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NCAA News Archive - 2007
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Women's panel backs college sports forum
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By Greg Johnson
The NCAA News
The NCAA News
The Committee on Women’s Athletics at its September 16-17 meeting supported a “Women in College Sports Forum” to be held in conjunction with the 2008 NCAA Women’s Final Four in Tampa-St. Petersburg, Florida.
Committee members heard preliminary details about the April 6 program at the downtown Tampa Hyatt Regency that will take place before tip-off of the national semifinals.
Organizers say holding the forum at the Final Four is appropriate since that event typically draws one of the largest contingents of athletics administrators and coaches. It is a prime time to gather stakeholders with interest in promoting the experience of women in intercollegiate athletics and discuss issues that affect them.
Among topics expected to be on the agenda is how female athletes are portrayed in the media. The controversy surrounding national radio personality Don Imus’ comments about the Rutgers women’s basketball the day after the Scarlet Knights appeared in the 2007 championship game is one example.
Another possible agenda item is a survey examining perceived barriers to women involved in athletics administration. Women’s athletics administrators, coaches, student-athletes and game officials are among those being sampled.
The Association conducted a similar survey in 1989, and forum organizers believe a follow-up is necessary.
More than 1,500 female student-athletes responded to the first survey, which found that only 5.3 percent planned to seek a career in intercollegiate athletics immediately after graduation. That was despite more than 88 percent saying they would compete in intercollegiate athletics if they had a chance to do it all over again.
The two main reasons cited for not wanting a career in intercollegiate athletics were salary limitations and the desire to obtain a more traditional “9-to-5” occupation.
NCAA Director of Education Services Karen Morrison said it will be interesting to see if those perceptions have changed in the last two decades.
“We’ve updated the questions and certainly tried to capture the life-work balance issue,” she said. “There has been discussion about this recently, and it seems to resonate as to why women don’t stay in this business.”
Of the nearly 300 female athletics administrators who responded to the 1989 survey, many said they were concerned about their profession interfering with family life.
Others cited the so-called “good ol’ boys’ network” as a barrier.
CWA members agreed that the updated survey should help officials recommend ways to effectively address the diminishing number of female head coaches and administrators.
Student-athlete pregnancy
The CWA also supported the Division I Academics/Eligibility/Compliance Cabinet’s sponsorship of emergency legislation that prohibits institutions from reducing or canceling aid to student-athletes during the term of the scholarship due to injury, illness or a medical condition, regardless of whether it affects the student-athlete’s ability to participate with the team during that academic year. The provision applies to pregnant student-athletes and those diagnosed with other conditions such as mental illness or eating disorders.
At its July meeting, the CWA addressed the issue of student-athlete pregnancy after being asked by NCAA President Myles Brand to examine the subject.
The committee has begun developing a toolkit to help student-athletes and institutions make informed decisions about the student-athlete’s immediate well-being in such cases. The effort also includes recommendations about how to help the student-athlete manage issues involving child care.
CWA members said they would seek advice from Elizabeth Sorensen, an assistant professor in the College of Nursing and Health at Wright State University and an advocate for institutions developing fair and equal treatment policies to manage student-athlete pregnancy. They also will seek counsel from Florida Coastal School of Law associate professor Nancy Hogshead-Makar, a former swimming student-athlete and Olympic gold medalist, and an authority on Title IX issues.
Last May, several reports cited contracts signed between institutions and student-athletes stipulating that athletics aid could be altered or lost due to pregnancy. In such cases, while both parties may have agreed to the terms, it can still be judged as discrimination under Title IX.
Since pregnancy is defined as a temporary disability by law, any rule or stipulation applied to women must be equally applied to men.
Also, committee members were informed of an Association-wide session at the NCAA Convention entitled “Legal, Medical and Treatment Aspects of Student-Athlete Pregnancy.”
Once the toolkit is completed, the information advising institutions about developing policies to manage student-athlete pregnancy will be available on NCAA.org.
Committee members heard preliminary details about the April 6 program at the downtown Tampa Hyatt Regency that will take place before tip-off of the national semifinals.
Organizers say holding the forum at the Final Four is appropriate since that event typically draws one of the largest contingents of athletics administrators and coaches. It is a prime time to gather stakeholders with interest in promoting the experience of women in intercollegiate athletics and discuss issues that affect them.
Among topics expected to be on the agenda is how female athletes are portrayed in the media. The controversy surrounding national radio personality Don Imus’ comments about the Rutgers women’s basketball the day after the Scarlet Knights appeared in the 2007 championship game is one example.
Another possible agenda item is a survey examining perceived barriers to women involved in athletics administration. Women’s athletics administrators, coaches, student-athletes and game officials are among those being sampled.
The Association conducted a similar survey in 1989, and forum organizers believe a follow-up is necessary.
More than 1,500 female student-athletes responded to the first survey, which found that only 5.3 percent planned to seek a career in intercollegiate athletics immediately after graduation. That was despite more than 88 percent saying they would compete in intercollegiate athletics if they had a chance to do it all over again.
The two main reasons cited for not wanting a career in intercollegiate athletics were salary limitations and the desire to obtain a more traditional “9-to-5” occupation.
NCAA Director of Education Services Karen Morrison said it will be interesting to see if those perceptions have changed in the last two decades.
“We’ve updated the questions and certainly tried to capture the life-work balance issue,” she said. “There has been discussion about this recently, and it seems to resonate as to why women don’t stay in this business.”
Of the nearly 300 female athletics administrators who responded to the 1989 survey, many said they were concerned about their profession interfering with family life.
Others cited the so-called “good ol’ boys’ network” as a barrier.
CWA members agreed that the updated survey should help officials recommend ways to effectively address the diminishing number of female head coaches and administrators.
Student-athlete pregnancy
The CWA also supported the Division I Academics/Eligibility/Compliance Cabinet’s sponsorship of emergency legislation that prohibits institutions from reducing or canceling aid to student-athletes during the term of the scholarship due to injury, illness or a medical condition, regardless of whether it affects the student-athlete’s ability to participate with the team during that academic year. The provision applies to pregnant student-athletes and those diagnosed with other conditions such as mental illness or eating disorders.
At its July meeting, the CWA addressed the issue of student-athlete pregnancy after being asked by NCAA President Myles Brand to examine the subject.
The committee has begun developing a toolkit to help student-athletes and institutions make informed decisions about the student-athlete’s immediate well-being in such cases. The effort also includes recommendations about how to help the student-athlete manage issues involving child care.
CWA members said they would seek advice from Elizabeth Sorensen, an assistant professor in the College of Nursing and Health at Wright State University and an advocate for institutions developing fair and equal treatment policies to manage student-athlete pregnancy. They also will seek counsel from Florida Coastal School of Law associate professor Nancy Hogshead-Makar, a former swimming student-athlete and Olympic gold medalist, and an authority on Title IX issues.
Last May, several reports cited contracts signed between institutions and student-athletes stipulating that athletics aid could be altered or lost due to pregnancy. In such cases, while both parties may have agreed to the terms, it can still be judged as discrimination under Title IX.
Since pregnancy is defined as a temporary disability by law, any rule or stipulation applied to women must be equally applied to men.
Also, committee members were informed of an Association-wide session at the NCAA Convention entitled “Legal, Medical and Treatment Aspects of Student-Athlete Pregnancy.”
Once the toolkit is completed, the information advising institutions about developing policies to manage student-athlete pregnancy will be available on NCAA.org.
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