The NCAA News - News and Features

The NCAA News -- September 28, 1998

Association wide -- NACDA creates new annual award

Athletics Directors of the Year to be named in four categories

The National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) has created a new annual awards program for intercollegiate directors of athletics.

The new honor, known as the NACDA Athletics Director of the Year Award, was initiated to acknowledge administrative excellence within a campus and/or college community environment for NACDA member athletics directors in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

"We created the NACDA Athletics Director of the Year Award to honor the top administrators at colleges and universities around the country and their positive contributions to higher education, student-athletes, college athletics and the community," said Jim Livengood, president of NACDA and director of athletics at the University of Arizona. "We feel it will be a very successful and very well-received awards program."

The program consists of recognition for athletics directors on both regional and national levels in NCAA Division I-A, I-AA/I-AAA (combined), II, III, NAIA/other four-year institutions and junior/community colleges.

Four directors are first honored in each of those divisions in one of four regions of membership. Of the 24 athletics directors (six from each division) selected, one is then chosen from each division as the NACDA Athletics Director of the Year. The awards will be presented during NACDA's annual convention in June 1999.

NACDA Athletics Director of the Year Award nomination forms will be mailed to all member directors of athletics, institutional presidents and conference commissioners in mid-November.

All NACDA members who have been athletics directors for a minimum of five academic years and are at institutions that are not or have not been on probation or cited for a lack of institutional control in the last five years are eligible for the award.

Other key qualities that will be considered are demonstration of continuous teamwork, loyalty and excellence; a commitment to higher education and student-athletes; a commitment to continuing education for athletics administrative staff; and leadership on regional and national levels.