It’s wait until next year for the women to get their fair shake in intercollegiate athletics.

With gender equity promised to be the talk of the 1994 NCAA Convention, this year’s gathering of university presidents and athletic directors didn’t provide enough heat to warm up the metro Dallas area.

Not much was expected to take place last week in the Lone Star State, especially when NCAA Executive Director Dick Schultz used a part of his convention-opening speech to discuss the possibility of a one-game football playoff.

Other highlights from the four-day ‘gabfest’:

The biggest issue to be discussed this year was certification. Sure enough, the program received wide acceptance.

Beginning next year, each Division I school will be required to go through the athletic certification process every five years. The process would consist of an internal review, thorough self-studies by the school’s athletic department and an external checkup by a peer-review team.

Duke men’s basketball head coach Mike Krzyzewski addressed the NCAA Presidents Commission last Thursday but it was to no avail.

By a 257-61 vote, the schools nixed a proposal to restore a third full-time assistant coach for men’s and women’s basketball. Krzyzewski and many others were looking to upgrade the “restricted-earnings coach” to a full-time position.

By a 178-134 vote, the men’s basketball programs lose a scholarship – from 14 to 13 – beginnning next season. However, the scholaship limit for women’s programs remains at 15, which is a move geared toward gender equity.

Finally, a narrow tally of 164-148 last Friday shot down the proposal of allowing Proposition 48 student-athletes to regain a fourth year of eligibility.