Representatives from the NCAA’s Power 5 conferences (and athlete representatives) will meet this week to consider and vote on proposals to “enhance the student-athlete experience.”
The meeting comes in the fourth year of what is known as the “autonomy process,” which gives the five major conferences – ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-12 and SEC – the authority to make certain changes to NCAA rules for their student-athletes and athletic programs. Previous changes enacted by the conferences have mandated more rest days, a recovery period after the end of seasons and required schools to schedule true “off-days” that don’t include travel to and from competition.
Per a press release today, the new proposals will be heard by 80 voting members – one each from all 65 universities and 15 student-athlete representatives. The only volleyball representative is Ohio State men’s team member Christian Blough.
The press release says that 13 proposals are up for discussion, focusing mostly on “improved medical care, and measures designed to enhance student-athlete and prospective student-athlete welfare.” Discussion will begin at noon on Thursday, January 18, with votes happening on Friday morning.
The list of the 15 student-athlete representatives is below, along with the full press release:
Eighty voting members of the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-12 and SEC will meet in Indianapolis, Thursday, January 18, and Friday, January 19, to consider a series of proposals as part of the Autonomy governance process that gives the five conferences the ability to enact NCAA rule changes in specific legislative areas.
Many of the 13 proposals under consideration were submitted this past fall, including improved medical care, and measures designed to enhance student-athlete and prospective student-athlete welfare.
The meeting will include representatives from each of the 65 member schools of the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-12 and SEC conferences and 15 student-athlete representatives, each of whom will have a full vote and has been included in the ongoing discussions at the conference level.
In the previous three autonomy sessions, representatives have enacted significant reforms to help student-athletes succeed in college and in life, in areas including time balance, scholarship protections, cost of attendance, concussion protocol and student-athlete welfare.
About the Autonomy Session
The autonomy proposals will be reviewed during a Discussion Forum on Thursday, January 18, beginning at noon (ET), while voting on the proposals will occur during the Autonomy Business Session on Friday, January 19, beginning at 10 a.m. (ET).
Proposals can be approved by one of the following methods:
· 60 percent of all votes (48 votes) and a simple majority support from schools in three of the five conferences, or;
· A majority of all votes (at least 41) and simple majority support from the schools in four of the five conferences.
In addition to representatives from the 65 universities, 15 student-athletes will give a voice for the tens of thousands of current student-athletes in the five conferences. The student-athletes participating in the autonomy process this year are:
Name
Angie Allen
Christian Blough
Brady Bramlett
Ben-Marvin Egel
Madison Granger
Harli Hubbard
Demetrius Jackson
Abu Kamara
Brandon Lee
Anthony Lyons, Jr. Texas Tech
Nandi Mehta
Amy Okonkwo
Taylor Ricci
Alyssa Rice
Kristiana Warth
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