By Michelle Brutlag Hosick
Are you a Division I member who wants to submit a proposal for the new governance and membership structure? Your deadline is Friday.
After that day, input will still be accepted. But it will not be considered by the Board of Directors steering committee as it creates an agenda for January's Division I Governance Dialogue.
Division I members are invited to provide their input through the online portal, which asks them to provide answers to key questions about both membership structure and the governing bodies that would support the overall structure. The site provides significant background, including principles, values and suggested factors to consider when developing input.
The steering committee will base the agenda for the upcoming Division I Governance Dialogue partly on feedback received through the site. The Jan. 16-17 Dialogue, scheduled in conjunction with the 2014 NCAA Convention in San Diego, will allow all Division I members to discuss its future and the board's desire to create a more transparent, responsive and streamlined governance system.
As it sets the agenda, the steering committee—a subcommittee of the board—is also considering feedback from the board's Oct. 2013 meeting, where the presidents heard from a variety of people with an interest in the future of the division. The board charged the steering committee with developing possible models for the broad membership to consider. In addition, the steering committee will consider input from the Division I Leadership Council.
So far, feedback has largely favored maintaining a single division without further subdivision, though board chair Nathan Hatch, president at Wake Forest University, said no option was off the table.
"We are all committed to the well-being of student-athletes, the importance of amateurism in college sports, how we can have fair competition in ways that really enhance student-athlete well-being," Hatch said, "and how can we do that collaboratively, but also taking into account the difference between institutions and conferences."