The Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee has turned its attention to a constituency often forgotten in reviews of diversity in athletics: officials.

Meeting October 16-17 in Indianapolis, the committee looked at preliminary data from conferences on officiating assignments in football and men's and women's basketball, but found that more in-depth study is required.

The data came from a survey of conference offices conducted over the past several months in an effort to determine the number of women and ethnic minority officials that were being assigned to work games and the frequency in which they were assigned. Because many officials work for more than one conference, however, the committee believes the accuracy of the data obtained is somewhat compromised.

Therefore, the committee has submitted as one of its high-priority budget requests for 2001-02 funds to solicit officials directly for this information rather than conference offices. The committee believes this will provide a more accurate count of ethnic minority officials in those sports and the games to which they're being assigned. The goal is to determine whether there are equity concerns in officiating in high-profile sports, and if there are, what plans may be developed for resolving those inequities.

The budget request was one of four priorities the committee listed in its five-year budget plan, which the committee has developed during the past four months. The five-year plan comes from the NCAA Executive Committee Subcommittee on Gender and Ethnicity's request for the Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee and the Committee on Women's Athletics to prioritize budget needs through 2005.

The Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee's top priority in its five-year plan is the development of a Leadership Institute, which is a leadership-training initiative to enhance competencies necessary to administer athletics programs for mid-level ethnic minority administrators at the institution and conference levels.

The NCAA will administer the program for ethnic minority males beginning in spring 2001.The Leadership Institute is designed to:

Develop analytical and decision-making skills through completion of practical work experience projects;

Introduce ethnic minority males to senior-level athletics administrators through a mentoring program; and

Provide opportunities for mid-level ethnic minority male administrators to become involved in multiple aspects of campus athletics administration.

The institute will be set up as four, 16-hour workshops to be conducted annually during the spring, summer and fall. The workshops will focus on budgeting/financial issues, human resources and administration, fund-raising and booster relations, and public/
community relations. Participants who have successfully completed the workshops will then go on to complete a week-long, intensive skill-development session that is focused on leadership skills, policy implementation, decision-making skills, NCAA governance and other related areas of athletics administration.

Participants in the institute will be determined through a nomination/application process, and must be ethnic minority males with a minimum of two years' work experience as an athletics administrator. Upon enrollment, institutions must permit the participant to attend the Institute, provide travel and lodging costs, and assist the participant in the completion of assigned practical work experiences in the department of athletics. The institution also must provide a senior-level athletic administrator to serve as the participant's mentor during the 24-month period.

The program is set up to accommodate about 30 participants per year.

The Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee prioritized other budget issues in its five-year plan as well, including requests to increase programs already proven to be effective in helping women and minorities obtain entry-level positions in intercollegiate athletics. The committee asked that two additional postgraduate scholarships be funded through the Women's and Ethnic Minority Enhancement Program, one for a women's scholarship and one for the ethnic minority program. If approved, the total number of postgraduate scholarships offered would increase to 13 for each program. Additionally, the committee asked for two more internships through the enhancement program, which would bring the total number of internships to 11.

Other highlights

Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee
October 16-17/Indianapolis

Reviewed ongoing diversity-education initiatives and discussed alternative delivery methods for training sessions in addition to being offered during NCAA committee and conference meetings. The committee noted that the training session will be offered for the first time this year at regional rules seminars. In addition, a pilot training program for coaches will be offered at the Women's Basketball Coaches Association convention during the Women's Final Four, which could lead to training sessions for other coaches organizations in subsequent years.

Reviewed nominations for the Fellows Leadership Development Program and discussed possible mentors for the third class of the program, which will be selected later this fall. The committee also discussed additional enhancement opportunities for the fellows, including an active role in the NCAA Foundation Leadership Conference.

Expressed a desire to work with the Committee on Women's Athletics to continue to increase the ethnicity of the applicant pool for the NCAA Woman of the Year awards.

Heard an update from Jim Haney, executive director of the National Association of Basketball Coaches, regarding the NABC's student-athlete committee.

Discussed setting aside a percentage of any new money allocated to the conference grant program once the new television rights contract with CBS becomes effective in 2002 to promote conference diversity initiatives.