NCAA championships will be no different than other competition sites this fall when it comes to ramped-up security efforts.

Since the September 11 terrorist attacks, the Association has worked to tighten its security belt, which will be reflected at championships venues across the country this fall. Increased security likely will stay in place for the rest of the academic year.

Championships participants, fans and even those working the events will be permitted fewer items into the stadium. They also will see more uniformed personnel guarding the game.

In some cases, the effort will be no different than the measures that member institutions already have taken in the wake of the September attacks. Several NCAA championships finals are held on the campus of a participating institution, and in such cases, the NCAA is relying on those sites to keep doing what they have been doing to establish a heightened sense of security. Likewise, predetermined sites are being advised to use the extra planning time wisely.

In either case, the NCAA has compiled a list of options to assist NCAA members with security planning. Many of the options are those that NCAA sports committees and NCAA championships staff liaisons review with hosts as a matter of course, while others were implemented during the Gulf War crisis in the early 1990s. But NCAA officials recognize that this is the first time measures have been taken with terrorism in mind.

"As part of our crowd control and general emergency preparedness, we've always gone over many of these ideas with championships hosts, but recent events have caused us to rethink our plans and increase security measures," said the NCAA's Donna Noonan, who chaired a national-office project team that consulted with stadium managers and law-enforcement representatives from around the country to compile as comprehensive list of options as possible.

The NCAA is saying that the No. 1 priority for championships hosts is to consult with all representatives of appropriate public-safety agencies, including campus security; local, state and national law-enforcement agencies (for example, police, FBI, ATF, Secret Service); fire departments and hazardous materials response units; state and local emergency management agencies; elected public officials and campus leaders; and emergency medical services.

To some degree, the scope of the event will determine the scope of measures needed to secure the venue. Efforts to secure the Men's and Women's Final Fours obviously will require more resources than a smaller championship with fewer participants and fans. That doesn't mean, however, that any event will be taken lightly.

"What the staff is doing is meeting with hosts and finding out what measures they've taken during the regular season," Noonan said. "We're fortunate in that we have people in our membership who run events every day, and so they've already had to put these heightened measures into practice.

"In many cases, we may leave things exactly the same, or we may tighten a few things. For events that aren't predetermined, there isn't much time to plan so we really do have to rely on what they've been doing during the regular season."

Many fall championships venues already are experienced in security planning. The Women's College Cup is being played at Gerald J. Ford Stadium, the football stadium on the Southern Methodist University campus, and the Division I Women's Volleyball Championship is being conducted at San Diego State University's Cox Arena at Aztec Bowl, both of which have had security plans in place for some time. Also, Columbus Crew Stadium, site of the Men's College Cup, hosted a World Cup qualifying game last February and the Major League Soccer finals in October, so the personnel there are experienced in post-September 11 security efforts.

Noonan said the major differences between this year's championships and previous events will be similar to what participants and fans have seen elsewhere. For example, fans will be restricted as to what types of items they can bring into the stadium; credentialed personnel will be required to show a photo ID both at the time of pick up and with each entry into the facility.

"Our goal is to make the fans and athletes feel as comfortable and safe as we can," Noonan said. "We've taken the steps we feel are necessary to do that."

For a complete list of steps that can be taken to tighten security at championships events, go to NCAA Online at www.ncaa.org under "NCAA Security-Planning Options."