He is a member of the NCAA Executive Committee and has served as president of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics. He also has chaired an NCAA committee examining student-athlete benefits. Before coming to Iowa State, Smith served as athletics director at Eastern Michigan University for seven years. He was an assistant football coach at the University of Notre Dame from 1977 to 1981 before working for two years as a marketing representative.

Conference USA

William C. Carr III, director of athletics, University of Houston: Carr is in his fourth year as athletics director at Houston. He came to Houston after serving as president of Sports Resources Group, Inc., an intercollegiate athletics management and executive search consulting firm. Carr was an all-America football selection as a center at the University of Florida. After a pro career with the New Orleans Saints and a stint in the Army, he returned to Florida in 1970 as a graduate assistant coach. In 1979, at age 33, he was named athletics director at Florida, where he remained until 1986. He served on the NCAA Football Television Committee from 1982 to 1984.

Nancy R. Hamant, faculty athletics representative, University of Cincinnati: Hamant is in her 11th year as Cincinnati's faculty athletics representative. She joined the Cincinnati faculty in 1964 as instructor of secondary education. She currently is associate professor and coordinator of professional experiences in Cincinnati's college of education. Hamant has chaired the Council of the Great Midwest Conference. In her work on the university's faculty athletics advisory committee, she developed Cincinnati's unique educationally oriented substance dependency policy.

Pacific-10 Conference

Robert H. Aronson, faculty athletics representative, University of Washington: Aronson, a professor of law, is in his third year as faculty athletics representative at Washington. He has been a faculty member at the university since 1975 and has taught courses in civil procedure, criminal law, evidence, legal research and professional responsibility. He has written six books and numerous journal articles and is recognized as a national expert on legal and judicial ethics. He was a two-sport athlete in lacrosse and soccer as an undergraduate at the University of Virginia.

Kathleen LaRose, senior woman administrator, University of Arizona: LaRose is in her 18th year at Arizona and in her third year as the senior associate director of athletics. She currently oversees the operations of all 18 sports in the Arizona athletics program, making her the first woman in an associate athletics director capacity to oversee the football and men's basketball programs at a Division I-A institution. Areas that report to LaRose include compliance, fund development, event management and student services (which includes academics, personal development, medical services, and the strength and conditioning program). She is a past vice-president of the Pac-10 Council and past chair of the Pac-10's Women's Television Committee. LaRose was a member of the varsity softball team as an undergraduate at Arizona.

Southeastern Conference

Joan C. Cronan, senior woman administrator, University of Tennessee, Knoxville: Cronan has been with the Tennessee athletics department for 12 years. She joined the university from the College of Charleston, where she served as athletics director for 10 years. Cronan has served on the NCAA Council and currently is a member of the NCAA Executive Committee. She also has served on the board of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics and on the Southeastern Conference executive committee. Cronan also coached women's basketball at Tennessee from 1968 to 1970.

Jeremy N. Foley, director of athletics, University of Florida: Foley has been involved in all elements of the Florida athletics program. He joined the program in 1976 as an intern in the ticket office and was hired as ticket manager upon completion of his six-month internship. In 1979, he assumed responsibility for game operations. In 1980, he was promoted to assistant athletics director and in 1981, he was named associate athletics director. He was interim athletics director for four months in 1986-87 before being named senior associate athletics director. He became athletics director in 1992. He currently is a member of the NCAA Council.

Western Athletic Conference

W. James Copeland Jr., director of athletics, Southern Methodist University: Copeland became athletics director at Southern Methodist in January 1995, having previously served in a similar capacity at the University of Virginia. He also was athletics director at the University of Utah for two years. He has been a member of the board of directors of the College Football Association and is president of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics. Copeland played football as an undergraduate at Virginia.

Peter Simis, faculty athletics representative, California State University, Fresno: Simis is department chair of information and decision sciences in the school of business at Fresno State, where he also serves as faculty athletics representative. He is a member of the College Football Association's faculty committee and is past chair of the Western Athletic Conference Council. He has served as interim dean for Fresno State's Craig School of Business and as director of the Center for Business Research and Service for four years. He also has served as a statistician and score-keeper in football and basketball at Fresno State athletics contests.

Big West/Mid-American
Athletic Conference

Albert Gonzales, director of athletics, New Mexico State University: Gonzales is in his 10th year as athletics director at New Mexico State. He has been active on a national basis in intercollegiate athletics, serving on the executive committee of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics. He chairs the football officials committee of the Western Athletic Conference and serves as administrative liaison to the conference's men's basketball coaches. In addition, he has been selected as a peer reviewer for the NCAA Division I athletics certification program. As an undergraduate at New Mexico State, Gonzales was an outstanding football player.

