REPORT OF THE

NCAA DIVISION III MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE

1. ACTION ITEMS.

a. Provisional Member Annual Reports – Active Membership.

(1) Recommendation. That the following institutions be granted active membership status:

(a) Alverno College; and

(b) Transylvania University.

(2) Rationale. On its review of the aforementioned institutions' annual reports, the NCAA Division III Membership Committee agreed that each institution had conducted its athletics program in full compliance with NCAA regulations and should be granted active membership.

b. Provisional Member Annual Reports – Third Year of Provisional Membership.

(1) Recommendation. That Spelman College be moved into the third year of provisional membership.

(2) Rationale. Based on its review of the aforementioned institution's annual report, the committee agreed that the institution should be moved forward into the third year of provisional membership.

c. Provisional Member Annual Reports – Second Year of Provisional Membership.

(1) Recommendation. That the following institutions be moved into the second year of provisional membership:

(a) University of Texas at Tyler;

(b) Penn State Berks-Lehigh Valley College;

(c) University of Maine at Presque Isle;

(d) Finlandia University; and

(e) Mount Mary College.

(2) Rationale. Based on its review of the aforementioned institutions' annual report, the committee agreed that the institutions should be moved forward into the second year of provisional membership.

d. Provisional Member Request – First Year of Provisional Membership.

(1) Recommendation. That the following institutions be moved into the first year of provisional membership:

(a) Crown College (Minnesota);

(b) Keystone College;

(c) Mitchell College;

(d) Mount Aloysius College;

(e) Presentation College; and

(f) Tri-State University.

(2) Rationale. Based on the applications submitted by these institutions during the 2002-03 academic year and the results of the provisional member lottery, the committee agreed that these institutions should be move into their first year of provisional membership.

e. Provisional Member Request – Application for Provisional Membership.

(1) Recommendation. That the following institutions be scheduled to begin provisional membership in the 2006-07 academic year:

(a) Johnson & Wales University Denver;

(b) Lincoln Christian College & Seminary;

(c) Lyndon State College;

(d) Saint Vincent College;

(e) Seton Hill University; and

(f) SUNY at Morrisville.

(2) Rationale. Based on its review of the aforementioned institutions' applications, and the limit of six institutions per provisional class, the committee agreed that these institutions should be move into their first year of provisional membership in the 2006-07 academic year. Each of these institutions completed the exploratory year in 2003-04.

f. Reclassification Annual Report – Second Year of Reclassification.

(1) Recommendation. That the University of Minnesota, Morris, be moved into the second year of reclassification.

(2) Rationale. On its review of the aforementioned institution's application, the committee agreed that the institution should be moved into the second year of reclassification.

g. Reclassification Request – First Year of Reclassification.

(1) Recommendation. That Green Mountain College be moved into the first year of reclassification.

(2) Rationale. On its review of the aforementioned institution's application, the committee agreed that the institution should be moved into the first year of reclassification.

h. Conference Membership Request – North Eastern Athletic Conference.

(1) Recommendation. That the North Eastern Athletic Conference be granted member conference status.

(2) Rationale. On its review of the aforementioned conference's application, the committee agreed that the conference should be granted member conference status. The committee noted that the State University of New York, Purchase College, will not be officially recognized as a member of this conference until 2005-06 when that institution begins provisional membership.

i. Noncontroversial Legislation – NCAA Constitution 3.6.1.2.1.2.

(1) Recommendation. Sponsor noncontroversial legislation to amend NCAA Constitution 3.6.1.2.1.2 to require that an institution complete the Division III financial aid report during its second year of provisional membership and thereafter. Further, the NCAA Division III Financial Aid and Awards Committee shall report to the Membership Committee any provisional institutions whose variance exceeds the acceptable level.

(2) Rationale. Because provisional member institutions are not permitted to offer athletically related financial aid to incoming student-athletes, those institutions should be required to submit the financial aid report. To keep the Membership Committee informed on the rules compliance of provisional members, the Financial Aid and Awards Committee shall report to the Membership Committee any provisional institutions whose variance exceeds the acceptable level.

j. Modification of Wording – Constitution 6.3.1.

(1) Recommendation. Modify Constitution 6.3.1 to reflect the actual areas of study included in the NCAA Division III Institution Self-Study Guide (ISSG).

