NCAA News Archive - 2006

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Membership group provides options to manage growth

Jul 17, 2006 1:01:16 AM

The Division III Membership Committee recommended various actions during its June 22-23 meeting in Indianapolis for managing the growth of Division III while ensuring that schools seeking to join the division are fully prepared for active membership.

The recommendations came only a few days after a pledge by an NCAA Executive Committee working group to explore ways of slowing down membership movement from one division to another, and they also responded to a decision by the North Coast Athletic Conference to renew its proposal to place a hard cap on the size of Division III.

The committee’s recommendations — which among other actions would limit the number of institutions that annually would be granted provisional or reclassifying membership and require full compliance with all of the division’s regulations during the first year of provisional or reclassifying status — will be considered by the Division III Management Council at its July 17-18 meeting in Dallas.

The recommendations also include new measures aimed at holding active members accountable for demonstrating their commitment to Division III, ranging from annual reviews of compliance with sports-sponsorship requirements to requirement of periodic attendance by institutional personnel at the annual Convention and regional rules seminars.

The Membership Committee formed the recommendations after an Executive Committee working group of seven chancellors and presidents agreed June 16 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 (see the July 3 issue of The NCAA News).

Membership Committee members also learned of plans by the NCAC to again sponsor legislation at the 2007 Convention that formally would cap Division III membership at 459 institutions. That figure, specified in the proposal filed June 27 with the NCAA national office, is derived from the current number of active members (419), as well as the number of provisional members (18) and exploratory institutions (18) as of September 1, 2005, and Divisions I and II institutions initiating reclassification (four) before June 1.

The conference also proposed a cap at the 2006 Convention, but the Division III membership referred that proposal to the Executive Committee working group.

The committee’s recommendations, several of which build upon ideas it listed earlier this year, also would include schools seeking to move from another division into Division III in a proposed annual limit on new members.

That limit, along with other actions that range from awarding provisional or reclassifying status on the basis of specific criteria to raising fees, also would address the NCAC’s objective by curtailing growth of the division — though the actions would not impose a hard cap on membership totals.

The committee’s recommendations:

Provisional, reclassifying membership

Limit the annual class of provisional and reclassifying members to four institutions. (Division III currently admits up to six institutions annually for provisional membership and imposes no limit on the number of reclassifying members. The recommendation includes a waiver process under which the Management Council could approve a class larger than four institutions. The committee indicated it might recommend such a waiver during years in which multiple institutions from one conference apply simultaneously for membership, but it also could adjust the limit in subsequent years to maintain the overall annual target of four.)

Increase the provisional/reclassifying membership fee from $12,000 to $20,000. (The purpose of the increase is to cover costs of additional screening of applicant institutions and to increase the institution’s commitment at the time of application to achieving membership.)

Require compliance upon application with sport-sponsorship (including minimum-contest and participant) requirements; satisfactory completion of a viability statement describing the institution’s commitment to the Division III philosophy statement; sponsorship by an active Division III member; and demonstration of the existence of an institutional compliance system. (Compliance with these requirements will be factors in acceptance or rejection of the institution’s application. The requirement for sponsorship by an active member includes the establishment of what the committee termed a "good-faith mentoring relationship" and the submission of a letter of recommendation signed by the sponsoring institution’s president, athletics director, senior woman administrator and faculty athletics representative.)

Establish the following additional priorities for approval of applications and placement of institutions in a specific provisional/reclassifying class: geographic location in an area that needs or can support new members; reclassifying vs. provisional status; existing or potential membership in an existing Division III conference; and institutional sports-sponsorship profile in accordance with the division’s broad-based program philosophy. The selection process would replace the current "lottery" used to assign institutions to provisional-member classes. (The committee did not assign a rank order to the listed priorities.)

Require new members to fully comply with all Division III regulations beginning in the first year of provisional or reclassifying membership. (Currently, provisional members are not required to fully comply with all regulations until the third year of the four-year period. The committee recommends retaining a current exception permitting the awarding of athletically related financial aid to continuing student-athletes only during the first two years of the provisional membership period.)

Active membership

Conduct a random audit of the content of the Division III Institutional Self-Study Guide, which each institution is required to complete once every five years as a condition of membership.

Conduct an annual review of sport sponsorship, including a review of data submitted by institutions regarding completed contests and participants; also, annually select five percent of the membership (both randomly and based on concerns) for an audit of sport-sponsorship data. (The first audit, which could result in membership penalties including probation or restricted-membership status, would be based on 2006-07 data.)

Require attendance by an institutional voting delegate at the NCAA Convention at least once every two years and attendance by an institutional representative at least once every three years at a regional rules seminar. (The committee also recommends increasing funding in Tier I of the strategic initiatives grant program to support attendance at the rules seminars.)

Require administration of the Division III rules test annually to all head coaches, as well as to athletics administrators who have compliance responsibilities. (Institutions would be required to verify administration of the test on the annual sport-sponsorship form.)

Require an institution placed on probation or in restricted membership to complete the Division III Athletics Program Assessment, a tool for use by institutions in assessing the strength of its compliance program. (Such institutions also will be provided with an informational document describing models for a successful Division III athletics program.)

Consider an increase in annual institutional membership dues. (The committee, noting that dues have remained the same for more than 20 years, suggested a $500 increase to $1,400 annually.)

The committee also recommended standard penalties of probation, restricted membership and corresponding membership — as well as a waiver process — for repeated failure to comply with the new conditions and obligations of active membership.

National Collegiate Athletic Association

NCAA News Archive - 2006