The Division III Presidents Council has given its blessing to initial steps to begin a second stage of "Future of Division III" deliberations, emphasizing that membership input will play a crucial role in shaping the direction of those discussions.

The Council, meeting April 29 in Indianapolis, joined the Division III Management Council in supporting the effort after reviewing initial work by a 17-member Oversight Group to Implement Proposal No. 66.

The oversight group's members, drawn from the Presidents and Management Councils, gathered formally for the first time April 28. The group discussed the broad range of issues listed for review by Proposal No. 66, agreed there is a need to prioritize those issues, and reported to the Presidents Council that a large amount of information -- in the form of feedback and research -- will be needed from the Division III membership to proceed.

Presidents Council members agreed with the oversight group's conclusions, stressing the importance of "re-engaging" the membership in discussion of issues raised in Proposal No. 66, in the wake of approval at the 2004 Convention of several significant reform proposals.

Proposal No. 66 is a resolution adopted at that Convention directing the Division III governance structure to review a variety of issues. The resolution emphasizes study of membership growth and diversity, but it also lists sport and program equity, access to championships and other programs and services, and enhancement of institutional and conference autonomy among areas for review.

The resolution establishes a two-year period for that review, calling for an interim report at the 2005 Convention, and a final report, as well as any appropriate proposed legislation, at the 2006 Convention.

Council members reviewed the oversight group's timeline for its initial efforts, noting plans for extensive communication by mail and through conference and independent-based electronic "virtual focus groups," as well as through in-person opportunities such as upcoming regional seminars and visits by Presidents and Management Council members to meetings of conferences and other groups.

A major data-gathering effort also is anticipated, combining research that already has been compiled or can be collected by the NCAA research staff with information obtained from a planned "feedback" survey later this year.

The survey probably will be sent to institutional chief executive officers (with notice to other institutional personnel) in September. The Presidents Council hopes a broad, institution-specific response to the survey will better reveal which of the issues posed in Proposal No. 66 are of greatest concern to the membership.

Council members anticipate reviewing results to date of communication efforts and preliminary research during their August 5 meeting in Indianapolis.

Budget actions

The Presidents Council also reviewed and approved preliminary budgets for the next two years and endorsed recommendations from the Division III Budget Committee designed to guard against unanticipated future loss of revenue.

Council members approved a recommendation to maintain an annual minimum $1.5 million reserve fund to cover any shortfall in the division's year-to-year operating budget, effective with the 2004-05 budget. Division III currently maintains a reserve equal to 15 percent of annual revenues, but the Budget Committee suggested that the percentage amount is producing a larger reserve than needed as revenues increase, and that $1.5 million is adequate in the short term to cover shortfalls resulting from such occurrences as unanticipated championships expenses.

The Council also approved a recommendation to establish a long-term plan for dealing with "catastrophic" events, such as loss of revenue due to forced cancellation of the Division I Men's Basketball Championship.

The Budget Committee proposed that such a plan should give priority to maintaining a viable championships program if budget reductions become necessary. Council members agreed to direct the Division III Championships Committee to formulate a plan for conducting championships under such conditions.

The Council also reviewed revisions of the Division III strategic plan recently produced by the joint Division III Presidents Council/Management Council Strategic Planning Subcommittee

Council members noted the variety of existing initiatives included in the plan and directed that continuing attention be given to ensuring that the programs produce results consistent with Division III objectives, as well as the Association-wide strategic plan that was adopted April 29 by the NCAA Executive Committee.

Other highlights

Division III Presidents Council
April 29/Indianapolis

Agreed to sponsor legislation at the 2005 Convention to establish automatic qualification for teams in the Division III men's and women's golf and tennis championships, effective in 2006-07.

Agreed to sponsor legislation at the 2005 Convention to require member institutions, as a condition and obligation of membership, to use mandatory binding arbitration to resolve certain legal disputes with the Association.

Approved a one-time honorarium of $1,000 to each institution that participates later this year in the pilot program for the financial aid reporting process adopted at the 2004 Convention, provided the institution submits the data electronically by the established deadline. An institution's chief executive officer will be provided an opportunity to request the honorarium following submission of the data. The pilot is scheduled to begin during mid-summer 2004 and conclude by November 1, in preparation for implementation of a mandatory process in 2005-06.

Approved the 2005 Convention schedule, which again will feature a forum Sunday morning (January 9) in advance of meetings of conferences and independent institutions on Sunday afternoon. The Division III business session will be Monday morning (January 10).