(2) Rationale. As the ISSG has been updated over the past several years, Constitution 6.3.1 has not been amended to reflect the current scope of the study. This modification will align the Constitutional description and the actual self-study instrument.

2. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS.

a. Audio-Visual Tool for Student-Athlete Summary of Regulations. For the 2004-05 academic year, a professional CD-ROM will be distributed to the Division III membership to assist institutions in the review of the student-athlete's summary of regulations. A memorandum will be distributed to the membership announcing this tool and the date it will become available. For the 2005-06 academic year, another CD-ROM will be released and will include information for the NCAA Division III
Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, Faculty Athletics Representative Association (FARA) and other important constituents. The purpose of the CD-ROM is to assist athletics administrators with important duties and to ensure consistent delivery of information.

b. Membership Web Site. The committee reviewed and updated the Membership Web site. All educational and required materials for provisional and reclassifying members will be posted on this site. Other helpful links exist on the site to provide this constituency with easy access to important information.

c. Active Member Education Plan. The committee endorsed a draft active member education plan (Attachment). This plan is to become effective for the 2005-06 year, and the committee will work with the following groups to revise and strengthen this plan: FARA, Division III Commissioners Association, College Sports Information Directors of America, National Association of Division III Athletic Administrators, National Association of College Directors of Athletics, National Athletic Trainers' Association and the National Association of Compliance Coordinators. The plan will be unveiled at the 2005 NCAA Convention and components of the plan will be embedded into the ISSG. The committee requests that the Strategic Planning Subcommittee consider allocating additional resources to this active member education program.

d. Future of Division III, Phase II. The committee was updated on the current status of the future of Division III, Phase II. In light of this plan, the committee reviewed the preliminary results of its conference policy survey, which will provide a snapshot of how conferences are exercising legislative autonomy. The final results of that survey will be available by September. The committee also considered issues that could be included in the next survey on the Future of Division III. These issues were linked to the topics of membership growth and diversity and include the following:

(1) Would institutions be willing to pay increased dues to support the maintenance of current NCAA services?

(2) How do institutions define equity across sports? Is the practice of tiering consistent or inconsistent with that definition?

(3) In light of offering a broad-based program, it appears some contest and participant minimums should be adjusted. Would the membership support an increase of contests and participant minimums for several sports, with an aim of targeting some consistent percentage of each sport's contest maximum? (At a minimum, the committee would like to increase the minimum participant requirements to reflect full teams for scoring purposes).

e. Division III and Membership Committee Strategic Plans. The committee reviewed the new format for its strategic plan and submitted related implementation plan details.

f. Huntingdon College. The committee tabled its recommendation on Huntingdon College due to a concern with the annual report. The recommendation for Huntingdon's membership status will be included in an addendum to this report, to be distributed at the Management Council meeting.

g. Palm Beach Atlantic University. The committee reviewed the annual report submitted by Palm Beach Atlantic University, a provisional member institution that will be transferring into the NCAA Division II provisional program for the 2004-05 academic year. The committee recommends that the NCAA Division II Membership Committee not grant Palm Beach Atlantic credit for the year spent in the Division III program, based on the institution's failure to put a good-faith effort into completing the Division III annual report. The report did not include enough information to assess rules compliance for the institution.

Committee Chair: Tim Downes, California Institute of Technology

Staff Liaisons: Myra Fishback, Membership Services

Leah Nilsson, Membership Services

Division III Membership Education

Comprehensive Annual Program – DRAFT

Division III Governance and NCAA General Information	Rules Compliance	Institutional Self-Study Guide (ISSG)
January - April		Required Self-Study every 5 years
Virtual Focus Groups (Representative Group) Quarterly – Jan/Apr/July/Oct · Future of Division III – Phase II · Governance Budget: NCAA Governance	NCAA Convention January Roundtable Format Playing and Practice Seasons (2 hours) Compliance Concepts (2 hours) *Attendees can choose to attend the topics offered on first or last day of the convention Budget: Institutional and NCAA Division III grant
		Consider additions to strengthen membership education · Participation in the Division III Membership Education Comprehensive Annual Program (Checklist included in the ISSG)
Management Council Conference Visits Fall/Winter · Governance Process · Current Issues Update · Budget Initiatives · Strategic Plan Budget: NCAA Governance
Division III Newsletter Quarterly – Dec/March/June/Sept · General Governance Issues · SAAC Issues · Compliance Issues Budget: NCAA Governance

May - July