The NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics (CWA) believes the time has come to review Division I financial aid legislation to reconsider which NCAA women's sports should be designated as head count sports and which sports should be equivalencies.

The committee, which met July 15-17 in New York City, noted that it had been many years since those determinations had been made and that women's sports has evolved, perhaps making those designations out of date. Of particular note was the increase in institutional sponsorship and overall popularity of women's soccer, which is an equivalency sport.

The committee noted that current head count sports for women include basketball and volleyball, sports that have remained popular, but also gymnastics and tennis, two sports that have not experienced the increase in participation or sponsorship that may have been predicted years ago.

To address the situation, the committee recommended to the Division I Management Council that it initiate a review of Division I financial aid legislation with an eye toward which women's sports would be appropriate for head count designations. The committee also recommended that any such review include involvement from the CWA.

The Management Council likely will review those recommendations at its October meeting.

In other action, the CWA reviewed a request from the Division I Committee on Athletics Certification for input relative to institutions' requests to include non-NCAA sports such as synchronized skating and cheerleading in their gender-equity plans.

The committee suggested that the certification committee consider accepting sports that have NCAA championships, are on the list of emerging sports for women or that meet the CWA definition of sport.

The committee defines sport as: an institutional activity involving physical exertion with the purpose of competition versus other teams or individuals within a collegiate competition structure that includes at least five regularly scheduled team or individual head-to-head competitions within a defined competitive season, and with standardized rules with scoring systems ratified by official regulatory agencies and governing bodies.

Other highlights

Committee on Women's Athletics
July 15-17/New York City

Agreed that The NCAA Title IX seminar should continue and that it should rotate geographically to provide greater membership attendance opportunities. The committee also agreed that issues such as homophobia should continue to be a part of the program.

Reviewed the formation of the U.S. Department of Education's Commission on Opportunity in Athletics and discussed various ways to interact with the group. The committee agreed to ask NCAA President Cedric W. Dempsey to draft a letter to the commission outlining the committee's interest and willingness to participate in this review of Title IX.

Noted that the 2002 NCAA Woman of the Year dinner will be held Saturday, November 2, in Indianapolis. The committee noted that the change to Saturday was prompted by requests from previous participants who thought a Saturday event would be easier for their family members to attend. The committee will again cast secret ballots to choose the winner from among the top 10 finalists.

Received an update on the development of the NCAA national office gender-equity plan from Judy Sweet, NCAA vice-president for championships and senior woman administrator. The committee also reviewed an executive summary of the national office gender-equity survey.

Reviewed national office staffing statistics sorted by gender, administrative level and ethnicity. The committee noted its disappointment at the number of women and minorities at the vice-president level, and it also noted that progress has been made in hiring women and minorities at the director level.

Heard a report indicating that the national office will provide same-sex domestic partner benefits as part of its employee benefits program, effective with the annual benefits enrollment process at the national office this fall.