Report to the membership.

Executive Summary The Context of College Sports, 2011-12. During 2011, the landscape of intercollegiate athletics changed significantly, presenting COIA a new mix of challenges. In the area of improving the alignment of athletics with academics, the news was generally positive: significant new academic reforms were adopted by the NCAA, and evidence of the positive impact of earlier reforms began to emerge. However, in the areas of finances and the tension between amateurism and commercialization, the acceleration of negative trends was widely noted. Transformation of the revenue sports into on-campus extensions of the national entertainment industry provoked widespread calls to end the collegiate model of amateur sports; escalating athletics budgets and average deficits motivated an unseemly scramble for favorable media contracts through illogical conference realignments; university presidents reported through survey findings an increased sense of powerlessness to control the market forces of college sports, and an unprecedented series of scandals illustrated the difficulties of controlling big-time sports programs and the reputational risks they involve. Paradoxically, the depth of these fiscal problems creates a context in which reform efforts are more likely to be effective. The Coalition in 2011. COIA's efforts in this past year have been primarily devoted to strengthening its relations with other national groups whose efforts directly impact the prospects of athletics reform. The Coalition formed ties with the new NCAA administration, met with leaders and members of NCAA Faculty Athletics Representative groups (FARA and the FBS FARs), and consulted regularly with such national groups as the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics and the National Association of Academic Advisors for Athletes. Director of the Knight Commission, as well as representatives of the NCAA, FARA, The Drake Group, and national news organizations. Conference participants joined work sessions to focus on such critical topics as proposals to professionalize college sports, competition for control of postseason football and access to lucrative media contracts, and proposals for antitrust legislation to provide higher education the means to control market forces in intercollegiate athletics. Preliminary Agenda, 2012. The coming year will likely bring increased debate on the future of athletics financing and approaches to the problem of controlling the highly commercialized revenue sports. In February, the Steering Committee will submit to the Coalition membership a series of recommendations concerning relevant policy stances, seeking membership feedback to guide leadership approaches. COIA will continue its efforts to network with other national groups to support coordinated efforts to …