While the Division I Board of Directors' adoption of proposals to strengthen initial and continuing eligibility may have signaled a victory for academic reform, it also may have signaled a victory for the Division I governance structure.

The first stage of the academic enhancement package approved at the Board's October 31 meeting in Indianapolis not only gives college presidents a legislative foothold to maximize graduation rates and minimize adverse impact on minorities, it may be the best example since the NCAA restructured in 1997 of a presidential reform effort driven successfully through the structure.

The proposals in the package the Board approved are:

No. 02-22-B, which increases the number of core courses from 13 to 14 and establishes a sliding scale that maintains the 2.000 grade-point average cut but eliminates the test-score cut.

No. 02-24-B (as amended by Proposal No. 02-24-B-2), which revises the percentages of progress toward degree a student-athlete must achieve from 25/50/75 to 40/60/80, and which requires student-athletes to achieve 90 percent of the institution's minimum overall grade-point average necessary to graduate (for example, 1.800) by the beginning of year two, 95 percent of the minimum GPA (1.900) by year three and 100 percent (2.000) by year four.

No. 02-23 (as amended by Proposal No. 02-23-2), requiring (1) that 24 semester (36 quarter) hours of academic credit be completed before the student-athlete enters his or her second year; (2) that 18 (27 quarter) hours be completed in the previous academic year or since the beginning of the certifying institution's preceding regular two semesters or three quarters; and (3) that six (nine quarter) hours be completed the preceding regular academic term in which the student-
athlete has been enrolled at any collegiate institution.

No. 02-25, deleting the two-year college transfer percentage-of-degree requirements for a nonqualifier in football and men's basketball.

No. 02-26, reducing the number of credits in remedial, tutorial or noncredit course work that may be used to satisfy the minimum academic progress requirement from 12 semester (18 quarter) hours to six (nine quarter) hours.

All of the proposals had been approved by the Management Council earlier this month.

Board members hailed the package as an example of the top-down reform approach presidents have been seeking, and which the governance structure affords them. The process worked as the presidents had planned -- they appointed a group of academic consultants to develop proposals that were based on comprehensive research and that supported the Board's resolve to maximize graduation rates and minimize adverse impact; the proposals enjoyed Board support as they made their way through the structure; and what amendments were made along the way were done with Board oversight or input.

What emerged was an initial package that the Board felt incorporated the best predictors and the fairest measure of academic success.

"We aren't guessing at what the results from these standards will be," said Board of Directors Chair Robert Hemenway, chancellor of the University of Kansas. "If you continue to meet the academic profile in your first, second, third, fourth and fifth year, you will graduate. If you don't fit the model, you won't be participating in college sports."

Cut-score concerns

What concerns the proposals received at the Board level were largely the same as the concerns received at the Management Council level -- that the initial-eligibility measures could be regarded as a loosening of standards and that the elimination of the test-score cut could open the admission gates too wide for academically at-risk student-athletes. But the same argument that carried the day for the Management Council -- that student-athletes made eligible by removing the cut are as likely, if not more likely, to graduate than some current qualifiers under Prop 16 -- also carried the day for the Board.

"These proposals were informed by the best research we've ever had," said Hemenway. "They represent policy that is data-based, and there is little that is arbitrary about the decisions we've reached."

Research in fact shows that the number of additional prospects made eligible by eliminating the test-score cut is small, but that most of that group is composed of minorities. The academic consultants noted that eliminating the test-score cut was the only proposal in the package that adequately addresses the minimized adverse impact the Board was after.

There also has been concern that reducing the reliance upon test scores would increase the risk of "grade inflation" at the high-school level. But Hemenway said the Board made its recommendations with the integrity of the high-school community in mind.

"The premise we always work under is a positive one in that regard," he said, "and not a cynical assumption that high schools would be likely to manipulate grades."

Hemenway also noted that the new progress-toward-degree standards (Proposal No. 02-24-B-2) would provide checks and balances against grade inflation, since prospects admitted under such false pretenses likely would struggle with the more rigorous continuing-eligibility requirements.

Another safeguard is an incentives/disincentives package that the Board will consider probably within the next year. Work already is being done to establish an "Academic Progress Rate" that will provide a real-time snapshot of a team's academic success. Once that measure is in place, teams will be rewarded or penalized based on how well they meet the criteria. Thus, it would not be in schools' best interests to admit overly at-risk prospects on the front end because their teams would be held accountable through the incentives/disincentives package for their academic progress.

