National Collegiate Athletic Association
NCAA News Archive - 2007
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Presidents focus on financial arena as reform target
Comprehensive and accurate fiscal data to inform campus decision-makers
Comprehensive and accurate fiscal data to inform campus decision-makers
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By Gary T. Brown
The NCAA News
The NCAA News
The group charged with overseeing the implementation of the Division I Presidential Task Force report is looking for meaningful return on investment in three key areas in the coming months: presidential leadership, fiscal responsibility and an enhanced athletics certification program.
The Division I Oversight and Monitoring Group, a 12-member panel responsible for prioritizing and considering implementation paths for Task Force recommendations, held its second meeting August 2 — this one via conference call — and discussed ways to keep reform on presidents’ front burners.
OMG members believe the most dramatic impact will be providing presidents with the most accurate and comprehensive financial data to date that allow comparisons in athletics spending to both practical and aspirational peer groups. A three-year data set (2004-05-06) collected under uniform descriptors developed in conjunction with the National Association of College and University Business Officers went to a test group of schools in June. A larger distribution of those data — with adjustments based on input from the pilot group — goes out in a few weeks.
That mailing and subsequent feedback culminates in a more contemporary distribution next spring (including data from 2005-06-07) that comes with “dashboard indicators” to provide the comparative component.
University of Cincinnati President and OMG member Nancy Zimpher said the dashboards are among the most highly anticipated and tangible outcomes from the Presidential Task Force. She said while the financial allocation to athletics is an institutional decision, the dashboard indicators will provide a more accurate benchmark upon which presidents can make those decisions.
“The dashboard data, along with the Task Force breathing new life into the athletics certification program and urging evidence-based presidential leadership, are potentially transformative,” Zimpher said.
The “new life” Zimpher referred to for certification comes primarily through an educational and best-practice approach rather than changing the program’s measurable standards and operating principles.
An immediate difference in the program, though, is an increased presidential presence on the Committee on Athletics Certification (from one to four) beginning in September. That will facilitate more appropriate oversight, particularly in the delicate area where presidents and their boards are engaged with issues in intercollegiate athletics.
Importantly, that challenging aspect of presidential control received an additional boost from the Association of Governing Boards, which during a recent meeting with NCAA representatives reiterated an earlier promise to promote Presidential Task Force messages in new board member orientation sessions. The AGB also agreed to work with conferences to facilitate a sign-off process that ensures board-member commitment to the 2004 AGB statement on board responsibilities.
NCAA President Myles Brand in fact called the strengthened relationship between the NCAA and AGB one of the positive outcomes of the Presidential Task Force’s work. “The two associations already have enjoyed a healthy and productive partnership over time, but the focus on presidential leadership through the Task Force has served to enhance that bond,” Brand said. “Both organizations are committed to a collaborative approach to presidential leadership.”
Zimpher echoed Brand’s praise. “Where presidents go, they need to see the intersection of the NCAA and the AGB,” she said, noting that other partnerships with groups such as the American Council on Education and the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges could help recognize the “evidence-based” presidential leadership she referred to earlier.
“We want to show that when presidents and chancellors exert leadership in athletics, they go to the head of the class in other higher-education forums besides those pertaining primarily to athletics,” Zimpher said.
In that vein, the OMG has urged more discussion with other higher-education groups about presidential-led integration of athletics and academics.
The OMG, which reported to the Board of Directors during its August 9 meeting, plans another conference call before the Board meeting in October and an in-person session next spring.
To date, the OMG has ushered just one legislative proposal in this year’s cycle that can be linked directly to the Task Force report. It’s an important one, though, since it would eliminate the self-sufficiency clause in the Division I philosophy statement. Other legislative proposals could follow once the Division I Academics/Eligibility/Compliance Cabinet completes an OMG-directed review of student-athlete well-being issues, including special-admit policies, consideration of a data-drive definition of “at risk,” possible automatic renewal of athletics aid and a potential fifth year of eligibility.
But while the immediate discussion is more educational than legislative, Brand sees the OMG role as critical in keeping the reform ball moving.
