National Collegiate Athletic Association

The NCAA News - News and Features

July 20, 1998

Division III group recommends accepting 22 new members

The Division III Membership Committee addressed the membership status of several institutions at its meeting June 25-26 in Lake Tahoe, California.

The committee's recommendations will be forwarded to the Division III Management Council for consideration at its July 27-29 meeting in Philadelphia.

In the first such action in Division III since the lifting of the moratorium on new members, the committee recommended that 22 institutions be accepted for provisional membership.

The committee also recommended that 13 current provisional member institutions be accepted for active membership and seven institutions be moved to their final year of provisional membership.

The committee recommended the provisional membership of three institutions be terminated. Two of the schools had provided incomplete annual reports. The chair of the membership committee has requested additional information that may change the committee's recommendations on those institutions.

The third institution submitted a complete report but did not meet the three-season sports sponsorship requirement. That institution is expected to appeal directly to the Management Council during the council's July meeting. (In a situation of this nature, legislation permits the Membership Committee to recommend either approval for active membership or termination.)

A complete final list of new Division III active and provisional institutions will be published following final action by the Division III President's Council in August.

In other actions, the committee:

  • Recommended that the senior woman administrator (SWA) position be legislatively mandated and that the institution's chief executive officer make the appointment.

  • Recommended approval of two conferences for membership in Division III: the American Southwest Conference and the Northwest Conference.

  • Deferred action on the Illini-Badger Intercollegiate Football Conference. The committee requested additional information about the organization of the conference.

  • Recommended that legislation be adopted to permit the Management Council, upon recommendation of the Membership Committee, to waive one educational year of provisional membership if an institution has completed a year or more as a Division II provisional member and is attempting to reclassify to Division III.

  • Recommended that legislation be amended to require institutions requesting a waiver of division membership criteria to go through the Membership Committee to the Management Council. This waiver ( Bylaw 20.3.5.2) is currently the only membership waiver where institutions are required to take their case directly to the Convention floor.

  • Recommended approval of a waiver of the minimum-contest requirement for the women's basketball team at Agnes Scott College.

  • Continued to develop an educational program for first-year provisional members. The Management Council has already approved a mandatory introductory educational session for new provisional members in late September 1998.

  • Discussed the creation of an educational program for active members at the annual NCAA Convention. The committee anticipates working with other Division III committees on this initiative.