National Collegiate Athletic Association

NCAA News Archive - 2010

back to 2010 | Back to NCAA News Archive Index

Jun 19, 2010 10:17:42 AM

Meeting less than 24 hours after the Knight Commission issued a report calling for a "restored balance" within intercollegiate athletics, the Division II Presidents Council – a group that coined the phrase "Life in the Balance" as it relates to college sports – talked about how Division II is continuing to accomplish many of the outcomes the reform-minded Knight Commission desires.

"It is interesting that the Knight Commission titled its report ‘Restoring the Balance,' since ‘Life in the Balance' is what we have been living in Division II for several years now," said Molloy College President Drew Bogner, who chairs the Presidents Council.

While the Knight Commission's primary target is Division I, several of the recommendations the commission advanced June 17 strike a chord with Division II. Among them are calls for reduced seasons and games in various sports, something Division II accomplished last year during Phase I of the Life in the Balance initiative that streamlined seasons and cut contests in 10 sports, including basketball.

Meanwhile, proposals to reduce the basketball season by one game failed in Division I.

Phase II of the Division II Life in the Balance initiative is under way this year. It includes a review of the nonchampionship segment in various sports, another Knight Commission concern.

At the Division II Presidents Council meeting on Friday, a day before the third Division II Presidents and Chancellors Summit in Indianapolis, members also noted that the commission's call to de-emphasize athletics performance as a component of revenue distribution has already been addressed in Division II. The Council in April endorsed a proposal that would reallocate the prong in its revenue-distribution formula rewarding conferences for their performance in the Division II Men's and Women's Basketball Championships to other prongs on sports sponsorship and equal distributions.

The Council also pointed to a presentation at Saturday's summit on a "dashboard indicators" project that allows Division II presidents and chancellors to evaluate the financial value athletics brings to their institutions. The project is unique to Division II, given the division's partial-scholarship model that many presidents and administrators see as a way to manage enrollment and increase revenue for the institution.

In a way, that initiative matches the Knight Commission's call for more transparent data on athletics spending.

"We're using these data to be fiscally prudent, which aligns with what the Knight Commission is after to inform responsible decision-making," Bogner said.

Bogner said several Division I presidents have been complimentary recently about Division II's balance-seeking actions, including delayed start dates for fall-sports practices and the seven-day dead period over the winter break that were part of the Phase I proposals at the 2010 Convention. If that has contributed to a more national discussion about "balance," Bogner said he's happy the Division II was able to help.

"If we didn't start these conversations, we certainly at least contributed to them by actually doing it – balance is not just a theoretical discussion anymore," he said. "But these concerns are not exclusive to any one division. As an Association, we need to keep reminding ourselves that we are all about the student-athlete. That is an Association-wide perspective.

"We need to ensure a balance among academics, athletics and allowing the student to experience the holistic framework that our campuses provide."