The NCAA News - News and FeaturesJanuary 19, 1998
NCAA CONVENTION -- New Division I process working well -- Division I chair says Association will be better because of changes
ATLANTA -- The new Division I governance system is different from the NCAA's previous way of doing business, but it is benefiting the Association by providing more efficiency and responsiveness, Kenneth A. Shaw, chair of the Division I Board of Directors, told NCAA Convention delegates in a January 12 speech.
 Shaw, chancellor of Syracuse University, said that although he has heard a litany of concerns expressed over the first six months of the new process, he believes that it is doing what it was intended to do and that the Association will be better for it.
Among the concerns he has heard are the following:
The system provides for less participation. He said some members appear to miss the old one-school/one-vote process. "But don't believe for a minute that there was more involvement then than there is now," he said, noting that more people participate at an earlier stage of legislative development, which makes the system more inclusive. If anything, he said, the involvement is leading to an undesirable proliferation of committee growth.
The Board of Directors doesn't listen to administrators who are on the firing line. The criticism derives primarily from the Board's decision in October to vote down legislation from the Management Council that would have eliminated almost all restrictions on the restricted-earnings coach position. Shaw noted that it was the only piece of legislation to come from the Management Council that was voted down by the Board and that the decision was made after due consideration. "We did listen," he said. "We simply disagreed." The new system was never designed to have the presidents acting in a rubber-stamp capacity, he said.
The system works too slowly. Shaw said that the speed of the system has been an attribute in at least two instances. First, the Board was able to identify the need for modifications in the Division I basketball recruiting process as a priority and has requested fast action from the Management Council. Second, the decision on restricted-earnings coaches didn't drag out. "Agree or disagree -- and many disagree -- the decision was made in a timely manner," he said.
The process is too "top-down" or too "bottom-up." Both concerns have been expressed, he said, but "the system will work only when it works both ways."
Division I-A doesn't have total control. Shaw said when the new system was put in place, it was agreed that I-A would have control, but not complete control. It has a slender majority on the membership of the Board and Management Council, he said, but the reality is that most legislation will need the support of at least some I-AA and I-AAA members before it can pass.
Division I-A is too dominant. Shaw said it was never a secret that I-A would have voting majorities on the Board, Management Council and cabinets when the system was approved. However, he said that in most cases, decisions have not been made along subdivision lines.
The system is not diverse. Many steps have been taken to assure that the Board, the Management Council and the cabinets are highly diverse, he said.
-- David Pickle
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