The NCAA News - News and Features

May 5, 1997

III Management Council backs lacrosse, track actions

The NCAA Division III Management Council endorsed championships enhancements for lacrosse and track for the 1997-98 academic year during its April 16 meeting in Tucson, Arizona.

But the Management Council also endorsed a recommendation from the NCAA Division III Presidents Council that further enhancements and any other Division III expenditures be considered in light of a list of priorities to be developed by the Division III Budget Committee.

The Management Council acknowledged that the Budget Committee has a list of guiding principles but agreed with the Presidents Council that the committee should develop a more comprehensive approach to requests for expenditures related to unallocated funds.

Full funding for Division III institutions to participate in both indoor and outdoor track was recommended. Current policy requires institutions to select either indoor or outdoor track for reimbursement. An institution is not reimbursed for both.

The Management Council said that full funding of both championships would be consistent with the Division III principle that all championships should be fully funded.

In men's and women's lacrosse, the Management Council agreed with a Division III Championships Committee recommendation to expand the brackets, because current sponsorship ratios exceed the 1:8 to 1:12 access-to-sponsorship team-sport target ratios established by the Division III Task Force to Review the NCAA Membership Structure and approved by the Division III subcommittee of the NCAA Presidents Commission.

Both of the championships enhancements would be effective in the 1997-98 academic year if approved by the Presidents Council.

Establishment of a Division III women's golf championship also was discussed but was referred back to the Division III Championships Committee. The NCAA currently sponsors a combined Divisions II and III women's golf championship.

The Championships Committee had recommended that legislation be submitted to the 1998 NCAA Convention creating a Division III championship. But the Management Council noted that the cost is estimated to be $93,000, which would come out of the Division III budget. Funding for the combined championship comes from the general Association budget.

The Management Council also recognized the need to consult with Division II because creation of a separate Division III women's golf championship would require creation of a Division II championship as well.

Other budget matters

In other budget matters, the Management Council discussed the concept of annual conference grants and proposed expenditures to enhance and standardize the championships experience for student-athletes.

The Management Council agreed that the Budget Committee should review these initiatives in more detail once it has created the list of priorities and a specific policy with regard to new initiatives.

The Management Council's budget recommendations will be reviewed by the Budget Committee in June. The committee then will forward its final recommendations back to the Management Council for review during the council's July meeting. Recommendations from both the Budget Committee and the Management Council will be presented to the Presidents Council in August.

Officers' election process clarified

The election process for Management Council officers was clarified to require a member of the council to serve at least one year before being eligible to be nominated for the position of chair or vice-chair or to serve as a member of the Division III Administrative Committee. The requirement would mean that a council member will have some experience on the council before being appointed an officer.

Nominations for the Division III Administrative Committee were discussed, and Stanley P. Caine was appointed to fill the chief executive officer position on the committee. Caine is president of Adrian College and vice-chair of the Management Council. Nominations to fill the position for a senior Management Council member on the Administrative Committee were forwarded to Bridget Belgiovine, council chair, and a mail ballot is being conducted.

The Administrative Committee is composed of five members, including the chair and vice-chair of the Presidents Council and the chair of the Management Council. When the chair of the Management Council is not a chief executive officer -- as is the case now because Belgiovine is athletics director at the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse -- the committee must include a chief executive officer serving on the Management Council and another senior member of the council.

Other actions

In other actions, the Management Council: