The Division II Presidents Council continued its academic-reform journey August 8, agreeing to support legislation to strengthen initial- and continuing-eligibility requirements.

In addition to supporting legislation for the January Convention, the presidents charged the Academic Requirements Committee with further examination of continuing-eligibility standards.

The legislation proposed for the January Convention would increase the number of high-school core courses required for initial eligibility from 13 to 14 in 2005 and increase the grade-point requirement for continuing eligibility.

If approved, the new standard for continuing eligibility would require that student-athletes post a 1.800 GPA after their first year of college enrollment, a 1.900 after their second and a 2.000 after their third. The current standard requires a 1.600 after the first season of competition, 1.800 after the second and 2.000 after the third.

Some of the presidents, however, believe that the proposed change does not go far enough. While they almost unanimously supported sponsoring legislation for the 2003 Convention because they did not want to miss an opportunity to increase the standard, they also asked the Academic Requirements Committee to continue studying the issue. They are especially interested in the advisability of requiring a 2.000 GPA after the second year of enrollment as a continuing-eligibility requirement.

The current continuing-eligibility GPA standard has been in place since 1989, and the presidents acknowledged that changing the legislation in successive years after a 13-year lull could be confusing. They also discussed the point at which increasing academic standards represents an encroachment on institutional autonomy.

Still, the presidents requested the review in the belief that it may be in the best interests of student-athletes. "Very few of our student-athletes are going to the pros," said one president. "They need to be academically prepared."

As for the requirement to increase core courses, the proposal that will be considered in January was the same as the one that the Division II Management Council endorsed at its July meeting, except that the effective date was altered. The Management Council recommended an effective date of 2007; however, the presidents, acting on the recommendation of the Academic Requirements Committee, established an effective date of 2005 to match similar legislation in Division I.

Council representation

The presidents also assessed how chief executive officer representation on the Presidents Council will be achieved as more provisional members achieve active membership status.

Constitution 4.3.1 says that the Presidents Council "shall be based on a weighted regional representation by institutions that shall include one chief executive officer per region for every 22 institutions in the region. In addition, two at-large positions shall exist to enhance efforts to achieve diversity of representation and to accommodate independent institutions."

Because of a pair of membership moratoriums in recent years, Division II active membership has been almost static. However, provisional members now are achieving active status, and Division II active membership is projected to increase from 260 to 290 by 2003-04.

That means that the Presidents Council must grow from its current size of 13 representatives (11 regional representatives, plus two at-large members) to maintain the 1:22 regional-representation ratio.

To achieve a better balance of representation when the Council is expanded, the presidents agreed to modify Constitution 4.10.2.1 to remake the way the four regions are constituted. The new regions are:

Region 1 (Northeast) -- Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and West Virginia.

Region 2 (South) -- Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Puerto Rico, South Carolina and Tennessee.

Region 3 (Great Lakes/Midwest) -- Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

Region 4 (West) -- Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

In October, the presidents will identify a replacement for current Council Chair Patricia Cormier (currently Region 2) from an institution among one of the states in the new version of Region 2. Also in October, the group will replace Vice-Chair Bernard Franklin (currently at-large) with an individual representing an institution from the new version of Region 4. The slot for Nancy Belck, currently representing Region 4, will be transferred to the at-large position.

In October 2003, replacements will be elected for Presidents Lawrence DeNardis and Hazo Carter (Region 1) and Schallenkamp (Region 3). Additional representatives will be elected in Regions 1 and 2 to provide those regions with four representatives. Region 3 then will have three representatives and Region 4 two representatives, which -- combined with the two at-large representatives -- will bring total membership to 15 during 2003-04.

Under the current system, Region 2 would contain about 100 institutions and Region 3 would shrink to about 40. The revised map will accommodate expansion and will leave a difference of only about 25 between the largest region (Region 1, with about 80 members) and the smallest (Region 4, with about 55 members).

"The new map provides greater geographic balance for our member schools and reflects the two regions where membership growth is occurring -- the South and the West," said Mike L. Racy, Division II chief of staff.

Other business

The presidents also acted on a number of recommendations from the Division II Management Council, including the following:

Agreed to sponsor various legislative proposals for the 2003 Convention, including the Bylaw 14 deregulation package (see the August 5 issue of The NCAA News).

Approved extension and expansion of the Division II baseball drug-testing pilot program. The program will include four additional players who will be tested in the fall. Players who test positive will not be penalized since the purpose of the pilot is to assess whether a year-round program is needed in Division II baseball.

Approved the appointment of Nicole Keshock, senior woman administrator from the University of West Florida, as the Gulf South Conference representative to the Management Council (see related story, page 11).

In other business, the presidents reviewed the report of the NCAA Ad Hoc Review Committee; approved the agenda for Division II portion of the 2003 Convention; and enthusiastically supported the plan for the Division II Leadership Action Academy (previously known as regional leadership conferences for student-athletes), which will debut early next year.