The group charged with ensuring that recommendations from the Presidential Task Force are either implemented or prompt discussions that influence change elsewhere in the Division I governance structure has decided that most of its work is complete.

Meeting in person July 2 in Indianapolis, the presidential-led Oversight and Monitoring Group recommended it be retired after reviewing more than 60 Task Force recommendations, 11 of which have been implemented and more than 40 others that are either close to completion or have been assigned to other governance areas.

“While the group will continue to monitor progress on some of the more significant Task Force recommendations, the momentum we have built since the Task Force issued its report allows us to be less hands-on with that oversight,” said University of Memphis President Shirley Raines, who has chaired the OMG since its establishment in June 2007. “In that respect, the OMG certainly has been an effective transition group.”

Perhaps the group’s greatest success is seeing to fruition a dashboard indicator project that informs presidential decision-making about athletics spending. The project takes data compiled through uniform reporting procedures developed by the NCAA and the National Association of College and University Business Officers and presents them in ways that allow presidents and other campus leaders to compare their athletics spending with peer groups. In effect, the dashboards are a graphic comparison of the annual financial picture of the institution’s athletics program versus a set of comparators.

While the purpose of the dashboards is not necessarily to convince Division I athletics departments to curb spending, it is intended to at least better inform presidents about the return on their athletics investment. That is especially important during a recessed economic period in which only a handful of Division I programs are self-sufficient and the rest rely on greater subsidies from the university budget to make their athletics ends meet.

Raines said the dashboard project was especially gratifying, since it was the primary directive from a Task Force that identified fiscal responsibility as a presidential priority but knew it couldn’t be legislatively regulated. Rather than a prescriptive approach, the Task Force wanted to get the most accurate and comparable financial data in the hands of decision-makers.

To date, many of those decision-makers already have given the dashboards a test drive.

“Our people were impressed with the data and the way they present,” said Pacific-10 Conference Commissioner and OMG member Tom Hansen. “Our presidents feel that the dashboards will be a useful tool that helps them manage their finances.”

University of Cincinnati President Nancy Zimpher said the dashboards are a hit in the Big East Conference, too. She urged that they continue to be on conference agendas in the fall and that OMG members serve as ambassadors for the project.

NCAA Chief Financial Officer Jim Isch said that an advisory group has been established to help shepherd the project through its first year and to develop improvements based on feedback for next year’s iteration. He also noted that NCAA officials will update other higher-education associations about the dashboards in the coming months. Zimpher said that was appropriate, since the dashboards are the kind of accountability metric presidents are accustomed to seeing from the academic side of the campus.

Meanwhile, NCAA President Myles Brand called the dashboards “a major positive outcome” that would not have been possible without the work of the Task Force and the OMG.

“In the past, the NCAA has tended to seek a prescriptive path, and in some cases, such as academic reform, that is the correct approach,” said Brand. “But the dashboards are a departure in that institutional autonomy – which is essential in financial matters – is the controlling factor. The data in the dashboard project are meant to provide guidance, not to regulate and control.”

Other successes

In addition to the dashboards, Raines cited other Task Force successes, including an enhanced relationship with external constituencies such as the Association of Governing Boards and a strengthened athletics certification program that focuses on presidential leadership and an athletics experience that is more integrated into the university mission.

The partnership with the AGB has blossomed since the Task Force called for more convivial oversight from presidents and boards and the AGB provided guidelines to get there. The Task Force worked closely with AGB representatives in crafting its final report that urged more awareness about the proper role of governing boards, and now the two organizations are collaborating on educational programming in that regard.

The AGB also recently issued an enhanced version of its Statement on Board Responsibilities for Intercollegiate Athletics that provides a roadmap for board interaction in athletics. NCAA President Brand said the document “is so good that we need to raise its visibility.” He urged institutions and conferences to conduct some kind of formal review annually in order to keep board members and presidents apprised of their shared responsibilities. The Atlantic Coast Conference already employs such an approach with an annual sign-off on the document from board members.

The OMG also heard an update on the athletics certification program, which will begin its third cycle this fall. An enhanced set of principles and guidelines, including those relating to institutional control and oversight of athletics spending, comes largely from Task Force recommendations and OMG prodding.

OMG members believe the certification program is properly positioned to influence behavior as much as it can without invading institutional autonomy.

“We see the program as providing an effective baseline standard of operation that now aligns even more with the Task Force’s desired integrated approach,” Raines said. “Many of the Task Force recommendations regarding fiscal responsibility, diversity and inclusion, and relationships with governing boards have been incorporated into the third cycle.”

The OMG did ask the Division I Committee on Athletics Certification to reconsider one Task Force recommendation that offers a “certification with conditions” in cases where internal or external parties interfere with presidential control. Otherwise, though, the OMG was pleased with the measurable standards that have been added to the certification program based on Task Force recommendations.

The OMG also discussed several ad-hoc groups working on Task Force areas of concern, including a team addressing how best to prepare all students – including “special admits” – to succeed academically and graduate. Those admissions cases are sometimes referred to as “at risk” students, but the OMG said it prefers a different label. The group working on the matter has conducted two of its four planned meetings, and while no legislative proposals are imminent, there are discussions about what evaluation and assessment tools are available to ensure that institutions devote the resources necessary to help those students reach their academic goals.