From the Desk of Bethany Marren - Associate Director of Athletics/NCAA Compliance
Happy New Year to the Tiger family! As classes resume for the spring semester, I can’t help but feel excited for the future of RIT athletics. With the department under new leadership, we are embarking on new endeavors, including the development of a strategic plan and a Title IX/gender equity review. Our women’s basketball coach/senior woman administrator Amy Reed and I are co-chairing the Title IX/gender equity review and we know it will affirm the areas we are already achieving success and identify opportunities where improvements can be made.
The collegiate athletics landscape has evolved over the past year. In July, the NCAA suspended all amateurism rules pertaining to name, image and likeness (NIL). This means student-athletes can now benefit from their NIL as it pertains to their athletics status as long as the institution they attend is not located in a state with laws prohibiting such activity (New York State does not currently have any laws in place). The NCAA also took action to revise how it operates by putting together a committee including representatives and student-athletes from all three divisions charged with creating one constitution for all three divisions (currently each division has their own). The final draft of the constitution has been provided to all member institutions. We are required to vote in favor of or against it next week at the NCAA convention in Indianapolis.
As the Associate Director of Athletics for NCAA Compliance, I am responsible for overseeing all NCAA and university compliance requirements for our student-athletes, coaches and staff members. Since RIT is a multidivisional institution, Division I and Division III rules have to be applied to respective teams. The primary role of the compliance office is to educate student-athletes, coaches, staff members, alumni and campus constituents about NCAA rules. It is my belief the compliance office should always take on a service role, providing the ‘why’ behind the rules and/or processes we have in place. Along with education, I am also responsible for eligibility certification, along with the monitoring and enforcement of NCAA and university rules and policies. I oversee the compliance requirements for the NCAA Title IX Board of Governor’s Policy on Campus Sexual Violence, which requires our student-athletes, coaches and staff members to participate in education and programming each academic year. I also serve as the department liaison with multiple campus groups, such as student conduct, admissions, financial aid, Title IX, and university advising. I supervise head coaches, home events and participate in all major department initiatives and events such as the Tiger Open and our end-of-year athletic awards celebration.
Our administrative team is attending the NCAA convention this week in Indianapolis and we are excited because the Liberty League (our Division III conference) has put forward a legislative proposal that will change a current Division III rule which restricts us from awarding athletics grant-in-aid to our Division I men’s and women’s ice hockey student-athletes. The Division III membership will vote this Saturday morning on this legislative change and, if approved, we will be able to join all the other Division I institutions in awarding our student-athletes athletic scholarships.
I look forward to watching our winter and spring teams compete this semester and for the many exciting things that are ahead of us in 2022!
