The Division II Presidents Council has endorsed a five-year budget blueprint that will rely on stronger conference offices to bring life to the division's strategic plan.

The plan, developed by the Division II Budget and Finance Committee, lays out for the first time a schedule for implementing a wide range of new Division II initiatives, along with their estimated costs.

Arend D. Lubbers, vice-chair of the Division II Presidents Council and chair of the budget committee, said the plan has three objectives.

"We wanted to enhance conferences, to implement the strategic plan and to develop a strong five-year plan without allocating all of our surplus," said Lubbers, president of Grand Valley State University. "This plan puts a lot of dollars into play, but there are still many decisions to be made by the Presidents Councils, budget committees and Management Councils of the future."

At the August 10 meeting of the Division II Presidents Council in Indianapolis, Lubbers said that the enhancement of Division II conferences is the key to successfully implementing the programs included in the division's strategic plan. Money for many of the new initiatives will be sent directly to conferences, and conferences in turn will be held accountable for appropriate distribution of the funds.

Lubbers described a five-point approach for strengthening Division II conferences:

* Division II should make the objectives of its conferences similar to one another. Conferences should "look a lot alike" and function similarly.

Institutional presidents should be required to be involved in the administration of their conferences. At the moment, the amount of presidential involvement in Division II conferences appears to be highly uneven.

NCAA rules should be enforced by conferences. The Presidents and Management Councils should prescribe how conference-based rules enforcement is to be achieved.

All Division II conferences should have full-time commissioners.

Division II conferences should meet annually to discuss how to carry out the operations that are required of them.

To assist conference offices in meeting their additional responsibilities, the Division II enhancement fund will be increased incrementally over the next five years. Although enhancement fund money is not earmarked for any particular purpose, the expectation is that conferences will use the additional resources to acquire more staff, office space or equipment.

The budget committee, the staff and the Division II Conference Commissioners Association will develop an enhanced conference operations model and a conference office accountability plan for implementing Division II strategic initiatives.

New initiatives

The new programs for the next five years all relate to student-athlete welfare, governance/
membership and diversity enhancement.

The biggest outlay will be for championships initiatives and championships per diem increases. The planned championship enhancements are:

Reimbursement of travel expenses for golf and tennis regional competition (2001-02).

Gender-equity bracket expansion (2001-02).

Payment of expenses for both indoor and outdoor track championships (2002-03).

Bracket expansions for the men's and women's basketball championships (2002-03).

Implementation of a Division II championship marketing program (2002-03).

Per diem increases will be made in 2002-03 and 2004-05.

The plan also increases, from $250,000 annually to $500,000, the amount of money available to support the Division II diversity grant program, effective with the 2002-03 academic year.

In addition to looking long term, the presidents also ratified a $14.4 million budget for the 2000-01 fiscal year that includes $888,000 in new championships initiatives.

The budget also features a $1.24 million contribution to the Division II membership trust to bring the membership trust balance to 30 percent of the annual Division II operating budget. That expense means that Division II expenses will exceed revenues by an estimated $683,000 in 2000-01. However, the division has almost $6 million in unallocated funds, which means that it will not be operating at a deficit. Subsequent contributions to the membership trust will not be as large.

Amateurism

In addition to acting on fiscal matters, the Presidents Council also devoted time to legislation that will be considered at the 2001 NCAA Convention in Orlando, Florida.

In particular, the presidents unanimously agreed to sponsor a package of proposals that, if approved, will make Division II the first NCAA division to take a fundamentally different approach to amateurism.

The six-proposal package, also supported unanimously by the Division II Management Council, would base Bylaw 12 eligibility on a student-athlete's competitive experience rather than on whether the student-athlete received compensation.

The package, which does not address eligibility for postenrolled student-athletes, would:

Require a student-athlete who does not enroll full time in a collegiate institution during the academic year after graduation of his or her high-school class to lose a season of competition for each calendar year in which the individual participates in organized competition.

Require such student-athletes to fulfill one academic year in residency upon initial collegiate enrollment.

Permit an individual before full-time collegiate enrollment to sign a contract or commitment of any kind to participate in professional athletics, enter a professional league's draft or be drafted, and accept prize money.

Permit an individual before initial full-time collegiate enrollment to accept compensation (such as a stipend or educational expense) for athletics participation.

The presidents solidly support the package. Council member Jerry E. McGee, president of Wingate University, called it "the best piece of legislation ever" in his association with Division II. However, members of the Presidents Council emphasized the importance of educating their peers about the proposals in advance of the Convention.

Other legislation

The presidents also agreed to sponsor a 13-proposal package of legislation designed to deregulate Division II financial aid legislation. The only hesitancy involves a proposed amendment to Bylaw 15.5.7 that would permit an institution to count financial aid awarded to a multiple-sport athlete in either sport in which the individual participates, as long as the individual legitimately satisfies requirements set forth in Bylaw 15.5.7.8.1.

The proposal has been sent to the Division II Legislation Committee for further review. Although proponents believe it would enhance student-athlete participation opportunities, opponents fear that it could open the door to abuse.

The presidents also considered whether to withdraw a piece of legislation that would permit an institution to make unlimited phone calls to prospective student-athletes who have signed the institution's offer of admission or financial aid after the signing date for the National Letter of Intent.

Supporters claim that they are simply trying to make the telephone-call regulation consistent for all incoming student-athletes, thus simplifying compliance with the rule. The Division II Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, however, opposes the proposal.

The Presidents Council was sympathetic to the student position on the issue, but it ultimately chose to maintain sponsorship of the proposal so that the membership will be able to act on the proposal at the Convention. The proposal will appear in the 2001 Convention Official Notice, but -- unless circumstances change between now and January -- it will not be moved by the Presidents Council. However, the proposal still could be moved by any Division II member institution or conference.

Other highlights

Division II Presidents Council
August 10/Indianapolis

Approved a recommendation to establish a guideline for Division II championship bracket sizes so that they are based on the actual number of institutions sponsoring a sport rather than on a percentage of the membership sponsoring a sport.

Mandated eye protection in women's lacrosse and referred the matter to the Division II Women's Lacrosse Committee to develop a timetable and plan for implementation.

Approved a recommendation to require that NCAA postgraduate scholars begin their postgraduate work within three years of receipt of the award, rather than five. Alternates also would have a three-year window to begin work.

Referred to the Executive Committee's Subcommittee on Gender and Ethnicity the issue of homophobia in intercollegiate athletics.

Ratified Lisa C. Colvin, senior woman administrator at Southern Arkansas University, as the new vice-chair of the Division II Management Council.

Ratified Michael Kovalchik, Hillsdale College; Bruce Harger, Drury University; and Tony Capon, University of Pittsburgh, Johnstown, as new Management Council representatives (see related story above).

Approved a new "compliance blueprint program" to address issues unique to Division II institutions. The national office will begin using the program during Division II compliance reviews this fall.

Approved Division II schedules and programs for the 2001 NCAA Convention January 5-9 in Orlando, Florida.