The Gender-Equity Q&A is intended to help athletics administrators understand institutional gender-equity and Title IX-related issues. Answers for the Q&A are provided by Christine Grant, associate professor at the University of Iowa, and Janet Judge, attorney with Verrill & Dana LLP.

Just before the start of the summer, in response to a number of inquiries from members, we promised a recap of the individual treatment areas covered by Title IX. If you recall, Title IX measures athletics compliance in three separate areas (participation, financial aid and treatment) with individual tests for each. When assessing compliance in this area, it is important to remember that although each area should be reviewed individually, it is the treatment of the men's and women's programs overall that is dispositive for compliance purposes.

Accordingly, a disparity in one area that favors one sex may be offset by a similar disparity in another area that favors the opposite sex. For the next several issues of the Gender-Equity Q&A, we will address ways to review each treatment (also known as "the laundry list"). Of course, each program will have its own unique characteristics and any review will have to be tailored to the circumstances of the program in question.

Q How do you measure equity in the scheduling of games and practice time?

A The 1979 Policy Interpretation specifically lists the following five areas to be reviewed when determining whether teams are scheduled equitably:

1. Are there equitable numbers of competitive events offered per sport?

First, it helps to assemble a list of the maximum number of contests permitted in each sport per conference rules. Men's and women's teams should be provided the same number of contests in like sports (for example, men's and women's basketball) and where they do not, schools will be expected to provide non-discriminatory reasons for the differences. In some instances, institutions have stated that coaches have requested fewer games. Remember, the analysis is from the perspective of the student-athlete. In other words, are the student-athletes being given equivalent opportunities? It is not enough to leave the decision to the coach without careful administrative follow-up to determine the reason for the request for fewer games.

2. Are practice opportunities equivalent in number and duration?

Would your like teams be satisfied with the practice schedule of the opposite sex? This is a good test when trying to decide if one team is given more and better practice opportunities than another. This analysis is fairly straightforward. Compare the number of practices per season and length of practices. Investigate differences. In some instances, part-time coaching schedules result in the shortchanging of practice times. Schools must ensure that the coach they provide for each sport is able to be on campus regularly to provide sufficient and equitable practice opportunities.

Are teams permitted to return to school before the start of school in the fall and/or during semester breaks? If so, are the men's and women's teams afforded comparable opportunities? Are all teams permitted to return to school as early as their sport will allow or do schools place restrictions on the number of preseason practices? Many departments have policies with regard to fall preseason due to the high cost associated with housing and feeding student-athletes on campus before school begins. Are those policies applied equitably?

It this instance, institutions need to look at all sports and not just those that are alike. For example, if football is the only program brought back early, the fact that there is no like program will not excuse the school's decision to bring back members of one sex and not the other. Clearly, all fall programs benefit from preseason training. So when conducting a review in this area, it is important to ask whether programs are given equitable opportunities to come back early to practice or are some given priority over others. By the same token, more and more teams are taking advantage of the opportunity to practice during the off-season. When are teams permitted to practice off-season? Are there equitable opportunities, and are coaches, athletic trainers and fields available?

3. Are competitive events scheduled at comparable times?

Which teams are given the prime-time contest slots? The equitable assignment of the best (and worst) days and times for competitive events requires significant advance planning and coordination with conferences and other schools. In addition, what may be considered prime time for one team may not be desirable for another. Schedulers who make assumptions without speaking to teams get into trouble in this area. It helps to meet with each coach of like sports to get a sense of particular games and special schedule requests. It also is important to check with male and female student-athletes to make sure they feel that their schedules and their sports are treated fairly.

4. Are teams given equitable practice times?

Sometimes there is a tendency to follow historical assignment patterns when facing field or facility availability limitations even though the schedule is not equitable. Institutions with limited facilities must be assigning the "prime" practice times equitably. Some form of rotation system should be implemented so that teams of each sex are equally advantaged (and disadvantaged as the case may be).

In addition, institutions with limited indoor facilities face particular problems with the allocation of equitable practice times during the winter and/or periods of inclement weather. Institutions should look carefully at any competitive or practice facility that is reserved exclusively for one team because such policies frequently create an equity problem. Also, where schools offer practice time to visiting schools in the prime facility, do both men's and women's programs move to accommodate the requests or does the practice inconvenience one program disproportionately?

5. Do programs have similar opportunities to engage in available preseason and postseason competition?

Here, schools should review their policies with regard to off-season and postseason competition. Compare spring trips for the baseball and softball teams. Are they equitable and equitably funded? Where does the money come from to fund the trips? What rules govern when and where teams are permitted to travel outside of their normal competitive region?

The second part of this analysis is a look at the word "available" when reviewing preseason and postseason opportunities. For example, if a school has a department policy stating that all teams that qualify for NCAA postseason competition get to participate -- and more men's teams than women's teams qualify -- there is not a Title IX issue. However, if there are other postseason opportunities that are not pursued for members of one sex but are pursued for members of the other sex, the institution could have some problems.

In short, this laundry-list area involves a fairly straightforward analysis. Is scheduling done fairly in the department or is one program given preference over another?

Ask your coaches and your students. They know.

For additional gender-equity resources, including newly created video segments featuring Christine Grant and Janet Judge, visit www.ncaa.org/gender_equity.