National Collegiate Athletic Association

The NCAA News Digest

July 20, 1998

Minority, gender demographics


Figures do not include historically black institutions.

A recent two-year study by the NCAA Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee shows, among other things, the race and gender demographics of administrative personnel at NCAA Divisions I, II and III institutions. The position with the highest percentage of minority administrators was academic advisor in Division I (23.4 percent -- almost double the rate for any other administrative position in any division). Aside from the senior woman administrator position, the administrative positions with the highest percentage of women were academic advisors, business managers and compliance officers.

GOVERNANCE

Management Councils meet in Philadelphia

Each of the three NCAA division Management Councils will meet July 27-29 in Philadelphia.

All three face busy agendas. Among other things, Division I will focus on expansion of certain championships and financial aid issues; Division II will look at revenue distribution; and Division III will examine strategic planning.

In addition, Division II will conduct its second "Student-Athlete Summit," which is the division's primary means of including student-athletes in the governance process. That event will take place July 25-26, also in Philadelphia.

Staff contacts: Stephen R. Morgan, Nancy L. Mitchell and Daniel T. Dutcher.

NCAA NEWS

News to enhance online delivery, cut printed frequency in half

The NCAA News will increase its reliance on online delivery and will reduce its printed frequency effective with the beginning of the 1998-99 academic year.

The News' online site will feature material that will be posted as it is available rather than information that is posted with the completion of each printing cycle. It also will feature a new approach to classified advertising that should assist member institutions in posting position vacancies in a more timely manner.

The News has been printed 46 times annually since 1983. Under the new arrangement, it will be printed every other week.

Staff contact: David Pickle.

CONVENTION

Division I cabinet proposes format for future Conventions

The Division I Strategic Planning Cabinet has developed a format for future NCAA Con-ventions that is designed to provide greater in-volvement.

The cabinet will ask the Division I Management Council to propose legislation to adopt the format beginning with the 1999 Convention.

The four-day format would allow various governance bodies and Association-wide committees that have winter meetings to conduct individual meetings during the first two days of the Convention. The format also would offer the opportunity for those groups to conduct joint meetings as needed during the Convention's third day to encourage open communication on issues that transcend more than one cabinet or committee.

The fourth day of the Convention would be available for an open forum or an override vote, if necessary.

The cabinet based its proposal upon survey results gathered from the 1998 Convention as well as feedback from Division I conferences that conducted spring meetings.

Staff contact: Ronald J. Stratten.

ELIGIBILITY

Committees look for less harsh use of rules in certain cases

The division-specific groups that address student-athlete reinstatement have taken a step toward modifying NCAA legislation so that student-athletes do not suffer significant eligibility consequences because of mistakes made by their coaches.

The Division I Subcommittee on Student-Athlete Reinstatement, the Division II Committee on Student-Athlete Reinstatement and the Division III Subcommittee on Student-Athlete Reinstatement are concerned about cases in which coaches have ordered student-athletes into games even though the athletes have not yet been certified as eligible.

The subcommittees are recommending that the Academics/Eligibility/Compliance Cabinet in Division I and the Management Councils in Divisions II and III sponsor legislation to amend NCAA Bylaw 14.2.6 to permit a student-athlete to regain a season of competition when a coaching staff member carelessly costs a student-athlete a season of competition by directing him or her to participate in a contest when the staff member is unsure of the student-athlete's eligibility status and the student-athlete is subsequently determined to be ineligible for competition.

Staff contact: Carrie Doyle.

PARTICIPATION

NCAA sports participation increases over 1995-96

About 328,836 student-athletes participated in NCAA-sponsored sports in 1996-97. The number is slightly higher than for 1995-96.

Gains were seen primarily in women's sports, but participation figures for men show small increases from the 1995-96 academic year.

Football remained the sport with the most participants. There were approximately 53,984 football players at active and provisional member institutions in all divisions. That number is up 84 participants from 1995-96.

The most-sponsored sport was women's basketball, with teams at 966 institutions. Next was men's basketball, sponsored at 950 institutions, and women's volleyball, with 923 teams.

Women's sports participation reached new heights again in 1996-97 with a total of 128,209 student-athletes. That constitutes a 3.4 percent jump over the 1995-96 numbers, which showed that 123,943 women were participating in NCAA intercollegiate athletics.

Men's overall participation showed gains over 1995-96 as well, growing 0.54 percent to 200,627 from last year's 199,556.

Staff contact: Sara Abler.