The NCAA News - News and Features

The NCAA News -- March 1, 1999

New reporting process to aid provisional schools

The Division II Membership Committee has developed a new document that should ease the annual reporting process for provisional members.

In the past, the committee advised provisional members that their annual report was due and that certain information was to be provided.

The result was that the responsible individuals did not have a framework for which to supply the information. That absence of structure not only created problems for the institution, but it also burdened the Membership Committee, which had to sort through a variety of different formats to find the information it needed.

At its February 4 meeting in Destin, Florida, the Membership Committee approved a new approach that will provide a customized reporting procedure for provisional members.

The first two pages of the five-page form will vary depending on where the provisional member is in the process. Different information is required on those pages depending on whether the institution is in year one, two, three or four of the provisional membership process. The last three pages are the same for all provisional members, regardless of how far along they are.

A similar approach is being used in Division III.

The form will be mailed in mid to late April and is to be returned to the national office by June 15.

In other business, the Division II Membership Committee developed plans for reviewing waivers for institutions that need baseball sponsorship to retain active membership but who may have trouble meeting minimum-contest requirements because of the metal-bat issue.

Bylaw 20 requires that a Division II member must sponsor at least four men's and four women's sports and that a minimum number of contests must be conducted in those sports. In baseball, the minimum number is 24. At its January meeting, the Division II Presidents Council approved noncontroversial legislation that provides a waiver opportunity for institutions that need baseball to maintain active membership but cannot meet the 24-game standard because of forfeitures or cancellations resulting from the metal-bat issue. A letter will go to the membership in March advising institutions what they will need to do to use the waiver opportunity.

The Membership Committee also selected a new chair to replace Mary T. Gardner of Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania. Penny Clayton of Drury College will replace Gardner, effective September 1. Gardner will remain on the committee until her term expires in 2001.