National Collegiate Athletic Association

The NCAA News - News and Features

February 23, 1998

Division I cabinet moves toward strategic plan

Elements of a two-year strategic plan for Division I are beginning to take shape though the work of the Strategic Planning Cabinet.

At its February 10-11 meeting, the group worked with 10 Division I emphasis areas that previously had been identified by the Division I Board of Directors. Those areas, not in any priority order, are:

  • Implementation and refinement of the new governance structure.

  • Student-athlete welfare.

  • Amateurism and agents.

  • Gender equity and diversity.

  • Financial aid.

  • Initial and continuing eligibility.

  • Championships and competition.

  • Membership requirements and revenue distribution.

  • Recruiting.

  • Marketing and promotions.

    At its recent meeting, the cabinet developed an extensive set of issues that relate to how each of those emphasis areas will be addressed. Those issues then were distilled and forwarded to the cabinet's review and planning subcommittee, which will refine the language in the form of strategic-plan goal statements in early March. The cabinet will review the goal statements and forward them to the Board for its April meeting.

    The cabinet is in the third step of its strategic-planning process (recommending goals to the Board of Directors in emphasized areas) that will result in the Board adopting a two-year plan beginning with the 1999-2000 fiscal year. The remaining steps are Board approval of the goals (April), forwarding the goals to the Division I Management Council (July 1998 meeting), developing individual cabinet and committee plans based upon those goals (January 1999), preparing the overall strategic plan (April 1999) and adopting the strategic planning document (final version in August 1999).

    The second significant topic discussed by the cabinet was its role (set forth in NCAA Bylaw 21.6.6.4) in ensuring that the NCAA image, values and messages are depicted appropriately in the Association's public relations, marketing, licensing and promotional activities. The cabinet heard from a communications subcommittee that has been reviewing the role of the Communications Committee in the previous structure. That group outlined some recommendations that would allow issues related to the perception of the NCAA to be reviewed by a cabinet and the membership. That would include the Association's public relations and marketing and promotions efforts.

    Similarly, as a result of a referral from the Management Council, the cabinet developed a subcommittee to recommend to the Council processes and systems (including technology) that will increase the effectiveness of communication on governance issues between the NCAA national office and conference offices and between the conferences and their members.

    Each cabinet member will forward his or her recommendation to the subcommittee, which is expected to provide a report to the Strategic Planning Cabinet by this fall.

    The role of the cabinet has been clarified since its first meeting last fall, and at its most recent meeting, it approved the following mission statement: "The mission of the NCAA Strategic Planning Cabinet is to identify and examine activities and trends affecting student-athletes and/or the administration of intercollegiate athletics in Division I and to recommend courses of action, as provided by Bylaw 21.6.6.4, which will foster the principles specified in Article 2 of the Constitution."

    Specifically, the group will:

  • Identify and examine trends in intercollegiate athletics and direct issues or problems to the appropriate entity for short-term or long-term action or study as appropriate.

  • Review and evaluate the work of other entities in the Division I governance structure to provide a system of checks and balances.

  • Coordinate and approve all research requests.

  • Monitor and advise Association-wide committees for which the cabinet has specific responsibility and advancing their initiatives as appropriate.

  • Monitor the public relations and marketing, licensing and promotions efforts of Division I to ensure that appropriate images and messages are being communicated effectively.

  • Establish a mechanism for accountability for the various entities in the governance structure.

  • Consult with Association cabinets and committees as needed to facilitate the planning process.

  • Work cooperatively with others to help achieve the common goals of the Association.

  • Prepare, review and evaluate a strategic planning process for use by the Association.

    The cabinet also passed along to the Management Council a pair of observations about professional sports liaison committee oversight in the new structure in light of that responsibility now resting with the Academics/Eligibility/Compliance Cabinet.

    The Strategic Planning Cabinet stressed the importance of establishing the relationships between the Association and professional sports leagues for men and women that have not been developed previously.

    The cabinet also noted that some issues (for example, disability insurance for elite female student-athletes) may have arisen during the period when questions existed about which body had authority over professional sports liaison matters. It recommended that the cabinet undertake a review to identify these areas and to undertake prompt action in the disability insurance area.