The Dartmouth athletics department has instituted new protocol to make sure that teams operating outside the department are in compliance with the National Collegiate Athletic Association's regulations, according to a recently-issued report compiled as part of the NCAA re-certification process.
The increased oversight comes in the wake of questions about the Dartmouth ski team's NCAA compliance. An internal audit last Spring revealed possible NCAA infractions by the Dartmouth ski team, which operates under the Office of Outdoor Programs.
The re-certification report also stated the College's intention to apply for a waiver to allow athletes not enrolled during specific terms to practice with their teams and identified a significant gap between minority enrollment and minority participation in athletic programs.
Last spring's NCAA audit questioned skier participation in competitions beyond the allowable season and team member reimbursements for competition and travel.
The most recent report attributes the apparent slip-ups to insufficient oversight by the Athletic Department.
"Even though we've had a lot of contact with the Dartmouth ski programs, we haven't really embraced them in the way we should have," Director of Athletics JoAnn Harper said. "We're just going to work a little harder to communicate a little bit better."
Among other changes, ski coaches will now be required to complete identical paperwork as coaches within the Athletics Department. That paperwork will then undergo a rigorous review process.
Dartmouth is also applying for a waiver from the NCAA to allow students to practice with their teams during their off terms. Harper said this especially affects spring athletes who study abroad during the winter of their sophomore or junior years. Although they might return in time for pre-season practice, they are not currently permitted to be involved.
"We are not doing this to gain a competitive advantage. We are doing this in order to level the playing field," Harper said.
The report also sites the increasingly common phenomenon of athletes remaining in Hanover for their off-terms and wanting to continue practicing with their teams.
According to Harper, the College was planning to apply for such a waiver several years ago, but never did as a result of personnel changes within the Athletic Department.
Harper said she was unsure of the likelihood of receiving such a waiver.
"My hope is that we will, but in an organization the size of the NCAA, it's very hard for people to identify with unique situations. And many times the rules are made for the masses -- as we well know. I just hope they take the time," she said.
According to the report, there is a "significant gap" between the diversity of the student body and the diversity of intercollegiate athletic teams. Thirty percent of undergraduates are students of color. Just 9.8 percent of athletes are minorities.
"We have to do a better job of collaborating with other areas of the College, and we as a department have to make more of a concerted effort to find more diverse student athletes," Harper said.
Both Harper and the report also identified a lack of diversity among the coaching staff.
"We have terrific coaches, but I think we could do a better job in the area of minority representation," Harper said.
The percentage of minority athletes is up slightly from 8.3 percent in 1996, but the report urged that Dartmouth needed to ratchet up its efforts to make the student-athlete pool more representative of the overall College population.
Harper said Dartmouth is changing recruiting practices to look at different areas of the country in an attempt to attract more minority athletes.
NCAA officials will read the report and visit Dartmouth in the spring to further assess the College's athletics programs. The report has taken a year to compile.
"It's a very tedious report, but it has two wonderful benefits," Harper said. "Number one, it makes us take a good look at ourselves. And number two, it involves a large number of people ... that are not necessarily involved in athletics."