“Some of the pressure of reform,” he said, “has been met by the work of the Committee on Academic Performance and other efforts, but the OMG can keep a broader group of presidents than those on the Board of Directors informed and can help everyone understand what’s on the table.”
The Division I Oversight and Monitoring Group, a 12-member panel responsible for prioritizing and considering implementation paths for Task Force recommendations, held its second meeting August 2 — this one via conference call — and discussed ways to keep reform on presidents’ front burners.
OMG members believe the most dramatic impact will be providing presidents with the most accurate and comprehensive financial data to date that allow comparisons in athletics spending to both practical and aspirational peer groups. A three-year data set (2004-05-06) collected under uniform descriptors developed in conjunction with the National Association of College and University Business Officers went to a test group of schools in June. A larger distribution of those data — with adjustments based on input from the pilot group — goes out in a few weeks.
That mailing and subsequent feedback culminates in a more contemporary distribution next spring (including data from 2005-06-07) that comes with “dashboard indicators” to provide the comparative component.
University of Cincinnati President and OMG member Nancy Zimpher said the dashboards are among the most highly anticipated and tangible outcomes from the Presidential Task Force. She said while the financial allocation to athletics is an institutional decision, the dashboard indicators will provide a more accurate benchmark upon which presidents can make those decisions. “The dashboard data, along with the Task Force breathing new life into the athletics certification program and urging evidence-based presidential leadership, are potentially transformative,” Zimpher said.
The “new life” Zimpher referred to for certification comes primarily through an educational and best-practice approach rather than changing the program’s measurable standards and operating principles.
An immediate difference in the program, though, is an increased presidential presence on the Committee on Athletics Certification (from one to four) beginning in September. That will facilitate more appropriate oversight, particularly in the delicate area where presidents and their boards are engaged with issues in intercollegiate athletics.
Importantly, that challenging aspect of presidential control received an additional boost from the Association of Governing Boards, which during a recent meeting with NCAA representatives reiterated an earlier promise to promote Presidential Task Force messages in new board member orientation sessions. The AGB also agreed to work with conferences to facilitate a sign-off process that ensures board-member commitment to the 2004 AGB statement on board responsibilities.
NCAA President Myles Brand in fact called the strengthened relationship between the NCAA and AGB one of the positive outcomes of the Presidential Task Force’s work. “The two associations already have enjoyed a healthy and productive partnership over time, but the focus on presidential leadership through the Task Force has served to enhance that bond,” Brand said. “Both organizations are committed to a collaborative approach to presidential leadership.”
Zimpher echoed Brand’s praise. “Where presidents go, they need to see the intersection of the NCAA and the AGB,” she said, noting that other partnerships with groups such as the American Council on Education and the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges could help recognize the “evidence-based” presidential leadership she referred to earlier.
“We want to show that when presidents and chancellors exert leadership in athletics, they go to the head of the class in other higher-education forums besides those pertaining primarily to athletics,” Zimpher said.
In that vein, the OMG has urged more discussion with other higher-education groups about presidential-led integration of athletics and academics.
The OMG, which reported to the Board of Directors during its August 9 meeting, plans another conference call before the Board meeting in October and an in-person session next spring.
To date, the OMG has ushered just one legislative proposal in this year’s cycle that can be linked directly to the Task Force report. It’s an important one, though, since it would eliminate the self-sufficiency clause in the Division I philosophy statement. Other legislative proposals could follow once the Division I Academics/Eligibility/Compliance Cabinet completes an OMG-directed review of student-athlete well-being issues, including special-admit policies, consideration of a data-drive definition of “at risk,” possible automatic renewal of athletics aid and a potential fifth year of eligibility.
But while the immediate discussion is more educational than legislative, Brand sees the OMG role as critical in keeping the reform ball moving.
“Some of the pressure of reform,” he said, “has been met by the work of the Committee on Academic Performance and other efforts, but the OMG can keep a broader group of presidents than those on the Board of Directors informed and can help everyone understand what’s on the table.”
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