The Division II Presidents Council sent an early holiday gift to Division II members at its November 1 meeting in Indianapolis when it approved a supplemental distribution of $4,000 per institution.
The additional one-time allocation is based upon surplus revenues from fiscal-year 2006-07.

“Because of Division II’s responsible spending and because of the dollars the NCAA generates through its television contracts, the Division II Presidents Council has been able to fund its core strategic-planning initiatives for this fiscal year with enough remaining to allocate a supplemental distribution to Division II member institutions,” said Presidents Council Chair Charles Ambrose, president at Pfeiffer University.

Council members emphasized that institutions should use the funds to support initiatives that align with the Division II strategic-positioning platform.

The discussion came during a review of Division II budget initiatives. Council members chose the supplemental distribution after considering using the budget surplus to fund a limited-time $5 increase in per diem for championships participants or place the additional dollars in reserves.

Council Vice Chair Eddie Moore, president at Virginia State University and chair of the Division II Budget and Finance Committee, said his group reviewed the per diem issue at its latest meeting and noted that even a $5 increase per participant would cost more than $350,000 annually. Council members agreed with the budget committee that while Division II should consider an inflationary adjustment to per diem at some point, the benefits of the supplemental distribution address current needs.

“We favored the supplemental distribution in part because this is a critical period for our strategic-positioning initiative,” Ambrose said. “We have spent the last 18 months developing a platform and creating tools for institutions to use that increase exposure for individual schools and add value collectively to the Division II identity. The Council believes these additional funds can help schools implement initiatives that align with the platform for a more immediate return on investment.”

Legislation

The Presidents Council also reviewed Convention legislation and voted to oppose proposals that amend the official start dates for practice and first contests in basketball.

The proposals from the Peach Belt and Northeast-10 Conferences would permit initial practices no earlier than 7 p.m. on the Friday nearest October 15 (rather than holding to October 15) and for the first contest to be played on the second Friday of November (as opposed to the current November 15).

The Division II Management Council, which took no position on either proposal at its October meeting, prefers that the Division II membership decide both measures on the Convention floor. The Presidents Council, though, supports the status quo because it believes the current start dates provide a more consistent playing and practice season calendar. The Division II Legislation Committee also opposes the measures.

In other legislative action, the Presidents Council supported a Management Council request to amend a proposal regarding certification for male practice players in women’s sports. The amendment removes the requirement that male practice players be certified for competition (meaning they must be certified only for practice).

Financial study

The Presidents Council also continued discussing a study that highlights the effect of Division II’s partial-scholarship model on a prospective student-athlete’s college choice. The presidents received a preliminary report during their summer summit in San Diego that showed the value of the Division II financial aid model on total enrollment. Findings revealed athletics scholarship recipients typically add to an institution’s gender balance and ethnic diversity, and they increase the academic profile of the student population.

Ultimately, though, presidents hope the study produces a model that determines whether Division II’s unique partial-scholarship structure influences college choice.

The study being conducted by the research firm Hardwick Day remains in a preliminary phase as researchers assemble a more robust data set. So far, 15 institutions have participated in a data-gathering exercise, but officials want a 20-institution pool to add validity. They expect to reach that goal within the next few months and be ready for pilot testing to verify the data and adjust the presentation.

“The study is geared toward the impact of the partial-scholarship model,” Ambrose said. “It’s not a ‘yes athletics’ or ‘no athletics,’ or ‘yes football’ or ‘no football,’ but rather focusing on whether by offering athletics aid, are we doing better or worse than the alternative?”

Ambrose said he wants the study to illuminate the value of an institution’s investment in athletics scholarships. For example, would the prospect of an athletics scholarship influence a student who otherwise would receive $10,000 in institutional aid to attend the school for $9,000?

For now, though, the Presidents Council agreed that the study needs some refinement before it becomes a useful tool for Division II members. One member in fact said, “The impact of athletics is bigger than we’re allowing it to be,” noting that the study should account for the ancillary groups (band, cheerleaders, etc.) that athletics attracts to an institution’s total enrollment.

“The Presidents Council understands the complexity of what this financial study is trying to accomplish,” said Ambrose. “We want to make sure we take the time to develop a model that accurately reflects all the points of value that athletics brings to a campus.”

Other highlights
Division II Presidents Council
November 1/Indianapolis

Asked staff to provide information on how basing committee representation on the current regionalization model would affect the composition of the President Council and other governance groups.

Ratified the following appointments to the Presidents Council, effective at the end of the 2008 Convention: Drew Bogner of Molloy College (replacing Dan Bradley of Fairmont State University); Cheryl Norton of Southern Connecticut State University (replacing Margaret Mary Fitzpatrick of St. Thomas Aquinas College); John Cavanaugh of the University of West Florida (replacing Charles Ambrose of Pfeiffer University); Nancy Moody of Lincoln Memorial University (replacing Robert Brown of Arkansas Tech University).

Ratified the following appointments to the Management Council, effective at the end of the 2008 Convention: Lloyd Raymond, commissioner of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (replacing Winona State University Athletics Director Larry Holstad); Frances Nee, associate athletics director at Indiana University of Pennsylvania (replacing Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania Athletics Director Roberta Page); Willie Washington, athletics director at Benedict College (replacing Gwen Reeves, director of the health and physical education center at Fort Valley State University); Bob Fortosis, athletics director at Eckerd College (replacing Barry University Athletics Director Mike Covone).

Division II selects chairs for leadership councils

The Division II Presidents Council at its November 1 meeting approved a new chair for its own group, as well as for the Division II Management Council, effective after the 2008 NCAA Convention.
The presidents selected Stephen Jordan of Metropolitan State College of Denver to succeed Pfeiffer University President Charles Ambrose when Ambrose’s term on the Presidents Council expires after the Convention in Nashville. Jordan, whose Council membership extends through the 2010 Convention, will serve a one-year term as chair.

University of New Haven Director of Athletics Deborah Chin has been appointed to chair the Division II Management Council, effective at the end of the 2008 NCAA Convention. Chin succeeds Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania Athletics Director Roberta Page. Chin’s term as chair and as a Council member lasts through the 2009 Convention.

Jordan

Jordan became president of Metropolitan State in July 2005 after having been president of Eastern Washington University since 1998.

He began his career in academia in the University of Colorado system as the assistant secretary to the board of regents and an instructor in the graduate school of public affairs. He then became an assistant vice chancellor and vice chancellor at the university’s health sciences center before becoming the deputy executive director for finance and planning for the Arizona board of regents and an adjunct professor in the Center for Educational Leadership at Arizona State University.
In 1994, Jordan was named executive director of the Kansas board of regents and four years later took over as president at Eastern Washington.

He holds a doctorate and a master’s degree in public affairs from the University of Colorado in Denver and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Northern Colorado.

Chin

A member of the University of New Haven staff since 1975, Chin became the school’s fourth AD in 1993, overseeing a department that sponsors 17 Division II sports. She was named the NACDA/Continental Airlines Athletic Director of the Year for the Northeast Region in 1998-99.
Chin was responsible for starting the women’s intercollegiate athletics program at New Haven, coaching volleyball, tennis, basketball and softball for three seasons. She was promoted to associate AD in 1979.

She has served on more than 30 national and regional committees, including the Division II Women’s Volleyball Committee (1988-92) and the Division II Baseball Committee (1997-2001).
The longtime volleyball coach guided the Chargers to a 578-179 record in 18 seasons (1975-93) and was only the fifth Division II coach to win 500 career matches. She was inducted into the American Volleyball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in December 2006.

A 1968 graduate of State University College at Cortland, Chin earned her master’s degree from the University of North Carolina, Greensboro.