A proposed Division III membership cap -- which earlier this year prompted concerns in Division II about its Association-wide implications -- now has prompted the Division III Management Council to recommend exploration of alternatives that could give the NCAA Executive Committee an opportunity to address the issue more broadly.

The Division III cap, proposed for a vote at the 2006 Convention by the North Coast Athletic Conference, would set a maximum size for Division III based on its June 1, 2006, total of active, provisional and reclassifying institutions. That total would include all provisional members and exploratory institutions as of September 1, 2005, and any Divisions I and II institutions initiating reclassification by June 1, 2006.

The Management Council, meeting October 17-18 in Indianapolis, defeated a motion to support the NCAC proposal. The Council, however, also asked the Division III Presidents Council to discuss alternatives for slowing or temporarily stopping the recent rapid increase in the division's size that would aid a longer-term and more comprehensive review of the issue by the Executive Committee -- including a moratorium on membership growth.

Other possible alternatives include reducing the annual class of institutions applying for NCAA membership. Division III currently permits six institutions annually to enter the four-year provisional membership process. Counting schools that already are provisional members or that began the exploratory process before September 1, the Division III governance staff currently estimates that membership in the NCAA's largest division will grow to about 455 institutions from the current 419 active members.

The implications of membership growth beyond that number include reduced championships access for student-athletes -- or, alternatively, lengthy championships that could increase missed class time.

In August, the Division II Presidents Council took the unusual step of asking the NCAA Executive Committee to discuss the Association-wide implications of the Division III proposal at its October meeting. The Executive Committee will meet October 27.

The Division III Management Council's recommendation -- which expresses a preference for a moratorium, pending further action by the Executive Committee -- could open the door for an Association-wide review of membership issues. Council members expressed hopes that the Executive Committee might form a working group with representation from all three NCAA divisions to consider possible responses to Division III's growth and other Association-wide membership issues.

The Management Council also expressed its intent to review the cap proposal and related governance structure discussions during its January pre-Convention meeting.

The Division III Presidents Council will consider the Management Council's recommendation at its October 27 meeting in Indianapolis, and the Executive Committee will meet later that day.

Other proposals

The Management Council also recommended that the Presidents Council take positions on nine other membership-sponsored proposals for the January Convention, and also revisited proposals previously endorsed by the Division III governance structure -- including proposals stemming from the Future of Division III--Phase II initiative.

Council members recommended opposition to an NCAC proposal seeking an increase in the number of sports that Division III schools must sponsor, renewing support for a Presidents Council-sponsored proposal stemming from the Future of Division III initiative that calls for an increase in the minimum from 10 to 12 sports (six for men, six for women), with a delayed effective date and an exemption for schools with undergraduate enrollments of fewer than 1,000.

The NCAC proposal would increase the minimum by one sport for every 100 students beyond an enrollment of 1,100, up to a minimum of 14 sports for institutions with 1,400 or more students.

The Management Council also recommended opposition to two membership proposals addressing automatic qualification, because they do not accommodate a conference self-study proposal sponsored by the Presidents Council that also arose from the Future of Division III initiative.

Management Council members voted to oppose proposals from the Empire 8 to preserve automatic qualification for a conference that temporarily fails to meet the seven-school sponsorship requirement and by the Commonwealth Coast Conference to grant AQ eligibility to newly formed conferences during a two-year period beginning in August 2006.

The Presidents Council's proposal would require conferences to evaluate shared philosophy and practices through a new Conference Self-Study Guide (CSSG), then allow a two-year period after completion of that study for conference realignment without the loss of AQ.

The Management Council also recommended that the Presidents Council:

• Oppose a proposal from the Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference and four other institutions to reinstate the "season of eligibility" standard. The standard, which would replace the "season of participation" standard adopted at the 2004 Convention that was supported at that time by the Management Council as part of the initial Future of Division III legislative reform agenda, in essence would reinstate "redshirting."

• Oppose a proposal from the Midwest Conference that would broaden the current season-of-participation legislation by specifying that "participation" at any collegiate institution -- not only a Division III institution -- shall constitute the use of a season of eligibility. Council members were reluctant to hold Division III schools accountable for decisions made by institutions or student-athletes competing in other divisions.

• Oppose a proposal by three conferences -- the Allegheny Mountain College and New Jersey Athletic Conferences and the Empire 8 -- to exclude from the playing season and exempt from maximum-contest limitations one postseason championship event in every sport. The provision would include events such as Eastern College Athletic Conference championships for teams that are not selected for NCAA championship competition, but Council members believe the exemption is too broad and would unnecessarily expand the playing season.

