TRACE Bribery
January 7, 2019
College Admissions Scandal Update
June 24, 2019
Integrity in officiating is more important than ever and to that end, NASO is going to make it easier for groups to get help in starting their own ethics and integrity programs.
To go along with its recently created online Integrity Resource Center (IRC) at nasointegrity.com, NASO will now make available longtime basketball official and NASO board member Dave Dodge for consultation help in starting such programs. His consultation will be a part of NASO’s current Member Information & Consultation Program, a free service for NASO members.
“Officiating leaders interested in exploring the development of an integrity program for their organization or officiating department in a larger organization now have access to pro bono consulting services through the IRC,” said Dodge in a statement. “While the IRC has recently published (an online) guidebook, a number of officiating leaders have indicated that they believe they could benefit from a confidential conversation, by telephone or in-person, with a trusted advisor who has experience in officiating and in the development and management of integrity programs, before getting started.”
Dodge is enthusiastic about tackling this program head-on.
“I worked as a college basketball official for 30 years,” he said in a phone conversation, “and I had many concerns crop up (ethically) that I had to deal with. I was also running a risk-management company at the same time and the two (positions) were not entirely unique from one another.”
Dodge, who also posts informational blogs on integrity and ethics on the IRC site, sees this new position as just an extension of NASO’s base mission.
“I’m just looking to provide information that will be helpful to officiating leaders, aid them in getting started (in the creation of an ethics program),” Dodge said.
Dodge said that the in-depth online ethics handbook that is available on the IRC site is a good starting point for those who are interested. He will then flesh things out for those with still more questions.
“The booklet is helpful,” he said, “but I’m just another stop to provide confidential and in-depth information.”
The sessions that Dodge will end up facilitating may vary from all-day programs to as brief as 30-minute refreshers.
He thinks this is a great next step along the path toward integrity in officiating.
“Officiating leaders know what the problems are,” he said. “We tend to sweep things under the rug, but that response no longer works. We’ve seen so many issues where reputations have been stained and careers ruined. … I’m going to be here to help prevent small problems from growing into large ones.”
For further information on this new service, call NASO at 262-632-5448 or contact NASO online at naso.org/contact.
