Sometimes you hit on an idea that is simple and its timing perfect.

Members of the North Coast Athletic Conference feel confident that our proposed membership cap for Division III is one of those ideas that is simple, important, and -- most significantly -- one whose time has come.

Since introducing the proposal in July, we have encountered little but support for the principle behind this measure for Division III. "We should have looked at this half a dozen years ago" is the sort of comment we often hear.

The encouragement of the Division III Presidents Council in late October for the Association to take a careful look at divisional size was the most recent supportive action associated with our membership cap proposal.

Size does matter, as every college president will happily explain. The size of an institution is a carefully crafted part of a college or university long-range operating plan. Leaders of every college can explain in great detail their school's
ideal first-year class size, the preferred overall enrollment size, and the best possible ratio of faculty or computers or chemistry labs to the size of the student body. So, too, the size of Division III affects our ability to fulfill our divisional mission and meet the needs of member institutions.

Up until 1995, whole conferences were leaving the NAIA and seeking membership in NCAA Divisions II and III. Division III has experienced the greatest growth of any NCAA playing division. Since its inception in 1973 with 243 members, the division has grown to a membership of 437 active and provisional members. That is over 100 more than our friends in Division I, which has 327 members spread among several subdivisions, and more than Division II, with 290 members.

About a decade ago, Division III began to confront the issue of unregulated growth. Division leadership has done a creditable job of planning for new members. At present, six new members
a year are accepted and it takes at least a four-year provisional period to become a full member of the division. Twice during this period, the
division has turned to a membership moratorium, and the Presidents Council's recent adoption of a third moratorium underscores the widening recognition of the challenges of constant growth.

In fact, Division III is the largest collegiate athletics playing organization we know of worldwide, eclipsing the NAIA, which retains a membership of about 300 members. If we were not a "playing" division, being the largest might be a good thing. However, when we all are involved in elaborate and extensive national championships, size raises issues with time, money and, for that matter, divisional philosophy.

Funding, certainly, is a key issue. Nearly 10 years ago, upon the federated reorganization of the NCAA, Division III was guaranteed 3.18 percent of the annual NCAA budget. At the same time, Division II was guaranteed 4.37 percent of the budget. Obviously, a still-growing Division III, with its current 419 active members, expends a far greater portion of its budget, per capita, on national championships and other programs and services than our colleagues in Division II, with only 280 active members.

Division I presidents have appropriately resisted a collegiate football national playoff because it would greatly increase the length of the season. I suspect many outside our division do not know that the Division III football playoff already consumes five weeks, following the 10-week regular season.

I wonder how Division I members would feel about the size of their men's and women's basketball championship field if they had 44 conferences to accommodate in their field of 58 national competitors. That means that only 14 spots are left in Division III for independents, for those in conferences with fewer than seven members, and for those unusually outstanding teams in conferences where the champion receives the automatic bid. Our national championships and their growing fields are only the most immediate and costly (in terms of both expense and continued infringement on our academic calendars) growth concern.

This fast-approaching reality has caused the Division III leadership to sponsor another proposal at January's Convention that would permanently cap the championship fields at 64 teams in all team sports except for football, which would remain at the current 32 teams. We support this proposal and feel it is a strong indicator that the leadership has recognized we can grow no more without infringing upon our mission and services. This action endorses the principles embodied in the NCAC's membership cap proposal.

Division III has been relaxed in its approach to regulation and to defining just who we are as a playing division. As a result, we have a division that includes institutions with student enrollments from 250 to 40,000. And our minimum sports-sponsorship requirement of 10 sports per coed institution does not align well with the actual average of nearly 17 sports per member. Such breadth -- which is growing rather than declining -- makes it increasingly difficult to legislate equitably for the entire division.

The membership cap proposal, the cap proposal for championship fields and two proposals for increasing minimum sports sponsorship in Division III are all signs pointing to an new awakening that Division III needs to address its future and take strong action now.

A "yes" vote for the Division III membership cap proposal will be a giant step in the right direction for Division III's future.

Dennis Collins is the executive director of the North Coast Athletic Conference.