NCAA

Division I redesigns governance structure

In August 2014, the Board of Directors restructured how schools and conferences govern themselves, paving the way for student-athletes to have a voice – and a vote – at every level of decision-making.  The new system will streamline the process and structure through continued transparency, responsiveness and inclusion.

The final model expands the Division I Board of Directors to include not only more presidents, but also a student-athlete, faculty representative, athletics director and female administrator.

A new body known as the Council will be responsible for day-to-day operations of the division and include more voices: two seats for student-athletes, two for faculty and four for commissioners.

The new model also grants flexibility to schools in the Atlantic Coast, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-12 and Southeastern conferences to change rules for themselves in a list of specific areas within Division I.

Member input was sought throughout the restructuring process, which was led by a steering committee of Division I presidents representing all different subdivisions.

Key dates

• January 16, 2015 — The first meeting of the Council will be conducted.
• January 17, 2015 — The new Board of Directors members will begin their terms and a joint meeting of the old and new Board will be conducted.
• January 17, 2015 – An Autonomy Forum and Business Session will be conducted for the 65 schools and 15 student-athlete representatives to discuss and vote on their proposed legislation.
• January 18, 2015 — All Division I members will vote on an amendment to the NCAA Constitution that ensures championship automatic qualification access for all 32 current multisport conferences
• February 3-4, 2015 — The Council will meet to discuss and design the substructure.
• April 15-16, 2015 — The Council will conduct one of its normal quarterly meetings (planned for January, April, July or August, and October).
• April 30, 2015 – The Board of Directors will conduct one of its normal quarterly meetings.
• Spring 2015 — Spring conference meetings will mark the beginning of both the autonomy and Council governance legislative processes for 2015-16. The annual deadline to submit legislation beginning in 2015 for consideration in either process is September 1.