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In early July, the Pacific 10 Conference proposed a new NCAA rule that would prohibit all Division I schools from printing media guides in the future. The Southeastern Conference then crafted its own proposal that would allow schools to print guides for use by the media, but prohibit them from supplying copies to recruits.

The two proposals were reviewed by the Division I Legislative Council last week, but the Council did not take a position on either one. They will likely be reviewed again by the Council in January.

To help administrators better understand the nuances of such a rule change, John Humenik, Executive Director of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), presented a list of pros and cons to eliminating printed media guides to the NCAA. Here are some key items from his list.

Pros
• Significant savings in publishing costs.
• Fairly easy transition from current combined printed and online guide versions to strictly technology based.
• Eliminating printing would be environmentally friendly.
• A national rule would enable many schools to eliminate or drastically reduce printing costs for guides without worrying about the effect it will have on the image of the school and in recruiting compared to other schools that don't follow suit.
• Could enable schools to move from an "all-in-one" guide concept, which tries to be all things to all people, to more target-based presentations to specific audiences.
• Could allow more institutional freedom to do what each school feels is appropriate for their situation and needs.
• Could eliminate the need to produce "supplemental materials" to make up for the information that does not exist in current printed guide due to page limitation and emphasis on recruiting.
• Having guides online would enable departments to update them on a more regular basis.
• Time savings from schools not having to go through the bid process for printing services.

Cons
• Money saved from not printing will simply be moved to fund other ways to recruit and image-build. "Keeping Up With the Joneses" will move from printed to non-printed forums.
• Potential that without limitations in place for printed guides, an "arms race" would be even more pronounced than it is now.
• May lead to more future NCAA legislation, as schools will come up with new ideas that cause confusion and competition regarding what is existing legislation.
• Transition process as schools go to online guides will take a few years to completely develop and may result in increased time demands from communications directors.
• Would likely result in more guides being published in other ways, a move that would add additional workloads to communications departments.
• Could result in more editing/design work due to more audience-specific guides being produced.
• Many fans, alumni, and media members are not ready to fully go in this direction.
• For parents and recruits, the process of downloading and printing out guides will be time consuming and cumbersome.
• Since parents and recruits cannot be mailed a printed guide, it prevents schools from being "proactive" in regard to putting an "image piece" in their hands.

Click here to read the Athletic Management October/November feature, "Print It?" In the article, three sports information directors explain the three very different paths their schools took to constructing their media guides this year.