The chairmen of an influential commission on intercollegiate athletics said last week that they are pleased with the progress of reform in college sports and that, if further changes are adopted early next year, the panel could be dissolved.
The Rev. Theodore Hesburgh, a former president of Notre Dame University, and William C. Friday, a former president of the University of North Carolina, said at a news conference here that the National Collegiate Athletic Association has committed to two of the three major reforms recommended by the Knight Foundation Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics.
The N.C.A.A. earlier this year approved stricter academic standards for student-athlete eligibility and reaffirmed its commitment to cost control.
A third element, certification, is on the agenda for the N.C.A.A.'s convention in Dallas in January.
N.C.A.A. members will vote on a plan to certify Division I athletics programs; to create a joint policy board made up of the N.C.A.A.'s Administrative Committee and the officers of the N.C.A.A.'s Presidents’ Commission; and to require that all legislative proposals be evaluated by an N.C.A.A. committee before going to a vote.
The adoption of such measures could make the Knight Commission obsolete, the co-chairmen said.
The commission issued its report, “Keeping Faith With the Student-Athlete,’' in March 1991.
