UC Davis Athletics

Consideration Of Reclassifying From NCAA Division II to Division I-AA

Preamble
UC Davis must consider many policy issues related to the institution as well as the NCAA as it begins its analysis of the potential for reclassifying from NCAA Division II to Division I-AA. There should be a continual referral to the current mission statement of Intercollegiate Athletics (ICA) as well as the mission statement of Student Affairs and the University as a whole. There is a consistent theme of commitment to the concept of student-athlete and teacher-coach that will continue to be valued in this process of review. Any decision to reclassify would be an institutional decision that fits the overall direction and mission of the University.

Introduction
An important function of the campus administration is to continuously assess the quality of the experience that student-athletes obtain from the competitive opportunities provided by the Intercollegiate Athletics program. The program at UC Davis has historically provided these opportunities by competing against other colleges and universities in Division II of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).

Changes in the NCAA legislation, growth of the Davis campus, and interest from a Division I athletic conference have prompted campus administrators to propose that the University consider reclassifying from NCAA Division II to Division I-AA in order to join the Big West Conference. NCAA Division I is divided into three sections depending on the competitive level at which a school plays football. In Division I-A, football is financed and played at the highest level with 85 grants-in-aid and large, full-time coaching staffs; in Division I-AA football is operated at a lower, cost containment level with a maximum of 63 grants-in-aid, but at a level higher than in Division II which allows a maximum of 36 football grants-in-aid. In Division I-AAA, football is not sponsored. There are no similar distinctions for the other sports sponsored in Division I. UC Davis would compete at the NCAA Division I-AA level if the University decides to join the Big West Conference and football would continue to compete as an independent.

Program Philosophy and Guiding Principles
One of the fundamental principles of the UC Davis Intercollegiate Athletics program is that it is student-centered and operates to provide a positive experience for the large number of students who participate and enjoy competitive athletics. The primary goal of the ICA program is to continue offering a high-quality athletic experience to student-athletes and other students who participate in the support of the program.

At UC Davis, participation in intercollegiate athletics is an integral part of the total educational process and a vital part of the human development of young men and women. Primary focus is placed on the participants of the programs in an effort to realize their fullest potential, both academically and athletically. A secondary objective is to provide a source of entertainment and positive esprit de corps for the general student population, the university community, alumni, and fans of Aggie Athletics.

Intercollegiate Athletics attempts to strengthen the integration of its objectives with the academic and developmental objectives of the University while maintaining a program of academic and athletic excellence. The spirit of competition and striving to win are important at UC Davis but never at the sacrifice of values or integrity.

UC Davis is committed to the following core principles in any discussion of the athletic program:

1. Student-athlete welfare is the highest priority.

2. The program strives for a graduation rate for student-athletes that reflects or exceeds the graduation rate of the general student body.

3. In order to ensure the likelihood that student-athletes will persist to graduation, admissions standards must not be specially altered or amended for athletes.

4. UC Davis must not retreat from its leadership in Title IX (Gender Equity) compliance.

5. The program must have permanent core funding from students and the institution sufficient to avoid a dependency on external resources and the need to win games to generate revenue.

6. The philosophy of coaches as teachers must be maintained.

7. The present broad-based ICA program must be maintained and enhanced. A reduction of the current array of 25 sports will not be considered.

8. The clustering of sports into several tiers, with disproportionate support given to the top tier, will not be considered.

Maintenance of Academic Integrity
The Intercollegiate Athletics program has always been committed to providing a significant achievement-oriented experience to students who qualify academically for admission to Davis. This keystone philosophical position has been stated in several ICA guidelines and mission statements for more than 50 years and will not be changed.

UC Davis has a process in place that guards academic integrity. An example is the two-step admission process. Coaches requests for admissions are screened by an athletic administrator who uses published UC admissions standards as a guide. Those requests that meet the minimum standards are forwarded by the athletic administrator to the Admissions Office for a final admissions decision. There is no contact between the Admissions Office and members of the coaching staff.

The same two-step process is in place with the Registrar's Office for continuing eligibility and for monitoring the academic progress of student-athletes. There is academic oversight and input through the position of the Faculty Athletic Representative and through the Athletic Administrative Advisory Committee (AAAC), which is appointed by the Chancellor.

The process has produced an athletics program that admits student-athletes that are similar to the general student population and graduate at a very high rate. Data collected over a five year period (1996-2000) on prospective student-athletes recruited by the coaching staff shows an average GPA of 3.52 and an average SAT score of 1,120. For those recruited student-athletes who made their respective squads in 2000-01, the average GPA was 3.60 and the average SAT score was 1,130.

The commitment to maintaining our academic integrity in athletics is absolute. The academic standards for UC Davis Athletics have always been significantly more stringent than those of Division II, and are more stringent than those of Division I. Academic integrity can be maintained by continuing to provide a quality athletic experience for students who are academically prepared for a UC education.

Why Consider Reclassification Now?
Two years ago the NCAA imposed a moratorium which prohibited schools from moving to another NCAA division while new legislation was being developed and the budget support for each division was revised to reflect new funding for an expanding NCAA membership. In April 2002, the moratorium was lifted, and at the same time, new legislation was passed that changed the requirements for reclassification from NCAA Division II to Division I. The new requirements mandate an "exploratory year" and then four years of provisional membership in the new division.
Most recently, UC Davis has been approached by the Big West Conference (a Division I conference) because of increased interest by member institutions in having more contact with UC Davis teams. Thus, with the potential of being able to provide our student-athletes with challenging west coast opponents (in a conference that sponsors participation in more sports than our current conference) and the changing Division II demographics, it was felt that the time was right to consider reclassification from NCAA Division II to Division I-AA. The decision to accept an invitation from the Big West Conference is time sensitive.

Consideration of New NCAA Legislation
As noted above, legislation was passed in April 2002 that changed the requirements for reclassification from Division II to Division I. The new requirements mandate an exploratory year and then four years of provisional membership. If UC Davis decides to start the "exploratory year" in 2002-03 to determine the feasibility of Division I membership, the declaration would have to be submitted to the Division I Management Council Membership Subcommittee by December 1, 2002, with a $5,000 application fee. UC Davis has already started an informal exploratory process with campus and community constituencies.

After completing the "exploratory year" UC Davis would have to declare its intention to move to Division I provisional status by June 1, 2003 and start compliance with Division I requirements in 2003-04. During the four years of provisional status UC Davis would not be eligible for Division II Championships and would only become eligible for Division I Championships after completing four years of provisional membership. If UC Davis meets all membership criteria for the division and has complied with all other requirements for the four years preceding June 1, 2007, active Division I status would begin September 1, 2007. The exceptions to this process would be those sports at UC Davis already competing in and having full Division I status (e.g. women's gymnastics and wrestling). Men's and women's water polo would also be eligible because these sports compete in an all-division NCAA Championship.

NCAA Legislation Pertaining to Conferences
Conference affiliation is critical to the decision to reclassify to NCAA Division I. The Big West Conference has indicated a strong interest in UC Davis becoming a member of the conference. This conference is attractive since its membership includes many similar institutions such as Cal Poly, University of the Pacific, and three other campuses of the University of California; UC Riverside, UC Santa Barbara, and UC Irvine. Current legislation requires a five-year wait (one year exploratory status and four years provisional membership) to become an active member of a Division I conference. After the five-year wait the institution would be eligible for an "at-large" selection into the NCAA Championships.

Consideration of Membership in the Big West Conference
The Big West Conference enters the 2002-03 season in its 34th year of operation and is comprised of 10 schools. Current members of the Big West Conference include:

Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo
CSU, Fullerton
CSU, Northridge
Long Beach State University
UC Irvine
UC Riverside
UC Santa Barbara
University of Idaho
University of the Pacific
Utah State University

Utah State University and the University of Idaho will leave the Big West Conference and join the Division I-A Sun Belt Conference starting in 2005-06. The Big West will try to replace Idaho and Utah State by adding one or two California schools in an attempt to become an all-California conference.

The Big West Conference currently sponsors 17 sports for men and women compared to 13 sponsored sports in our current Division II conference, the California Collegiate Athletic Association. The only UC Davis sports NOT sponsored by the Big West Conference at this time are women's rowing, women's gymnastics, football, women's lacrosse, men's and women's water polo, and wrestling.

Rationale for Joining the Big West Conference
* Whenever possible, UC Davis should compete against similar institutions (size and philosophy) that enroll high-achieving students.

* UC Davis will experience significant campus growth through the end of the decade. UC Davis is already the largest Division II institution in the country in terms of student enrollment and athletics budget. This disparity will only get larger and will create even greater scheduling challenges for most of our Division II sports.

* UC Davis has approximately 21,000 undergraduate students while the average Division II institution has 3,160 students. UC Davis has 25 varsity sports, while the average Division II institution has 12.5 sports.

* UC Davis has a broad-based athletics program that sponsors 25 intercollegiate sports for men and women, like most Division I programs, and very dissimilar to most Division II institutions.

* Division I comparisons are much more favorable than the Division II comparisons. The average sport sponsorship in a I-AA athletics program is 19.6 sports and in the Big West 17.2 is the average sport sponsorship. The total undergraduate enrollment at Division I-AA institutions in 2001-02 was 6,828 while in the Big West it was 13,209.

