The Division III Championships Committee, originally scheduled to meet September 25-27, had to overcome scheduling difficulties in the aftermath of the September 11 events to even discuss its agenda, which included addressing a budgetary shortfall of $530,000 from the $9,687,351 championships 2000-01 budget.

The committee ultimately recommended a plan to repay the Division III reserve, and establish a contingency fund and a list of strategic budget-planning priorities. Those recommendations were forwarded to the Division III Management Council and Presidents Council for their review.

The Championships Committee, after review of fourth-quarter budget-to-actual results at its September meeting, learned that the 2000-01 Division III Championships budget was exceeded by about $530,000.

The causes of the shortfall are identifiable but not necessarily easy to address. The budget shortfall has occurred primarily in the area of championships travel, and is correlated to championship-site selection and participating teams. Although the committee takes a number of steps to manage costs, some costs are difficult to predict. However, the committee hopes to make better use of the new accounting technology to find trends in the shortfalls that have occurred and find ways to more effectively manage future budgets and potential changes in championships policies.

Some of the costs may have to be planned for on a contingency-fund basis, however, because travel costs can vary greatly from year to year. For example, the committee selects host institutions for non-predetermined sites based on which location would create the fewest number of flights (or least travel by air), using a 400-mile radius as a guide. The committee cannot predict or control which teams make it into the championships. However, the placement of the teams has a direct impact on the championships budget.

Because most of the championships travel arrangements are done on a week's notice, those costs can vary greatly depending on airline rates.

Also, two-thirds of the Division III membership is located east of the Mississippi River, so a site selected in a part of the country outside the area where most institutions reside adds to travel costs. The committee must balance those costs against the need to offer host opportunities to Division III schools across the country.

The committee agreed that better budgetary forecasting needs to take place, and the committee also plans to pursue alternatives to maintain or reduce travel costs in the future by working with the NCAA's travel agency, Worldtek. Among the potential changes may be a recommendation to change the 400-mile rule (beyond which teams may fly to the championships) to a 500-mile rule, among other cost-savings options. Such a change could generate savings in excess of $100,000.

The committee was informed that in 2000-01, 98 percent of the overall expenses of the Division III budget went toward championships, and less than 2 percent ($155,481) of the division's expenses ($9,604,046), went toward the Division III initiatives. By the 2001-02 budget, the division will be spending 76 percent of its budget on championships ($9,658,000) and total expenses are estimated at 12,626,530 (see the accompanying Division III budget chart).

Proposed solution

The committee proposed that the budget shortfall be repaid through a three-part process, with $220,000 directed from new championships funds back to the reserve in 2002-03, $220,000 in 2003-04 and 90,000 in 2004-05. That money originally had been earmarked for an increase in championships per diem.

The Championships Committee also recommended the establishment of a championships contingency fund to accommodate future potential budgetary shortfalls. The committee recommended allocating $100,000 in both the 2002-03 and 2003-04 academic years to establish the fund. That money would come from unallocated funds anticipated to be available during the 2002-04 budget cycle. The committee noted that some of the expenses in championships travel are difficult to predict from year to year, even with much greater scrutiny. And, such a contingency fund would provide a buffer for those years when costs rise unexpectedly.

In a related action, the committee recommended an allocation of $50,000 in each budget year to create an amount of funds to accommodate a minimum number of berths in pools B and C for team-sport championships. This fund would ensure appropriate access via the already established formula. The committee recommended a minimum of one berth each in pools B and C, with a goal of two pool C berths if doing so does not give disproportionate access to too few conferences.

In making the above recommendation, the committee noted that the automatic-qualification principles stipulate the determination of pool allocations using an established formula that is dependent upon the number of institutions sponsoring the sport, and specifically upon the number of automatic qualifying conferences and the number of independents within that sport. The committee further noted that the information necessary to calculate the pool allocations is not available until the end of September each year (when institutions submit their sports-sponsorship forms), which is after the budget for that academic year has been set. Establishing this pool of funds would ensure that appropriate funding would be available to carry out the automatic-qualification formula.

The Management Council, Division III Budget Committee and Presidents Council will review all funding recommendations at their upcoming meetings.

Planning priorities

Mindful of the potential funding limits over the next six years, and consistent with the student-athlete welfare component of the Division III strategic plan, the committee recommended the following initiatives in priority order: Enhance brackets in all team sports toward a 1:7.5 ratio, as soon as possible.

Enhance brackets in teams sports consistent with a 1:7 ratio in the 2006-07/ 2007-08 budget cycle.

Enhance individual-team sport field sizes in the 2006-07/2007-08 budget cycle.

Provide to all student-athletes who participate in championships and do not receive an NCAA award as a result of their place-finish with a participation award in the 2004-05/2005-06 budget cycle.

Provide per diem to all participants in the following individual-
team sports: men's and women's swimming, men's and women's indoor track and men's and women's outdoor track in the 2006-07/2007-08 budget cycle.

Increase the per diem for championships participants with an eventual goal of $70 in the 2006-07/2007-08 budget cycle or thereafter.

Those recommendations will be reviewed by the Management Council and Presidents Council at upcoming meetings, and the committee plans to provide the Councils with more specific information regarding the priorities, including budget projections, in January.