http://www.swtimes.com/articles/2006/11/17/news/news01.txt
University Stepping Up
By Amy Sherrill
TIMES RECORD • [email protected]
A proposed timeline of when the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith will move to a four-year university athletic conference was presented Thursday to members of the UAFS Board of Visitors by the institution’s athletic director and head baseball coach.
Dale Harpenau told board members that university officials have begun the process of pursuing an affiliation with the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division II for four-year athletics.
UAFS competes in the National Junior College Athletic Association in eight sports, Harpenau said. The move to NCAA Division II would require the university to add two more sports to its roster. Cross-country for men and women is being considered as well as air rifle, soccer and softball.
NCAA Division II requires teams to participate in 10 sports, five men’s sports and five for women.
The transition, which will officially begin in the spring 2007, will continue into 2012 as the university becomes a fully compliant NCAA Division II member eligible for post-season play.
“If we want to succeed as a regional university, we need to have an athletic program that also reflects that,” Harpenau said.
The current $1.6 million plus budget would have to increase to $1.9 million plus to accommodate two new sports. That increase in budget puts cross country for men and women as the top choice because it is the least expensive, UAFS Chancellor Paul Beran said.
Beran said that the institution would have to buy shoes and put an arrow on the ground that says, “start here.”
“This area for whatever reason has a lot of cross-country runners and it would be good for both men and women,” Beran told the board.
An air rifle club already exists at UAFS and that could be added as an 11th and a bonus sport under the NCAA Division II umbrella.
The university competes in men’s and women’s basketball, golf and tennis as well as men’s baseball and women’s volleyball.
Transitioning into the NCAA Division II would call for the addition of the two new sports by fall 2008. The last year for UAFS to participate in NJCAA would be during the 2007-08 academic year. That same year would be an exploratory year with the NCAA.
“You’re really not committed, but they (NCAA) begin to tell you what you must do and how you go about business,” Harpenau said.
During the academic year of 2008-09, UAFS would be an NCAA provisional member and would have no postseason play nor would it be eligible to play championship games. However, players would be eligible to compete for all-conference, all-American and academic all-American.
The university athletic teams would fill game schedules with whatever teams UAFS could find during the first two provisional years, Harpenau said.
He mentioned that UAFS should decide between the Gulf South Conference and the Lonestar Conference, two NCAA Division II conferences that UAFS sits geographically between.
With the University of Central Arkansas leaving the Gulf South Conference, there is a void that UAFS could fill easily and compete against Arkansas Tech University, Henderson State University, Ouachita Baptist University, Southern Arkansas University, Harding University, the University of Arkansas at Monticello, Christian Brothers in Memphis and Delta State University in Cleveland, Miss.
The requested increase in athletic budget could be gathered from several areas, including gate revenue, fundraisers and a $2 increase of the now $7 per-credit-hour athletic fee, Harpenau said.
Beran also pointed out that another source of income could come from companies who are willing to give a certain amount of money each year to be an official affiliated sponsor. Banners of those businesses could be hung in Stubblefield Center
University Stepping Up
By Amy Sherrill
TIMES RECORD • [email protected]
A proposed timeline of when the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith will move to a four-year university athletic conference was presented Thursday to members of the UAFS Board of Visitors by the institution’s athletic director and head baseball coach.
Dale Harpenau told board members that university officials have begun the process of pursuing an affiliation with the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division II for four-year athletics.
UAFS competes in the National Junior College Athletic Association in eight sports, Harpenau said. The move to NCAA Division II would require the university to add two more sports to its roster. Cross-country for men and women is being considered as well as air rifle, soccer and softball.
NCAA Division II requires teams to participate in 10 sports, five men’s sports and five for women.
The transition, which will officially begin in the spring 2007, will continue into 2012 as the university becomes a fully compliant NCAA Division II member eligible for post-season play.
“If we want to succeed as a regional university, we need to have an athletic program that also reflects that,” Harpenau said.
The current $1.6 million plus budget would have to increase to $1.9 million plus to accommodate two new sports. That increase in budget puts cross country for men and women as the top choice because it is the least expensive, UAFS Chancellor Paul Beran said.
Beran said that the institution would have to buy shoes and put an arrow on the ground that says, “start here.”
“This area for whatever reason has a lot of cross-country runners and it would be good for both men and women,” Beran told the board.
An air rifle club already exists at UAFS and that could be added as an 11th and a bonus sport under the NCAA Division II umbrella.
The university competes in men’s and women’s basketball, golf and tennis as well as men’s baseball and women’s volleyball.
Transitioning into the NCAA Division II would call for the addition of the two new sports by fall 2008. The last year for UAFS to participate in NJCAA would be during the 2007-08 academic year. That same year would be an exploratory year with the NCAA.
“You’re really not committed, but they (NCAA) begin to tell you what you must do and how you go about business,” Harpenau said.
During the academic year of 2008-09, UAFS would be an NCAA provisional member and would have no postseason play nor would it be eligible to play championship games. However, players would be eligible to compete for all-conference, all-American and academic all-American.
The university athletic teams would fill game schedules with whatever teams UAFS could find during the first two provisional years, Harpenau said.
He mentioned that UAFS should decide between the Gulf South Conference and the Lonestar Conference, two NCAA Division II conferences that UAFS sits geographically between.
With the University of Central Arkansas leaving the Gulf South Conference, there is a void that UAFS could fill easily and compete against Arkansas Tech University, Henderson State University, Ouachita Baptist University, Southern Arkansas University, Harding University, the University of Arkansas at Monticello, Christian Brothers in Memphis and Delta State University in Cleveland, Miss.
The requested increase in athletic budget could be gathered from several areas, including gate revenue, fundraisers and a $2 increase of the now $7 per-credit-hour athletic fee, Harpenau said.
Beran also pointed out that another source of income could come from companies who are willing to give a certain amount of money each year to be an official affiliated sponsor. Banners of those businesses could be hung in Stubblefield Center