August 19, 2021
Dear Colleagues:
In response to dramatic changes taking place both within the NCAA and in the external environment surrounding intercollegiate athletics, the NCAA Board of Governors has determined that there is an urgent need for transformational change in the Association’s governance. To that end, the board has established a special committee to draft a new NCAA Constitution for consideration by the membership at the national convention in January 2022. I have been asked to chair that committee. A list of the committee members is available here.
Our charge from the board is to tackle fundamental questions relating to the NCAA, including reassessing the basic mission and role of the Association. How can the Association better serve student-athletes and all its member institutions? We intend to propose major changes. We are starting with a clean sheet of paper in developing a new Constitution, but we will not be addressing either the bylaws or the “rule book.” (The Constitution outlines the NCAA’s foundational principles for all divisions and is found at the beginning of each divisional manual and encompasses Articles 1 through 6. Division specific bylaws are not under the purview of this Committee. See: Division I Manual, Division II Manual, Division III Manual). The fact that the current Constitution is 43 pages long highlights the problem and strongly suggests the need for simplification of mission and roles, and greater clarity.
The objective of this effort is to correct the misalignment of the NCAA’s authority and its responsibilities, and to propose changes in governance that will better serve the members of the Association and facilitate your efforts to enhance the academic experience, health and well-being of your student-athletes, and the success of your athletic programs.
It is critically important that our committee have the best possible understanding of changes you think are needed, what you think the role of the Association should be, what functions performed at the national level should devolve to the divisions and conferences, whether the current divisional structure and membership is optimal, and your specific suggestions for needed transformational change. We want to know what you need – and don’t need or want – from the NCAA. To that end, the Committee will take two approaches. Next week, you will receive a survey soliciting your thoughts and recommendations on basic questions of NCAA structure and roles. The survey will be sent to all NCAA member institutional presidents and chancellors, athletics direct reports, athletic directors, faculty athletic representatives, senior woman administrators, conference commissioners, independent health care administrators, athletics diversity and inclusion designees and the chairs of student-athlete advisory committees at the campus, conference and divisional levels. In light of our tight deadline, we will ask that those surveys be returned within one week of receipt. We need your candor, and, in turn, the Committee will treat your responses as confidential and handle them with discretion.
Members of the committee will also be reaching out to a number of individuals and constituency groups soliciting their thoughts and recommendations for needed change. We are seeking the personal thinking of individuals based on their overall experience and the needs of their current school as well as institutional views or positions.
From decision-making to compliance and a rapidly transforming environment, it is apparent that the NCAA needs to change in far-reaching ways, and to do so quickly. We realize that all of you are dealing with COVID-related issues that have significantly affected operations. This effort is to look at the long-term future and I invite you to incorporate useful lessons learned over the last 18 months. We intend as inclusive a process as possible and hope you will share with us your candid thoughts about needed change. We need to focus on the future and not dwell on past grievances and concerns – except as they inform your recommendations for needed change to ensure future improvements and success.
We recognize everyone will look at this endeavor through the prism of their own institutional self-interest. That is as it should be. But this is a moment that requires we work together to identify changes that will provide the best possible framework for supporting the future of intercollegiate athletics. Our challenge is to identify the changes that best serve the interests of the greatest possible number of institutions and their student-athletes.
The Committee looks forward to your engagement in this effort.
Sincerely,
Robert M. Gates
NCAA Constitution Committee, Chair |
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