BALTIMORE---The NCAA Division III Management Council, which met July 19 and 20, in Baltimore, Maryland, reviewed initial efforts of "virtual focus groups" the Council established to receive membership feedback regarding the second phase of the "Future of Division III" deliberations.

This second phase of the discussion is a direct outgrowth of the Division III membership adopting a resolution at the 2004 NCAA Convention that instructed the governance structure to continue to examine the challenges of membership growth and diversity in Division III.

The virtual focus groups are comprised of six different constituent group representatives: institutional presidents, faculty athletics representatives, athletics directors, senior woman administrators, student-athletes and conference commissioners. Each group is providing input on key issues to a designated member of the Management Council via a dedicated electronic listserve.

The Council also reviewed a draft membership survey that, along with the virtual focus groups, will serve as a vehicle to gather feedback from the Division III membership on issues to be addressed by the Division III governance structure over the next two years. Those issues, as identified by the resolution adopted by the membership, are: membership growth, membership diversity, and institutional and conference autonomy. It is not expected that any legislation would emerge from these discussions until at least the 2006 NCAA Convention, if at all.

Division III, with 422 active institutional members and 140,549 student-athletes, is the largest NCAA division in terms of institutional membership, though Division I has more student-athletes. Eighty-percent of Division III member institutions are private, and 20 percent are public. The diversity of that membership, in areas ranging from enrollment size to academic mission and geography, is an issue that the Management Council intends to explore more fully.

"For the next year, the Council is experiencing a shift that will result in an expansion of its role as a data-gathering body," said Suzanne Coffey, chair of the Division III Management Council and athletics director at Bates College. "We want to be able to more accurately reflect who we are as a diverse Division III and ascertain how the Division III philosophy can better serve as our common ground."

The Council intends to survey the membership in September, and it also plans in-person meetings between Council members and Division III conference and institutional representatives. Survey results and related concepts will be discussed with the membership at the 2005 NCAA Convention.

In other action, the Division III Management Council heard a report on the NCAA's 2003 National Study on Collegiate Sports Wagering and Associated Health Risks. The Council noted that the survey indicated that Division III male student-athletes were more likely to engage in some kinds of gambling activities than other student-athletes.

The Council also adopted a recommendation by the NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sport that will create an educational packet for Division III institutions focusing on preseason football workouts and the issues of heat acclimatization and recovery. The Council also supported a recommendation to conduct a preseason illness and injury survey for all for sports and to expand an existing study in the sport of football.

In other action, the Division III Management Council:

• Approved a draft of the Division III Strategic Plan as integrated into the Association-wide Strategic Plan.

• Approved legislation, effective immediately, to clarify that a coach contacted by a student-athlete regarding possible transfer must keep the contact confidential if the student-athlete subsequently decides not to transfer.

• Reviewed progress on the division-wide pilot financial aid reporting process.

• Heard a report on the NCAA national office's new process for reporting secondary infractions.

• Elected Michael Miranda, faculty athletics representative at Plattsburgh State University of New York and current Council vice-chair, as chair of the Management Council beginning with the January 2005 NCAA Convention.

• Elected Sandra Slabik, faculty athletics representative at Neumann College, as vice-chair of the Council beginning with the January 2005 NCAA Convention.

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