The NCAA Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee (MOIC) established joint budget requests with the Committee on Women's Athletics (CWA) and explored ways to address concerns about the lack of diversity in the collegiate officiating ranks during its September 29-30 meeting in Indianapolis.

The MOIC, along with the CWA, identified the establishment and maintenance of separate coaching academies as the primary budget request for the 2004-06 budget cycle (see story below). The two groups conduct at least one of their three annual meetings at a common date and site in order to discuss shared issues. Budget requests dominated the joint meeting this time.

Eugene Marshall Jr., director of athletics at Ramapo College and chair of the MOIC, said the two groups collaborated to reach agreement on potential budget initiatives.

"I think we're at a crucial time right now with the budget items," he said. "I thought the CWA and our group worked very well together with our priorities with the coaches academies. I think that is a significant move in the right direction as we try to level the playing field for women and minority Division I head coaches."

The committee also discussed methods to increase the ethnic and gender diversity of officials throughout intercollegiate athletics. This focus flows out of the committee's mission statement that includes a charge to review issues relating to the enhancement of opportunities for ethnic minorities and women in coaching, administration, officiating and NCAA governance.

The committee recommended renewing a study first completed three years ago that surveyed all Division I conferences about the numbers of ethnic minorities included on their officiating rosters for football and men's and women's basketball. The survey also looked at the percentage of ethnic minorities assigned to regular-season conference and nonconference games, and conference tournament games.

Among the MOIC's review of reported information about access and opportunities within sports officiating were in-person presentations from Dave Parry, supervisor of football officials at the Big Ten Conference, and John Adams, supervisor of men's basketball officials at the Horizon League. While early conversations have centered on football and men's and women's basketball, the committee agreed to expand its review to other sports.

Marshall noted that possible avenues of action include providing scholarship assistance to attend camps and training seminars.

"Developing new initiatives would provide an opportunity for minority officials to become involved in Division I officiating, an opportunity that has for whatever reason been lacking over the years," he said.

According to Rochelle Collins, NCAA director of professional development and staff liaison to the MOIC, this is the committee's most concerted effort yet to address the issue of diversity in officiating.

"Recently the MOIC has been dealing with several significant concerns such as American Indian mascots, the development of minority athletics administrators and diversity among Division I-A head football coaches," Collins said. "Now we have an opportunity to look at diversity in officiating. We look forward to effecting positive change."

In other actions, the MOIC reactivated its subcommittee on American Indian mascots in order to develop a self-analysis checklist for institutions whose use of mascots may be insensitive to American Indian groups. According to Marshall, the checklist will be based on the recommendations the MOIC developed related to schools that use American Indian mascots. Many of those recommendations were forwarded to and adopted by the Executive Committee Subcommittee on Gender and Diversity Issues and the Executive Committee at their August meetings.