With a new location and several new general sessions, this year's NCAA Title IX seminar -- held May 16-17 in Indianapolis -- introduced attendees both to a new city and to new ways of looking at Title IX compliance.

In addition to hearing a report on the NCAA Gender-Equity and Diversity Audit, seminar participants also had the chance to attend new general sessions focusing on Title IX's impact on ethnic minority women as well as Title IX compliance in athletics health care and coaches' compensation.

A new concurrent session examined the role of NCAA emerging sports in Title IX compliance, and this year also marked the third annual presentation of the popular student-athlete panel.

Keynote speaker Mary Mazzio, a filmmaker, attorney and member of the 1992 U.S. Olympic rowing team, launched the seminar. Attendees watched a three-minute clip of Mazzio's recently released documentary, "A Hero for Daisy," which chronicles a 1976 Title IX-inspired protest by the Yale University women's rowing team.

The film tells the story of Chris Ernst, a two-time Olympian who led 18 teammates as they marched into the athletics director's office, read a prepared statement and stripped to the waist -- exposing the words "Title IX," which had been drawn in blue marker on the chest and back of each woman. A New York Times reporter observed and reported on the event, which drew national attention to the women's lack of locker room facilities and prompted action by Yale.

Mazzio said her primary reason for making the film, which she named for her daughter, was to create positive images of women in sport for her son and daughter.

"Our children must be actively encouraged to participate in sports if we want happier, healthier and better-adjusted sons and daughters," she said.

Mazzio also discussed how she had reluctantly become an athlete herself and how she learned more about Title IX by making the film. Mazzio also noted that the film had affected boys, something she had not expected.

"Women can be great role models," she said. "Not just for other girls and women but for young boys and men, too."

About 375 people attended the seminar, which was the first one held in Indianapolis. Previous Title IX seminars -- nine over the last six years -- were conducted in Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas and Kansas City, Missouri.

Student-athlete panel

Some of the repeat offerings included sessions on Title IX basics, promotions and fund-raising, responding to investigations from the U.S. Office for Civil Rights (OCR), financial aid and roster management, completing the Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act form, and question-and-answer sessions with representatives from OCR.

"It's important to continue to offer sessions like 'Title IX Basics' and 'Title IX Current Case Law' for the benefit of first-time attendees," said Jane C. Meyer, NCAA director of education outreach. "Our goal every year has been to provide accurate and insightful information for our members as they work to comply with a federal mandate. We also work with OCR to ensure that the NCAA membership is able to ask questions and get the information needed to make informed decisions on campus."

Another popular repeat offering was the student-athlete panel, this year titled "Student-athletes and Title IX: Caught in the Crossfire or Part of the Process?" The panel featured Candy Benson, a basketball player from the University of Denver; Scott Gentles, a swimmer from the University of Miami (Florida); Toni Hurt, a former bowler from Howard University; and Adam Marino, a football player from Mount Union College. Eric Zillmer, director of athletics at Drexel University, was the panel moderator.

Each student-athlete had a different story about his or her experience with Title IX legislation, but all encouraged athletics administrators to involve students in decisions regarding equity in athletics.

"We are the ones affected by the decisions they make," Gentles said.

Gentles told of his experience as a swimmer at a school that dropped swimming and diving, reinstated it with limited funding and then dropped it again. Gentles said he initially blamed female student-athletes, but then he realized that the female athletes were on his side and the decision was a matter of where the university had chosen to spend its resources.

Hurt discussed her experiences as a member of a new varsity bowling team and how she felt that other student-athletes were not informed about her team and its value to the university. She recalled the painful experience of being jeered by fellow student-athletes at a university athletics banquet, and reminded administrators that education -- both of the student population and of the student-athletes -- could prevent such problems.

Benson, who serves on her university's campus-wide gender-equity committee, offered suggestions for how administrators can involve student-athletes in the process, often making difficult choices more manageable and sometimes even avoiding negative outcomes.

The panel also offered a chance for administrators to ask questions of the student-athletes.

"I thought the panel was extremely powerful because it put faces on the decisions college administrators make on their campuses every day," Meyer said.

Title IX and minority women

One new general session, "The Impact of Title IX on Ethnic Minority Women," offered a topic so unique that people were asking about it ahead of time.

"Since Title IX doesn't say anything about ethnicity, some people wondered why we're talking about it," Meyer said. "But gender equity is a matter of making sure we have opportunities for all women and that we have opportunities beyond participation -- such as in careers in administration and coaching -- for all women."

Panelists for this session were Alfreeda Goff, associate commissioner of the Midwestern Collegiate Conference; Freddie Groomes, executive assistant to the president at Florida State University; Sonya Hurt, director of academic and student-athlete support services at Farleigh Dickinson University, Teaneck; and Brenda McCoy, assistant to the commissioner of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. The moderator was Lori Ebihara, director of compliance for the Big 12 Conference.

Goff pointed out that while Title IX has made a difference, there is much progress still needed.

"Title IX has done a lot of good things for us, but we have a long way to go," she said. We have not reached those levels where everything is equitable."

Groomes pointed out that it takes the commitment of the entire university to make gender-equity efforts effective.

"The university -- not just the athletics department -- has to be a welcoming type of a climate," she said. "(The commitment to gender equity) begins at the top, with the CEOs and the ADs. Title IX is not a women's issue or an athletics issue; it is an institutional issue."

