The recently completed NCAA Convention may have been the most successful gathering in recent years as far as providing all three divisions with a strategic path for the future.

In Division I, academic reform figures to make headlines as new ways are formulated to measure academic progress and hold teams accountable through incentives and disincentives. Division II once again took a leadership role among divisions when it implemented a football health and safety plan to go along with an expanded championship. And Division III took important steps to engage presidents in a discussion of the future of the division.

Strategic initiatives also became a high priority for the NCAA Executive Committee. Though that group was one of the last to meet at the Convention in Anaheim, California, it figures to take the lead in guiding the Association into the Myles Brand era.

Brand, the new NCAA president whose inaugural State of the Association speech made it clear that reform, advocacy and strategic planning would be the buzzwords early in his tenure, addressed the Executive Committee during its January 14 meeting and challenged the group to provide strategic leadership.

Brand generated an Executive Committee discussion that included a review of the group's role and responsibility to undertake a process and plan to articulate "strategic directions" for the Association. Reform, advocacy and presidential leadership, as articulated in Brand's Convention speech, would be the guideposts for the plan. Discussions included:

The Executive Committee wholly supported Brand's challenge to begin the process and develop a strategic plan that would include regular review at the Committee's quarterly meetings.

In addition to the strategic-planning initiative, Brand urged the Executive Committee to consider other issues, including an effort to increase presidential involvement in the NCAA. Brand proposed a CEO orientation pilot program that might include an "NCAA 101" to provide new CEOs with an early introduction to the NCAA.

Brand also noted the need to enhance the NCAA Convention, perhaps by establishing critical themes to promote involvement of more membership constituents, including Division I members and CEOs from all divisions. That also is an issue receiving a great deal of study among Division I members.

Finally, Brand committed $180,000 from the presidential transition fund to establish an NCAA Coaches Academy to help minorities advance in the coaching profession, particularly in football. The initiative is part of a recommendation from the NCAA Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee and the NCAA Football Study Oversight Committee.

Budget issues

In addition to hearing from President Brand, the Executive Committee also conducted its customary review of the audited financial statements from the past fiscal year.

Executive Committee Budget Committee Chair Carol Cartwright, who was named to succeed University of Tulsa President Bob Lawless as chair of the Executive Committee, presented a summary of the Budget Committee's December 20 meeting in Chicago during which members reviewed the audited financial statements.

Cartwright said the audit firm of Pricewaterhouse Coopers has issued an unqualified opinion on the Association's financial statements. Key among the budget items in the 2001-02 fiscal year were an increase in investments of about $10 million, which is the approximate amount that was allocated to reserves, and an increase in revenue of about $26 million from the previous year due to an increase in DirecTV rights, championships revenue and licensing royalties. Championship revenue was about $5 million over planned revenue because of the changes in bracketing and seeding policies that resulted in increased paid attendance to selected Division I championships.

The 2001-02 budget also realized a reduction of expenses, primarily because of temporary changes in travel, bracketing and seeding policies as a result of student-athlete safety concerns after September 11.

"The financial results of this past year's operations has provided the Association the opportunity to meet its reserve targets based on the policies that have been previously approved by the Executive Committee," Cartwright said.

Those policies Cartwright mentioned are:

Cartwright also noted that an unallocated surplus of about $23 million is available for reallocation. The surplus was realized even after Divisions II and III received their additional 4.25 percent and 3.18 percent allocation, respectively. The Executive Committee approved the Budget Committee's recommendation that $15 million be allocated as a supplemental distribution in Division I. The remaining funds will be allocated for expected decreases in investment returns, additional funding for event-cancellation insurance, student-athlete programs that had been supported by the NCAA Foundation, and presidential strategic initiatives and planning.

In another budget-related matter, the Executive Committee agreed that the Budget Committee's role should be expanded to include audit oversight responsibilities and that a subcommittee of the committee be formed to review the investment activities of the Association. The name of the Budget Committee will be changed to the Finance Committee to more accurately reflect the expanded responsibilities.

Insurance issues

In addition to its examination of the budget, the Executive Committee reviewed a report from the insurance task force.

The Committee discussed the student-athlete death benefit that is included in the NCAA catastrophic-injury insurance program, additional general liability insurance, proposed legislative immunity for amateur sports organizations rule-making functions, crisis management planning and a financial recovery model that would be implemented in the event of a financial crisis.

The Executive Committee approved the following:

The Committee also reviewed the components of a financial recovery plan that included the use of NCAA reserves, operating budget reductions, reduction in revenue distributions, financing plan, and revenue earned from the bundled rights fee agreement, and event cancellation insurance.

The Executive Committee discussed the importance of planning for a significant financial shortfall and the decision-making process for determining how much loss of revenue insurance to purchase.

Kent State CEO chosen to chair NCAA Executive Committee

Kent State University President Carol A. Cartwright has been selected to chair the NCAA Executive Committee. Cartwright succeeds University of
Tulsa President Bob Lawless, whose term on the Executive Committee ended with the conclusion of the NCAA Convention. Cartwright's term on the Executive Committee lasts through the 2004 Convention.

Cartwright became Kent State's 10th president -- and the first woman president of a state university in Ohio -- in March 1991. Previously, she was vice-chancellor for academic affairs at the University of California, Davis, and dean for undergraduate programs and vice-provost at Pennsylvania State University.

Cartwright oversees one of the nation's largest university systems and an annual budget of more than $385 million. Kent State's eight campuses serve about 34,000 students from throughout Ohio and the nation, and from nearly 90 countries. The university employs more than 4,300 full- and part-time faculty and staff.

At the national level, Cartwright has chaired the board of directors of the American Association for Higher Education and served on the board of directors of the American Council on Education. She also serves on the boards of directors of the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges. In addition, Cartwright was a member of the recently reconvened Knight Foundation Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics. In 2002, she began a three-year term on the executive board of the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education.

Cartwright earned master's and doctoral degrees from the University of Pittsburgh and her bachelor's degree from the University of Wisconsin, Whitewater.

2003 Convention attendance

Number of attendees at the 2003 NCAA Convention representing each of the following groups: