Future of Division III

[roocru]

DIII presidents take positions on Convention legislation

Link


Edited for formatting sake.  Thanks for the link. Ralph Turner

[roocru]

DIII Presidents Council elects leaders for next term

http://www.ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect/public/ncaa/resources/latest+news/2010+news+stories/october/diii+presidents+council+elects+leaders+for+next+term

[Ralph Turner]

The NCAA carried this story of affiliation to gain Pool A status in Men's Golf.

Three Landmark golf programs link up with Empire 8

... Landmark members Moravian, Scranton and Susquehanna will first compete alongside the five Empire 8 schools sponsoring the sport in a championship tournament next month and again in April 2010.

The new associate members join Elmira, Nazareth, St. John Fisher (which finished third at the 2008 Division III Men's Golf Championships led by individual medalist Scott Harris Jr.), Stevens Institute of Technology and Utica in competing for Empire 8 honors.    ...

Fellow Landmark member Merchant Marine affiliated with the Liberty League in 2009-10 to give 7 members.  The LL should earn the Golf AQ in 2011-12.

A July 1st press release from the New England Collegiate Conference announced the affiliation of Babson (NEWMAC) with the NECC.

...They [Babson] will join NECC members Becker College, Daniel Webster College, Elms College, Mitchell College and Newbury College, along with fellow NEWMAC member Springfield College who is also an associate member in men's golf. ...

That still leaves NEWMAC member MIT as an independent (Pool B) school sponsoring golf.

In Men's Golf Central Region, UMAC schools that sponsor golf include Bethany Lutheran, Crown, Martin Luther, UMinn-Morris, Northwestern and Presentation, plus 4th-year provisional (and affiliate member) North Central MN.  That gives 7 schools.  If the UMAC wanted to invite Finlandia to affiliate in Men's Golf beginning with the 2009-10 school year, then the UMAC could have an AQ by the 2012 tourney. Otherwise, when North Central becomes a full member of D-III, the UMAC should get its Pool A bid two years later.

The 2009 tourney had 27 Pool A bids, 7 Pool B bids and 2 Pool C bids.  With 8 schools moving from Pool B to Pool A under the Empire 8 banner, 7 schools moving to Pool A in the Liberty League, 7 schools moving to Pool A under the NECC banner and the potential for 7 more schools to move to Pool A in the UMAC, that would change the Men's Golf allocation to 31 Pool A's 3 Pool B's and 2 Pool C bids.

Along those lines, GSAC members Huntingdon, LaGrange and Piedmont are in Pool B, but the USA South is in danger of losing Shenandoah, which would put the USA South Pool A bid in jeopardy.  (GSAC/USA South merger discussions were recently discontinued.)

We may see more affiliations in Men's Golf to gain access to Pool A.

The Capital AC has these 5 schools sponsoring Men's Golf:  Hood, Marymount, Stevenson, Wesley and York PA.

The Commonwealth Coast Conference has 6 schools that sponsor men's golf:  Anna Marie, Endicott, New England, Nichols, Wentworth Tech and Western New England.  (Men's golf is not a sponsored sport by the CCC.)

The MASCAC has 4 schools that sponsor men's golf:  Mass College of the Liberal Arts, Salem State, Westfield and Worcester State.

UAA schools (5) that sponsor golf include Brandeis, Carnegie-Mellon, Emory, NYU and Rochester.

That leaves the other (7) independents (2008-09 Handbook):

Northeast Region:  UMaine-Presque Isle, SUNY-Potsdam.

Mid-Atlantic Region:  SUNY-Oswego.  (Rutgers-Camden has affiliated with the NEAC.)

Central Region: Neb. Wesleyan, UW-Eau Claire and UW-Stout

Southeast and Great Lakes Regions:  (See GSAC, UAA  and Capital AC.)

West Region: Chapman. (University of Dallas is in an affiliation arrangement with the NEAC.))


New Jersey City and William Paterson join Rutgers-Camden in sponsoring men's golf.

2009 Men's Golf Handbook

Pool B is going away...



Disclaimer:  The Handbook does not break down membership by conference, so I may be missing some unusual affiliations.

Men's Golf Update...

27 Pool A, 7 Pool B 3, Pool C.

2010 Handbook

2011 Men's Golf Handbook

28 Pool A bids, 6 Pool B bids, and 6 Pool C bids.  The bid allocation ratio is 1:7 for Men's Golf.

There are 54 Pool B schools for 2010-11 for Men's Golf.

[roocru]

Four nominated to join DIII Presidents Council

From the NCAA

Four nominated for Presidents Council


Thanks for finding the link.  +1!

Modified for formatting  

[Knightstalker]

Houghton College in southwestern New York.

Press Release  (Italics added)

...

Application For NCAA D-III Membership
The addition of these two programs will assist Houghton College in meeting the standards of sports offerings for NCAA D-III membership – a move that is in the exploratory stages of consideration. The determining factors for Houghton deciding to apply for NCAA D-III membership include the college's ability to identify a conference that fits it academically, geographically and aligns with the college's athletic emphasis on the development of character and leadership. Alignment with a well-respected NCAA D-III conference within the college's geographic area would provide Houghton student-athletes with schedules that minimize travel and missed class time.