* Division I membership will enable UC Davis to schedule competition in all sports against a wider variety of desirable conference and non-conference opponents who will not schedule contests against Division II opponents. Division I conferences have taken steps to prohibit their member schools from competing against Division II schools because a loss significantly reduces their opportunity to advance to postseason competition. As a result, many UC Davis teams fly significant distances to find Division II opponents when there are many Division I institutions within California.

* Division I membership will open up non-conference scheduling opportunities in all sports with Sacramento State, San Jose State, University of San Francisco, Santa Clara University, Saint Mary's College, Loyola Marymount University, Pepperdine University, Portland State, University of Portland, University of Nevada-Reno, UC Berkeley, Stanford, and UCLA, just to name a few in-state and out-of-state desirable opponents.

* Division I has become more compatible with UC Davis values and goals and a better match with our institutional philosophy, and regional and national public image.

* Whenever possible, competition should place primary focus on competitive excellence within a conference. NCAA Championship competition should be a secondary goal of the athletics program.

* The NCAA's initial and continuing eligibility standards for student-athletes are higher in Division I than in Division II and pending legislation will raise the standards even higher. All attempts to pass new and stronger academic requirements in Division II have failed thus far.

* Championship access for all sports is greater as an NCAA Division I program. Reimbursement of expenses for travel and opportunities to compete in championships is greater in Division I.

* The UC Davis football program will face a better future playing as a Division I-AA independent team than a D-II independent team in terms of scheduling of opponents, playoff access, championship funding, and NCAA reimbursement of expenses.

* The media coverage for a Division I-AA athletic program at UC Davis will increase from San Diego to the Oregon/California border. This will provide the institutional visibility to attract and recruit the best possible students to UC Davis.

Implementation Issues
UC Davis' reclassification to Division I will require a four-year provisional period where the institution will not be eligible for any NCAA Championships, with the exception of women's gymnastics and wrestling (already at Division I level), and men's and women's water polo which compete in an all-division NCAA Championship. Reclassification will create some challenges in recruiting and, quite possibly, in the retention of student-athletes and coaches. Scheduling during the first year of the provisional period will also create a challenge as UC Davis would still be considered a Division II institution. UC Davis' current conference, the California Collegiate Athletic Association, has recently agreed to allow UC Davis to compete in the conference schedule in 2003-04 during the first provisional year. Scheduling Division I contests in the second year of the provisional period will also present a challenge. Big West Conference members seem willing to schedule UC Davis as much as possible in all 17 sports starting in 2004-05.

Details of the four year NCAA provisional requirements are as follows:

Exploratory Year Requirements For 2002-2003
* Considered a full Division II NCAA member and eligible for championships.

* Attendance at the NCAA convention by the CEO, AD, SWA, FAR, and Compliance Coordinator.

* Attendance at an orientation session conducted by the NCAA national office staff related to basic Division I membership requirements (attendance by same people as above).

* Submit a skeleton strategic plan that addresses Division I philosophy statement (Bylaw 20.9) and certification operating principles (Bylaw 22.2) by June 30, 2003.

Provisional First Year Requirements For 2003-2004
* Compliance with all minimum contests and participation requirements for sports sponsorship set forth in Bylaw 20.9.3.3 (contests and number of participants).

* Submit a formal application and fee.

* Submit a revised strategic plan based on the previously submitted plan.

* Apply Division I legislation to the greatest extent possible.

* Attendance at the NCAA Convention.

* Attendance at an orientation session.

* Submit an annual report and updated strategic plan.

* Considered Division II in scheduling against Division I opponents, Division I against Division II opponents.

Provisional Second Year Requirements For 2004-2005
* Full compliance with all Division I legislation and membership requirements, including scholarship minimums and Division I scheduling.

* Attendance at NCAA convention.

* Attendance at NCAA meeting at the convention to discuss issues impacting Division I.

* Submit an annual report and updated strategic plan by June 30 based on feedback received from the previous year.

* Considered Division I for scheduling against opponents.

Provisional Third Year Requirements For 2005-2006
* Attendance at the NCAA Convention.

* Attendance at a meeting to be conducted at the NCAA convention to discuss issues impacting Division I members. Institutional representatives required to attend the meeting are the CEO, AD, SWA, FAR, and Compliance Coordinator.

* Completion of an NCAA athletics certification orientation visit.

* Completion of a compliance review conducted by the national office and submission of a report with an institutional response of findings.

* Submit an annual report and updated strategic plan by June 30 based on feedback received from the previous year's annual report.

Provisional Fourth Year Requirements For 2006-2007
* Successfully complete an NCAA athletics certification self-study and evaluation visit.

* Attendance at the NCAA Convention.