David L. Jamison, faculty athletics representative, University of Akron: Jamison teaches law and communication and is an active attorney. He has taught both law and sports law at the Akron law school and is the author of eight scholarly articles on freedom of speech and argumentation. He has served as a director of graduate study, as a department chair and as senior vice-president and provost. Jamison was appointed faculty athletics representative at Akron in 1988 and has been a member of Mid-American Athletic Conference committees on infractions and gender equity.

Division I-AA
Ivy Group

Jeffrey H. Orleans, executive director, Ivy Group: Orleans, executive director of the Ivy Group since 1984, was special counsel to the president of the University of North Carolina from 1975 to 1984. He has served on NCAA committees or task forces on restructuring and gender equity and was an original member of the NCAA Committee on Financial Aid and Amateurism. He has been Division I-AA vice-president of the Collegiate Commissioners Association since 1993. A 1993-94 Sports Ethics Fellow of the Institute for International Sport, Orleans was an invited speaker at NCAA Presidents Commission plenary sessions at the 1988 and 1989 NCAA Conventions. He has advised many Division I conferences about the implementation of Title IX.

Ohio Valley Conference

Michael D. Strickland, director of athletics, Murray State University: Strickland is in his ninth year as athletics director at Murray State. He is a member of the Ohio Valley Conference Hall of Fame and has served on a number of NCAA committees, including Men's and Women's Rifle and Division I-AA Football Committees. Before coming to Murray State, Strickland served four years as associate athletics director at Wichita State University, where he was responsible for the day-to-day operations of the 16 Wichita State programs.

Patriot League

Eve Atkinson, director of athletics, Lafayette College: Atkinson was appointed director of athletics at Lafayette in 1990 after serving six years as associate director of athletics at Temple University. She directs Lafayette's 23-sport intercollegiate athletics program, as well as an extensive intramural, recreational and physical education program. She was the first woman to hold the athletics director position for a combined men's and women's program with a Division I-AA football program. She has been active in NCAA affairs, serving on the Council, the Men's and Women's Swimming Committee and the Special Committee to Review Financial Considerations in Intercollegiate Athletics. She also has served as women's athletics director at Hofstra University and has coached swimming at Temple; the University of Massachusetts, Amherst; and Yale University.

Southern Conference

Wright Waters, commissioner, Southern Conference: Waters is the fifth commissioner of the Southern Conference, having been named to the position in 1991. He was elected to the NCAA Executive Committee at the 1996 Convention. He also is a former executive vice-president of the Collegiate Commissioners Association. Waters came to the Southern Conference in 1988 as assistant commissioner. He previously was an athletics trainer and student assistant football coach at Livingston University, an administrative assistant and academic director at the University of Southern Mississippi, assistant athletics director at the University of Southwestern Louisiana, and associate athletics director and interim athletics director at Tulane University.

Southland Conference

Greg Sankey, commissioner, Southland Conference: Sankey became the Southland's fifth commissioner in April after having been designated as interim commissioner in February. In his fifth year with the conference, he has served as the league's associate commissioner since 1994. He played a major role in developing the league's television package with Prime Sports, in organizing the Southland Football League and in securing the Southland's first title sponsor agreement. In addition to his duties with the conference, he has served as president of the National Association of Athletics Compliance Coordinators since 1993.

Southwestern Athletic Conference

James Frank, commissioner, Southwestern Athletic Conference: Frank, the 12th commissioner of the Southwestern Athletic Conference, has been deeply involved in NCAA activities, serving as the Association's president in 1981-1982 and as secretary-treasurer in 1979-1980. An outstanding student-athlete as an undergraduate at Lincoln University (Missouri), he lettered in basketball, baseball and track. He was president of Lincoln from 1973 to 1982, was vice-president and dean of students at Medgar Evers College, and assistant professor and coordinator of physical education at Herbert Lehman College. He also was an assistant professor of health and physical education at Hunter College.

At large

Kelly Patton-Woodward, senior woman administrator, Northern Arizona University (Big Sky Conference): Woodward is associate athletics director at Northern Arizona, where she is in her ninth year of service. Her areas of responsibility include marketing, compliance and sports information, although she assists with all phases of administration for the athletics department. She served as interim athletics director for a four-month period in 1994.

Division I-AAA
Atlantic 10 Conference

Linda Bruno, commissioner, Atlantic 10 Conference: Bruno recently completed a stint as chair of the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Committee. Prior to joining the Atlantic 10 in 1994, Bruno spent 11 years with the Big East Conference, where she served in several capacities. She joined the league in 1983 as its director of championships and continued in that role for four years before being elevated to assistant commissioner in 1987. In 1991, she was promoted to associate commissioner, a position she held until she was named the fourth commissioner of the Atlantic 10. She also has served as assistant athletics director at Iona College and manager of contests and promotions at Yale University.

