The Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee (MOIC) recommended during its June 8-9 meeting in San Diego that the Division I Management Council sponsor legislation requiring at least one MOIC member to also be a Council member.

The legislation would ensure that the MOIC always has a Council representative as a member of the committee. The Division I Board of Directors approved similar legislation in April for the Committee on Women's Athletics. Currently, MOIC member Robert C. Vowels Jr., commissioner at the Southwestern Athletic Conference, also is a member of the Division I Management Council.

The MOIC also prepared two informational items for the NCAA Executive Committee. The first was in response to an Executive Committee charge to develop a "campus climate" survey for institutions currently using American Indian mascots, nicknames or logos.

The MOIC believes that the Executive Committee has all of the information necessary to make a final decision regarding the Native American mascot issue. Thus, the committee determined that it would not conduct a survey, since the information already has been collected and presented in the MOIC's 2002 report on the mascot matter. The MOIC believes the Executive Committee should employ the standards used during its deliberations regarding the Confederate battle flag and resolve the mascot issue at its August meeting.

The second informational item concerns funding for the National Youth Sports Program (NYSP). In April, the Executive Committee and its subcommittee on gender and diversity discussed whether to eliminate $1.2 million in NCAA funding toward the NYSP beginning in 2005. The subcommittee believes it is important for the NCAA to maintain a financial relationship with the NYSP to encourage minority participation in higher education pursuits. The Executive Committee referred the issue to its budget committee for review and will not take final action on budget issues until August.

MOIC members believe that the Association's strategic-plan objective of increasing opportunities for women and minorities, and the NYSP's long-standing use of NCAA member institution campuses as program sites, provide a basis for continuing a relationship with the NYSP.

Though the MOIC recognizes that the Association must fund initiatives that align with its strategic plan, members encouraged the Executive Committee to find a solution that honors the important connection between the NCAA and the NYSP. The MOIC emphasized the need to develop a clearer definition of the NYSP's place among core NCAA programs while giving appropriate attention to other NCAA funding priorities.

In other actions, the MOIC took another step toward creating an online employment registry for coaches and administrators. The group reviewed a prototype of the registry, which will allow individuals to create online resumes. NCAA institutions will have access to the registry to search for potential candidates by various criteria. The committee noted that the registry will be open to any individual interested in pursuing a career in athletics administration or coaching.

The MOIC also noted that 17 candidates have been selected to participate in the 2004-05 Leadership Institute for Ethnic Minority Males. The group was concerned, however, about the low number of applicants from Divisions II and III institutions this year. The MOIC strongly encouraged applications from both divisions in the future and discussed initiatives to increase the number of applicants.

The committee also continued to discuss plans to develop a Leadership Institute for Ethnic Minority Females.

Coaches Academy

The MOIC heard a report on the Expert Coaching Program, the second of the three components of the NCAA Coaches Academy. The NCAA Coaches Aca-
demy is a professional development initiative to increase diversity in the Division I-A football coaching ranks.

The Expert Coaching Program, held June 1-3 in conjunction with the Black Coaches Association's national convention, already has received positive feedback.

The third phase of the Coaches Academy, the Executive Coaching Program, will begin some time during the next academic year. The dates for the first component of the Academy, the Advanced Coaching Program, will be January 7-9, 2005, in conjunction with the American Football Coaches Association national convention. This will be the second class of coaches to participate in the Advanced Coaching Program.

In other actions, the Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee:

Agreed to support a survey developed by the Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports that seeks to gauge the campus environment for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender student-athletes.

Appointed Vowels as chair of the committee to succeed Ramapo College Athletics Director Eugene Marshall. Derrick Gragg, associate athletics director at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, was named as vice-chair to replace Joe Crowley, president emeritus at the University of Nevada, Reno, and interim president at San Jose State University.