Eight minority and women athletics administrators have been selected as the 2003-04 class of NCAA Fellows.

The 2003-04 class, the fourth selected since the NCAA Fellows Leadership Development Program was established in 1994, will begin an 18-month development program to be completed by June 2004.

The NCAA also has selected executive mentors from NCAA institutions who will be available to answer questions, provide support and ensure meaningful and practical experiences for each Fellow.

The 2003-04 Fellows (and their assigned mentor) are:

Amanda Braun, assistant athletics director and senior woman administrator, University of Wisconsin, Green Bay (Cheryl Levick, director of athletics, Santa Clara University);

Kevin Clark, associate athletics director for finance, Indiana University, Bloomington (Kevin White, director of athletics, University of Notre Dame);

Megan Drucker, associate athletics director for administrative services and senior woman administrator, Tulane University (Alfreeda Goff, associate commissioner, Horizon League);

Charles Guthrie Jr., assistant athletics director for marketing, University of California, San Diego (Dennis Farrell, commissioner, Big West Conference);

Robert O'Neal, assistant athletics director, Bethune-Cookman College (Craig Littlepage, director of athletics, University of Virginia);

Jill Redmond, senior woman administrator and sports information director, Benedictine University (Illinois) (Carlyle Carter, executive director, Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference);

Donald Reed, director of student-athlete services, Iowa State University (Earl Edwards, director of athletics, University of California, San Diego); and

Julie Sandoval, associate athletics director, California State University, Dominguez Hills (Karl Benson, commissioner, Western Athletic Conference).

The NCAA Fellows program was established through a joint recommendation from the NCAA Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee and the Committee on Women's Athletics. Modeled after the American Council on Education Fellows Program, the NCAA Fellows program was developed with the specific goal of enhancing the employment and leadership opportunities for minorities and women at the senior-management level of intercollegiate athletics administration.

The program's purpose is to identify minorities and women who aspire to hold positions such as athletics director and conference commissioner and to involve them in various administrative experiences to prepare them for obtaining those positions.

During the 18-month program, NCAA Fellows receive training in marketing, public relations, budgeting, booster relations, leadership, compliance, fund-raising, diversity and management.

The Fellow's institution pays for travel costs for the Fellow to attend the training seminars and select national and regional meetings (about $5,000). The NCAA covers the remaining costs, including retreats, visits to other campuses and other off-site meetings.

Following are biographical summaries of the 2003-04 NCAA Fellows.

Braun

A Siena College graduate with a master's in sport administration from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Braun has held her current post at Wisconsin-Green Bay since October 2000.

She supervises 13 sport programs at the school and oversees the CHAMPS/Life Skills program as well. She was appointed as the school's senior woman administrator in 1999, when she assisted in developing the university's first five-year plan for athletics.

Braun also has worked in the athletics departments at North Carolina and Duke University.

She currently is a member of the NCAA Men's and Women's Skiing Committee.

Clark

Clark earned his bachelor's degree from Grambling State University in 1986 and has an MBA from Webster University as well.

He served a five-year stint as an accountant at the NCAA national office from 1991 to 1996 before becoming assistant athletics director for business and finance at Saint Louis University. He was promoted to director of business administration at the school in 2002.

Clark then accepted his current position of associate athletics director for finance at Indiana. In that position, he manages the financial operations for Indiana's athletics department and assists with negotiating contracts for athletics events and promotions, among other duties.

Drucker

The Lafayette College graduate, who also has a master's degree in sport, health, leisure and physical studies from the University of Iowa, obtained her current position at Tulane in July 2000. Before that, she was the assistant athletics director for compliance and oversaw training room and strength and conditioning facilities, admissions and housing. She also supervised five sport programs.

Drucker also worked at New Mexico State University as an assistant compliance director from 1996 to 1998. She served two internships before that, one at Dartmouth College and another at Iowa.

She was a softball and field hockey student-athlete while at Lafayette.

Guthrie

A Syracuse University graduate, Guthrie is close to completing his master's degree in education administration and policy studies at the University at Albany.

He obtained his current position at UC San Diego in December 2002, and since that time has helped the school host the 2001 NCAA Division II Women's Soccer Championship and the 2002 California Collegiate Athletic Association Track and Field Championships, among his other duties.

Guthrie came to UC San Diego from Columbia University, where he was the director of marketing, tickets and promotions from 1999 to 2000.

Before that, he served internships at Colgate University and with the Eastern College Athletic Conference.

O'Neal

The Central State University graduate has held his current position at Bethune-Cookman for two years. In that role, O'Neal supervises compliance, coordinates student-athlete academic services and interprets NCAA bylaws for 18 sport programs.

O'Neal came to Bethune-Cookman from Florida International University, where he was the assistant athletics director for compliance for four years.

He also served in compliance at Delaware State University from 1995 to 1996, and at the University of Maryland, Eastern Shore, from 1994 to 1995. Before that, O'Neal was the compliance coordinator and football coach at Livingstone College.

Redmond

Redmond earned her bachelor's degree at DePaul University and has a master's degree in business administration from Benedictine, where she holds her current position. She also serves as compliance officer and as a member of the freshman advising program.

Before her SWA/SID appointment, Redmond was the head women's athletic trainer at Benedictine from 1997 to 2000. She served as an assistant athletic trainer for two years before that.

Redmond also served one year as the director of athletics at Josephinum (Illinois) High School, where she also taught physical education classes.

Reed

Reed holds a bachelor's degree in business administration, a master's in kinesiology from the University of North Texas, and a doctorate in educational management and development from New Mexico State University.

He currently is the director of student-athlete services at Iowa State, where he supervises academic-, personal- and career-development programs.

Reed came to Iowa State from Arizona State University, where he managed academic-development programs from 1998 to 2000. He held a similar post at New Mexico State for seven years before that.

Sandoval

A Long Beach State University graduate, Sandoval also has a master's degree in educational administration from Santa Clara University.

In her current role at Cal State Dominguez Hills, Sandoval supervises five women's sports in addition to serving as the compliance coordinator. She has held that position since 1995.

Before that, Sandoval was an assistant women's volleyball coach at California State University, Fullerton, from 1992 to 1995. She also coached women's volleyball at Santa Clara from 1978 to 1989, before serving brief coaching stints at California Polytechnic State University and Saddleback (California) Community College.

Her committee service includes a term on the NCAA Division II Women's Volleyball Committee.