Colonial Athletic Association

James Jarrett, director of athletics, Old Dominion University: Jarrett is in his 26th year as athletics director at Old Dominion. Among the youngest athletics directors in the nation when he assumed the post in 1970, Jarrett's program was one of the first to award athletics grants to women when it began the practice in 1974. Old Dominion since has been especially noted for its strong women's programs, with three national championships in basketball, seven in field hockey and two in sailing. Jarrett has been a member of the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Committee and also has served as a member of the NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics.

Midwestern Collegiate Conference

John C. Parry, director of athletics, Butler University: Parry was named athletics director at Butler in 1990 following a successful 11-year stint in a similar capacity at Brown University. A past chair of the Midwestern Collegiate Conference athletics directors, Parry served as tournament director for the 1993 Midwest regional of the Division I Men's Basketball Championship and as cochair of the Indianapolis organizing committee for the 1997 Final Four. He was the first president of the Pioneer Football League and he currently is chair of the NCAA Men's Lacrosse Committee. He coached football and lacrosse at Brown and the University of Pennsylvania and also worked eight years for IBM.

Missouri Valley Conference

Charlotte West, senior woman administrator, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale: West has been a pioneer in women's athletics administration. Currently the associate athletics director at Southern Illinois, she was the first female member of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics. She has a long record of NCAA committee service, with experience on the Committees on Financial Aid and Amateurism and Athletics Certification and on the Two-Year College Relations Committee. In 1991, she was given the Administrator of the Year award by NACWAA and in 1995, she was honored with the first Honda Award of Merit at the Honda-Broderick awards dinner. She is a past-president of the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women.

North Atlantic Conference

Edgar N. Johnson, director of athletics, University of Delaware: Johnson is in his 12th year as athletics director at Delaware, where he succeeded the legendary David M. Nelson in 1984. He was an outstanding swimmer as an undergraduate at Delaware, setting nine school records. He joined the Delaware staff in 1969 as assistant athletics trainer and assistant men's swimming coach. In 1971, he was named men's cross country coach. He also served for four years as assistant track coach. He was named women's swimming coach in 1979, compiling a 59-4 record over five years. He became director of aquatics in 1981 and head coach of both the men's and women's swimming programs. He was executive director of the Yankee Conference in 1989 and vice-president of the East Coast Conference from 1987-90.

Northeast Conference

Chris Monasch, commissioner, Northeast Conference: Monasch has been active in NCAA affairs, having recently completed a term on the Council. He is on the NCAA Administrative Review Panel, the Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee, the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and the Recruiting Committee. He also has served on the Nominating Committee and the Council Subcommittee on Eligibility Appeals and has chaired the Division I-AAA business session at the NCAA Convention for three years. He was named acting athletics director at Fordham University in 1985 before being selected at associate athletics director at Seton Hall University. He joined the Northeast Conference in 1987.

Sun Belt Conference

Rick Mello, director of athletics, University of Arkansas, Little Rock: Mello is in his first year as athletics director at Arkansas-Little Rock. He previously served three years at the University of Miami (Florida), where he was assistant athletics director for development and association athletics director for external operations. He has served as tournament director for the Atlantic II region of the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship. Prior to Miami, Mello spent eight years at the University of California, Berkeley, where he was associate director of media relations, director of recruiting, compliance officer and assistant athletics director for marketing and corporate development. He also has worked in athletics departments at the University of the Pacific (California); California State University, Fullerton; and the University of California, Los Angeles.

Trans America Athletic Conference

Orby Moss Jr., director of athletics, Georgia State University: Moss has 19 years of experience as an athletics director, the last six at Georgia State. He joined Georgia State in 1990 after eight years as athletics director at North Carolina A&T State University. He also was athletics director at the University of the District of Columbia and Siena Heights College. Moss began his college athletics administration career as an assistant athletics director at the University of Wisconsin, Parkside, after 10 years as a coach, teacher and administrator in the Racine, Wisconsin, public schools.

At large

Vivian L. Fuller, director of athletics, Northeastern Illinois University (Mid-Continent Conference): Fuller is in her fourth year as athletics director at Northeastern Illinois. She joined the program in 1992 after five years as associate athletics director at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where she was responsible for the internal operations of the athletics program, including supervision of nonrevenue sports, fund-raising and academic programs. She has been active in NCAA matters and currently is a member of the Council. She also served as chair of the NCAA National Youth Sports Program Committee and was a member of the NCAA Gender-Equity Task Force.