The Black Coaches Association updated its membership on the second annual Hiring Report Card and announced plans to expand the application of the report card to other positions in intercollegiate athletics during the organization's 18th national convention in Indianapolis June 1-4.

C. Keith Harrison, principal researcher for the report card, indicated that each of the letter grades, A through F, will be represented in the final version of the 2004-05 report card. Harrison is the founder of the Paul Robeson Center for Leadership, Academic and Athletic Prowess and a professor at Arizona State University.

The BCA instituted the report card in 2004 as a way of objectively addressing ethnic minority football hiring issues at NCAA Division I schools. Institutions are evaluated in five categories: contact with the BCA or the chair of the NCAA Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee during the hiring process, efforts to interview candidates of color, diversity of the search committee, the time frame of the search, and the adherence to institutional affirmative action hiring policies.

To determine an institution's performance, a letter grade of A through F is assigned to each of the five criteria. Each letter grade also has been assigned a value: A=4, B=3, C=2, D=1, F=0. The category for the number of candidates of color interviewed for open positions is weighted double.

In 2004-05, there were 22 head football coaching positions open in NCAA Division I-A and seven posts available at the Division I-AA level. Only one of those slots in each subdivision was filled by an African-American. Last year, there were 14 openings each in Divisions I-A and I-AA and again, only one African-American was hired. Over the two-year period, three African-American hires were made for the 57 openings available.

According to Harrison, of the five criteria associated with the report card, institutions seem to have the most trouble with diversity of search committees. In general, those committees average only about one person of color per group. Harrison also noted that schools that submit documentation demonstrating contact with the institution's affirmative action officer throughout the hiring process (rather than providing a generic affirmative action statement) earn higher marks on the affirmative action criteria.

"We're still not there, but I think we're making folks deal with the process -- and that's important," said Harrison.

Six schools in Division I-A and one Division I-AA school have not yet submitted the requested data.

The final results of the 2004-05 Hiring Report Card will be announced publicly in October. It is the second year of a three-year commitment by the BCA to assess progress through the report-card initiative.

Floyd Keith, executive director of the BCA, said if the report card does not effect change, other alternatives may be necessary. "If this is not working, then maybe we'll have to be a little more forceful," he said. "Whatever it's going to take for us to get it done. Legal action is not out of our realm."

Race demographics

Results from the 2004 Racial and Gender Report Card, published by Richard Lapchick of the University of Central Florida's Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport, also were released during the BCA convention.

For the first time, the report, now in its 13th edition, was issued sport by sport and included grades for race and gender hiring practices in the NBA, WNBA, NHL, Major League Baseball, the NFL and Major League Soccer.

Overall, college sports received a grade of B- for race and B+ for gender and a combined race and gender grade of B. In 2003, college sports earned a B in both categories.

The report, based on data from the 2003-04 academic year, includes analysis of racial and gender data for the NCAA national office, student-athletes, head and assistant coaches, athletics directors, assistant and associate athletics directors, senior administrators, professional administration and faculty athletics representatives. Data from the NCAA Student-Athlete Ethnicity Report, the Race and Gender Demographics of NCAA Member Institutions' Athletic Personnel and previous studies from the institute were used to compile the most recent grades.

College sports earned a grade of A in race for Division I men's basketball head and assistant coaches and student-athlete opportunities, and in gender for the NCAA national office, head coaches of all women's teams and Division I women's basketball squads. Assistant coaches on women's teams, senior woman administrators and female student-athlete opportunities also earned an A.

High marks in those areas were balanced against Fs in race for Division I head football coaches as well as both race and gender for directors of athletics, conference commissioners and presidents. Faculty athletics representatives scored poorly in gender as well.

While acknowledging the numbers reflected in the study, Bernard Franklin, NCAA senior vice-president for governance and membership, said the upside is that the NCAA is taking steps to address the issue. Not only is diversity one of the core objectives of the NCAA strategic plan, but NCAA President Myles Brand established the office of diversity and inclusion and hired Charlotte Westerhaus as vice-president of the office. In addition, Brand convened a presidential task force in Division I to look at the future of intercollegiate athletics, and one of the subcommittees will look specifically at the diversity issue (see related story, page 1). Divisions II and III also have addressed diversity issues in various ways.

In sharing the study's findings, Lapchick recommended the establishment of a policy within the NCAA similar to the requirement of NFL and MLB teams that an ethnic minority be interviewed for open head coaching positions.

Keith also announced a plan to expand the application of the report card to women's basketball and to athletics directors and conference commissioner positions.

There are 13 ethnic minority directors of athletics in Division I-A, and there currently are no ethnic minorities or women holding Division I-A conference commissioner posts. There are three female Division I conference commissioners.

"One of the things the BCA stands for is equity, and we're going to do everything in our power to look for positive ways to find a resolution to this employment issue," Keith said. "Through the continued efforts of Richard Lapchick and the NCAA and the collaboration not only within our organization but also with the Congressional Black Caucus and other groups, we'll find ways to rectify this situation. It won't happen overnight, but at some point, it has to change."

In other convention proceedings, the BCA honored Herman Boone and William Yoast, the two high-school football coaches who inspired the movie "Remember the Titans," with the organization's Lifetime Achievement Award. Horizon League Senior Associate Commissioner Alfreeda Goff was named as BCA athletics administrator of the year. Lorenzo Romar, head men's basketball coach at the University of Washington, and Pokey Chatman, head women's basketball coach at Louisiana State University, were recognized as the BCA male and female coaches of the year.