The Division III Membership Committee has listed items for further discussion after reviewing comments collected during a 2005 Convention forum discussion of the "Future of Division III -- Phase II" initiative.

The list will be forwarded to the Future of Division III -- Phase II Oversight Group for review.

The Membership Committee, meeting January 24-25 in San Francisco, reviewed results in each of seven sections of a membership survey that was conducted last fall and also reviewed comments that were collected during about 50 roundtable discussions and an open discussion period during the Convention forum.

That review produced a list of nine discussion items that will be forwarded to the oversight group, which consists of members of the Division III Management and Presidents Councils. That group is preparing to conduct its own review of the forum discussion and also receive reports from the Membership Committee as well as the Division III Championships Committee (see story elsewhere on this page).

The membership committee listed the following items for further discussion:

• Reclassification of Division III institutions to Divisions I and II.

• Sports-sponsorship requirements based on enrollment.

• Minimum contest requirements for sports sponsorship.

• Minimum student-athlete participation in sports that are used to meet sports-sponsorship requirements.

• National dual membership affiliations (for example, dual membership in the NCAA and National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics).

• Extent of presidents' involvement in oversight of intercollegiate athletics.

• Involvement in intercollegiate athletics governance of other institutional officers to whom athletics directors report.

• Conference realignment without loss of automatic qualification.

• Creation of a Conference Self-Study Guide.

Most of the items are based on "practical applications" of Division III philosophy that were suggested in the membership survey. The committee noted mixed levels of membership support in the survey for most of the items, but forwarded them to the oversight group as worthy of more detailed discussion.

Membership programs

The committee also conducted its customary review of current programs for provisional or reclassifying, as well as active, institutions.

Among actions involving programs for provisional or reclassifying members, the committee:

* Recommended various changes in the format for visits to institutions during the second year of provisional membership, including changes to encourage social interaction between visitors and personnel at the host institution.

• Recommended permitting institutions in years three and four of provisional membership to participate in the Student-Athlete Regional Leadership Conference.

• Recommended permitting third- and fourth-year provisional institutions to be counted as Division III institutions for purposes of scheduling contests (joining the Division III Championships Committee in forwarding that recommendation to the Management Council).

• Recommended that the Management Council adopt noncontroversial legislation to give the membership committee authority to recommend that portions of the four-year process for reclassifying members be waived. The committee is seeking flexibility in working with institutions that are able to demonstrate unique circumstances in preparation for active membership.

Among actions involving programs for active members, the committee:

• Agreed to include in active member education initiatives an institutional administrator (such as the chief academic affairs officer or student affairs officer) to whom athletics directors directly report.

• Approved modifications in the Institutional Self-Study Guide (ISSG) addressing compliance with new legislation to certify insurance coverage for student-athletes and participation in active member education initiatives.

• Noted the scheduled delivery to institutions during February of a Division III-specific "Vmag" (an interactive video); also, noted plans for pilot testing involving institutional chief executive officers of a similar communication vehicle known as "Vtext."

Other highlights

Division III Membership Committee
January 24-25/San Francisco

• Recommended specific options to the Division III Management Council for limiting active membership in cases where an institution has advanced through the provisional or reclassification process, but does not fully meet membership requirements. The committee recommended, as an alternative to requiring an institution to restart the process, placing the institution on probationary status, specifying ineligibility for championships access, voting privileges, Division III grants and initiatives, and catastrophic-accident insurance. Continuing failure to achieve compliance would result in placing the institution in restricted membership.

• Recommended actions for responding to an institution's failure to submit the form certifying completion of the Institutional Self-Study Guide. The first failure would result in a warning; the second failure would result in restricted membership; and a third failure would result in loss of membership.

• Reviewed current minimum contest and participant requirements for sports that are used to meet sports-sponsorship requirements, and recommended legislation to increase the minimum number of participants in tennis from five to six, based on that sport's current requirement of seven contests.