MEMORANDUM
TO: Members of the NCAA Executive Committee.
FROM: Bernard W. Franklin
Senior Vice President for Governance and Membership.
Subject: Membership
eligibility for international institutions.
The Committee is being asked to establish
a working group to consider the issue of membership eligibility for
international institutions and provide recommendations by the October schedule
of meetings. This issue was initially
raised in 1998 when a Canadian university sought entrance into NCAA Division
II. During the 1999 NCAA
Convention, a Division II proposal that would have allowed institutions outside
the United States, its territories and possessions to apply for membership
under specified conditions was ruled out of order by the Executive
Committee. The Committee noted that
this issue was more appropriately acted on as an Association-wide issue rather
than by a single division.
Recently, a second
Canadian university has expressed similar interest in exploring membership
opportunities. The issues
associated with NCAA membership by international institutions include (1) substantive
change to the NCAA Constitution and bylaws that require NCAA members to be
located within the United States, its territories or possessions; (2) the effect
of local law on NCAA student-athlete issues; and (3) the consequences of
“doing business” in a foreign country.