Division I committee chairs appointed

The governance structure envisioned by the Division I Board of Directors is a step closer to fully functioning.

The Division I Council appointed chairs for each of the seven standing committees that will report to it. Each body will have members from the Council, representatives from the membership and a voting representative from the Division I Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.

The Council will be populating the committees over the next several months, with the goal of having the groups fully functioning for the 2015-16 legislative cycle. The Student-Athlete Advisory Committee will be responsible for its appointments to each committee.

Conferences interested in sponsoring legislation for the coming year must have proposals to the national office by Sept. 1. Appropriate governance bodies and the membership as a whole will have the opportunity to comment on and review the proposals throughout the fall.

• Drake University Athletics Director Sandy Hatfield Clubb will chair the Division I Strategic Vision and Planning Committee. This group will be responsible for strategic planning and research and also handle membership, business and legal issues, and health and safety. Reporting to this committee will be the Division I Institutional Performance Program Committee and Association-wide committees such as the Committee on Women’s Athletics and the Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee.

  Hatfield Clubb has spent nearly a decade as athletics director at Drake. She began her career as assistant aquatics coach at Washington and Lee University and moved into administration at Arizona State University, rising to be senior associate athletics director and senior woman administrator. She earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Texas at El Paso.

  “It’s an honor to serve our student-athletes and the NCAA in this capacity,” Hatfield Clubb said. “I look forward to working with my colleagues across this country as we strive to create a better future for student-athletes and intercollegiate athletics.”

• University of Kentucky Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart will chair the Division I Competition Oversight Committee. This group will have responsibility for competitive issues in all sports other than football and basketball. The NCAA Olympic Sports Liaison Committee will report to this group.

  Barnhart, in his 13th year leading the Wildcats, served in athletics administration at Oregon State University; the University of Tennessee, Knoxville; Southern Methodist University; the University of Oregon; and San Diego State University. He holds degrees from Ottawa University (Kansas) and Ohio University.

  “This is a crucial time in college athletics, and the decisions we make now will have far-reaching effects for years to come. At the core of everything are academics and competition,” Barnhart said. “Having served on the championship cabinet in the previous structure, I’m excited about this opportunity to lead the competition oversight committee as we undertake this important work under the new Division I Council.”

• Dan Guerrero, athletics director at the University of California, Los Angeles, will chair the Division I Men’s Basketball Oversight Committee. This group will be responsible for competitive issues in men’s basketball and will consolidate the work of several men’s basketball-focused groups in the old Division I structure.

  Guerrero has served as athletics director at UCLA for 12 years, during which he served on the Division I Men’s Basketball Committee. Prior to UCLA, he led the athletics department at the University of California, Irvine, and California State University, Dominguez Hills. He played baseball at UCLA and earned a master’s degree from Cal State Dominguez Hills.

• DePaul University Athletics Director Jean Lenti Ponsetto will chair the Division I Women’s Basketball Oversight Committee. This group will oversee competitive issues in women’s basketball and will consolidate the work of several women’s basketball-focused groups in the old structure.

  Ponsetto took the reins at DePaul in 2002 and has served in athletics administration at the school for more than 20 years. As an undergraduate at DePaul, she played basketball, tennis, volleyball and softball for the school before graduating in 1978.

   “I have tremendous appreciation for the work that lies ahead of the committee,” Ponsetto said. “Chief among our priorities: the quality of the student-athlete experience and the meaningfulness of how that experience aids in the academic, personal and leadership growth and development of our student-athletes.”

• Big12 Conference Commissioner Bob Bowlsby will chair the Football Oversight Committee. This group will oversee competitive issues in football and will consolidate the work of several football-focused groups in the old structure.

  Bowlsby, commissioner since 2012, previously led athletics departments at Stanford University, the University of Iowa and Northern Iowa University. A wrestler at Minnesota State University Moorhead in the 1970s, Bowlsby earned a master’s degree at Iowa.

  “I look forward to this role and working with my fellow committee members in advancing the great game of college football,” Bowlsby said.

• Don Oberhelman, athletics director at California Polytechnic State University, will chair the Division I Legislative Committee. This group will review all potential rule changes and make recommendations to the Council, which will cast final votes.

  Oberhelman took the helm at Cal Poly in 2011 after four years as senior associate athletics director at San Diego State. He also spent time in athletics at Southern Mississippi University, Texas A&M University and Florida State University. He holds degrees from Kansas State University and Florida State.

  "It's an honor to represent Cal Poly and all of NCAA Division I in this capacity,” Oberhelman said. “I look forward to serving the membership in the advancement of intercollegiate athletics.”

• Harvard University Athletics Director Bob Scalise will chair the Division I Student-Athlete Experience Committee. This group will consider issues such as awards, benefits, financial aid, recruiting, amateurism and personnel and recommend policy or rule changes as needed.

  Scalise has led the Crimson since 2001. Before his athletics appointment, he spent five years as associate dean and senior executive officer of the Harvard Business School. Scalise was a lacrosse athlete at Brown University and coached the sport at both Brown and Harvard. He holds a master’s degree in business administration from Harvard.

  “I’m looking forward to working with my colleagues in this role to improve the student-athlete experience,” Scalise said.