Several unfortunate incidents during recent major sporting events once again have called our attention to sportsmanship issues. The behavior of a few Olympic athletes and several National Football League and Major League Baseball players has stirred debate about what is and isn't "good sportsmanship."

Oddly, these events give us a strong sense of what "bad sportsmanship" is, but what we consider to be "good sportsmanship" remains difficult to define. Consequently, negative incidents continue to receive the lion's share of coverage in the media, while the majority of good sporting acts go unnoticed.

Good sportsmanship is at the core of the intercollegiate athletics mission and should continually be emphasized by coaches and athletics administrators to the thousands of young student-athletes who represent our institutions in competition. Our goal is to make good sportsmanship the norm in college sports.

In order to accomplish this, it is imperative that each one of us learns to identify good sportsmanship, practice it, acknowledge it publicly and reward it whenever possible. This is a positive aspect of our intercollegiate sports programs that we must emphasize on a daily basis.

The second cycle of athletics certification for Division I institutions is an example of how we can do this. New to the process this time around is a renewed focus on sportsmanship. Because it is included as an operating principle, however, doesn't mean that all of the sudden good sportsmanship is being legislated. What it does mean is that practicing good sportsmanship should be every bit as important as promoting student-athlete welfare, diversity, and academic and fiscal integrity, the other components essential to the certification program.

As to how we can better identify and practice good sportsmanship, the Sportsmanship and Ethical Conduct Committee has developed guidelines to assist institutions in complying with the Operating Principle (4.4) of Sportsmanship and Ethical Conduct as noted in the 2000-01 Athletic Certification Self-Study Instrument. The guidelines should be -- and likely already are at many institutions -- an integral part of the athletics mission.

The committee believes collegiate institutions desiring to demonstrate a strong commitment to sportsmanship and ethical behavior may provide the following within the areas set forth below:

1. Evidence that sportsmanship and ethical conduct are monitored, evaluated and addressed on a continuing basis.

Include an appraisal clause in the contracts of each coaching staff member that evaluates them and the conduct of their student-athletes with regard to sportsmanship and ethical conduct.

2. Written policies and procedures on sportsmanship and ethical conduct.

Each institution should enact a code of conduct for enrolled student-athletes and athletics department staff members that includes disciplinary sanctions for violations of the code.

3. Educational activities related to sportsmanship and ethical conduct:

Submit a copy of the institution's mission statement in game programs, media guides and on the institution's Web site.

Mail the do's and don't's of recruiting to boosters.

Read a public address announcement stating the institution's commitment to sportsmanship and ethical conduct behavior before all home contests.

Broadcast public service announcements regarding sportsmanship and ethical conduct during coaches' radio or television programs and flash video messages on scoreboards about good sportsmanship.

Require sportsmanship and ethical conduct to be discussed in team meetings every academic year.

Arrange for outside speakers to talk with the institution's teams and staff about sportsmanship and ethical conduct.

Instruct coaches to talk with student-athletes in a manner that emphasizes sportsmanship, ethical conduct and character building.

Create a sportsmanship award for telecasts produced by the institution that features an act of sportsmanship that occurred during the telecast.

Require student-athletes to attend a course on sportsmanship and ethical conduct.

Create and disseminate a code-of-conduct for spectators through season-ticket package mailings and game programs.

Create an annual award for a student-athlete(s) that exemplifies the values of sportsmanship and ethical conduct.

4. Mechanism to measure effectiveness.

Survey enrolled student-athletes annually.

Conduct exit interviews with departing student-athletes as required by NCAA legislation, but require the directors of athletics to have at least some involvement in these exit interviews.

Monitor the number of warnings, ejections, disqualification citations, sanctions or reprimands received as a result of behavior during participation in an NCAA regular-season or championship event and include them in each coaching staff member's, student-athlete's and team's evaluation and compare with the previous year(s).

Most of these guidelines are common-sense initiatives that many institutions already have implemented to increase awareness of sportsmanship and ethical conduct. And I believe they are working. There are many examples of good sportsmanship in college sports. It is our duty to keep up that good work.

By instilling sportsmanship and ethical conduct as part of the certification process, we can not only ensure that institutions are putting their best sportsmanship foot forward, but we also can reward institutions for promoting the ideals that help separate intercollegiate sports from other endeavors.

Sportsmanship is a way of life. It should be -- and for the most part it is -- the way of life in intercollegiate athletics. The committee hopes these guidelines help institutions preserve and foster that way of life.

Robert E. Frederick is the athletics director at the University of Kansas and chair of the NCAA Committee on Sportsmanship and Ethical Conduct.