The NCAA office for diversity and inclusion has assembled a group of about 40 athletics administrators, coaches and representatives of key coaching organizations to examine diversity issues within the membership, including the lack of ethnic minorities in coaching and other leadership positions in athletics.

NCAA Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion Charlotte Westerhaus will chair the group called the NCAA Diversity Leadership Strategic Planning Committee. Former Ohio State University Athletics Director Andy Geiger was named as vice chair.

“ ‘Leadership’ and ‘strategic’ are the two words in the group’s title that focus on its primary purpose,” said Westerhaus, who in August began her role as head of the recently created office for diversity and inclusion.

“We have had — and still do have — outstanding leaders in diversity within the NCAA and intercollegiate athletics, and there has been some progress. But we have not strategically linked our diversity efforts within the membership over time,” she said.

The group already has met once — at the NCAA Convention in Indianapolis — where NCAA President Myles Brand told members to set an aggressive agenda and be an action-oriented body.

“Give us clear instructions and real ideas, not rhetoric,” said Brand, who not only created the office for diversity and inclusion last year, but also has openly called for more patient and thorough hiring practices in athletics that result in more inclusive leadership. “Your recommendations will be taken seriously.”

The committee will conduct three more in-person meetings before delivering a final report at the 2007 NCAA Convention.

Members will focus on four general areas embedded in the NCAA strategic plan:

• Fostering diversity among student-athletes;

• Promoting a climate of inclusion within intercollegiate athletics;

• Enhancing equitable career opportunities for under-represented coaches, officials and administrators; and

• Strengthening the support, integration and promotion of women’s sports.

In addition to the full committee meetings, Westerhaus and Geiger also will meet individually with conference commissioners, athletics directors, coaches and other key stakeholders within intercollegiate athletics to assess the most critical needs and ways to address them.

“We’ll be asking not only for short-term and long-term solutions, but also for ideas about possible collaborations and partnerships,” Westerhaus said. “Who can the NCAA membership partner with to make a difference in this area?”

Westerhaus acknowledged that focusing on diversity and inclusion within the NCAA is not new. Two current Association-wide committees, the Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee and the Committee on Women’s Athletics, deal solely with diversity-related issues. While the new committee will collaborate with those existing bodies, the expectation is for the larger group to break new ground.

“This is the first membership group upon which such expectations have been placed,” Westerhaus said. “While those expectations are high — as are the challenges — I am confident that this committee has the expertise to provide meaningful results.”

The committee itself follows an inclusive blueprint. Members represent all three divisions and various levels of athletics administration. Several coaches also were selected, particularly in football and basketball, sports in which there is a high concentration of racial and ethnic diversity. The group also includes student-athletes, women and individuals of color.

Noticeably, the group does not include a sitting president, though that does not mean the committee will lack presidential involvement. Joseph N. Crowley, currently the interim president at the University of Nevada, Reno, and Kenneth “Buzz” Shaw, chancellor emeritus at Syracuse University, are on the committee roster, and Westerhaus said the group will seek input from other presidents as well.

Geiger said concentrating the committee’s composition on athletics directors and coaches was intentional because of those constituents’ role in the hiring process. While college and university presidents and chancellors oversee the hiring process, athletics directors and coaches are at the ground level of identifying and interviewing candidates.

“The committee deliberately includes directors and coaches and professional administrators of coaching associations. They are the people who have taken a look at this statistically and made it their life’s work to try to do something about it,” Geiger said.

Committee member Judy Rose said while the committee has the right composition, presidential buy-in eventually will be essential if the group is to have an impact in creating an inclusive culture.

“I honestly believe the committee will present some recommendations that require college presidents to make some tough decisions,” said the director of athletics at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte. “Creating an inclusive culture is not just an athletics department decision — it must be a university-wide decision. Can we make that change without presidential involvement on this committee? Do we get that buy-in from a report that is generated by this committee? I think at some point, we’ve got to have involvement and buy-in from university presidents.”

While it is too early to predict the recommendations the committee will generate, Westerhaus said the membership can expect suggestions to be realistic and achievable, but with accountability standards attached. While the committee is working under a short time frame in which to make recommendations, Westerhaus said the committee’s work will have a lasting influence.

“Keep in mind that sustained, positive change takes not only the efforts of the people we’re working with and input from the membership, but also a reasonable amount of time,” she said. “This is not a one-shot deal. The goal is long-term, sustained progress toward excellence.”

 Committee roster

Charlotte Westerhaus  -- NCAA Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion, chair

Andy Geiger -- Former Director of Athletics, Ohio State University, vice chair

Jennifer Alley  -- Executive Director, National Association of Collegiate Women Athletics Administrators 

Darlene Bailey -- Associate Director of Athletics/Senior Woman Administrator, Missouri State University

Sandy Barbour -- Director of Athletics, University of California, Berkeley

Beth Bass -- Executive Director, Women’s Basketball Coaches Association

Percy Bates -- Faculty Athletics Representative, University of Michigan

Kathy Beauregard  -- Director of Athletics, Western Michigan University

Clint Bryant -- Director of Athletics, Augusta State University

Joe Castiglione -- Director of Athletics, University of Oklahoma

Suzanne Coffey -- Director of Athletics, Bates College

Dennis Collins -- Commissioner, North Coast Athletic Conference

Joe Crowley -- Interim President, University of Nevada, Reno

Kimilia Davis -- Student-Athlete, University of New Mexico

Anita DeFrantz -- President, Amateur Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles

Clyde Doughty Jr. -- Director of Athletics and Recreation, New York Institute of Technology

Damon Evans  -- Director of Athletics, University of Georgia

Pam Gill-Fisher -- Director of Athletics, University of California, Davis

Alfreeda Goff -- Associate Commissioner, Horizon League

Christine Grant -- Faculty Emeritus, University of Iowa

Thomas Hansen -- Commissioner, Pacific-10 Conference

Shann Hart -- Women’s Basketball Coach, Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis

Robert Heigert -- Commissioner, California Collegiate Athletic Association

Paul Hewitt -- Men’s Basketball Coach, Georgia Institute of Technology

Jarrell Johnson -- Student-Athlete, Western Illinois University

Floyd Keith -- Executive Director, Black Coaches Association

Richard Lapchick -- President and CEO, National Consortium for Academics and Sport

Lisa Love -- Director of Athletics, Arizona State University

Warde Manuel -- Director of Athletics, University at Buffalo, the State University of New York

Eugene Marshall -- Deputy Director of Athletics, U.S. Military Academy

Reggie Minton -- Deputy Executive Director, National Association of Basketball Coaches

Bernard Muir -- Director of Athletics, Georgetown University

M. Dianne Murphy -- Director of Athletics, Columbia University

Gloria Nevarez -- Associate Commissioner/Senior Woman Administrator, West Coast Conference

Garnett Purnell -- Director of Athletics, Wittenberg University

David Roach -- Director of Athletics, Colgate University

Dell Robinson -- Associate Commissioner, Mid-American Conference

Judy Rose -- Director of Athletics, University of North Carolina, Charlotte

Kenneth “Buzz” Shaw -- Chancellor Emeritus, Syracuse University

Robert Vowels -- Commissioner, Southwestern Athletic Conference

Chris Walker  -- Faculty Athletics Representative, University of Redlands

Ron Wellman -- Director of Athletics, Wake Forest University

Tyrone Willingham -- Head Football Coach, University of Washington

Eli Wolff -- Program Director, Disability in Sport, Northeastern University