For many of those veterans, Kansas City did remain their home, but the NCAA did not. About two-thirds of the staff decided not to heed the Executive Committee's call to make Indianapolis the "amateur sports capital of the world."

Now, only 33 members of the current staff were hired before 1990. Contrastingly, more than 240 were hired after the move announcement, and more than 100 have been hired since the new millennium began.

Few argue that the greatest loss was the historical knowledge element. Many nonrelocaters had served in the office for a decade or more.

"That created some uneasiness with some in the membership who had become accustomed to working with specific staff members," said NCAA President Ced Dempsey, who was faced with coordinating the NCAA's toughest transition. "That has led to a perception from some in the membership who feel that the staff is not as good -- but it's only because they don't know the new staff as well."

Dempsey is quick to point out positives, however. He said a primary one is that the move allowed a physical structure to be created that complemented the office's management style.

"Before, our physical plant created a hierarchical structure," Dempsey said. "The move helped us implement a change in culture in the national office staff. Our senior leaders are more approachable, and the staff is more empowered."

Greater diversity

The move also put perhaps a crowning touch on something Dempsey committed to when he took the top job in 1994: diversifying the staff.

In the eight years since Dempsey assumed the presidency, the number of women in administrative positions has increased from 42 to 77 (44.2 percent to 51.3 percent), and the number of people of color in administrative positions has increased from 18 to 35 (18.9 percent to 23.3 percent).

The number of women in middle management (director level) has doubled from nine to 18, and the number has more than doubled for minorities from four to nine. As for senior management, the number of women vice-presidents is up from one to four, and the number of African-American vice-presidents is up from none to three.

"Diversity has been perhaps the most significant change over the past five to seven years, both in the number of women and the number of male and female ethnic minorities," said the NCAA's Judy Sweet, who is vice-president for championships and recently was named the national office's senior woman administrator.

"People who visited the office 10 to 15 years ago might be surprised by the change that has taken place," she said. "It's a different look in a positive way. The staff always was of a high quality, but there is so much to be gained from having a quality diversified workforce."

Dempsey noted that not only have the numbers increased, but so has the commitment. All national office members have attended two diversity training sessions, and the NCAA has allocated funds to allow women and minority staff members to pursue professional development through NACWAA HERS programs and the Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee's Leadership Institute for Ethnic Minority Males.

"The national office has tried to serve as a role model for the membership with regard to diversity hiring," said NCAA Senior Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer Dan Boggan. "The only place where we continue to be criticized is at the senior vice-president level, where progress has been made in terms of racial representation but not in terms of gender. However, we have acknowledged that when a vacancy occurs at this level, a competitive search will be conducted."

Boggan said that short of reorganization, this is the only way that a female will hold the position of senior vice-president.

"Creating a designated position has other attendant problems," he said.

Sweet said the commitment to staff diversity has not gone unnoticed in the membership.

"When I think back to my first involvement with the NCAA, there weren't very many women on the staff and there were even fewer ethnic minorities," she said. "I expect that the commitment made since Ced's tenure began will be continued by his successor.