NCAA President Suggests Role for Ombuds

On Monday, the National Collegiate Athletic Association released a report summarizing its mishandling of an investigation involving the University of Miami in 2011. The report found that NCAA enforcement staff acted contrary to internal protocols, legal counsel and the membership’s understanding about the limits of its investigative powers. At a press conference about the report, NCAA President Mark Emmert mentioned the possibility of internal changes at the organization including the possibility of a "third-party ombudsman." Later, Emmert admitted he is not sure how that would work though he acknowledged an Ombuds would need some power. (NCAA News; Sports Illustrated; AP.) 

Before becoming the NCAA president in 2010, Emmert was president of the University of Washington (which had and still has an Ombuds Office), chancellor at Louisiana State University (which now has an Ombuds, but did not at the time), and held faculty and administration positions at the University of Connecticut (does not yet have an Ombuds), Montana State University (which now has an Ombuds, but did not at the time), and University of Colorado (which had and still has an Ombuds Office).

Related post: Huffington Post Blogger Calls for NCAA Ombuds.