The National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics has adopted several changes in the way its all-sports trophy will be scored this year.

For the 2006-07 U.S. Sports Academy Directors’ Cup, NACDA has reinstated all sports in which the NCAA sponsors a championship (as well as football at the Bowl Subdivision level) to full scoring value. In other words, national champions in those sports will receive the full 100 points.

The change comes after a year in which NACDA had adjusted the scoring to half value for sports sponsored by 25 percent or less of the division membership. Some NACDA members criticized that approach, claiming it sent the message to athletes in those sports that their participation was less valued.

The Directors’ Cup scoring committee revisited the issue at the NACDA convention in June and decided on the change. The committee also adjusted the philosophy of the program to focus on honoring institutions maintaining a broad-based program and achieving success in many men’s and women’s sports. The Cup’s intent is to treat equally all student-athletes who compete in those sports.

NACDA membership president Lee McElroy, athletics director at the University at Albany, said the changes were made as a result of the scoring committee’s engagement with representatives from various sports who advocated for a more inclusive model based on all NCAA championship sports.

"These adjustments keep in line with the broad-based philosophy of the Directors’ Cup," he said. "In my 10 years of involvement with the Directors’ Cup scoring, revisions are common and always in the best interest of student-athlete well-being."

In other changes, the scoring committee separated indoor and outdoor track in the calculation. In the past, institutions could count only the one in which they scored the most points.

Th scoring committee also rescinded the ranking of only the top 100 teams per division in a given sport. Moving forward, all colleges and universities that receive point in the standings will be ranked.

For football at the Division I Bowl Subdivision level, the scoring committee is considering increasing the number of institutions that receive points and if so, what mechanism should be used to rank teams (the Bowl Championship Series rankings, for example). The committee has not decided on that matter.

See the NACDA Web site (www.nacda.com) for the complete scoring structure. The first set of rankings is scheduled to be released November 23 for Divisions II and III and December 1 for Division I.