A working group formed late last year by the NCAA Executive Committee pledged to explore options ranging from slowing down membership movement from one division to another to creating a fourth division during its first in-person meeting June 16 in Chicago.

The Executive Committee Membership Working Group agreed to explore the Association-wide impact of divisional reclassification policies and also to study ways of controlling Division III’s growth without harming other divisions, and agreed to meet again this fall to discuss possible options for addressing those issues.

The seven-member working group, chaired by President Michael Adams of the University of Georgia and also including presidents and chancellors representing Divisions II and III, was formed largely in response to a proposal in Division III by the North Coast Athletic Conference to impose a cap on the size of Division III.

The proposal for the 2006 Convention generated concern that its adoption would leave Division II as the only option for institutions seeking NCAA membership, and prompted a request from the Division II Presidents Council that the Executive Committee study the Association-wide impact of a cap and other membership issues.

Foremost among those other issues is the recent or pending reclassification of a number of Division II members to Division I.

Working group members agreed to two principles during their meeting in Chicago:

Members of the group also indicated that efforts to address membership issues facing Divisions II and III should include an Association-wide commitment to greater research, publicity and support.

Using the principles as a base for discussions, working group members considered ideas ranging from a suggestion by Division III representatives to study establishment of a fourth division to support by Division II representatives for encouraging institutions re-evaluating current membership classification to study Division II as a viable option.

The "Division IV" suggestion resulted in an agreement by the working group to further discuss a couple of possible models for a new membership division — one based on "quantitative" membership criteria, such as sports-sponsorship limits, that could provide another option for current members of existing divisions, and one employing "philosophical" criteria that might bind members together based on institutional objectives for athletics.

That discussion, based on information to be gathered by the NCAA research staff, will be on the agenda for the group’s next meeting, expected to occur this fall before meetings of the divisional Management Councils and presidential governance groups.

Working group members acknowledged that the creation of a fourth division would face significant hurdles — including but not limited to funding — and also discussed the potential for increasing, rather than easing, current pressures in Division II.

The working group — noting that 49 Division II members have reclassified to Division I-AA or I-AAA since 1985 and 21 schools since 1997 — also agreed to approach appropriate Division I leaders to discuss how current membership and reclassification criteria may be encouraging movement away from Division II and to explore ways of slowing reclassification.

On another front, the working group supported extending a current moratorium on accepting new members in Division III beyond its current scheduled expiration in early 2007, if necessary, pending continuing efforts by the group.

Division II representatives on the working group are Eddie Moore, president of Virginia State University, who becomes vice chair of the Division II Presidents Council in September; Kathryn Martin, chancellor of the University of Minnesota, Duluth; and James Netherton, president of Carson-Newman College.

Representing Division III are John Fry, president of Franklin & Marshall College and vice chair of the Division III Presidents Council; Dale Knobel, president of Denison University; and Richard Wells, chancellor of the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh.