National Collegiate Athletic Association

The NCAA News - News and Features

March 10, 1997

Championships issues dominate III leadership meeting
A statement reasserting the primary importance of the educational and competitive value of in-season and conference play was endorsed during a joint orientation meeting for members of the new Division III Management Council and Presidents Council.

Participants in the March 1 meeting in Kansas City, Missouri, noted that the championships discussion of the past two years had unwittingly drawn attention away from what they considered the most important experience of Division III athletics participation -- in-season play. There also was concern that not enough importance has been placed on automatic qualification for conference champions in the enhanced championships structure.

This statement of principles related to an emphasis on in-season play now goes before the Division III subcommittee of the Presidents Commission and the Division III Presidents Council in March and to the Management Council in April.

The recommendation is that the Management Council, Presidents Commission subcommittee and Presidents Council approve the statement -- which presents points of emphasis for Division III governing bodies during the coming year -- before the statement is forwarded to the Division III membership.

Principles

The statement includes the following principles to be applied by the Presidents Council, Management Council, Division III Championships Committee and sports committees in the new governance structure:

Reasserting the importance of in-season and conference competition in relation to postseason competition.

Access to championships for conference champions.

Formal discussion of enhancing the football championship.

Evaluation of the championships enhancements as they are implemented in the designated team sports during the 1997-98 academic year.

Greater involvement by presidents, athletics leadership and faculty athletics representatives in division affairs.

Monitoring and evaluating the restructuring of the Association and Division III as it is implemented and a commitment to include existing subgrouping and subdivision models in this evaluation process.

The Division III orientation meeting was scheduled to give the Management Council and Presidents Council an opportunity to participate in a joint meeting and then to observe the meetings of each other to obtain a better understanding of how the two bodies will operate in the new governance structure.

The joint meeting was preceded by a summit meeting of selected members of the Presidents Council, Presidents Commission subcommittee, Management Council and Division III Task Force to Review the NCAA Membership Structure. A major topic of discussion at the summit meeting was the subdivision and subgrouping models developed to revise the Division III championships structure and the related discussion that occurred at the 1997 NCAA Convention.

Membership concerns

The following were identified at the summit meeting as membership concerns that argue against the development of either the subdivision or subgrouping models as proposed legislation for the 1998 Convention:

Timing of the proposed championship subdivision and subgrouping models. It was felt that it was premature to consider further refining of the championships structure until the planned enhancements have been implemented.

Concern about the details of the models, including an institution's inability to self-determine its placement in a subdivision or subgroup.

Scheduling of competition, including school rivals, under the championships proposals.

Focus on success in championships rather than participation in championships.

Treating any football championship enhancements separately because of scheduling issues and the need to limit the length of postseason play.

Automatic bids and how the subgrouping and subdivision models as well as the enhancements might affect participation of conference champions in a championship.

After the joint meeting of the Management Council and Presidents Council, the new Division III Championships Committee met and further studied the issue of access to championships for conference champions in the revised championship structure.

Concerns included the need to determine the number of conferences in each sport, the number in each region, regional alignments, number of independents in each sport, regional allocations, and the number of sport-specific conferences.

Also discussed was how to increase access to the football championship. Seven alternative championship structures had been developed by the Division III Football Committee at the Championships Committee's request and those were examined. But in light of the principle regarding access for conference champions, the proposals will be returned to the football committee for refinement. The football committee will be asked to forward its revised recommendations to the championships committee for discussion at its May meeting.

The Championships Committee determined that any survey of the membership regarding the football championship alternatives should be delayed until the revised proposals are examined in May.

Other highlights

Division III Management Council
March 1/Kansas City, Missouri

Appointed a subcommittee to review current NCAA Council policies and procedures and determine which should be retained by the succeeding Management Council. The subcommittee is to make a recommendation for the Management Council's April meeting.

Noted that the Management Council subcommittee charged with making a recommendation on contest limits, related to 1997 NCAA Convention Proposal Nos. 76 and 77, will report in April.

Agreed to recommend the adoption of noncontroversial legislation to permit a Division III at-large representative to serve on the Association-wide Memorial Resolutions Committee rather than a Management Council member. The membership adopted legislation at the 1997 NCAA Convention that requires a Management Council member to serve on all committees as a liaison between the council and the committees.

Budget Committee

During a meeting March 2 in conjunction with the Division III orientation session, the Division III Budget Committee:

Recommended to the NCAA Presidents Commission/Division III Presidents Council and the Division III Management Council that noncontroversial legislation be adopted to clarify that the Budget Committee will forward its recommendations to both the Presidents Council and the Management Council. It was noted that the Budget Committee includes representatives from each body and works for both groups.

Recommended noncontroversial legislation to specify that one of its duties is to ensure on an annual and long-term basis that proposed expenditures are consistent with fiscal priorities identified by the Presidents Council and Management Council, and with the Division III philosophy statement.

Noted the committee will have a telephone conference in April to discuss the list of proposed expenditures identified by the Management Council and an in-person meeting in June to prepare the 1997-98 budget.