Pac-12 restates call for reform at end of meetings

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Pac-12 university presidents and chancellors reiterated the conference’s call for reform in college athletics at the conclusion of its summer meetings.

The conference said in a statement Sunday that the Pac-12 CEO Group, which is made up of the league’s presidents and chancellors, moved closer to finalizing a proposal that better addresses the needs of athletes and “simultaneously reaffirms the primacy of our universities’ academic mission.”

Pac-12 leaders sent a signed letter to their colleagues at the other four major football conferences last month outlining plans for reform and asking for feedback. The Pac-12’s proposal includes a stipend for athletes, improving health coverage, protecting against unfair loss of scholarships before graduation, reducing time demands, liberalizing transfer rules and incorporating athletes into the conferences’ governance groups.

The conference also announced that it has created an 11 a.m. Pacific Time television window on the Pac-12 Networks for the upcoming football season. The league said the move was made in an effort to reduce the number of night games across the league.

The number of games played in the new morning window will be determined as the season and television picks progress.

In addition, the conference expanded a health initiative for athletes that includes extending the funding of a research grant program at $3.6 million per year for the next three years. The program will be reviewed after that.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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