Forty-four presidents and chancellors at Division I institutions have been selected to serve on the NCAA Presidential Task Force on the Future of Division I Athletics. The task force, chaired by University of Arizona President Peter Likins, was established in January and will conduct its first in-person meeting June 9-10 in Tucson, Arizona.

The task force will operate primarily through four subcommittees, each composed of about a dozen members. The four subcommittee chairs and NCAA President Myles Brand constitute the group's steering committee.

The subcommittees are divided into the following topical areas:

• Implications of academic values and standards.

• Fiscal responsibility.

• Presidential leadership of internal and external constituencies.

• Student-athlete well-being.

The subcommittees (rosters of which are listed in the accompanying box) will develop specific charges during the June meeting. Much of the subcommittees' subsequent work will be handled through tel- econferences and videoconferences rather than through in-person meetings.

The overarching charge of the full task force is to explore the alignment of intercollegiate athletics with the mission, values and goals of higher education in such areas as fiscal responsibility, commercialism, organizational structure and transparency of athletics operations.

Avenues the task force choose to arrive at those goals are likely to be varied. Likins said in January that one of the primary concerns on most presidents' minds is the realization that the rate of growth of expenditures and revenues in intercollegiate athletics is not sustainable. "If you think solely in terms of the economics of the enterprise," he said, "any business person has to worry about the sustainability."

While Likins acknowledged that such a problem may be easier to discuss than to solve, he said the task force represents "a collection of thoughtful people who are well-informed and have the data in their hands -- and who love college sports and understand the value athletics competition adds to the development of young people -- but who also cannot help but see the trends and wonder what will happen if they continue unaltered."

In addition to chairing the full task force, Likins also heads the subcommittee devoted to fiscal responsibility. That group will explore a much as possible the extent and depth of the financial problems facing Division I intercollegiate athletics. About 40 institutions claim to generate revenues in their college sports programs that are above expenses, but NCAA President Brand has said publicly that the actual number of schools making a "profit" in athletics is closer to two dozen.

Part of the difficulty in assessing the breadth of fiscal issues is finding reliable data with which to make comparisons. Likins' subcommittee will need to address whether the NCAA is collecting the right fiscal data, and whether those data are sufficiently transparent to allow for fair comparisons and to assure individual institutional integrity.

University of Texas at Austin President Larry Faulkner chairs the subcommittee on the implications of academic values and standards. Faulkner's group will look at specific value-based issues, such as how the collegiate sports model should differentiate itself from the professional model. Sportsmanship, diversity and Title IX also are topics likely to be undertaken by that group.

Gerald Turner of Southern Methodist University chairs the subcommittee on presidential leadership of internal and external constituencies, which will examine, among other issues, the relationships between college presidents and boards of trustees.

Ohio State University President Karen Holbrook heads the subcommittee on student-athlete well-being. Student-athlete time commitments and length of the playing and practice seasons for all sports will be on that group's agenda.

NCAA vice-presidents Bernard Franklin, Jim Isch, David Berst and Kevin Lennon have been appointed to assist the four subcommittees. NCAA President Brand said there may be parallel ad hoc committees composed of athletics directors, conference commissioners and faculty athletics representatives to help the task force compile background research and help define the primary options when necessary.

The task force is expected to be working on these issues over the next 18 months or so, though a specific timeline has yet to be established.

Task force members

Members of the Presidential Task Force on the Future of Division I Athletics

Subcommittee on Implications of Academic Values and Standards

Larry Faulkner, University of Texas at Austin, chair

Michael Adams, University of Georgia

Donald Beggs, Wichita State University

Scott Cowen, Tulane University

Shirley Ann Jackson, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Benjamin Ladner, American University

William Lennox, U.S. Military Academy

Mark Murray, Grand Valley State University

Norval Pohl, University of North Texas

Phillip Stone, Bridgewater College (Virginia)

John Welty, California State University, Fresno

James Wright, Dartmouth College

NCAA Senior Vice-President Bernard Franklin, liaison

Subcommittee on Fiscal Responsibility

Peter Likins, University of Arizona, chair

Clinton Bristow Jr., Alcorn State University

Philip Dubois, University of Wyoming

David Hardesty Jr., West Virginia University

Walter Harrison, University of Hartford

Robert Hemenway, University of Kansas

Peter Magrath, National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges

Kathryn Martin, University of Minnesota Duluth

Sidney McPhee, Middle Tennessee State University

James Moeser, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

David Skorton, University of Iowa

John Walda, partner, Bose, McKinney and Evans

John Wiley, University of Wisconsin, Madison

NCAA Senior Vice-President Jim Isch, liaison

Subcommittee on Presidential Leadership of Internal and External Constituencies

Gerald Turner, Southern Methodist University, chair

Philip Austin, University of Connecticut

Robert Caret, Towson University

Carol Cartwright, Kent State University

Gordon Gee, Vanderbilt University

Judy Genshaft, University of South Florida

George Hagerty, Franklin Pierce College

Kermit Hall, University at Albany

Robert Kustra, Boise State University

Robert Lawless, president emeritus, University of Tulsa

Graham Spanier, Pennsylvania State University

John White, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville

NCAA Vice-President David Berst, liaison

Subcommittee on Student-Athlete
Well-Being

Karen Holbrook, Ohio State University, chair

Richard Celeste, Colorado College

Jack Jewett, regent, University of Arizona

Robert Khayat, University of Mississippi

William Meehan, Jacksonville State University

Eddie Moore Jr., Virginia State University

Carl Patton, Georgia State University

Larry Penley, Colorado State University

Shirley Raines, University of Memphis

Kenneth "Buzz" Shaw, chancellor emeritus, Syracuse University

Nancy Zimpher, University of Cincinnati

NCAA Vice-President Kevin Lennon, liaison