The Division I Championships/Competition Cabinet went through a familiar February ritual during its meeting in Indianapolis, prioritizing budget requests from sports committees and other groups for the 2001-02 budget cycle. And in what also has become a familiar trend, the cabinet was faced with more requests than it had resources to handle.

Allocated $1 million by the Division I Budget Committee for new championships initiatives, the Championships/Competition Cabinet had the task of considering almost three times that amount in requests during its February 6-8 meeting.

The cabinet actually developed two prioritized lists, one for the $1 million allocation and another for funds that may be realized through cost-saving initiatives. The cabinet expects to save at least $400,000 through two revised championships travel policies, one that requires postseason participants located within 300 miles of a Division I or National Collegiate Championship site to travel via ground transportation rather than by air, and another requiring institutions to use ground transportation to airports located within 120 miles of the destination or the institution. Both policies were implemented for 2001-02.

Though the cabinet has not received confirmation that funds realized through cost-saving initiatives could be reallocated toward other championships initiatives, it developed its budget request list based on previous support of that concept from the Division I Management Council.

For the $1 million list, the cabinet led off with bracket expansion in men's and women's soccer. It was the third straight year that the cabinet has asked for funds to expand the men's soccer bracket from 32 to 48 teams. The cabinet also asked to expand the women's soccer bracket from 48 to 64 teams, which would maintain the division's gender balance in postseason opportunities.

In addition, the cabinet reaffirmed action that was taken last February to add regionals to men's and women's outdoor track and field and increase the number of participants at the nationals. The track community has advocated this format to align more with international competition, and to add interest to conference championships since event winners would automatically qualify to the regionals.

The other two initiatives included in the cabinet's $1 million list are providing awards for the top eight finishers in individual championships (instead of the top six) and providing travel expenses and per diem for play-in teams in field hockey and softball.

The lion's share of the $400,000 list is for increases in officiating fees and expenses for all sports, which total more than $300,000. The cabinet also included in this list a field-size expansion in women's swimming from 270 to 322 participants, the elimination of the cut after two rounds in men's golf and the enhancement of an officiating improvement program in women's volleyball. Also, the cabinet requested that the computerized weather detection system for the men's and women's golf championships be upgraded, and that an additional $3,000 be paid to the computer specialist and entry coordinator for the men's and women's swimming and diving championships.

Of the initiatives that do not appear on either list for the 2001-02 budget cycle, the implementation of predetermined first- and second-round sites in women's basketball is perhaps the most expensive (about $700,000). The cabinet supported the initiative last year and did so again this year, but since the Division I Women's Basketball Committee is requesting the change for the 2003 championship, the cabinet felt it did not need to prioritize it until a later date. Also, three bracket expansion requests -- in men's ice hockey, men's lacrosse and softball -- were supported but not recommended for funding at this time and will be addressed in subsequent years.

The Division I Management Council and Board of Directors will act on the cabinet's budget recommendations in April.

Deregulation efforts

In addition to its attention to budget requests, the cabinet also dealt with ongoing legislative deregulation efforts during its meeting. In April 2000, the Board of Directors charged the governance structure with reviewing legislation with an eye toward deregulation and simplification. Both the Championships/Competition and Academics/
Eligibility/Compliance Cabinets have set up subcommittees to do just that, but as those groups have been trying to deregulate legislation, additional proposals continue to enter the legislative pipeline. More than 100 were reviewed during last fall's legislative session alone.

As a possible remedy to that, both cabinets have suggested a moratorium on legislative proposals (other than emergency, noncontroversial legislation) concerning bylaws currently under review. Such an approach would allow the deregulation subcommittees to undergo a year-long review of the bylaw in question without new proposals being submitted. Based on a master deregulation timeline previously developed, the two cabinets are asking the Management Council and Board of Directors to not consider legislation regarding Bylaws 11 and 16 from May 1, 2001, through May 1, 2002; Bylaws 13, 14.4 and 15 from November 1, 2001, through November 1, 2002; and Bylaws 14.3 and 17 from May 1, 2002, through May 1, 2003.

Proposals already in progress would continue during the moratorium. In other words, proposals regarding Bylaws 11 and 16 that are sent out for comment after the Management Council's legislative meeting in April still would be acted on in October, but no new proposals could be submitted in October.

Also, the cabinets are recommending that sponsors of subsequent proposals be required to state in the rationale whether the proposal is consistent with Division I's deregulation efforts. The cabinets believe that requiring sponsors to reconcile their proposals with current deregulation efforts may serve as a "filter" and in fact result in a decrease in submissions.

As for the ongoing deregulation efforts in Bylaws 11 and 16 that the Championships/Competition Cabinet reviewed during its February meeting, all of the recommendations submitted by those two subcommittees were supported, including:

Allowing outside sources to pay or regularly supplement an athletics department staff member's salary;

Permitting graduate assistant coaches to receive the same expenses incurred on road trips as full-time coaches;

Permitting a hometown group to pay the expenses of a student-athlete returning home to receive an award for athletics accomplishments;

Eliminating the mileage restriction related to transportation, housing and meal expenses for student-athletes to be present in situations in which an immediate family member suffers a life-threatening injury or illness, or to be present at the funeral in the event of an immediate family member's death;

Allowing institutions to apply the same housing policies to student-athletes as it applies to the student body in general, provided student-athletes are not housed in athletics blocks or athletics dormitories.

Other highlights

Division I Championships/Competition Cabinet
February 6-8/Indianapolis

Supported committee roster expansions for the Men's Gymnastics, Men's Ice Hockey, and Men's and Women's Ice Hockey Rules Committees.

Noted that the scheduled rotation of cabinet members will produce significant attrition of ethnic minority representatives in the near future, and asked the Management Council to take steps to ensure that the cabinet maintains or exceeds the guaranteed minimum for ethnic minority representation in the coming years.

Deferred until June action on a proposal from the Pacific-10 Conference that would preclude sports committees from awarding sites solely on the basis of the size of the host institution's financial bid guarantee and would specify that higher-seeded teams must be awarded priority in the site-selection process.

Championships/Competition Cabinet budget priorities

Expand men's soccer bracket from 32 to 48 teams.

Add regionals to men's and women's outdoor track and field.

Provide awards for top eight finishers in individual championships.

Provide travel expenses and per diem for play-in teams in field hockey and softball.

Proposed moratorium on legislative proposals

The proposed schedule for the suspension of review of legislation pertaining to bylaws under deregulatory review:

Bylaws Moratorium Period

11, 16 May 1, 2001-May 1, 2002

13, 14.4, 15 November 1, 2001-November 1, 2002

14.3, 17 May 1, 2002-May 1, 2003