SoCon Commissioner releases Assessment of the NCAA Division I Decision-Making Working Group Proposals regarding Sport Committees

The Southern Conference has developed a second assessment of the NCAA's proposed Division I governance restructuring and submitted it to the NCAA working group following their request for feedback. Commissioner Michael Cross is sharing the document publicly to foster dialogue among conference leaders, athletic directors, and university presidents as the reform process moves forward.  

"Governance reform requires the willingness to decentralize and narrow national authority to truly essential functions, while empowering conferences and institutions to govern themselves within their own philosophies and resources," said Cross.  

The SoCon's assessment highlights several positive elements in the proposal, including sport-specific oversight committees as favorable progress towards true decentralization. The assessment identifies critical concerns regarding assignment of committee seats based on success metrics and proposes abandoning committees voting to decide who receives a bid to the NCAA championships and instead adopting a selection process using solely results-based data as occurs in Division I hockey. Additional recommendations include the need for business expertise on sport committees and restoring single sport Division I eligibility.   

"These recommendations suggest a path forward that builds upon the good work of the working group,” said Cross. “By incorporating these recommendations, the working group can develop a governance model that is flexible, adaptable, defensible, accessible, and straightforward and can adapt to a complex legal and competitive landscape." 

The full assessment is available here and outlines specific recommendations to meet the stated goals that Division I governance be flexible, adaptable, defensible, accessible, and straightforward.