The NCAA News Digest

May 11, 1998

• SPORTSMANSHIP
• RESEARCH -- Study shows little change in minority hiring practices
• GRADUATION RATES -- Government grants request for grad-rate report waiver
• DIVISION I -- Ad hoc group appointed to look at committee makeup

SPORTSMANSHIP

RESEARCH

Study shows little change in minority hiring practices

An NCAA study shows little significant increase in the hiring of minority coaches or administrators in intercollegiate athletics over the past two years.

The Two-Year Study of Race Demographics of Member Institutions, compiled by the NCAA Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee, was mailed to presidents, directors of athletics and conference commissioners May 18.

The study shows no change in the percentage of black head coaches of men's teams at member institutions (historically black institutions excluded) from 1995 to 1997. It also reveals a slight decrease in the percentage of black coaches of women's teams.

The percentage of black coaches in men's revenue sports (football and basketball) increased from 8.0 in 1995 to 8.4 in 1997, while the percentage of black coaches in women's basketball decreased from 7.7 to 6.6.

Staff contact: Stanley D. Johnson.

GRADUATION RATES

Government grants request for grad-rate report waiver

The Department of Education announced May 14 that the NCAA's request for a waiver under the Student Right-to-Know Act has been granted.

Waivers were granted to NCAA Divisions I and II institutions for the graduation-rate data that institutions are required to report by July 1, 1998. The federal graduation-rate reporting requirement for student-athletes applies only to colleges and universities granting athletically related aid, which means that a waiver was not necessary for Division III institutions. However, the NCAA does compile the information on Division III institutions independently.

The waiver will allow the NCAA to report and disseminate student-athlete graduation-rate data on behalf of all its member institutions as it has been done in the past.

The NCAA currently is compiling graduation-rates data from the forms member institutions have provided for students who entered as freshmen in academic year 1991-1992.

This is the first year of a partnership with the U.S. Department of Education designed to simplify the data collection process and ease the reporting burden of institutions. Under the partnership, NCAA institutions are asked to complete only one form to satisfy federal and NCAA reporting requirements. NCAA institutions are asked to provide a copy of the federal government form to the NCAA where the data required for the Student Right-to-Know Act reports are extrapolated.

The 1998 NCAA graduation-rates reports will be published this summer.

Staff contact: Doris Dixon.

DIVISION I

Ad hoc group appointed to look at committee makeup

Percy Bates, faculty athletics representative at the University of Michigan, will chair a Division I Management Council subcommittee that will address Proposal No. 98-33 regarding Division I committee representation.

The subcommittee, which will report back to the Management Council at its July meeting, will review the membership-generated proposal that would eliminate the provision that no Division I subdivision may have more than 50 percent representation on Division I committees.

Staff contact: Stephen R. Morgan.