The segments of the NCAA staff responsible for supporting Association governance, aiding membership compliance with rules and providing research for decision-making are now linked not just in name but increasingly in their day-to-day activities -- as one of the national office's most significant reorganizations in recent years continues.

The groups were combined into Governance, Membership Services and Research (GMSR) after the selection in 2003 of Bernard Franklin as the NCAA's senior vice-president responsible for those areas. But naming the newly formed group was the easy part.

Melding three previously distinctive staff units into one was the real challenge.

"It was the first time these three areas were included and reported under the same administrative umbrella," Franklin said. "Certainly they had worked in a collaborative fashion, because of the nature of their work, but now they were tied together administratively.

"The intent was that these three areas needed to be more fully integrated, in terms of their work, as well as providing service to our membership."

Franklin convened a staff task force including representatives from each of the groups, and instructed its members "to be creative, to think outside the box, and look at a wider array of opportunities" for reshaping how those groups interact with each other and serve the membership.

"A lot of this is about a more focused allocation of resources," said Dan Dutcher, NCAA Division III vice-president and chair of the task force. "We were trying to determine, if we concentrate the same number of duties under fewer people, do we end up creating more efficiency that way?

"The answer is, I think we do, through the creation of teams that focus on the issues that affect each of the divisions."

After giving some consideration to a "federated" approach -- or assigning specific personnel to work exclusively with Division I, II or III -- the task force recommended and the newly formed group adopted a "hybrid" approach that results in much more concentrated support for the three divisions -- but also bolsters support for Association-wide activity.

"We found the need to have a flexible, fluid environment where we can bring all of our resources to bear at critical times," said Kevin Lennon, NCAA vice-president for membership services, who co-chaired the task force.

The result: formation of staff teams that devote most of their time and effort to supporting a particular membership division, but whose members can assist with other duties when needed. The teams include personnel from all of GMSR's components, working together to support everything from committee work to compliance activities.

"Let's look at the support membership services and research provides for the governance structure in development of legislation," Franklin offered as an example of how the new approach works.

"Before, you might have had four or five staff members from membership services supporting Divisions II and III. In the model we've adopted, you have fewer people, but they're devoting more time. You begin to build a sense of team -- a team of experts to support the governance structure. It's written into these individuals' performance plans, so there is some accountability for supporting the governance structure. We didn't have that before.

"We expect one of the things we will be able to do is provide much better service to our membership by supporting our governance structure in ways we've not been able to do in the past."

Central coordination

Another benefit stems from recent actions to improve coordination of activities that reach across the three divisions.

"There is an underappreciated, and underserved, aspect of the governance structure that some of this is directly designed to address -- the Association-wide committee structure," Dutcher said.

"To be honest, (Association-wide committees) have been kind of betwixt and between, in that they report to all three divisions, but at times seem not to report to anybody, or sometimes get caught in a kind of limbo."

One result of the recent staff restructuring was selection of a director of governance and membership, whose responsibilities include supporting the Executive Committee (which includes representation from all three divisions) and ensuring that issues from Association-wide committees are communicated to the division governance bodies.

Delise O'Meally, a member of the membership services staff since 1997, was appointed to that position in March.

"Now we've got somebody who can help coordinate the policy process for those issues, the legislative process and the interpretative process, and also any related research, which is very important," Dutcher said.

The position also will be important in GMSR's efforts to support the NCAA's recently adopted strategic plan.

"There are hundreds of moving parts in the strategic plan, with a number of objectives," Franklin said, adding that GMSR has been assigned specific responsibility for achieving many of those objectives. "Someone was needed who could be the core and center of GMSR; we felt that was critical."

That "core and center" enables more than integration of staff; it also supports more effective communication among divisions.

"Part of what federation was about was allowing each division more legislative autonomy, but what we don't want to do in that process is deprive divisions of the opportunity to benefit from good ideas that emerge as legislation in another division," Dutcher said.

"We don't want to disadvantage divisions by not giving them notice about important legislative initiatives that are developing in one division and that the other divisions should know about -- regardless of whether they want to go in a similar direction."

Improving service

The primary objective of GMSR's organizational efforts is clear: improving service to the membership.

If integration of the staffs proceeds as Franklin and other GMSR administrators expect, that improvement should manifest itself in many ways: ranging from better training and preparation of staff liaisons to NCAA committees to enhancement of staff expertise in responding to issues that are important to member institutions.

Regular re-evaluation of the integration effort is planned, beginning this fall.

"There is a plan in place to assess these initial steps toward integration, and to periodically re-evaluate them," Franklin said. "This is more evolution than revolution; it's constantly evolving. I think after we've had a chance to assess the steps we've taken, they'll begin to point us in the direction of what we need to continue -- or discontinue -- doing."

There also are efforts underway to encourage broader interaction among personnel who work within GMSR -- not only through creation of teams, but also by providing regular opportunities through all-staff meetings to exchange information and ideas. The primary objective is to better prepare to provide service, but to do so by becoming more closely knit as a group.

"As people reflect on what team they're on as they walk into the building, we want to begin to capture a feeling that they're part of GMSR -- not just part of governance or membership services or research," Lennon said. "We want to use that team environment to achieve better sharing of information and collaboration. If you're able to accomplish that, then the possibilities are unlimited."