Apr 30, 2010 8:28:21 AM

The Division III Presidents Council worked through strategies for increased presidential leadership at its quarterly meeting Thursday, including expectations for meaningful involvement at the conference level.

Council members authorized the staff to draft legislation for the 2011 Convention that would:

• Eliminate the need for the Presidents Council to serve as the sponsor for all of the governance-sponsored proposals for Convention vote.
• Establish a subcommittee of the Presidents Council and Management Council to determine which concepts warrant Presidents Council review and to formalize the guidelines for such determinations.
• Add two "Athletics Direct Reports" (non-presidents who oversee an athletics director) to the Management Council. These individuals, along with the two presidents who serve on the Management Council, would also serve on the subcommittee to determine which concepts warrant Presidents Council review.

The Presidents Council also reviewed a fourth legislative recommendation on conference-level involvement but referred the matter back to staff to consider developing as a policy recommendation instead.

The Management Council had recommended requiring two annual meetings of either all the conference presidents, or a subgroup of presidents exercising specific oversight of the conference. Such meetings could occur in person, telephone or videoconference.

But Presidents Council members balked at the idea of requiring those meetings, believing that such a mandate is too regulatory and might actually work against the intended purpose.

Rather than drafting legislation along those lines, the Council suggested a more incremental approach that would incorporate conference grant funds to create incentives for those meetings over the next several years. The presidents also suggested deploying the Division III Membership Committee to monitor whether this conference-level interaction is regularly occurring.

If over time presidential leadership among all conferences is deemed to be insufficient, the Presidents Council said more stringent requirements could be introduced. But for now, the presidents preferred a more eased-in approach to encourage the interaction they believe is important to developing a stronger division.

The matter of increased presidential involvement stems from the Division III Presidents Council's September 2008 white paper that identified greater presidential leadership as essential for Division III to address membership growth.

The Presidents Council will review the draft legislation and the policy recommendation again at its August meeting.

Budget review

The Presidents Council also reviewed a report from the Division III Strategic Planning and Finance Committee that outlines budget recommendations for the next two years. The matter rose in significance in light of last week's announcement that the NCAA opted out of the final three years of its broadcast-rights agreement with CBS Sports and signed a 14-year, $10.8 billion deal with CBS and Turner Broadcasting to present the Division I Men's Basketball Championship.

Since the payouts from the first three years of the new agreement differ slightly than those that were projected from the old contract, the Division III Presidents Council needed to revisit its biennial budget allocations.

Members noted that the first year of the new broadcasting agreement has been structured to essentially mirror the revenues projected during 2010-11 under the previous agreement. All of the recommendations contained within this budget for new expenditures, except one (a new men's volleyball championship in 2011-12), are focused on that first year, 2010-11.

The recommended 2010-11 budget expenses are $24,330,978, which represents a $1.3 million increase in the division's base budget. On the revenue side, the division will receive an additional $1.3 million from the Association next year, for a total allocation of about $23.9 million.

That leaves a $449,178 shortfall, which the Council agreed would be funded through the division's reserve. Members noted that while this approach has been approved for the last two consecutive biennial budgets, it has not been necessary to actually use reserve funds since the championships budgets has consistently finished significantly below budget projections.

The difference in projected income is more pronounced in the second year of the new agreement, which also is the second year of this biennial budget. While projected revenue will not grow by the former 7 percent annual escalation, it will still grow by about 2 percent (or about $400,000) to $24.3 million.

The Council agreed that amount, combined with limited funding from the reserve, will be sufficient to pay for the new championship, as well as related inflationary expenses.

The Council did ask the Strategic Planning and Finance Committee to consider modifying the annual 4 percent inflationary charge the division has built into its annual championships budgets to 2.5 percent.

The Council also asked that group to review the division's reserve policy. Currently, the division holds in reserve an amount equal to at least 10 percent of the division's annual allocation from the Association. That equals about $2.3 million next year. In reality, though, the reserve has grown to about $13 million, and the presidents want the Strategic Planning and Finance Committee to review what an appropriate reserve policy would be, given the revenue projections under the new broadcasting agreement. 

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