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NCAA News Archive - 2007
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Committee sees merit in letting moratorium end
The NCAA News
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The NCAA News
Division III likely will gain a more accurate picture of how many institutions are considering whether to join the division if it permits a moratorium on membership applications to expire at the end of this year, according to the Division III Membership Committee.
Committee members agree that the moratorium, which was enacted two years ago to allow Division III time to study ways of slowing its continuing expansion, may now be preventing the division from assessing growth during the next decade and beyond — information that could be important in the current Association-wide study of potential NCAA growth.
The committee discussed pros and cons of letting the moratorium expire during its June 26-27 meeting in Indianapolis.
Committee members agreed that since Division III adopted 2007 Convention Proposal Nos. 9 and 10 to slow membership growth in the near term, the moratorium now may only be masking institutions’ interest in seeking Division III membership and making it difficult for an NCAA Executive Committee working group on membership issues to evaluate future growth.
The working group is studying ways of dealing with continuing NCAA membership growth, including the possibility of creating a new fourth division or subdividing Division III.
Membership committee members suggested that if the Division III Presidents Council decides later this summer to allow the moratorium to expire, the national office staff should communicate the decision before the moratorium ends.
Division III currently is projecting a net gain of 28 members by 2012-13, counting institutions that currently are in the reclassifying, exploratory and provisional membership processes. Those schools, whose membership applications were accepted before the moratorium was put into effect, would boost Division III’s membership total to 448 members.
Under 2007 Convention Proposal No. 9, which was adopted in January, another four institutions could be accepted annually into reclassifying or provisional membership after the institutions that currently are in reclassifying, exploratory or provisional membership complete the process to attain active membership.
Allowing the moratorium to expire could permit the Executive Committee working group and Division III to better evaluate how many institutions may apply to enter the membership process beyond 2012-13.
The Division III Management Council also will discuss the moratorium during its July 23-24 meeting in Washington, D.C. The Presidents Council could decide at its August 9 meeting to allow the moratorium to expire and to authorize the national office staff to communicate that decision.
The membership committee also reviewed the recent work of the Division III Working Group on Membership Issues, which recently suggested two models — one for creation of a new division, the other for a subdivision — to accommodate growth in the longer term (see the June 18 issue of The NCAA News).
The working group suggested that the models could feature higher levels of institutional sport sponsorship than currently is the standard in Division III. The group also supported a related concept of emphasizing participation in intercollegiate athletics by higher percentages of students among institutions that would populate the new grouping.
The membership committee focused during its review on the working group’s belief that an institution should have the choice of remaining in its current membership classification, or “self-selecting” to move into a new classification.
Committee members said it will be important to determine the self-selection process — including the time that would be permitted to choose a classification and the procedure by which institutions will declare their choice — before asking the membership to approve creation of a new division or subdivision.
Proposal No. 9
The committee also continued its discussions about the implementation of Proposal No. 9, which in addition to its annual four-institution limit on new members will require institutions to comply with all Division III regulations during the first year of provisional or reclassifying membership.
The new legislation also discards the “lottery” process that has been used to assign institutions to provisional-membership classes and empowers the membership committee to recommend approval of membership applications and assignment to classes on the basis of four criteria: 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.
In a review of those criteria, the membership committee suggested that Division III should give priority to applicants that are located in geographic areas where there currently are few members; to reclassifying institutions because of their knowledge of the Association, its structure and its legislative procedures; to institutions that formally are under consideration for membership in an existing conference; and to institutions that offer a greater number of sports and also broadly support all sponsored sports.
The committee also discussed the four-member class limit and, citing an intent expressed last year when the legislation initially was proposed, recommended that the Management Council support a modification of legislation based on intent to implement a waiver process to permit a class to exceed four members. The waiver could be applied in cases such as when multiple institutions already belonging to the same conference apply together for Division III membership.
Committee members agree that the moratorium, which was enacted two years ago to allow Division III time to study ways of slowing its continuing expansion, may now be preventing the division from assessing growth during the next decade and beyond — information that could be important in the current Association-wide study of potential NCAA growth.
The committee discussed pros and cons of letting the moratorium expire during its June 26-27 meeting in Indianapolis.
Committee members agreed that since Division III adopted 2007 Convention Proposal Nos. 9 and 10 to slow membership growth in the near term, the moratorium now may only be masking institutions’ interest in seeking Division III membership and making it difficult for an NCAA Executive Committee working group on membership issues to evaluate future growth.
The working group is studying ways of dealing with continuing NCAA membership growth, including the possibility of creating a new fourth division or subdividing Division III.
Membership committee members suggested that if the Division III Presidents Council decides later this summer to allow the moratorium to expire, the national office staff should communicate the decision before the moratorium ends.
Division III currently is projecting a net gain of 28 members by 2012-13, counting institutions that currently are in the reclassifying, exploratory and provisional membership processes. Those schools, whose membership applications were accepted before the moratorium was put into effect, would boost Division III’s membership total to 448 members.
Under 2007 Convention Proposal No. 9, which was adopted in January, another four institutions could be accepted annually into reclassifying or provisional membership after the institutions that currently are in reclassifying, exploratory or provisional membership complete the process to attain active membership.
Allowing the moratorium to expire could permit the Executive Committee working group and Division III to better evaluate how many institutions may apply to enter the membership process beyond 2012-13.
The Division III Management Council also will discuss the moratorium during its July 23-24 meeting in Washington, D.C. The Presidents Council could decide at its August 9 meeting to allow the moratorium to expire and to authorize the national office staff to communicate that decision.
The membership committee also reviewed the recent work of the Division III Working Group on Membership Issues, which recently suggested two models — one for creation of a new division, the other for a subdivision — to accommodate growth in the longer term (see the June 18 issue of The NCAA News).
The working group suggested that the models could feature higher levels of institutional sport sponsorship than currently is the standard in Division III. The group also supported a related concept of emphasizing participation in intercollegiate athletics by higher percentages of students among institutions that would populate the new grouping.
The membership committee focused during its review on the working group’s belief that an institution should have the choice of remaining in its current membership classification, or “self-selecting” to move into a new classification.
Committee members said it will be important to determine the self-selection process — including the time that would be permitted to choose a classification and the procedure by which institutions will declare their choice — before asking the membership to approve creation of a new division or subdivision.
Proposal No. 9
The committee also continued its discussions about the implementation of Proposal No. 9, which in addition to its annual four-institution limit on new members will require institutions to comply with all Division III regulations during the first year of provisional or reclassifying membership.
The new legislation also discards the “lottery” process that has been used to assign institutions to provisional-membership classes and empowers the membership committee to recommend approval of membership applications and assignment to classes on the basis of four criteria: 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.
In a review of those criteria, the membership committee suggested that Division III should give priority to applicants that are located in geographic areas where there currently are few members; to reclassifying institutions because of their knowledge of the Association, its structure and its legislative procedures; to institutions that formally are under consideration for membership in an existing conference; and to institutions that offer a greater number of sports and also broadly support all sponsored sports.
The committee also discussed the four-member class limit and, citing an intent expressed last year when the legislation initially was proposed, recommended that the Management Council support a modification of legislation based on intent to implement a waiver process to permit a class to exceed four members. The waiver could be applied in cases such as when multiple institutions already belonging to the same conference apply together for Division III membership.
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