At the NCAA's first Special Convention in 1975, members voted to reorganize into three divisions. More than 45 years later, at the Association's fourth Special Convention, approximately 2,500 representatives from those three divisions gathered to discuss how to collectively embrace changing the NCAA model with their aligned principles.
Three of those representatives who are also members of the Constitution Committee — Linda Livingstone, president at Baylor; Harry Stinson III, director of athletics and recreational services at Lincoln (Pennsylvania); and Stevie Baker-Watson, associate vice president of wellness and director of athletics at DePauw — joined the most recent Social Series episode. With host Andy Katz, they discussed the historic Special Convention, the process they've helped lead and their peers' response to the draft constitution that, among other highlights, provides more authority to their respective divisions and ensures student-athlete representation on the highest governance bodies.
All three representatives said the membership's feedback during the Special Convention was positive and productive. In the straw polls conducted during the divisional meetings and the Association-wide session, the overwhelming majority supported the draft with some minor changes.
"We obviously have some things we can adapt and tweak," Livingstone said, "but in general we had some really positive feedback that shows us we're on the right track and that we can get to where we need to by January."
While there are significant differences between the three divisions, Baker-Watson said the Special Convention included mostly constructive conversation largely because of the aligned principles throughout the divisions. The principles outlined in the draft constitution include the primacy of the academic experience, the collegiate student-athlete model, integrity and sportsmanship, student-athlete well-being, institutional control, compliance, diversity and inclusion, gender equity and recruiting standards.
"This conversation that we've been having for the last three months with each other really solidified that we are trying to do the same thing and we are trying to serve our students on our campus and provide them with a valuable experience through athletics," Baker-Watson said of the draft, which is about 25% of the length of the current one. "I actually think that's going to make us stronger as an Association. Now that we can shift some things to the divisional level, we can really pivot to provide the type of experience that each of us wants on each of our campuses."
"You don't have to blow it all up," Stinson added. "We are having leaders grow from their experiences as a student-athlete. As long as we continue to keep that as a pillar … I think we're winning."
Livingstone agreed. She cited feedback from a membership survey conducted in August as a starting point for the Constitution Committee's work, which didn't include drastic change at the Association-wide level.
"It was very clear in the survey we did up front before we actually rolled up our sleeves and began to work that those (principles) came through very consistently no matter who you talked to — presidents, athletics directors, coaches, faculty athletics reps, commissioners across divisions," she said. "When there's that much commonality of principle, I think you can figure out then how to work on the other elements under that umbrella of those broad principles."
Further feedback is being sought during the Constitution Committee's final month of work. Each voting delegate from the Special Convention received a survey so detailed membership feedback on the current draft of the constitution can be gathered. The Constitution Committee will use the responses to provide a final draft to the NCAA Board of Governors by Dec. 15.
In the meantime, each division will continue preparing for the second and more transformational phase of this process, which will require all three divisions review their rules to ensure that changes are consistent with the principles agreed upon in a new constitution. The work of rewriting rules for each division must be completed by August, in time for the start of the 2022-23 academic year.
"We're calling our group the Division I Transformation Committee to keep reminding ourselves that our work is not done and that if we really want the collegiate athletic model to survive and be successful at the highest levels, then we're going to have to be very introspective and take this very seriously to make sure that what we do sets us up for the long run under the umbrella of what we're doing at the Association level," said Livingstone, a member of the Division I Transformation Committee.
Stinson likened the months ahead to a blank canvas that each division will get to make its own.
"We're able, at all three divisions, to paint and create all kinds of different artwork off of it. This is our opportunity to shape and change and mold the division structure, the governance structure, just the NCAA period, to our liking … so we have an open canvas," he said. "I'm excited about watching that unfold in front of our eyes."
