When I took on the job of NCAA President in January, I made it clear that I wanted my tenure to stand on two platforms: reform and advocacy.

The reform movement was under way when I began my presidency and has since gained momentum. Division I already has adopted increased initial-eligibility and progress-toward-degree requirements and is working on a data-based incentives/disincentives structure that will prompt programs to meet a higher standard of academic success. Divisions I and II also have approved an increase in the number of core courses required for initial eligibility from 13 to 14, and Division I is considering an additional increase to 16 core courses, which college and university CEOs have supported.

By its very nature, reform garners the most attention in the press, primarily because it affects the highest-profile programs in Division I-A. Indeed, though the NCAA must assume a leadership position in academic reform, the initiative is focused on a small fraction of the NCAA membership.

It is the advocacy platform that involves the entire membership.

The vast majority of athletics administrators and student-athletes at NCAA member institutions understand the Association's educational mission and take proper steps to promote and protect it. One does not have to look beyond a student-athlete advisory committee meeting, an NCAA Honors Dinner or Woman of the Year banquet, or the list of 174 annual NCAA postgraduate scholarship recipients to understand the good that comes from the intercollegiate athletics experience.

Yet, advocacy is the NCAA's greatest challenge -- even more so than reform. Historically, people have placed too much emphasis on the NCAA as a rules-making body, which encourages the Association to be seen only as a regulatory entity and not associated with high-caliber competition and education.

The NCAA is working to correct that. The Association has identified six attributes -- fair play, character, learning, balance, spirit and community -- that form the essence of the NCAA. We will use the bundled-rights agreement with CBS and ESPN, which allows more advocacy platforms than ever before, to deliver messages about the positive values of intercollegiate athletics. One of those messages -- the public service announcements depicting the student on one side of the screen and the athlete on the other -- was repeated throughout the winter championships season. I have received on behalf of the Association a great many compliments for these announcements and accompanying ads.

In addition, the Association coordinated with CBS to produce a series of shows featuring championships that otherwise were not televised. I, for one, found it moving to watch young men and women strive to be national champions, often without much fan interest. They did so for their teammates, for their schools and for themselves. While we all enjoy and applaud the excitement of a Final Four or a major bowl game, these other contests make apparent the heart of college sports.

While we must use mass-media tools to our greatest advantage, we also must remember that advocacy is a grass-roots issue. Everyone in the NCAA membership should take advantage of situations to articulate the positive values in intercollegiate athletics.

Advocacy is not so much about generating feel-good stories about intercollegiate athletics as it is about supporting and promoting the philosophical values inherent in college sports. The character student-athletes develop from teamwork, persistence and respect matters far more than the outcome of the contest. Those attributes are what will develop student-athletes into leaders in their communities and country, and they are what we need to celebrate.

Some will say such advocacy is naive, especially in light of the challenges facing college sports. Hardly a day goes by that a reporter or commentator does not dwell on some problem in intercollegiate athletics. Certainly, the NCAA must stand up for reform and the integrity of college sports. Recent actions from university presidents during the basketball season demonstrate that CEOs are doing just that. However, let us simultaneously advocate strongly for the positive values of intercollegiate athletics.

Myles Brand is the president of the NCAA.