Apr 27, 2010 8:02:52 PM

NCAA President-Elect Mark Emmert wasted little time in addressing the myriad issues he will face as leader of the Association.

In two news conferences within 18 hours of the announcement of his appointment as the NCAA's fifth chief executive, the current University of Washington president made it clear that he is keenly aware of the challenges presidents and chancellors face in overseeing a complex intercollegiate athletics enterprise and that his leadership will lend them a hand.

"The NCAA is in fact a collection of academic institutions," he said. "It is led by presidents of colleges and universities who care deeply and passionately about their students. Those are now my colleagues, and they soon will become my bosses.

"I will work for and with them on all of the issues facing the NCAA. They are people for whom I have enormous respect and appreciation, and I know their work extremely well."

Emmert, who noted his nearly lifetime involvement with higher education, said he intends to do what it takes to provide presidents with what they need to help lead their campuses, and that most of the time it would come in a supporting role.

For example, to the question of how institutions manage the escalating costs of the enterprise, Emmert said what the NCAA can do is arm presidents with the information to make wise and effective financial decisions – a position similar to Brand's.

"Each college and university has to make its own appropriate choice about its resources and how they deploy them and whether they will increase or decrease support for intercollegiate athletics," Emmert said. "Our job is not how to tell them how to do their jobs but to help them be more successful in managing them."

Emmert said he intends to help colleges and university presidents "be effective stewards of and managers of intercollegiate athletics" and to "set a context within which they and their students can be successful." At the news conference Wednesday, he pointed out that athletics departments in Division I (like Washington's) account for a small fraction of the overall university budget and should be kept in perspective.

"The real question is how do you make sure the athletics activities are integrated into the university overall and the academic and cultural experiences of the student body and then balance off the costs and benefits of making investments," he said. "The role of the NCAA in overseeing or constraining budgets is a highly limited role. We'll have to use the bully pulpit and our ability to discuss these issues and provide leadership with the presidents."

He promised to continue what he called the "academic accountability" that Brand developed through enhanced eligibility standards and the implementation of Division I's Academic Progress Rate. He said Wednesday he was in favor of an academic requirement for participation in intercollegiate athletics but stopped short of saying he would want it used as a championship selection criteria, saying there was "nothing distinctive about the (Division I men's basketball) tournament" as compared to the rest of NCAA participation.

"We want our student-athletes to be students first and to be successful as students, and if they're not, they shouldn't be participating in intercollegiate athletics at all," he said. "The broader issue is making sure that every institution has appropriate graduation rates independent of whether they participate in the tournament … We need to make sure we're getting high-quality accountability and performance in the classroom, as well as on the athletics field."

Emmert also addressed rules enforcement. He said that maintaining the integrity of the enterprise was critical to maintaining the values of intercollegiate athletics and something he takes "extremely seriously."

"The rules have got to be managed fairly and equitably," he said. "The process has to be as thoughtful and well-understood as it possibly can be. People have to know why you're making decisions and on what grounds a judgment is rendered. My intention will be to focus on those approaches."

He acknowledged that rules-making and rules enforcement were parts of the job many people found distasteful, but said he believes it's a necessary part of the enterprise to maintain the "quality of competition" and "principles" of the Association.

Emmert also said he was "comfortable" with the Association's current balance between generating revenue through commercial activities and protecting the collegiate model of athletics.

"The most important issue is to recognize that the NCAA engages in a variety of activities that generate revenue," he said. "That's not inconsistent with the goals and values of the NCAA. The question is what you do with those revenues? If those resources are deployed toward advancing the values and interests of intercollegiate athletics and student-athletes, then I don't see an inherent contradiction."

Emmert said while he had not considered being president of the NCAA during Brand's tenure simply because Brand was doing so well at it, he was attracted to the position after being approached because he saw the opportunity to shape the lives of the more than 400,000 NCAA student-athletes.

"As an educator and someone who has spent his whole life in the academy, the idea of taking on that challenge and to be able to shape those experiences is one that I find incredibly compelling," he said.

And to the almost obligatory question of whether he would advocate for a Division I football playoff, Emmert said, "I look forward to having conversations with presidents about what's in the best interests of their institutions and intercollegiate football. We'll join in those discussions but I do not expect the NCAA to be leading that charge."