"The addition of baseball and softball at Houghton not only provide more alternatives for both athletes and spectators but also enhance the contribution of athletics to our overall educational environment," remarks Shirley A. Mullen, President of Houghton College. "Athletics contributes to Houghton's educational goals of developing the whole person, pursuing excellence, cultivating self discipline and team building, creating and sustaining community, and stewarding one's gifts and abilities to serve others." Mullen states that, "Adding these sports is part of our preparation to seriously explore a move from NAIA to NCAA D-III assuming we are able to find a conference in DIII that shares our commitment to an athletic program embedded within a larger educational philosophy of academic rigor and character development."

No football.  They offer Field Hockey.  Adding Baseball and Softball.


NEAC, AMCC or Empire 8

Which one will it be?

Houghton also has Cross Country and Track and Field for both men and women.  My nephew is the new Head Coach there.  I will try to find out something from him about this.  He is hard to track down right now during the season.

Houghton is definitely exploring D-III.  The program that will benefit immediately is their mens soccer program.  The others will benefit in the long run.  They want to step up their competition.  They are considering 2 conferences, one is the Empire 8 the other is the NESCAC and they are having serious conversations with both.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Even though I'm a retired college professor, I confess I had never even heard of Houghton College.  A quick Google search failed to turn up any reason that NESCAC would be interested for either academic or geographic reasons.  Could you elaborate?

[CrashDavisD3]

NCAA DIII Membership Committee Link
http://goo.gl/fCyIc

[Knightstalker]

Even though I'm a retired college professor, I confess I had never even heard of Houghton College.  A quick Google search failed to turn up any reason that NESCAC would be interested for either academic or geographic reasons.  Could you elaborate?

NAIA school in upstate New York.  Very high academic standards on a par with NESCAC schools, affiliated with either the Methodist or Wesleyan church I believe, not 100% sure though.  I consider my source an extremely reliable one in this matter.

http://www.houghton.edu/

[Mr. Ypsi]

Even though I'm a retired college professor, I confess I had never even heard of Houghton College.  A quick Google search failed to turn up any reason that NESCAC would be interested for either academic or geographic reasons.  Could you elaborate?

NAIA school in upstate New York.  Very high academic standards on a par with NESCAC schools, affiliated with either the Methodist or Wesleyan church I believe, not 100% sure though.  I consider my source an extremely reliable one in this matter.

http://www.houghton.edu/

Upstate seems to mean anything outside of NYC!  Houghton is about as far western NY as you can get.  I would think the nearest NESCAC school must be 300+ miles.

And their academics seem pretty pedestrian.  Not bad, but for a 'Christian' school, they ain't Wheaton (IL).  And they certainly don't seem to be NESCAC.  I just can't see it.

And this is NOT playing the 'academics card'.  My entire career was teaching at a college whose 'academics' (in terms of SATs or ACTs) would make Houghton look good.   I'm very definitely a guy who thinks there need to be schools where ANYONE who wants to try to get a college education has a chance to try.  It just doesn't seem like Houghton is a fit for the NESCAC either geographically or academically.

[Wydown Blvd.]

Even though I'm a retired college professor, I confess I had never even heard of Houghton College.  A quick Google search failed to turn up any reason that NESCAC would be interested for either academic or geographic reasons.  Could you elaborate?

NAIA school in upstate New York.  Very high academic standards on a par with NESCAC schools, affiliated with either the Methodist or Wesleyan church I believe, not 100% sure though.  I consider my source an extremely reliable one in this matter.

http://www.houghton.edu/

Upstate seems to mean anything outside of NYC!  Houghton is about as far western NY as you can get.  I would think the nearest NESCAC school must be 300+ miles.

And their academics seem pretty pedestrian.  Not bad, but for a 'Christian' school, they ain't Wheaton (IL).  And they certainly don't seem to be NESCAC.  I just can't see it.

And this is NOT playing the 'academics card'.  My entire career was teaching at a college whose 'academics' (in terms of SATs or ACTs) would make Houghton look good.   I'm very definitely a guy who thinks there need to be schools where ANYONE who wants to try to get a college education has a chance to try.  It just doesn't seem like Houghton is a fit for the NESCAC either geographically or academically.

I agree... not quite NESCAC compatible academically.

Class of 2013 Profile: Academics

Average SAT: Critical Reading (600), Math (578), Writing (582)
Middle 50% SAT: 1050-1280 (on Critical Reading and Math sections)
Average ACT: 26
Average high school GPA: 3.56
36% or ranked students graduated in the top 10% of their high school class
16 high school valedictorians
76 students will participate in a Houghton First-Year Honors Program

Colby Class of 2014 - Admitted Student Profile

700/700/700   median SAT critical reading/math/writing
31   median ACT composite
62   percent reporting top 5% rank in class

[Knightstalker]

Even though I'm a retired college professor, I confess I had never even heard of Houghton College.  A quick Google search failed to turn up any reason that NESCAC would be interested for either academic or geographic reasons.  Could you elaborate?

