Hartwick College Athletic Hall of Fame Constitution

Approved by the Athletic Hall of Committee on November 6, 2006

I.  Purpose
The Hartwick College Athletic Hall of Fame (HCAHOF) was founded to honor those persons who have made outstanding contributions to the Hartwick College intercollegiate athletics program. Its purpose is to perpetuate the memory of those connected to Hartwick College athletics that have brought distinction, honor, and excellence to Hartwick College through athletics.

II.  Induction Categories

A.  Charter Memberships

1. The initial 12 members will be inducted in the 1995-96 academic year.

B. Automatic Consideration

1. In the following cases, individuals earn automatic consideration into the HCAHOF without the necessity of nomination.

a) Hartwick College athletes or coaches who have been or shall be selected for membership in any national athletic hall of fame or national athletic foundation.

b) Hartwick College athletes who have been chosen as members of an Olympic or national (country) team.

C.  Silver Group Induction

1. Hartwick College athletes, coaches, administrators, trainers, or other individuals having made outstanding contributions to Hartwick College athletics and/or subsequent to their years at Hartwick having distinguished themselves in the field of athletics are eligible for nomination. 
   Note: Members of the Athletic Hall of Fame Committee nominated for membership will not be permitted to cast ballots for themselves.
2. Nominees may be living or deceased.
3. Nominees must be free of public dishonor and must not have been socially or academically dismissed from Hartwick College.
4. The Athletic Hall of Fame Committee may approve nominees, in exceptional cases (committee membership minus one dissenting vote), who do not meet one of the above criteria.

D. Golden Group Induction

1. Hartwick College athletes, coaches, administrators, trainers, or other individuals having made outstanding contributions to Hartwick College athletics and/or subsequent to their years at Hartwick having distinguished themselves in the field of athletics. To be eligible for this group, nominees must have graduated or been away from the institution (as to reasons for nomination) a minimum of 15 years.
   Note: Members of the Athletic Hall of Fame Committee nominated for membership will not be permitted to cast ballots for themselves.

III. Committee Structure

A. The Athletic Hall of Fame Committee is responsible for inductee selection and the celebratory event.

B. The Athletic Hall of Fame Committee shall be made up of 12 individuals. 

1. The Director of Athletics, Assistant Director of Athletics, and Sports Information Director shall serve as permanent members of the committee.
   Note:  The Sports Information Director will serve in an ex officio capacity.
2. The remaining nine members of the committee shall consist of the following: One Hartwick College Administrator (outside athletic department)

C. Members of the Athletic Hall of Fame Committee will serve three-year terms.  Each member is eligible to serve two consecutive terms. After two terms, the committee member must rotate off for one three-year term before being eligible to serve again.

D. Members of the Athletic Hall of Fame Committee will nominate and vote for future members of the committee.

E. The Director of Athletics shall serve as Chair of the committee and preside over all meetings and the celebratory event. In the absence of the Director of Athletics, a chair pro tempore shall be elected by a majority vote of the committee.

F. Each committee member shall serve a three-year term with no more than three members rotating off in any one year. The rotation is as follows: 

IV. Procedures for Nomination

A. Nominations for the HCAHOF may be submitted through the online nomination process or via e-mail/letter to the director of athletics. Nominations not received by August 1 of the current year will be considered for the next year.

B.  Nomination for Athletes – Regular Induction
Beginning with nominees from the 1994-95 year, coaches will nominate their athletes two weeks after the athletes have completed their last season of eligibility, or upon graduation or departure from Hartwick College. Potential selection to the HCAHOF requires that an athlete be away from the institution for five years before being placed on the Silver Group Ballot. Only those on the Silver Group Ballot are eligible for induction. Once on the Silver Group Ballot, nominees will remain there for a ten-year period. At the expiration of this ten-year period the nominees will be placed on the Golden Group Ballot.
Note:  Nominees under consideration who were not nominated immediately upon graduation and who have been away from the institution a minimum of 15 years will be automatically be placed on the Golden Group ballot.

C. Nominations for Non-Athletes (coaches, administrators, trainers, or persons having worked in some “athletically measurable” capacity)
Non-athlete individuals nominated for consideration for selection to the HCAHOF must have been associated with Hartwick College for a period of ten years in some athletically measurable capacity. Those nominees will be placed immediately on the Silver Group Ballot for a period of ten years. At the expiration of this ten-year period the nominees will be placed on the Golden Group Ballot.
Note:  All selections to the ballot must be approved by a majority of the Athletic Hall of Fame Committee.

D. Preparation of Ballots
Ballots will be developed by the Sports Information Director and a sub-committee, including two members of the Athletic Hall of Fame Committee selected by the Director of Athletics. Coaches will be asked to rank nominees for their respective sport(s) in both the Silver Group and Golden Group…this ranking will serve as a guide to Athletic Hall of Fame Committee members. Other individuals knowing most about particular nominees also will be solicited for their input at this stage of the process. Nominees will be grouped in their respective Silver Group or Golden Group categories. The Sports Information Director shall distribute the final nomination ballot to Athletic Hall of Fame Committee members.

V. Selection Criteria

A. Individual Honors (Athletic/Academic)

1. National
2. Regional
3. Conference
4. Institutional

B. Individual Records

1. National
2. Regional
3. Conference
4. Institutional

C. Team Success

1. Yearly records
2. National
3. Regional/Conference
4. Institutional

D. Outstanding contributions to the Hartwick College athletics program or other distinguished accolades in the field of athletics during the candidate’s tenure at Hartwick College or after.

VI. Procedures for Voting and Induction

A. Voting

1. Each Athletic Hall of Fame Committee member will rank nominees from the final nomination ballot. Resume/biographical information on each nominee will be used by Athletic Hall of Fame Committee members in tandem with coaches’ rankings when completing their nomination ballot. For the Silver Group, members will assign points to their top 15 nominees. The top nominee will receive a score of 15 points, with all other nominees arranged and assigned numerical ratings in descending order from 14 points through one point. For example, the nominee chosen second will receive 14 points, etc. Athletic Hall of Fame Committee members will rank up to five members from the Golden Group and follow the same procedure for voting.
2. Members will submit their nominee ranking ballot to the Director of Athletics, who will develop the final point tabulation based on the overall number of points assigned to each of the nominees. The Athletic Hall of Fame Committee will meet to discuss the nominees and determine the final inductee selection. If there are nominees who are closely ranked from a sport where the head coach is a member of the Committee, the coach will be excused from discussion and voting.
3. A.  There may be up to eight inductees each year.
   B.  The Athletic Hall of Fame Committee may alter the number of inductees in any given year by a majority vote.

VII. Timetable

A.  Nominations may be made by coaches and/or any member of the Athletic Hall of Fame Committee. The deadline for outside nominations is August 1 of the year preceding the induction.

B. The final nomination ballot will be developed and distributed by the Sports Information Director and a sub-committee, including two members of the Athletic Hall of Fame Committee selected by the Director of Athletics, by September 15.

C. Completed nomination rankings will be submitted to the Director of Athletics no later than October 15.

D. Nomination-ranking ballots will be tabulated by the Director of Athletics by November 1.

E. The selection process will be completed by December 1.

F. Inductees will be notified immediately following the selection process.

VIII. Amendments

A. Recommendations for amendments to the Constitution may be made to any active Athletic Hall of Fame Committee member.

1. Amendments must be proposed in writing or via e-mail by August 15.
2. Proposed amendments shall become effective upon the affirmative vote of a majority of the Athletic Hall of Fame Committee.