INDIANAPOLIS, Ind.—Villanova University Director of Athletics Mark Jackson was recently named by the NCAA to its Division I Council, a four-year term which began on July 1, 2019, and continues through June 30, 2023.  The Division I Council is a high-level group comprised of practitioners who work daily in Division I athletics, and it has primary legislative authority for Division I.  The membership of the Council is made up of athletic directors, athletic administrators, senior women administrators, faculty athletics representatives and student-athletes.  Every Division I conference has representation on the Council.    
 
One of the primary functions of the Division I Council is to develop and debate new and past ideas, and to recommend whether they should be introduced as pieces of legislation.  The work of the Council is subject to review by the NCAA Board of Directors, which monitors the legislation to ensure it aligns with overall Division I policies and goals. 
 
Jackson will also represent the Division I Council on the Strategic Vision and Planning Committee which has oversight responsibility of administrative functions related to the management of the Division I governance structure, including business and legal affairs, strategic planning and research (including recommendations regarding research topics and expenditure of funds for such projects), Division I membership activities (including the reclassification process), and health and safety matters.  Several association-wide committees – including the NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics, NCAA Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee, NCAA Honors Committee, NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship Committee and NCAA Walter Byers Scholarship Committee – report Division I issues directly to the Strategic Vision and Planning Committee. 
 
"I am very proud that Mark was appointed to the Division I Council," Villanova University President Rev. Peter M. Donohue, OSA, PhD., said.  "Mark has a wide range of experience in collegiate athletics and will offer a wonderful perspective to the Council's deliberations."
 
"We're very excited that Mark will be serving as the new BIG EAST representative on the NCAA Council," said BIG EAST Commissioner Val Ackerman.  "We know that his multi-faceted experiences and deep knowledge of college athletics will prove invaluable as the NCAA looks to preserve its core values, serve the needs of student-athletes, and responsibly address the association's many future opportunities and challenges."
 
Jackson will enter his fifth year at Villanova at the start of the 2019-20 academic year.  In addition to his on-campus responsibilities, Jackson has also been the chair of the BIG EAST Athletic Directors Committee and the Big Five Athletic Directors Committee, as well as the Co-Chair of the Collegiate Sports Summit for Athletic Directors.  The Collegiate Sports Summit is an annual gathering of Division I athletic directors which Jackson worked with fellow athletic directors and sports executives to implement.
 
During his time at Villanova, Jackson has been committed to excellence in every facet of the student-athlete experience and to fostering an environment that allows the Wildcats to be successful on all fronts while maintaining Villanova's place among the nation's elite institutions for the combination of its academic prestige, athletic achievement and community service.  In his four years leading the Athletic Department, Villanova has won the BIG EAST Conference President's Cup three times.  The President's Cup recognizes the BIG EAST member school that has excelled at an elite level in athletic competition, academic performance and community service. 
 
 Over the last four years, the Wildcats have won two national championships in men's basketball and an individual NCAA title in men's cross country.  Eight different teams have competed in national postseason play in the last four years, and during that span Villanova has won 20 conference championships while producing dozens of individual conference titles. 
 
Villanova student-athletes have also extended their streak of consecutive semesters with a GPA above a 3.0 to 32 straight semesters over the last 16 academic years, including nine consecutive semesters with a GPA of 3.2 or higher.  Villanova has led all Division I schools in each of the last two years with the percentage of its athletic programs who earned NCAA public recognition for having a multi-year Academic Progress Rate (APR) score that ranked within the top 10 percent of their sport.  The Wildcats have also topped the BIG EAST Conference with the most student-athletes named to the BIG EAST All-Academic Team in each of the last three years.