Draft Division I Governance Model for Enhanced Membership Benefits

1. Division I Governance Review Jackie Campbell and Kris Richardson 2014 Regional Rules Seminar

2. Unifying Principles • Continued revenue distributions as they currently exist. • Ensuring the needs of all conferences are addressedregarding championships access. • Continuing to provide the overall benefits of a Division I brand; with its broad and diverse membership, Division I is an ecosystem, and there is a strong and shared desire to keep that system whole and fully functional.

3. Adoption of this model will enable Division I to: • Be more responsive to membership needs throughout the division, particularly those of student-athletes. • Significantly improve and alter the way Division I is governed. • Further enhance the division’s ability to meet membership needs and navigate future challenges.

4. Draft Division I Governance Model • Board of Directors • Council • Council’s Substructure • Autonomy System • Shared Governance System

5. Board of Directors • Role – Responsibility for strategy, policy, legislative oversight and management oversight. • Composition – Twenty-one voting members. Seventeen presidents/chancellors, one AD, one SWA, one FAR and one student-athlete. • Standing Committees – Will exist for major areas of accountability in the functioning of Division I (e.g., finance, governance, public relations/communications, nominations).

6. Council • Role – Recommend policies to the Board, supervise and act on championship recommendations and issues, and vote as a whole or by appropriate subgroup on all “shared” governance and football legislation. • Composition – One representative from all 32 conferences, two student-athletes and four commissioners. Sixty percent of Council shall be athletics directors.

7. Council Substructure • Anticipate major redesign of the “working levels” of Division I. • The Steering Committee has designated three subsets of the Council – academics, championships and legislation. • As part of implementation process, the Council will lead the effort to redesign the substructure below the Council.

8. Academic Council • Role – Assigned the duties of the current Division I Committee on Academic Performance (CAP) and Division I Academic Cabinet. • Reporting Lines – To the Boardfor academic standards and policy-related issues, and to the Council for legislative proposals. • Composition – Fifteen to twenty members.

9. Autonomy • Autonomy System – Institutions in five conferences (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, PAC-12, SEC ) would be afforded independent decision-making authority on specified issues, through a decision-making process intended to ensure full institutional participation among the 65-member institutions, as well as the opportunity for input from the broader Division I membership.

10. Areas of Autonomy • The autonomous system is designed to allow permissive use of resources by members to advance the legitimate educational or athletics-related needs of student-athletes, as well as to enhance their general well being. • Examples of legislation that would fall into this category: • Increasing the maximum value of a grant-in-aid to the full cost of attendance. • Rules that have a direct impact on expenses incurred by a student-athlete and his/her family that are associated with the competitive experience.

11. Autonomy Voting Process • Each of the 65-member institutions will appoint one representative and three student-athletes to cast votes on legislation in the autonomous category (80 total votes). • Business Session –The Five-Conference Business Session shall be the venue for the authorized representative to cast his/her institution’s vote on issues in the autonomous system. An annual business session shall be scheduled. Additional business sessions may be scheduled with a 60-day written notice provided to the five conferences, their 65-member institutions, the Division I Board and Council.

12. Autonomous Voting Process (continued) • Five-Conference Forum – A Five-Conference Forum shall be conducted annually prior to the business session. The Forum shall be a town hall meeting and the agenda shall include: • Autonomous issues, including proposed changes; • Shared governance issues; • Current topics I intercollegiate athletics, and • Other items deemed appropriate.

13. Autonomous Voting Process (continued) • Introduction of legislation – An item may be introduced into the legislative process by support of one conference. • Adoption of legislation – Adoption of legislation in the autonomous area requires a two/thirds majority of the group of 80 and four out of the five conferences approval by a simple majority vote within conferences. • Override – Decisions made through the autonomy system shall be final and not subject to override.

14. Shared Governance System • Includes matters that require consideration by all 32 conferences, areas of focus that do not fit into the autonomous category, or those related to football. • Areas would include championships administration and policy, oversight of membership standards, legislation that requires consideration by all conferences, or FBS or FCS conferences, and management of sport/topic-specific studies intended to formulate recommendations for action by the Council.

15. Examples of Areas under Shared Governance • Academic standards and performance expectations. • Team scholarship limitations. • Playing seasons. • Recruiting (except items identified for specific purposes in the legislative autonomy section).

16. Shared Governance Voting Process • Weighted Voting for the Council • Five conferences = 4 to 1 ratio (38.7 percent) • Other five FBS conferences = 2 to 1 ratio (19.4 percent) • 22 FCS and DI conferences = 1 to 1 ratio (38.7 percent) • Two student-athletes = 1 to 1 ratio (3.2 percent) *Commissioner votes are included within the category they represent.

17. Rescission/Nullification Process • Two/thirds majority vote required. • If legislation approved with an 85 percent or higher majority vote, rescission is not an option. • Eliminate current triggers – One request for rescission within 60-day period of adoption. • Rescission of legislation restores applicable bylaw(s) to original state and legislation would not be subject to further consideration for a two-year period.

18. Voting on Football-Specific Legislation • Voting on football matters will be considered separately by FBS and FCS conferences. • FBS – Weighted voting. • ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, SEC and PAC-12 votes count 2 to 1. • AAC, C-USA, MAC, MWC and Sun Belt count 1 to 1. • FCS – No weighted voting. • Rescission/Nullification – Requires two/thirds majority vote of the subdivision.

20. Preliminary Implementation/Transition Strategy • August 2014 – New governance structure approved. • Fall 2014 – Current Board/Steering Committee takes lead on defining Board standing committees. • January 2015 – Membership votes on championships access guarantee. • Through January 2015 – Extend terms of Board, Council and Cabinet members. • January 2015 – First five conference business session.

21. Preliminary Implementation/Transition Strategy(continued) • January 2015 – Initial Board to take office. • Following January 2015 Convention – Initial Council appointed and it begins work on developing substructure. • Spring 2015 – Orientation for new Board members. • Following implementation of new governance structure in 2015, a formal Division I strategic plan and planning process be developed.

22. Questions?