The Divisions I, II and III Women’s Rowing Committees are sticking to requiring schools to submit season results electronically to the national office through newly developed results software beginning with the 2007 season.

Meeting jointly June 12-14 in Naples, Florida, the committees confirmed that starting next season the NCAA Rowing Results program will serve as the primary source for information on which each committee will base championships selections. The move to the new Web-based system was initially planned for the 2006 season, but the transition was delayed to ensure that the software was fully operational. All teams will have access to the system through an ID and password.

In addition to preparing for the new reporting system, the committees also noted that Susie Mahan has been chosen as chief official for the 2007 championships, which will be May 25-27 at Melton Hill Lake in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. In another change related to next year’s championships, Division III teams will no longer be assigned to specific hotels beginning next season. The committees believe that will afford participating schools more flexibility in determining their accommodations.

The committees also are soliciting bids for the 2008 championships site.

In separate meetings, the Divisions I and III committees adjusted their race schedules for future championships. At this year’s championships, the groups moved Division I’s I Eights repechage and the Division III grand and petite qualifiers from 4 p.m. to 1 p.m. on Friday to mitigate weather concerns, and the adjustment worked so well that both committees agreed to make the change per- manent. The Division I committee also moved the I Eights race for places 13-16 to Sunday. With the modification, all Division I finals will be contested on the same day.

The Division I committee also recommended to the Division I Championships Cabinet that the bracket expand to 16 full teams and two at-large selections. The bracket increased to its current field of 12 full teams and four at-large selections in 2002, after previously allowing 10 full teams and one at-large selection. Pending approval, the 2008-09 season is the earliest expansion would be implemented.

The Division I committee also elected Tom Bold, associate director of athletics at Brown University, as chair.

In Division II, the committee agreed to limit the number of teams from the same region appearing in the same heat in Eights competition to two, and to just one in Fours, The group also considered surveying the membership about shortening the championship to a two-day event to elevate the focus on the Division II championships races. The proposed change, favored by many coaches, calls for teams to compete in a Friday-Saturday format rather than the current three-day format in which the three Division II finals are contested on Sunday, just before the Division I finals.

The Division II committee also selected Erin O’Connell, compliance coordinator and senior woman administrator at Seattle Pacific University, as the new chair.

In its separate meeting, the Division III committee recommended that all regions be represented at the championships with at least one Eight crew. The Division III Championships Committee must approve the recommendation at its September meeting for the proposal to be effective for the 2007 championships.