DALLAS -- The Division III membership voted January 10 to extend automatic qualification for the first time into sports where participants compete for both individual and team championships, during a business session that was relatively light on quantity of legislative proposals but noteworthy as a measure of members' commitment to supporting recent philosophically based reforms.

The membership also decisively rejected the only proposal that specifically sought to roll back an action at last year's landmark Convention, while deciding that two conferences' proposal to expand football activities in the nontraditional segment is reasonable in scope.

The automatic-qualification proposal is noteworthy by itself, not only for setting up creation of more championship berths for competitors in golf and tennis but also for further bolstering Division III's philosophically based emphasis on conference competition by awarding most of those berths to teams that win league titles.

Division III, which already permits conference champions in such team sports as football, basketball, volleyball and soccer to qualify automatically for NCAA championships, extended the automatic-qualification approach to those two individual-team sports, effective August 1, 2006, by a 311-60 vote, with five abstentions.

Golf and tennis championships will continue to include selected individual competitors who are not members of qualifying teams, thus preserving an existing feature of those events.

Concerns were expressed during debate about details of implementation, which still must be worked out by the governing sports committees and the Division III Championships Committee, and also about the potential impact of adoption on fall tennis competition and in scheduling of conference championships.

Assistant Athletics Director Lynn Imergoot of Washington University in St. Louis called for further study into automatic qualification's impact on tennis -- particularly the way many schools split play into fall and spring schedules. Among other things, consideration should be given to moving the championships from the spring to the fall, she suggested, citing a recent membership survey indicating that slightly more than half of tennis-sponsoring conferences select team tennis champions in the fall.

"If the AQ is decided in the fall, and the championships are in the spring, you don't necessarily have the same team, and you're not necessarily playing the same way," she said.

"We're being asked to vote on this proposal without the details, and frankly, the devil's in the details."

But Patricia Epps, senior associate director of athletics at Franklin & Marshall College, said the issue is broadening access to the championships, not worrying over when tennis should be played.

Epps, who voiced support for retaining the ability to split seasons, said that when Division III initially adopted automatic qualification in team sports in 1999, "the message was loud and clear -- we're about access."

Jeff Ankrom, faculty athletics representative at Wittenberg University, termed the proposal "well-intentioned" but expressed concern about "unintended effects." He suggested that expanded championships could compress the conference season and possibly result in more weekday play, or interfere with final examinations and graduation ceremonies.

But Steve Wallo, director of athletics at Lewis & Clark College and chair of the Division III Championships Committee, said the expanded championship formats would not affect timing of conference championships and offered assurances that "conference autonomy is maintained."

Chuck Mitrano, commissioner of the Empire 8 and a supporter of the legislation, urged delegates to trust the Championships Committee and Division III Management Council, with oversight from the Division III Presidents Council, to work through implementation details -- just as they did when automatic qualification was adopted in team sports. Delegates chose to do just that by approving the proposal.

Gymnastics proposal

Delegates, however, proved unwilling to take a step back from last year's action to eliminate in six sports the "out-of-season exception," or what previously was known as the "safety exception."

Specifically, they rejected by a 245-87 vote (with 45 abstentions) a proposal to reinstate the exception for gymnastics and permit coaches in that sport to be present during voluntary off-season workouts -- despite pleas from supporters that failure to do so would endanger the existence of about 15 Division III gymnastics programs.

Candace Royer, director of athletics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and president of the New England Women's & Men's Athletics Conference, which sponsored the proposal, said the highly specialized nature of the sport and a need for coaches to correct potentially dangerous repetition of movement justifies reinstating the exception in gymnastics.

"We do not believe that all sports should be treated in the same way," she said. "When they are, they are often not treated fairly."

But the proposal was opposed by the Division III Presidents and Management Councils and the Division III Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.

SAAC member Meghan Lockard of Gettysburg College said the proposal "is not the proper avenue to take to achieve the goals of the gymnastics community in a manner that is consistent with the Division III philosophy," adding that proponents should address the issue by pushing institutions to maintain properly supervised facilities in which gymnasts can safely practice during the off-season rather than receive coaching opportunities that are not available in other sports.

Dick Strockbine, director of athletics at the University of Dallas and a Management Council member, said gymnastics student-athletes have options even when campus facilities are closed, through participation in local sports clubs.

"The sponsors seem to argue that the only way to sponsor gymnastics is to permit year-round involvement between coaches and student-athletes," he said. "The Councils believe such an approach is not necessary and is inconsistent with our Division III philosophy."

Use of footballs approved

The Presidents and Management Councils also opposed a proposal by the American Southwest and New Jersey Athletic Conferences to permit limited skill instruction -- specifically, use of a football in passing-, catching- and kicking-related drills -- during the currently permitted five-week conditioning and strength-training period.

However, the measure drew SAAC support, which appeared to be a factor in the outcome as the membership endorsed the proposal with the day's closest vote, 209-125 (with 47 abstentions).

Supporters of the proposal from the American Southwest Conference asked delegates to trust the sponsors' motives, and resist assuming it is merely another step toward establishing a spring football practice with pads and scrimmages.

Tim Millerich, vice-president for student affairs and director of athletics at Austin College, said football student-athletes should enjoy the same opportunity during the conditioning period that other sports' student-athletes are afforded during the nontraditional segment -- to use a ball.

"As I've talked to colleagues about this issue, a couple of things have come up," he said. "First, here goes football requesting something else, and next it will be helmets and pads. I personally doubt that, but I would ask each of you to not worry about 'what if' ... today, the issue is providing footballs for the sport of football."

Three SAAC members -- identifying themselves as student-athletes in baseball, soccer and basketball -- agreed, arguing that the proposal would permit football student-athletes to practice sport-specific skills similarly to those in other sports, and dismissing concerns by opponents that skill instruction might create additional expense or exposure to injury.

In addition, Athletics Director John Schael of Washington University in St. Louis likened the proposal to others through the years that have been put forth to "tweak and adjust" otherwise solid legislation, without compromising intent.

Most delegates seemed to accept that reasoning, as 55 percent voted to approve the proposal and another 12 percent abstained from voting.

Ten proposals adopted

All together, delegates approved 10 proposals during the business session, including eight sponsored by the Presidents Council. A ninth Council-sponsored proposal -- a measure to implement mandatory binding arbitration as a condition of NCAA membership -- was withdrawn, pending introduction of the concept for consideration in Division I.

The gymnastics out-of-season exception proposal was the only proposal defeated by delegates. A third membership proposal -- the Empire 8's proposal to permit institutions to exempt an alumni contest during the nontraditional segment in baseball, field hockey, lacrosse, soccer and women's volleyball -- was approved, as was a Presidents Council proposal to exempt the National Collegiate Gymnastics Association national championship from the limit on playing seasons in the sport.