• Oppose a proposal by the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin, the Northwest Conference and the University Athletic Association to eliminate from the Division III philosophy statement the emphasis on in-region competition, and to also remove the in-region concept from the selection process for all team championships. The Council noted recent efforts by the Division III Championships Committee to permit more flexibility in counting contests as in-region -- including a recommendation to permit designation of games played outside a region during a defined institutional break period as in-region contests (see accompanying box) -- and strong support for the in-region philosophy indicated in last year's Future of Division III membership survey as reasons for opposing the proposal.

• Oppose a proposal by the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin, the Ohio Athletic Conference and the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference to include a "strength-of-season index" among primary selection criteria for Pools B and C. Council members based opposition on recent decisions by the Championships Committee to include opponents' average winning percentage as a primary criterion beginning in 2006-07 -- an action expected to ease the impact of losses within stronger conferences on teams' winning percentage, thus addressing concerns of the proposal's sponsors while also including independents.

• Support a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference proposal that would permit scouting a future opponent during exhibition contests.

The Council took no actions to amend proposals previously endorsed by the governance structure -- including Future of Division III proposals to require teams to play the equivalent of at least 70 percent of the membership's average number of contests completed over a three-year period and to implement a cap of 64 teams (32 for football) on the bracket size of Division III team championships that exceed the 1:6.5 access ratio due to the future growth of sport sponsorship.

Conference grant program

While Convention proposals from the Division III governance structure will wrap up the legislative component of the Future of Division III initiative, work will continue beyond the January Convention to support institutions and conferences in efforts to conduct intercollegiate athletics within the division's philosophy.

The Council formally endorsed what likely will be a cornerstone of that effort -- a program to give conferences and the Association of Division III Independents more authority and discretion over how Division III funds for strategic initiatives are used.

The conference grant program, which if approved by the Division III Presidents Council would be included in the Division III budget beginning in 2006-07, is envisioned as a means of enhancing conference and institutional autonomy and broadening membership participation in achieving the division's strategic goals and objectives.

The Management Council previously approved the grant program in concept, but reviewed details of the proposal for the first time at its meeting in Indianapolis. The program would distribute $1.56 million in funds in each of two fiscal years beginning in 2006-07 to conferences and the independents' association for:

• Continuing support for student-athlete advisory committees, compliance and rules education, enhancement of the roles of faculty athletics representatives and senior woman administrators, and regular meetings of conference commissioners and sports information directors. It also would support a recently established initiative to include "direct reports" -- individuals in addition to presidents, such as chief academic or student affairs officers, who supervise athletics programs -- in Division III activities.

• Initiatives addressing student-athlete well-being, diversity and gender equity, and sportsmanship.

• Enhancement or improvement of technology; officiating; training, medicine and nutrition; promotions and marketing; conference championships; and professional development.

Under the new program, the national office would retain oversight of the Strategic Alliance Matching Grant and Women and Minority Internship Grant programs, which make available $1.6 million annually to fund full-time administrative/coaching positions and internship opportunities at institutions and conferences.

The national office also would continue to oversee the annual $500,000 allocation for Student-Athlete Regional Leadership Conferences and retain control of funds that support educational partnerships with the National Association of Division III Athletics Administrators and the National Association of Collegiate Women Athletics Administrators.

Other highlights

Division III Management Council
October 17-18/Indianapolis

• Approved a recommendation from the Division III Championships Committee to permit designation of games played outside a region during a defined institutional break period as in-region contests, effective in 2006-07. The provision, subject to approval by the Division III Presidents Council, is applicable to breaks of four to seven calendar days in length, and institutions would be permitted to designate one period per sport, per season. Games designated under those conditions as an in-region contest by an institution would count as in-region for both teams.

• Approved and forwarded to the Presidents Council the Division III Strategic Plan for 2006-08. The plan, including measures of success of its objectives, is posted on the NCAA Web site.

• Received information from the Division III Financial Aid Committee that all but one of 430 institutions subject to the new financial aid reporting process submitted data or properly requested deadline extensions by the program's September 30 deadline. The national office received final data from 98 percent (421) of the 430 institutions by the deadline.

• Approved an official interpretation that compiles assorted previous interpretations addressing athletics staff members' permissible involvement with admissions and/or financial aid offices and restrictions on involvement in financial aid packaging.

• Approved a Division III Interpretations and Legislation Committee recommendation to require inclusion of a financial impact statement in proposed legislation, including membership-sponsored proposals. The statement is intended to inform the membership of any potential increased or reduced costs resulting from adoption of a proposal.

• Endorsed a recommendation from the Division III Nominating Committee to sponsor legislation creating new positions for a chancellor or president on the Financial Aid and Membership Committees.