Telephone Conference October 31, 2002

Participants:

Christopher Bledsoe, New York University

Tim Downes, California Institute of Technology

Donna M. Ledwin, New Jersey Athletic Conference, chair

Del Malloy, Salve Regina University

Mark Molesworth, University of Wisconsin, Platteville

Kay Whitley, Sul Ross State University

Rich McGlynn, NCAA

Leah Nilsson, NCAA, recording secretary

Charlie Titus, University of Massachusetts, Boston, and Anne Steele, Muskingum College were unable to participate.

[Note: These minutes contain only actions taken (formal votes or stated "sense of the meeting") in accordance with NCAA policy regarding minutes of all Association entities. While certain items on the committee's agenda were acted on at various times throughout the meeting, all final actions within a given topic are combined in these minutes for convenience of reference.]

The meeting was called to order at 10 a.m. Central time by the chair, Ms. Ledwin. All were present as noted above.

1. Review of August 29 Telephone Conference Meeting Minutes. The NCAA Division III Membership Committee reviewed minutes from its August 29 telephone conference.

It was VOTED

"That the minutes from the August 29 telephone conference be approved as distributed."

2. Ursinus College’s Response to the Committee’s Request. The committee reviewed the response of the athletics director at Ursinus College explaining why Ursinsus missed the June 17, 2002 deadline to submit its annual report for reclassification.

It was VOTED

"That Ursinus College repeat year one of the multidivision reclassification process for its field hockey program."

3. Fall Exploratory Education Session Update. The committee received an update on the fall exploratory education session that was held October 24 at the NCAA national office. Ms. Ledwin attended the educational session on behalf of the committee and reported that there was confusion among the exploratory institutions as to the exact requirements to be eligible for the provisional membership process. The committee reviewed NCAA Bylaw 3.6.1.5 and reaffirmed that an exploratory institution must meet the following requirements at the time of application for provisional membership:

· Intend to sponsor not less than five sports for each gender during the first year of the provisional process;

· Intend to sponsor not less than one sport per gender per season during the first year of the provisional process;

· Intend to sponsor not less than three team sports per gender during the first year of the provisional process.

Thus, to be eligible to apply for provisional membership for the 2003-04 academic year, an institution must demonstrate an intent to sponsor 10 sports, including at least one sport per season per gender and at least three team sports per gender. The exploratory institution does not have to sponsor 10 sports during the exploratory year. In addition, the exploratory institution does not have to meet the minimum contest, minimum participant or scheduling requirements in order to count the sport as one of the 10 until the completion of year one of the provisional process (i.e., beginning with year two).

· Effective with the first year of the provisional process, the institution may not award new athletically related financial aid to incoming students (freshmen and transfer student-athletes). Following the completion of year two of the provisional process, a provisional institution may not award any athletically related financial aid. For example, if an institution begins its first year of provisional membership in Fall 2003, no incoming freshmen or transfer student-athletes matriculating for the first time in 2003-04 may receive athletically related financial aid for the 2003-04 academic year. No students at all may receive athletically related financial aid in 2004-05 and beyond.

· An exploratory institution has the opportunity to defer its start date of the provisional process. An exploratory institution that desires to defer its start date must notify the membership committee of its desire to defer on its provisional application. Specifically, an exploratory institution that notifies the membership committee of its intent to defer the start of the provisional process until a specific academic year will be placed in the selection pool starting with that desired academic year. The membership committee cannot guarantee that the exploratory institution will be selected to begin the provisional process during that desired academic year, rather the exploratory institution will not be placed into the selection pool until that desired academic year. An exploratory institution that defers its provisional start date after the application deadline will be placed in the first available slot after all other exploratory institutions have been slotted.

4. Future Teleconferences and In-Person Meetings. The committee reviewed its future meeting schedule, which is as follows:

a. December 5 telephone conference at 10 a.m. Eastern time; and

b. January 23-24, 2003, in-person meeting in Key West, Florida.

5. Adjournment. The conference call was adjourned at 10:40 a.m.

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