Athletics departments looking for practical ways to increase diversity have a new resource.

The national office’s diversity and inclusion department released the Diversity in Athletics: An Assessment of Exemplars and Institutional Best Practices last month. Developed as part of a partnership with the Laboratory for Diversity in Sport at Texas A&M, the 52-page guide offers diversity best practices and examples of how those practices have been applied at NCAA member institutions.

The guide, which was mailed to directors of athletics and faculty athletics representatives last month, is now available online and accessible under the reports and publications section of the Diversity and Inclusion page under the “About the NCAA” tab at www.ncaa.org. 

The guide is based on data collected from recipients of the laboratory’s 2007-08 Diversity in Sport Award. (Winners were from Divisions I and II. Division III athletics departments will be surveyed and recognized during this academic year.) The award recognizes athletics departments who have excelled in demographic diversity, diversity culture, graduation rates of underrepresented student-athletes, gender equity compliance and overall excellence in diversity.

Under the leadership of the laboratory’s George Cunningham and John N. Singer, researchers visited award recipients’ campuses to explore how diversity functions in the workplace. As a result, the 10 institutional best practices and the six diversity in marketing best practices featured in the guide come directly from the membership, which Charlotte Westerhaus, NCAA vice president of diversity and inclusion, believes sets the book apart from other more theoretically based resources. 

“We want this to be something people use over and over again. It’s simple, straight forward and practical. This isn’t ‘pie in the sky,’” said Westerhaus. “You can do this.”

Designed to be a “quick hit” resource, each chapter of the book tackles a different diversity related topic including valuing diversity, institutional analysis, diversity training, integration of diversity initiatives throughout the department, proactive hiring processes, integrating athletics into the university, mentoring, communication, bold leadership from the top and professional development.

Diversity in marketing topics include linking athletics to the broader campus environment, athletics as something “for” fans, integrating student-athletes into the community, costs, developing relationships and diversity as a magnet for more diversity.

The guide’s overall aim, said Westerhaus, is to encourage institutions to think more broadly about the ways diversity influences the entire athletics department such as marketing to a diverse fan base or considering the role diversity plays in providing the best positive experience for student-athletes or exploring ways of increasing, enhancing and creating opportunities for administrators and coaches from various backgrounds.

“This is not just about how we’re doing with our hiring or what the staff or the demographic report look like. That’s important, but we want people to think about all the ways diversity affects what they do,” said Westerhaus. “This is about how diversity is integrated into the fabric of the entire athletics department.”