REPORT OF THE
NCAA DIVISION III
MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE
1. ACTION
ITEMS.
a.
(1)
Recommendation.
That
(2) Rationale. Hood transitioned to a coeducational institution in 2003-04 and sponsored five sports, but did not have enough participants to count the five sports. Further, Hood did not sponsor three team sports for men in 2003-04. The NCAA Division III Membership Committee noted that the institution should have applied for the waiver prior to its transition to be a coeducational institution and also that it did not meet the three team sport requirement in 2003-04. The committee determined that the purpose of this waiver is to allow for a transition period, and that Hood should have three years to establish its men's athletics program.
(3) Budget Impact. None.
b.
Minimum
Contest Requirement for Rowing (NCAA Bylaw 20.11.3.3).
(1)
Recommendation.
Adopt noncontroversial legislation to establish a minimum contest
requirement in women's rowing of five contests
(2)
Rationale.
The Division III Manual did not include a minimum contest requirement
for rowing. Consultation with
members of the NCAA Division III Rowing Committee produced the recommendation
of five contests for the minimum contest requirement in women's rowing.
(3)
Budget Impact.
None.
2. INFORMATIONAL
ITEMS.
a.
Issues Related to NCAA
Strategic Plan. The committee reviewed
the NCAA Association-wide strategic plan in light of the mission of the
committee. Citing Objective 3.4
(informed governance and decision-making), the committee will explore the
feasibility of producing a video to educate the membership about the Division
III governance process. The video
would be administered when student-athletes sign their annual NCAA
compliance/eligibility forms to create greater awareness among coaches and
student-athletes regarding the NCAA and the Division III governance
process.
b.
Issues
Related to the Future of Division III – Phase II. The committee agreed
to poll Division III conferences about conference policies that may be
different than NCAA policies. This
issue and legislated areas impacted by conference autonomy will be presented to
the NCAA Division III Management Council at its July meeting.
c.
Exploratory
Member Education Session. The
committee revised the exploratory membership program to change the date and location
of the exploratory member education session. The session will be conducted in the
fall at the NCAA national office as opposed to at the NCAA Convention. Further, the fee schedule for the exploratory
members was revised to accommodate publications costs while exploratory
institutions wait to begin the provisional membership process.
d.
Provisional and
Reclassifying Member Education Requirements. The committee updated the reclassifying membership
program to include education requirements in each of the four provisional
years. The provisional program was
updated to revise the convention education sessions based on feedback from the
2004 Convention. Educational
program components for future years were further developed by the
committee. Finally, a provisional
member Web site will be developed to house all information relevant to the NCAA
provisional program.
e.
Review of Institutions
Not Meeting the Sports-Sponsorship Requirements. The committee reviewed the list of institutions
not meeting sports-sponsorship requirements and corresponded with those
institutions regarding the implications of a failure to meet the
five-sport/three-season requirement.
f.
Active Member
Education. The committee agreed to
survey the Division III membership regarding effective ways to deliver rules
education. The committee will look
at such technologies as Web broadcasts, standard video and Video magazines to
share with the Division III membership.
g.
Minimum Contest
Requirements in All Sports. After noting the
seemingly arbitrary assignment of many of the minimum contests requirements,
the committee will solicit feedback from the individual sports committees to
determine what the appropriate number of minimum contests should be for
membership requirements. The
committee will also consider data on the current number of contests that are
being conducted in each sport and the number of contests required for
championships selection purposes.
h. Legislative
Request from
Attachment
A – NCAA Membership Breakdown
Attachment
B – 2003-04 Sports Sponsorship
Attachment
C – NCAA Provisional Members
Attachment
D – Membership Reclassification Status Report
Staff Liaisons: Myra Fishback and Leah Nilsson, Membership Services