The NCAA News Digest

May 12, 1997

• COACHES' SALARIES
• INITIAL ELIGIBILITY -- May 31 deadline nearing for return of 48H forms
• ATHLETICS CERTIFICATION -- 10-year certification cycle may require phase-in period
• POSTSEASON FOOTBALL -- Motor City, Las Vegas Bowls among 19 games to be certified

COACHES' SALARIES

The recently released NCAA Gender-Equity Study included information on coaches' salaries in all three divisions, plus the three subdivisions of Division I. In Division I-A, where the largest programs reside, the average institution reported that it spent a total of $505,127 for salaries for men's head coaches, compared to $320,965 for women's head coaches. The average I-A institution has an average of 18.8 men's assistant coaches and 10.8 women's assistants. The average payroll for men's assistants was $795,180 while it was $223,501 for women's assistant coaches.

INITIAL ELIGIBILITY

May 31 deadline nearing for return of 48H forms

High schools have until May 31 to return their 48H forms to the NCAA Initial-Eligibility Clearinghouse with any course title changes.

The NCAA Council in January established a 90-day window during which high schools could amend the list of courses in their curricula that are considered core courses for initial-eligibility purposes. Worksheets have been designed to allow input from high schools re-garding why a course should qualify as a core course.

In addition, schools that have no form on file have been asked to submit a form listing what it considers its core courses to be.

As of the end of April, 3,833 high schools had returned 48H forms for the 1997-98 academic year. About half of the forms included worksheets requesting core-course approval for additional courses.

Renewal packets were mailed to high schools in February so that all high schools would have the information in hand March 1 when the 90-day window opened.

Staff contact: Kevin C. Lennon

ATHLETICS CERTIFICATION

10-year certification cycle may require phase-in period

The NCAA Committee on Athletics Certifi-cation has developed recommendations to facilitate the transition from the current five-year Division I athletics certification cycle to the 10-year cycle that was approved at the 1997 NCAA Convention.

The committee has determined that the change from a five-year to a 10-year cycle is more complicated than it might have appeared when the change was approved.

The primary problem is that simply establishing a 10-year cycle at the conclusion of the five-year cycle in 1999 would create a five-year interruption in certification activity, damaging the certification infrastructure that has been developed throughout this decade.

The certification committee believes that Division I presidents did not intend to interrupt the continuity of the program when they approved the change to a 10-year cycle in January, and with that in mind, the committee has developed a plan that phases in the new cycle.

Staff contact: David A. Knopp.

POSTSEASON FOOTBALL

Motor City, Las Vegas Bowls among 19 games to be certified

Two new contests are among 19 football bowl games recommended for certification for the 1997-98 postseason by the NCAA Special Events Committee.

The certification recommendations are subject to approval by the NCAA Division I Championships/ Competition Cabinet.

The committee approved the Motor City Bowl, scheduled for December 26 in Pontiac, Michigan, and the Las Vegas Bowl, scheduled for December 20 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

In addition, the committee received information from representatives of the Big West Conference about a possible bowl game that would match the Big West champion against an at-large team. The committee reviewed the initial information and agreed to ask the group to appear in-person in June to seek initial certification for the coming season. If this game is certified, it would bring the number of bowls to 20 and the number of at-large berths to four.

Staff contact: David E. Cawood