NAIA school in upstate New York.  Very high academic standards on a par with NESCAC schools, affiliated with either the Methodist or Wesleyan church I believe, not 100% sure though.  I consider my source an extremely reliable one in this matter.

http://www.houghton.edu/

Upstate seems to mean anything outside of NYC!  Houghton is about as far western NY as you can get.  I would think the nearest NESCAC school must be 300+ miles.

And their academics seem pretty pedestrian.  Not bad, but for a 'Christian' school, they ain't Wheaton (IL).  And they certainly don't seem to be NESCAC.  I just can't see it.

And this is NOT playing the 'academics card'.  My entire career was teaching at a college whose 'academics' (in terms of SATs or ACTs) would make Houghton look good.   I'm very definitely a guy who thinks there need to be schools where ANYONE who wants to try to get a college education has a chance to try.  It just doesn't seem like Houghton is a fit for the NESCAC either geographically or academically.

I agree... not quite NESCAC compatible academically.

Class of 2013 Profile: Academics

Average SAT: Critical Reading (600), Math (578), Writing (582)
Middle 50% SAT: 1050-1280 (on Critical Reading and Math sections)
Average ACT: 26
Average high school GPA: 3.56
36% or ranked students graduated in the top 10% of their high school class
16 high school valedictorians
76 students will participate in a Houghton First-Year Honors Program

Colby Class of 2014 - Admitted Student Profile

700/700/700   median SAT critical reading/math/writing
31   median ACT composite
62   percent reporting top 5% rank in class

All I am doing is reporting news from a source that would know what conferences they are talking to and what conferences have shown interest.

[Wydown Blvd.]

Appreciate the news! No doubt about it.
Just wanted to substantiate what Ypsi threw out there.

[Gregory Sager]

Even though I'm a retired college professor, I confess I had never even heard of Houghton College.  A quick Google search failed to turn up any reason that NESCAC would be interested for either academic or geographic reasons.  Could you elaborate?

NAIA school in upstate New York.  Very high academic standards on a par with NESCAC schools, affiliated with either the Methodist or Wesleyan church I believe, not 100% sure though.  I consider my source an extremely reliable one in this matter.

http://www.houghton.edu/

Houghton is affiliated with the Wesleyan Church. Speaking as someone who knows a ton of Houghton alumni -- it and Wheaton were the schools of choice for my church peers while I was growing up in the Syracuse suburbs -- I can confirm that, while it's a solid school academically, it's not an academic powerhouse on par with any of the NESCAC schools.

Upstate seems to mean anything outside of NYC!

The dividing line between upstate and downstate has always been a matter of dispute, although the vast majority of people consider it to be somewhere in the lower Hudson Valley, and the place where one draws the line is often determined by his or her point of origin. Growing up in Central New York, I was always told that anything below Poughkeepsie was downstate, and anything north of Poughkeepsie was upstate. But, as I said, people draw the line in different places. The Wiki page on Upstae New York goes into the upstate/downstate dividing line in great detail.

Houghton is about as far western NY as you can get.

No, not really. There's still a lot of New York real estate to the west of Houghton. But it certainly is a lot farther west than, say, Hamilton. Equally important, though, is Houghton's inaccessibility. It's well off the beaten path as far as highways go. That's a not a debilitating factor for the Empire 8, which has most of Houghton's nearby peers (e.g., Alfred, Elmira), but it certainly is for other D3 conferences.

[pg04]

It's always been my experience that when saying you are from New York State, you have to put the qualifier of Upstate on it or people automatically think you're from the city.  This has happened to me several times both in Florida and now in Georgia.  

Buffalo State, UB, Niagara, Canisius, Fredonia, St. Bonaventure, among others are all colleges west of Houghton, while Geneseo and Brockport (and of course Alfred, which is nearest) are around the same longitude as Houghton.  

[Gregory Sager]

It's always been my experience that when saying you are from New York State, you have to put the qualifier of Upstate on it or people automatically think you're from the city.  This has happened to me several times both in Florida and now in Georgia.

Very true. When I went away to school in Chicago I stopped identifying myself as someone from New York after being asked, "Where's your accent?" or "How does Chicago compare to the Big Apple?" about a hundred times apiece. But when I told them I was from upstate New York, all I got was blank stares. See, Chicagoans know all about the concept of downstate (i.e., anything in Illinois outside of Chicago and the suburban "collar counties", including such places as Rockford that aren't "down" -- in other words, south -- from Chicago at all). But the concept of upstate leaves them befuddled.

Eventually, I simply started telling people that I grew up in a suburb of Syracuse. Enough people have heard of that city, thanks mostly to Syracuse University, that I managed to escape the barrage of ignorant questions about being a Gothamite.

For the record, though, midwesterners are continually astonished when I tell them that I grew up in a city that's a good five hours' drive from New York City, and that as a result I never visited NYC until I was sixteen. Midwesterners think that the northeast is so geographically constricted that everyone lives within a couple of hours of Manhattan. When you tell them that Jamestown, in far southwestern New York, is almost equidistant between NYC and Chicago in terms of travel time -- it's seven hours to the former and eight hours to the latter -- it absolutely boggles their minds.