Feb 5, 2010 9:41:01 AM

The educational affairs group at the NCAA national office has been reconfigured to more efficiently meet membership needs.

The reorganization establishes a new educational programming unit as a resource for athletics administrators, prospective student-athletes and other NCAA-affiliated groups that work in higher education. An oversight committee of NCAA staff members will be established to support the unit's work.

Becky Ahlgren-Bedics, an NCAA associate director for educational affairs, has been appointed to lead the educational programming department.

Two other units – CHAMPS/Life Skills and student-athlete development – were combined into a single department called student-athlete affairs.

That new unit will be charged with supporting the academic, athletics, personal, career and service aspirations of NCAA student-athletes and athletics professionals. The department oversees the CHAMPS/Life Skills program, the Career in Sports Forum and the Divisions I, II and III regional leadership conferences, among other initiatives. In addition, the unit will provide primary liaisons to the Divisions I, II and III Student-Athlete Advisory Committees.

Curtis Hollomon, another associate director for educational affairs, will direct the student-athlete affairs unit.

Robert Vowels, NCAA vice president for educational affairs, said the goal of the reorganization is to continue to effectively meet the needs of the membership.

"These changes will improve the effectiveness and efficiency in how we provide service to the membership, deliver programming, provide content, create new modules and find ways to remain relevant and on the cutting edge," he said.

Individual program administrators will remain in charge of their initiatives, but the educational programming group will work with them to coordinate their efforts and harness the collective expertise and experience.

Ahlgren-Bedics said the membership may not immediately notice anything different other than more opportunities to offer feedback through focus groups, surveys and requests for input at meetings and presentations.

"We hope that student-athletes, coaches and other athletics administrators will be eager and willing to provide input to us as we contribute to the office-wide effort of increasing efficiency and scope and identifying redundancy in the programs we provide," she said.  

The educational programming department's initial focus will be on educational initiatives that target student-athletes.

Meanwhile, Hollomon said the membership will benefit from the student-athlete affairs unit in a number of ways, including an expanded array of applicable resources and more opportunities for student-athletes to provide input on issues that affect their daily lives.

In addition, the unit will focus on enhancing athletics administrators' skills at identifying and serving student-athletes, supporting student-athletes' preparation for life after sports and assisting them in clarifying the values that guide their decisions.

As student-athlete affairs establishes itself, Hollomon encouraged the membership to watch for revamped programming and diverse representation in decision making.

For more information, contact Ahlgren-Bedics at bahlgren@ncaa.org or Hollomon at chollomon@ncaa.org.