As the debate on intercollegiate athletics reform has evolved in recent years, it has become increasingly evident that no one group or faction involved in Division I athletics is singularly at fault for the seeming failure to successfully grapple with persistent problems. Rather, what has transpired has been a gradual process of erosion by which all concerned parties -- college and university presidents and boards, faculty, and athletics directors -- have collectively abdicated their responsibilities to the point where the ideals of intercollegiate athletics competition have imploded on the altar of commercialization and academic failure.

As the only member of the reform constituency having regular interaction with students, the faculty athletics representative is a critical component for athletics-reform credibility. Precisely because of this student/faculty interaction, the FAR can independently function as a respected campus conduit through which the academic concerns of the campus community can be accommodated in the context of intercollegiate athletics reform.

More broadly, in the context of reform at the national level, the NCAA's Faculty Athletics Representatives Association (FARA) can unite the diverse interests concerned with academic reform in intercollegiate athletics to vigorously, and publicly, challenge such unacceptable practices as weekday football games, competitions scheduled during examination periods, repetitive disregard of the 20-hour rule, meritless coursework and majors, improper academic support practices, and public breaches of responsible behavior by coaches.

To date, however, the institutional role of the FAR -- and the national role of FARA -- have generally been disregarded in the debate on athletics reform. Instead, what has transpired is a collective abdication of responsibility.

College and university presidents must bear collective responsibility for these lapses in athletics reform. The notion, whether mandated by state law or institutional policy, that an institution's intercollegiate athletics program must be financially self-sustaining is both an abdication of responsibility and a recipe for loss of control. To the extent that athletics programs are required to be financially self-sustaining, presidents are absolved of having to make tough choices regarding the institutional allocation of dwindling resources.

When it comes to managing an intercollegiate athletics program, presidents must do a better job of recognizing the many voices that congregate a campus community. When it comes to matters of intercollegiate athletics, shared governance is too often an abstraction that is more administratively articulated than effectively embraced through practice. Shared governance cannot be limited to administrative discussion with the athletics director; it must include both the faculty athletics representative and every other institutional mechanism created to exchange ideas.

If college and university presidents are truly committed to athletics reform, then the Division I Board of Directors will have to become more active in the formulation and implementation of creative solutions. Many commentators have argued that college and university presidents are the "problem" with reform and that until institutional self-interest is cast aside, longitudinal reform cannot be achieved.

A more effective Board of Directors could do much to negate such commentary. It seems incomprehensible that the Board cannot unilaterally declare that a graduation rate of less than some predetermined percentage, regardless of how it is computed, is simply not acceptable and that any athletics team having such a rate is ineligible for postseason competition. At will, the Board should be able to demand that at least one-third of the Division I Management Council be composed of FARs to the exclusion of conference commissioners who have absolutely no on-campus student contact or responsibilities. In the context of athletics reform, it is inexcusable that the current Council has among its 49 members only five FARs but 13 conference commissioners and staff members.

Indeed, FARs can serve as a focal point for many of the kinds of reform initiatives that the NCAA and various constituent groups might be interested in achieving. As much as presidents have tried to take the initiative regarding academic reform, it remains painfully evident that they have succeeded only in the context of unilaterally usurping the institutional authority of the FAR, with embarrassingly disastrous consequences. It is time that presidents restore their institutional partnership with faculty by implicitly recognizing the critical role of the FAR. By doing so, presidents can overcome their perceived failure to exercise reform leadership by incorporating campus credibility for reform initiatives.

If presidents want to truly exercise the type of intercollegiate athletics control that they demonstrably claim, then they need to evidence that control through a more effective use of the FAR as a faculty representative for the academic and institutional reforms that are critical to the continuation of reasonable athletics opportunities for all students. For presidents to believe that intercollegiate athletics reform can be achieved through such policies as populating NCAA committees and reform groups with conference commissioners who have absolutely no on-campus responsibility is hypocrisy. Such policies only serve to reaffirm the perpetuation of commercial excess that seems to permeate virtually all precincts of intercollegiate athletics.

It is nigh time for a collective faculty voice to be more vigorously raised in the context of intercollegiate athletics reform. Presidents have clearly failed to restrain the excesses that have embarrassed intercollegiate athletics for far too long. Respecting the role of the FAR in restoring the interests and perspectives of both faculty and students in the reform debate is not only necessary, it is wise.

Gregory J. Naples is the faculty athletics representative at Marquette University and current president of the Faculty Athletics Representatives Association.