National Collegiate Athletic Association

The NCAA News - News and Features

March 2, 1998

Divisions II, III review membership issues

Committees in both divisions recommend application fee

Division II is considering setting a June 15 application deadline for institutions seeking provisional membership during the coming academic year and soon may begin accepting applications, as a result of recommendations by the Division II Membership Committee.

The committee, which met February 5 in Dallas, also recommended to the Division II Management Council that institutions applying for provisional membership be assessed a $2,500 application fee.

The committee addressed a variety of issues related to the end of the current 21Ž2-year-old moratorium on applications by new members. The moratorium has been lifted in all three divisions for new members entering in fall 1998.

During the moratorium, Division II joined the other two membership divisions in extending the provisional-membership period from three years to four years, and also established an "educational assessment" program that all new Division II provisional members must complete during that four-year period.

Now that the moratorium is being lifted, the committee is recommending a timeline for accepting applications for membership and also establishing specific expectations of institutions that seek to join Division II.

The committee recommended the June 15 deadline for applications in order to provide adequate time for the national office staff to process and the committee to review applications before the September 1 effective date for provisional membership.

If that deadline is approved, application forms will be available to interested institutions by May 1. The application form that was used before implementation of the moratorium is being revised to solicit statements of athletics philosophy and mission statements from applicant institutions and other information that will assist in an analysis of whether an institution is seeking inclusion in the appropriate NCAA membership division.

The committee anticipates that a packet of information accompanying the application form also will offer details about requirements for eligibility for Division II enhancement fund distributions, descriptions of possible proposed legislation for the 1999 Convention that could affect obligations and benefits of membership, and the text of the Division II philosophy statement and the membership requirements of NCAA Bylaw 20.9.

Application fee

The proposed $2,500 application fee would be nonrefundable, and would help cover the administrative costs of processing the application and monitoring institutions' adherence to provisional-membership requirements.

Committee members stressed that the fee is not intended as a barrier to application but instead is designed to help ensure that applicants are serious about seeking membership. The fee would be assessed in addition to annual membership dues.

The Division III Membership Committee also has recommended a $2,500 fee for Division III applicants (see story on page 1), and Division I likely will be asked to consider an application fee for mem-
bership.

All three divisions previously have attempted to avoid separate, uncoordinated actions regarding membership requirements that could result in applicants choosing a division based on factors other than whether that division is most appropriate for the institution. For example, adoption of the four-year provisional-membership period resulted from collaboration among all three divisions.

Other actions

The committee made other recommendations that eventually could have an impact on applicant institutions' interest in applying for and success in achieving Division II membership.

The committee:

  • Recommended that the Division II Management Council ask the Division II Presidents Council to sponsor legislation at the 1999 Convention requiring new active member institutions to wait three years before receiving distributions from the Division II enhancement fund.

    Adoption of such legislation would mean that any institution beginning provisional membership in August 1998 or later would be required to wait through the four years of provisional membership and the first three years of active membership -- a total of seven years -- before receiving such funds.

    The Division II Presidents Council agreed during its January meeting in Atlanta to ask the Membership Committee to study adoption of such a waiting period, primarily for the purpose of discouraging membership applications based primarily on institutions' desire to benefit from the fund. The Membership Committee believes implementation of the waiting period is another way to ensure that institutions apply because Division II membership is appropriate for the applicant, and not only to receive membership benefits.

  • Recommended proposed legislation for the 1999 Convention to clarify options that the Division II Management Council has in dealing with situations in which provisional members fail to achieve compliance with membership requirements. The legislation would specify that the Management Council can permit -- one time only -- a provisional member to repeat a year of the four-year provisional-membership period when such a failure occurs. The Management Council also would possess the option of reassigning the institution to corresponding membership or terminating membership. The legislation would establish that Management Council actions regarding membership status are final and cannot be appealed.

    In recommending the legislation, the Membership Committee noted that provisional members would retain the opportunity to seek waivers of membership requirements in Bylaw 20.9. They also will have the opportunity to seek a waiver of any of the requirements of the four-year educational assessment program, based on extraordinary circumstances beyond an institution's control. The committee recommended establishment of a June 15 deadline for the submission of such waiver requests.

  • Recommended the adoption of legislation granting the Division II Management Council authority to grant provisional-membership "credit" to an institution that has been a provisional member within the past 10 years and is again applying for membership. The legislation would permit the Management Council to approve up to two years' credit toward fulfilling the four-year requirement. Division III recently adopted similar legislation.

    Other highlights

    Division II Membership Committee
    February 5/Dallas

  • Considered whether to propose legislation to increase sports-sponsorship requirements for membership in Division II. The committee reviewed a 1996 survey that collected data on the number of sports sponsored at that time by member institutions and that sought to determine support for and effects of increased requirements, then recommended that another survey be conducted to ensure that any decisions to modify requirements are based on current information and conditions.

  • Recommended that Bylaw 20.5.3.1 be amended to clarify that a Division II institution reclassifying one or all of its sports to another division will not be eligible to receive distributions from the Division II enhancement fund.

  • Considered requests by three Division II provisional members for review of recent actions by the Division II Management Council to reclassify those institutions to corresponding membership or terminate membership, and confirmed the Management Council's action in each case.

    Division III committee develops outline for educational plan

    With the moratorium on new members drawing to a close, the Division III Membership Committee recently addressed several issues relating to new membership applications and requirements.

    At its meeting February 16 in Kansas City, Missouri, the Division III Membership Committee discussed many of the same issues as those recently addressed by the Division II Membership Committee (see story elsewhere on this page).

    Like its Division II counterpart, the Division III Membership Committee recommended to the Division III Management Council that new applicants to the division pay a $2,500 application fee.

    In a related action, the committee also has developed an outline for an educational plan for new members. The plan will contain appropriate education to prepare new members for what is expected of institutions each year during the provisional-membership period.

    The intent is that, by the end of the four-year period, the institution will develop a comprehensive understanding of the Division III philosophy and fully integrate that philosophy into the administration of its athletics programs.

    The plan features a mandatory orientation session for first-year provisional members during the fall and discussion sessions for all provisional members during the NCAA Convention.

    The committee stressed that this is not intended to be a weeding-out process. Rather, it is intended to make sure institutions are adequately prepared for full and active membership in Division III.

    As a part of the educational plan, the membership committee is developing an improved Institutional Self-Study Guide (ISSG) for members.

    Over the past several months, the committee has recommended changes to the current ISSG, and it also built in additional modifications to benefit provisional members.

    The committee plans to forward the revised ISSG to the Division III Management Council in April.

    Other highlights

    Division III Membership Committee
    February 16/Kansas City, Missouri

  • Recommended that dues for active members not be increased at this time. The committee agreed to review the issue on a regular basis. The committee examined the issue at the request of the NCAA Executive Committee, which asked that each division examine its dues to see if they are appropriate.

  • Reviewed current requirements mandating that Division III institutions play more than 50 percent of their games in men's basketball and football against institutions that are classified as Division III in that sport. The committee recommended to the Division III Management Council that both of those provisions be eliminated as unnecessary.

  • Reviewed the issue of minimum-contest requirements for sports sponsorship. The committee recommended that the Management Council sponsor legislation requiring a contest to be against a varsity team from a four-year, degree-granting institution in order for that contest to count toward minimum contest requirements.

  • Discussed requiring institutions interested in reclassification to Division II to give notice prior to reclassification. The discussion included the concept of not permitting institutions to participate in Division III championships during the notification period. The committee plans to discuss this issue further.

  • Recommended legislation that would preclude provisional members from awarding new athletically related financial aid during the second year of their provisional membership.