The Board already has charged a task force with considering an incentives/disincentives package that might include postseason restrictions, scholarship reductions or revenue distribution. The Board will provide further direction to that group after a telephone conference in December, then spend time during its meeting at the NCAA Convention in January discussing more about what the incentives/disincentives package might look like.

The only unfinished business from the first part of the academic enhancement package is how often schools will have to check on their student-athletes' academic progress. Current rules call for an annual check on grade-point average requirements. The new progress-toward-degree standards add a six-hour-per-term requirement.

Board members were interested in more frequent GPA checks. Many administrators, however, regard that as burdensome, particularly in schools that operate with a quarter system.

In such cases, the turnaround time between winter and spring quarters is particularly narrow and faculty would be unduly pressured to turn in grades, which could leave many student-athletes in eligibility limbo.

But several Board members argued that if the purpose of the package is to improve academic progress, the sooner that academic deficiencies can be pointed out through more frequent checks means the better chance student-athletes will have of graduating. In other words, what administrative burden there is might be worth the end result.

Thus, the Board has directed the Management Council to consider an amendment for the Board to consider in April that would require more frequent checks.

Other highlights

Division I Board of Directors
October 31/Indianapolis

Tabled a legislative proposal (No. 2000-26) permitting the respective division Management Councils to waive the minimum sports sponsorship requirements necessary to establish a National Collegiate championship in an emerging sport for women. The proposal had been submitted on behalf of women's bowling, which now has eclipsed the current minimum of 40 sponsoring institutions.

Defeated a legislative proposal that had been approved by the Management Council (No. 02-34), which would have revised the composition of the Board of Directors, Management Council and AEC Cabinet, as specified, to list the Big West Conference as Division I-AAA instead of as Division I-A. The Board directed the chair to appoint a subcommittee charged with developing policies to address transitions in Board composition and to report to the full Board in January.

Noted that the Board Task Force has been successful in providing significant leadership in the evaluation and development of important Board initiatives, including the study of academic reform proposals; noted that continuity of membership is important to the continued development of Board strategies and reform initiatives associated with the study of initial and continuing eligibility standards; and agreed that current task force members should continue their service beyond their terms on the Board in order to complete the important work and that all Board members be encouraged to attend and participate in task force meetings.

Legislation adopted by the Board of Directors

The Division I Board of Directors adopted the following legislative proposals (with effective dates):

No. 01-83 (as amended by Proposal No. 01-83-1), decreasing from six to five the number of student-athletes in soccer from any one institution that may participate on the same outside team outside the academic year. (Effective date: Immediately.)

No. 02-2 (as amended by Proposal No. 02-2-3), eliminating the requirement in basketball and soccer that the evaluation of an international student-athlete's amateur status shall be based on a guide produced by the NCAA identifying teams and leagues in foreign countries that are professional. (Effective date: August 1, 2003.)

No. 02-10, specifying that Championships/Competition Cabinet members' terms of service shall begin on the first day of July after the member's appointment. (Effective date: Immediately.)

No. 02-12, modifying the duties of the Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports, as specified. (Effective date: Immediately.)

No. 02-15, specifying that AEC Cabinet members' terms of service shall begin the first day of July after the member's appointment. (Effective date: Immediately.)

No. 02-16, exempting the Student-Athlete Reinstatement Committee from the requirement that no subdivision shall have more than 50 percent representation on any committee. (Effective date: Immediately.)

No. 02-17 (as amended by Proposal No. 02-17-1), permitting a student-athlete in Division I-A football to enter a professional league's draft without jeopardizing eligibility in that sport, provided the student-athlete declares his intention to resume intercollegiate football participation within 72 hours after the date of the NFL draft declaration date of that year. (Effective date: Immediately.)

No. 02-18, permitting a student-athlete in men's water polo to compete in the institution's nonchampionship segment without using a season of competition, provided the student-athlete was academically eligible during the championship segment. (Effective date: Immediately.)

No. 02-21, exempting a student-athlete's on- and off-campus employment earnings from both individual and institutional financial aid limits. (Effective date: August 1, 2003.)

No. 02-22-B, increasing the minimum number of core-course units for a qualifier from 13 to 14, as specified; establishing an initial-eligibility index based on a core-curriculum GPA of 3.550, an SAT score of 400 or an equivalent ACT sum score to be determined by the ACT testing agency; and eliminating all references to partial qualifiers. (Effective date: Student-athletes first entering an institution on or after August 1, 2003, shall meet the current or new standard; student-athletes first entering an institution on or after August 1, 2005, shall meet the new standard.)

No. 02-23 (as amended by Proposal No. 02-23-2), requiring (1) that 24 semester or 36 quarter hours of academic credit be completed before the student-athlete enters his or her second year of collegiate enrollment; (2) that 18 semester or 27 quarter hours of academic credit (during the academic year) be completed in the previous academic year or since the beginning of the certifying institution's preceding regular two semesters or three quarters; and (3) that six semester or nine quarter hours of academic credit be completed the preceding regular academic term in which the student-athlete has been enrolled at any collegiate institution; further, permitting a student-athlete who satisfies the requirements of the missed-term exception or the medical-absence or international-competition waivers to be prorated nine semester or six quarter hours per term of actual attendance during an academic year. (Effective date: August 1, 2003, for student-athletes first entering an institution full time on or after August 1, 2003.)

No. 02-24-B (as amended by Proposal No. 02-24-B-2), increasing progress-toward-degree requirements from 25/50/75 to 40/60/80 (33/50/67 for student-athletes in a five-year degree program); requiring student-athletes entering their second year of collegiate enrollment to present 90 percent of the minimum GPA necessary to graduate from the institution; requiring student-athletes entering their third year of collegiate enrollment to present 95 percent of the minimum GPA necessary to graduate from the institution; and requiring student-athletes entering their fourth or subsequent year of collegiate enrollment to present 100 percent of the minimum GPA necessary to graduate from the institution. (Effective date: August 1, 2003, for those student-athletes first entering a collegiate institution full time on or after August 1, 2003.)

No. 02-25, deleting the two-year college transfer percentage of degree requirements for a partial qualifier or a nonqualifier in football and men's basketball. (Effective date: August 1, 2003, for those student-athletes first entering a collegiate institution on or after August 1, 2003.)

No. 02-26, reducing the number of credits in remedial, tutorial or noncredit course work that may be used to satisfy the minimum academic progress requirement from 12 semester/18 quarter hours to six semester/nine quarter hours. (Effective date: August 1, 2003, for those student-athletes first entering a collegiate institution on or after August 1, 2003.)

No. 02-27, establishing six as the number of contests necessary to count the sport of equestrian for sports-sponsorship purposes. (Effective date: Immediately.)

No. 02-28, redefining countable athletically related activities as specified. (Effective date: August 1, 2003.)

No. 02-29, exempting both games of a softball doubleheader between a member institution and a foreign team played in the United States. (Effective date: August 1, 2003.)

No. 02-33, clarifying that a conference staff member shall satisfy the "on-the-staff" requirement only if he or she is employed at one of the multisport conferences recognized as part of the governance structure in Constitution 4. (Effective date: Immediately.)

No. 02-37, defining a Division I-A conference, as specified. (Effective date: August 1, 2005.)

No. 02-38, defining the composition of the Division I-AA Football Governance Committee, as specified. (Effective date: Immediately.)

No. 02-55, permitting a conference in 2003-04 to retain eligibility for automatic qualification in any sport (other than men's basketball), provided the conference was eligible for automatic qualification in 2002-03 under the September 1999 automatic-qualification provisions and will be eligible for automatic qualification in 2004-05 under the September 2003 automatic-qualification provisions, and the conference and member institution sponsorship of that sport is unchanged over that period of time. (Effective date: Immediately.)

No. 02-56, deleting the legislation that sets forth the process for selecting the official conference representative when automatic qualification is not applicable. (Effective date: Immediately.)

No. 02-79, limiting evaluations in men's basketball that may occur during the April contact period at sites other than the prospective student-athlete's educational institution to Saturday or Sunday, and to specify that such evaluations may not occur on any weekend during which the PSAT, SAT or ACT national standardized tests are administered. (Effective date: Immediately.)

No. 02-80, permitting softball contacts and evaluations in Hawaii during the quiet period. (Effective date: Immediately.)

No. 02-87, specifying that in instances where the final day of the women's rowing championship occurs on a Sunday, competition may begin before noon. (Effective date: Immediately.)

No. 02-98, increasing the composition of the Committee on Infractions from nine to 10 members; further, increasing from one to two the number of committee members responsible for processing appeals.(Effective date: Immediately.)