The Big Sky Conference released a new, five-year strategic plan Wednesday that creates a framework for trying to increase academics, athlete health and empowerment, inclusion, and revenue for its member schools, as well as sport-specific initiatives that will see the league more directly involved in athletic success on fields and courts.

The plan was created by identifying six key pillars, then creating a committee for each one to draft its goals, the conference said in a statement. Head coaches’ groups drafted initiatives for their respective sports. All were sent through to the planning committee chaired by Brad Mortensen, Weber State’s university president who also chairs the league’s presidents council.

The league said athletes participated on each committee, and current and former athletes were surveyed for feedback.

The six pillars are academics; athletics; empowerment; inclusion; leadership; and revenue, marketing and media.

“The efforts and voices of literally hundreds if not thousands of Big Sky constituents shaped a clear picture of what’s meaningful to our schools and how we can continue to impact them,” league commissioner Tom Wistrcill said in a statement. “As a result, the focus of this plan is squarely on our 3,300 student-athletes, as our membership is committing to an unprecedented investment in resources for mental health, nutrition, direct benefits to student-athletes, and name, image, and likeness education.”

Of note, the sport-specific plans will require Big Sky men’s and women’s basketball teams to schedule no less than three Division I opponents at home each season.

Below is a summary of items in the plan, with sport-specific initiatives at the end.

ACADEMICS

The academic plan calls for schools to collaborate with information about advisors and admissions standards, gather data to examine trends regarding degree choices among athletes, and increase recognition of academic success by creating conference-wide “academic team awards.”

EMPOWERMENT

This portion aims to provide education to athletes about life after sports, including enhancing mentorship opportunities, while encouraging athletes to be engaged leaders on their campuses and in their communities, and increasing the importance of the Big Sky’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.

INCLUSION

Here, the Big Sky is asking schools to outline specific roles on campus and in the conference office by designating someone for athletics diversity and inclusion, and providing them with professional development opportunities. It also calls for campaigns to highlight athletes who work or provide service related to diversity, equity, inclusion and justice.

This part of the plan also calls for immediate action to ensure the names of players and coaches are announced correctly at games, and that pronunciation guides are provided to broadcasters and public address announcers.

LEADERSHIP

The Big Sky aims to increase the leadership of individuals and of itself on the national stage.

For individuals, it will implement an annual leadership summit for select athletes, coaches and administrators. It will also adjust the conference governance structure to “eliminate redundancy” and ensure appropriate representation from all constituent groups.

For itself, the Big Sky pledges to “create alliances with similar conferences to strategize on national priorities, continue pursuing national committee placements, and show the conference’s values through actions.”

REVENUE, MEDIA AND MARKETING

The requirement for basketball scheduling, detailed later, is part of the league’s plan to create a greater likelihood of postseason participation and success, which comes with inherent marketing and revenue value.

The league will also work to maximize media rights revenue and distribution, help improve ad sales for ESPN+ broadcasts, seek opportunities to monetize FCS football, and seek local and national corporate sponsorship opportunities.

ATHLETICS

The overall goals for athletic competition include a stronger investment in sports and the athletes. This includes: allotting an increased cost-of-attendance distribution from the Big Sky directly to athletes, each school employing the maximum number of coaches in each sport as allowed by the NCAA, employing at least one full-time mental health therapist for athletes, and requiring each school to provide athletes with nutritional “fueling station” foods and provide access to a nutritionist.

The conference will also collaborate with other conferences for scheduling opportunities.

BASKETBALL: As mentioned, the Big Sky will require each school to schedule a minimum of three Division I home games in nonconference play, beginning in the 2023-24 season, in order to increase the league’s overall NET rating in men’s and women’s basketball. This includes adhering to game contracts created by the conference; as previously reported by the Standard-Examiner, this will include home-and-home series with the Big Sky’s football members Cal Poly and UC Davis. The Weber State men play on the road at Cal Poly this year, for example, and this game was set up by the conference. WSU may host both of those schools at home in 2023-24, according to sources.

FOOTBALL: Scheduling will be less directly mandated when compared to basketball, but the conference will provide schools with scheduling best practices and guidance in order for teams to increase their chance of qualifying for the FCS playoffs. It also wants schools to provide more opportunities for football players to enroll in summer semester courses.

VOLLEYBALL, SOFTBALL, SOCCER: The Big Sky will explore scheduling partnerships to improve strength of schedules and home-game experiences around the league, and establish ways for schools to collaborate on improving the environment for matches and increasing attendance in these three sports.

TRACK/CROSS COUNTRY: The Big Sky will begin fully live-streaming indoor and outdoor track championships, and evaluate the logistics of streaming the cross country championship. It will also explore possible venues for holding the indoor track championship at a neutral site.

TENNIS: Evaluate the possibility of live streaming regular season and conference championship matches, and explore the live scoring of matches.

GOLF: The Big Sky is actively seeking new schools to join as golf members, wants to codify always holding championship golf tournaments at warm-weather, neutral-site courses as inexpensively as possible, and launch an in-season women’s tournament the Big Sky can host, which will include its own member schools and others.

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