Management Council Chair Jill Willson applauded the Council for looking beyond individual campus or conference concerns.

"This is an issue that the membership must address," said Willson, director of athletics at Texas A&M University-Kingsville. "The Management Council’s job was to provide the foundation for that discussion. If the Presidents Council chooses to sponsor this legislation, then schools and conferences will have a chance to debate the merits of this proposal when we gather at the Convention in January."

Division II Vice President Mike Racy said that if the proposal passes, the Management Council will be entrusted with developing policies and structures to make certain that Division II continues to operate as a single division.

"Division I’s entire approach to governance is tied up in football classification," he said, "but what we are proposing is nothing more than a second bracket for football. Still, I believe everybody understands that there is potential for a change like this to create a chasm if our leadership isn’t actively engaged."

The passage of the proposal to create a second bracket is not a foregone conclusion, which raises the question of what would happen if the legislation failed.

Speculation earlier this year was that conferences representing smaller programs would sponsor legislation to reduce football equivalency limits to a number that might be politically acceptable — perhaps 32. However, the July 15 deadline for membership legislation passed without any proposals to that effect.

The Presidents Council has until September 1 to sponsor legislation for the 2007 Convention, and Presidents Council Chair Charles Ambrose of Pfeiffer University suggested at the July 16 Student-Athlete Advisory Committee Summit that a vote on lower limits still may be possible if the Presidents Council believes it will help resolve the issue once and for all. The Management Council was not enthusiastic about that prospect and voted unanimously to request that the Presidents Council not take such an action. Some Management Council members suggested that a vote on scholarship reductions would signal a backward step at a time when Division II is trying to enhance its identity.

If the Presidents Council chooses not to propose a lower equivalency limit, that will greatly elevate the importance of the vote on a two-thirds super majority to change financial aid limits.

"Some of us think of it as a ‘football issue,’ " Willson said. "But football is so important to the schools and conferences that sponsor it that this is really a membership-stability issue.

"We must create an environment where programs know from year to year what the rules are going to be. It’s not doing us any good to put out a brush fire at one Convention, only to have a bigger one break out the next year."

The vote to sponsor legislation to require a two-thirds vote to change financial aid limits at future Conventions was without opposition.

One other piece of significant legislation was recommended to the Presidents Council with much less fanfare.

The Management Council approved a recommendation from the Membership Committee to create a new process for exploratory and provisional membership. The proposal, developed in collaboration with the Membership Task Force, would combine the processes for new and reclassifying members. The exploratory period would be expanded to two years and would place much greater demands on prospective members to demonstrate that they are ready to be invited to provisional membership. The length of the provisional period would depend on the institution’s readiness for active membership. In no event would the period be less than a year.

Current legislation calls for one year of exploratory membership and four years of provisional membership.

If the legislation is approved, current provisional members would complete their reclassification under the existing conditions. Current exploratory members, however, would begin as exploratory members under the new terms in the belief that the new system would be more advantageous for them.

In a related action, the Management Council voted to ask the Membership Committee to consider a "prodigal member" approach. The concept would make it easier for members that have reclassified out of the division to return if they realized that the reclassification had not been in their best interests.

• Emphasized that Division II representatives attending the 2007 Convention in Orlando should plan on a longer business session than in the recent past. Short agendas and limited debate have led to noontime adjournments for several years now, but Management Council Chair Jill Willson said that this year’s program likely will take more time. She encouraged delegates not to book early afternoon return flights.
• Reminded the membership that no waivers will be provided in 2006-07 for early starts for "Midnight Madness" basketball celebrations. No basketball practices may take place before 12:01 a.m. October 15.
• Noted that some Division II sports committees have declared when they will implement the new championships regionalization plan. Sports implementing the arrangement in 2007-08 will be men’s and women’s basketball, field hockey, men’s and women’s lacrosse, women’s soccer and women’s volleyball. Those choosing 2008-09 are baseball, men’s and women’s cross country, football, men’s and women’s golf, men’s soccer, softball, men’s and women’s tennis and wrestling. The implementation is mandatory for 2008-09. Decisions on rowing, swimming and track (indoor and outdoor) are pending.
• Noted that institutions and conferences with a common mission, such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities, will be permitted to count inter-conference contests as in-region, regardless of their geographic location or regional assignment.
• Supported the Academic Requirements Committee’s recommendation for 2007 legislation to permit a Division II institution to certify the eligibility of a two-year college transfer student-athlete who, before regular enrollment at a Division II institution, earned credits at a four-year institution as a part-time student to meet the credit-hour requirement of the transfer rule.
• Endorsed a change to the Strategic Alliance Matching-Grant Program that would require an institution or conference to withdraw from the program immediately upon that institution or conference submitting official paperwork to begin its exploratory year in Division I or III.
• Supported a change to the Coaching Enhancement Grant Program that would require any participating institution to return money that was not expended because the individual left the position before the academic year was complete.
• Elected two new members to fill Management Council vacancies for the California College Athletic Association and an at-large position. The Division II Presidents Council must ratify both appointments.
• Heard a presentation on the ongoing development of the Divisions I and II amateurism certification process.