Calendar

AWARDS PROGRAM

USA Today discontinues support of academic awards

USA Today has informed the NCAA of its desire to discontinue the three-year-old USA Today/NCAA Academic Achievement Awards program recognizing athletics program graduation rates at NCAA schools.

Since 2000, USA Today has presented awards to 36 colleges and universities in all three NCAA divisions. The program honored institutions for achievement in overall student-athlete graduation rate, student-athlete rates above the general student body and improvement over the previous year.

NCAA President Myles Brand said the NCAA would seek to reinstate the program in the near future with a new sponsor.

OLYMPIC SPORTS

NCAA, USOC task force to address sponsorship drop

The NCAA and the United States Olympic Committee are seeking persons interested in serving on a joint task force to address the decline in sponsorship of Olympic sports at the NCAA level. The elimination of sports programs has challenged many Olympic sports and has cost participation opportunities for NCAA student-athletes. The task force will consider various ways of effecting change, including the promotion of award programs that recognize the role NCAA institutions play in the development of Olympic athletes and the liberalization of facility access for current student-athletes, and make recommendations to the both the NCAA and the USOC regarding possible solutions.

The task force is expected to complete its work in about 18 months and will have about four in-person meetings. The group tentatively will consist of five representatives each from the NCAA and the USOC. This task force seeks a diverse pool of applicants and will be in particular need of presidents, directors of athletics and commissioners.

Those interested in being considered for the task force or nominating a qualified individual should submit information to Jennifer Strawley at the NCAA national office.

Staff contact: Jennifer Strawley -- jstrawley@ncaa.org.

FOOTBALL

Division I cabinet approves replay experiment for Big Ten

The Division I Championships/Competition Cabinet has approved a recommendation from the Football Rules Committee to permit the Big Ten Conference to experiment with instant replay in football for the 2004 season.

Staff contact: Scott Deitch -- sdeitch@ncaa.org.

YOUTH PROGRAMS

Rochelle Collins selected as interim president of NYSC

Rochelle Collins, NCAA director of professional development, has been named as interim president of the National Youth Sports Corporation. Collins replaces Ed Thiebe, who resigned in February.

Collins is expected to serve as NYSC president for at least six to nine months while a national search is conducted. She began her tenure at the NCAA working as a youth programs coordinator in conjunction with the Youth Education through Sports (YES) program and the National Youth Sports Program (NYSP), both of which the NYSC administers. Collins has been with the NCAA staff since 1990.

Before joining the NCAA, Collins was assistant athletics director for fund-raising, marketing and promotions at North Carolina A&T State University. She also served for two years as athletics promotions assistant at the University of Michigan. She has a bachelor's degree in business administration and marketing from the University of Texas at El Paso and a master's degree in sports administration from Wayne State University (Michigan).

The YES and NYSP programs were administered by the NCAA until 2000 when the NCAA Executive Committee voted to dissolve the relationship. Both programs were moved under the auspices of the NYSC and Thiebe was named as president at that time.

Staff contact: Scott Deitch -- sdeitch@ncaa.org.