* Attendance at a meeting conducted at the NCAA Convention to discuss issues impacting Division I members.

* Submit an annual report and updated strategic plan by June 30, 2007 based on feedback received from the previous years review.

Financial Considerations
UC Davis must be in full compliance in 2004-2005 with the Division I financial aid requirements as outlined in Bylaw 20.9.1 of the Division I NCAA Manual. The requirements can be met in one of three ways and Bylaw 20.0.1 (b) seems to be the best way for UC Davis to comply. A member of Division I shall provide institutional financial assistance that equals the following:

(b) Financial aid representing a minimum aggregate expenditure of $771,000 (as of 2002-2003 with at least $385,000 in women's sports) exclusive of grants in football and men's and women's basketball, provided the aggregate grant value is not less than the equivalent of 38 full grants, with at least 19 full grants for women. The Management council shall adjust the minimum aggregate figure annually to reflect inflation based on changes in average national tuition charges for regionally accredited institutions. The Management Council shall announce the revised figure in the fall each year for the subsequent academic year.

For UC Davis to minimally comply with NCAA rules, $1,194,333 is needed in grant-in-aid dollars for 2004-2005. This reflects $423,000 in football and men's and women's basketball, and $771,000 in all other sports. At this time the institution does not meet any of the athletic aid requirements for reclassification.

P>It would require $3,791,970 to fully fund the grant-in-aid program at the Division I level for all of the current sports at the cost of a full grant-in-aid in 2002-2003. UC Davis awarded $805,200 in countable aid in 2001-2002. Of that total $500,000 was provided by athletic aid and $305,200 was based on financial need and academic merit. The total aid awarded based on need or academic merit varies from year to year depending on the cohort of student athletes. The rules that regulate countable aid are different for Division I and Division II and therefore the total dollars may vary depending on which rules are applied. It is anticipated that grant-in-aid costs, based on student tuition, fees, and room and board, will rise annually. A Consumer Price Index (CPI) should be built into any annual programmatic funding to accommodate for the anticipated increases.

Financial Comparisons
In order to accurately assess the necessary financial needs for reclassification, a financial comparison was developed by Collegiate Financial Services, LLC, comparing UC Davis to other Division II institutions as well as other Division I institutions.

UC Davis' athletics budget in 2000-01 was $6,223,225 while the average Division II budget (with football) was $1,950,000. UC Davis has 820 student-athletes while the average in Division II program (with football) is 320.

In reviewing the Division I comparisons with financial data from 2000-2001, UC Davis is more comparable to other Division I institutions. In particular, UC Davis is more comparable to the Big West Conference than other Division II institutions in specific areas. First, in total athletic expenditures, UC Davis' budget for 2000-01 was $6,223,225 while the average I-AA budget was $6,533,349 and the Big West Conference average (without football) was $6,863,499.

There are, however, many areas where UC Davis does not match up with financial comparisons within I-AA or in the Big West. The average operating expenditure per sport for UC Davis was $248,929, which includes salaries, grants-in-aid and all operating costs. The average for Division I-AA was $335,673 and in the Big West was $408,421, which does not include football. Men's basketball expenditures at UC Davis were $181,721 while I-AA was $705,914 and the Big West was $761,645. Women's basketball expenditures at UC Davis were $166,468 while I-AA was $523,100 and the Big West was $592,848. UC Davis' football expenditures were $508,812 while at I-AA Cal Poly the expenses were $1,272,142. It seems apparent, a significant difference in expenditures lies in grant-in-aid funding, salaries, recruiting, and travel.

Grant-in-aid expenditures create the biggest financial challenge. For fiscal year 2000-01 UC Davis awarded $475,000 in athletic aid while the average in I-AA was $2,054,956 and the average in the Big West was $1,447, 239.

Based on the data provided, if UC Davis was to reclassify to Division I, join the Big West Conference and add one additional women's sport, substantial increases in athletic grants-in-aid funding would be needed to compare with the average in Division I-AA. A strategic financial plan would need to be developed to add additional athletic aid incrementally during the four-year provisional period and increase funding for salaries, additional assistant coaches, recruiting and team travel.

Conclusion
The strong need to compete against like institutions given our academic requirements and growing student population, the difficulty with Division II scheduling, the commitment to maintaining academic integrity as we always have, and the realization that our focus will be placed on conference competition rather than national championships, are all very compelling reasons to consider joining the Big West Conference. By doing so, UC Davis will provide a more meaningful experience for student-athletes and will enhance its public awareness by affiliating with similar institutions.

Established policies have served the ICA program well and there may be the need to consider additional policies relative to Division I compliance issues and the educational mission of the institution if UC Davis decides to join the Big West Conference.

(Revised 10/7/02)