Several panelists discussed the importance of mentoring and how it can assist women -- especially ethnic minority women -- in developing careers in athletics administration. Speakers noted that mentoring student-athletes and young people interested in athletics administration helps create an environment where there are more ethnic minority women in administrative roles and thus more role models for ethnic minority student-athletes.

"I see so many people here (at this session) who have impacted my life and provided me with opportunities to grow in my career," Ebihara said. "And the importance and long-term impact of that kind of mentoring cannot be overlooked."

Equity in health care

Last year was the first time the Title IX seminar had featured a concurrent session on equitable athletic training services, and this year's seminar aimed to take that topic one step further with a general session panel titled "Changing Times and Solutions for Equitable Health Care and Medical Coverage."

"Universities will continue to make difficult decisions regarding health care for student-athletes, especially with the arrival of new certification processes and guidelines," Meyer said. "We thought this session was important right now because administrators need to make sure that equity is taken into account as they make such decisions."

Panelists were Elizabeth Arendt, associate professor and medical director for men's and women's varsity athletics at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities; Kathy English, clinical coordinator, instructor and assistant athletic trainer at the University of Nebraska at Kearney; and Jeffrey Martinez, associate athletics director and head athletic trainer at the University of Redlands. Walter Johnson, athletics director at North Central College, was the moderator.

Several panelists pointed out that the equity issue was not in treatment, since health care professionals are bound by professional codes to treat all people's injuries the same. Rather, the equity issue comes up in access to medical care, which is directly affected by administrators' decisions regarding coverage of competitions and practices.

English discussed the importance of planning for equitable coverage, including establishing a sports medicine branch within the athletics department, developing a written policy and procedure guide, and mandating that all coaches and other athletics personnel have current CPR training.

"There is a need for planning and preparation," she said. "Establish a quality line of communication, enhance (certified athletic trainer) visibility and conduct a periodic evaluation of your health care delivery system."

Coaches' compensation

This year's seminar also offered a general session designed to give athletics administrators a new way of dealing with the continuing equity issue of coaches' compensation.

Attendees heard from Connie Zotos, director of athletics at Drew University, and Thomas Hustoles, a labor and employment attorney.

Zotos presented an institutional employment and compensation system for coaches, and Hustoles followed by reviewing recent legal developments in coaches' compensation issues.

Zotos explained a multitiered model that establishes differences in tiers that correspond with compensation, duties and expectations. A university might have a three-tiered system, and the differences between the tiers would include job responsibilities and expectations, staffing patterns, scholarship limits, recruiting scope and travel policies. Other factors to consider would be terms of appointments and minimum credentials required.

For example, sports at tier 1 for a particular university might have two full-time head coaches, award the maximum allowable scholarships, recruit on the national level and fly to competitions more than 200 miles away.

Sports at tier 2 might have a full-time coach and part-time coach, award 50 percent of the maximum allowable scholarships, recruit regionally most of the time and travel to competitions by bus if they are more than 150 miles away and by van if they are less than 150 miles away.

Sports at tier 3 might have a part-time head coach, no scholarships, recruit only regionally and travel only in vans.

A university could tailor the tiers to place emphasis on particular sports that the administration wished to emphasize, as long as the placement of teams within tiers achieved gender equity by number of participants. In other words, a university that chose to place football at tier 1 (with 80 participants) and men's basketball at tier 1 (15 participants) could place women's basketball (15), women's rowing (30), women's lacrosse (25) and field hockey (25) at tier 1 as well.

Expectations, qualifications and compensation would then be based on tier, rather than on the gender of the participants in the sport.

Zotos pointed out that in addition to addressing equity concerns and reducing the risk of litigation, a system like this has many other advantages, including giving university administrators choices.

"(Factors that administrators may want to consider include) the role of athletics in the mission of the university, results of an analysis of current practices, funding capabilities and personnel needs, facilities, and conference affiliation and location," she said.

Emerging sports and Title IX

This year, a new concurrent session focused on emerging sports, educating attendees on the history of emerging sports and how they may factor into a university's plan to add more participation opportunities for women.

Athena Yiamouyiannis, NCAA director of membership services, and Helen Grant, NCAA membership services representative, presented the session.

Yiamouyiannis presented a historical perspective of NCAA emerging sports -- why and when they were created, as well as their intended purpose.

"The intent of emerging sports was to make additional opportunities available for female students," she said. "And we should clarify that emerging sports were not intended to usurp existing NCAA championship sports. Sometimes administrators have overlooked adding existing championship sports -- such as soccer and field hockey -- when making decisions about what sports to add for women."

Grant explained how an emerging sport becomes an NCAA championship sport -- as has already occurred with rowing and soon will occur with ice hockey and water polo -- and the process for the Association to consider adding new sports to the list.

Grant also introduced session participants to the many resources available to them as they investigate opportunities to add additional sports for women, including start-up cost estimates for emerging sports and high-school participation rates.

Yiamouyiannis gave a progress report on the sport of equestrian, which is a relatively new NCAA emerging sport in Divisions I and II, and she also reported on the status of bowling (a current emerging sport) as a potential future NCAA championship sport.

Yiamouyiannis noted that the session's attendees also included representatives from several sports -- such as rugby, synchronized skating and synchronized swimming -- who were interested in learning more about how the Association considers requests to add emerging sports.

"We received lots of good questions from attendees, both from the membership and from those who would like to see additional emerging sports," Yiamouyiannis said. "This session provided an excellent opportunity to discuss the process for considering potential emerging sports as well as to provide answers related to questions on emerging sports."