Jan. 23, 2009
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -
By Gary Brown
Division II made history at the 2008 NCAA Convention when it became the only division to pass legislation allowing Canadian schools to apply for NCAA membership.
It may make history again this June if British Columbia-based Simon Fraser University follows through on its intent to be the first applicant.
Division II officials expect that to happen by the June 1 application deadline, as does Simon Fraser Athletics Director David Murphy, who says the school of 18,000 students founded in 1965 would in fact be "getting back to its roots" by digging Division II ground.
"No one would disput that the highest level of intercollegiate sport in North America is played at the NCAA, and that's where we want to be," Murphy said. "We're a Division II fit in philosophy, with our emphasis on student-athlete balance, facilities and level of athletics competition."
It won't be the first time Simon Fraser has flirted with NCAA membership. The school appeared ready to join Division II at the 1998 NCAA Convention until the proposal was ruled out of order because it applied to a single division rather than the entire Association. Simon Fraser sought NCAA membership at the time because some of its key rivals, including Seattle Pacific and Western Washington, were leaving the NAIA for Division II. Simon Fraser subsequently could not find a league in the NAIA in which to continue several sports. Facing the difficulty of trying to be an independent, the school moved its programs to Canada.
But Simon Fraser has always considered itself a north-south athletics participant; thus, transitioning to the NCAA won't be as much of a philosophical shift as it is a study in NCAA paperwork. Murphy said the school already has completed the Division II-mandated Institutional Self-Study Guide - "No easy task, by the way," he added.
An analysis on what it would take for Simon Fraser to be an NCAA school regarding gender equality, scholarships and operations budgets produced positive results, and Murphy has begun discussions with the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, composed primarily of members with which Simon Fraser already is familiar. The school also has entertained visits from NCAA staff and Presidents Council Chair Stephen Jordan on how to best prepare for Division II membership.
Also underway is the American-required accreditation process for colleges and universities, something not mandated for Canadian schools. Because of Simon Fraser's educational standing, Murphy anticipates accreditation to be a pro forma exercise that actually will pay dividends to the university as an educational seal of approval the school otherwise would not have.
If Simon Fraser's application is accepted, the school would enter a two-year "candidacy" period (formerly labeled an exploratory period) and at least one year of provisional status before becoming an active Division II member.
Murphy said he sees no downside to the transition - and that's from a man who had to be convinced it was the right thing to do when he joined the athletics department after five years as the athletics director at St. Mary's University in Halifax, Nova Scotia (he was a surgeon, of all things, for 28 years before that). Murphy also is entrenched in CIS administration as a member of its board of governors, chair of its eligibility committee and a member of its discipline committee.
"We were always taught in pathology that the eye can see only what the mind knows. Because my mind knew only the CIS, I had to do a lot of background work on the NAIA and NCAA," Murphy said. "But it quickly became clear to me that we want to be in Division II - that's where we belong and that's where we want to stay."
Starting June 1, that may begin to happen.
