A Web-based presentation will be developed to explain the Division I committee-selection process, along with the legislative requirements for serving on committees and cabinets.

The presentation is expected to be available by late October or early November.

Rob Halvaks, chair of the Division I Administration Cabinet and senior associate commissioner at the Big West Conference, said he believes most administrators understand the process. However, he said the cabinet wants to be clear that its process is not arbitrary and is guided by specific legislative prerequisites, including subdivision, region and diversity requirements.

“When we’re making these appointments, it’s not just a blank sheet of paper that we’re filling in without any legislated requirements,” Halvaks said.

When the cabinet was first formed in summer 2008, members identified a set of guiding principles for making committee appointments. Chief among them was appointing the most qualified candidate for a committee.

Halvaks said that in a case of a committee with multiple vacancies, once the cabinet chooses the most qualified candidate from those nominated by conference offices (assuming the candidate fits the requirements), the legislative requirements shape the remaining appointments (see the accompanying chart).

“Sometimes qualified people don’t make it onto committees because of legislative requirements which eliminated their eligibility,” Halvaks said. “It’s quite a puzzle that we’re working with here.”

The cabinet also examines the diversity of committees and particular conference’s history of service. For example, on a 10-person sports committee, only 40 percent of the members represent the Football Championship Subdivision and Division I conferences that do not sponsor football, but those two subdivisions contain 20 conferences. Conversely, 60 percent of the spots on that committee represent the Football Bowl Subdivision, and only 11 conferences belong to the FBS.

“If we think about the historical recycle, if everyone presents a qualified candidate, it’s going to be a little bit longer for an FCS/Division I conference to get a representative back on that committee than it will be for an FBS conference,” Halvaks said. “There are lots of issues around this process.”

The cabinet also remains sensitive to its own representation. Ten FCS and non-football conferences are not represented on the Administration Cabinet, so members make a strong effort to ensure that those who are not “in the room” when appointments are made are comfortable with the process. Halvaks called it a “work in progress.”

“We’re trying to make sure we get the most qualified people on these committees and cabinets, regardless of (our own) conference affiliation and whether they’re in the room,” Halvaks aid. “We have to be cognizant of the fact that the nominees from those conferences need to be represented well. That’s why we’re actively trying to reach out to all the conferences to make sure they have an avenue to communicate with the cabinet with regard to any nominees they might have.”

The NCAA staff is developing a Web-based education session that will provide examples of the types of decisions that must be made in the committee appointment process. The session should be available by the end of the month.