NCCU prepares for touchdown on Division I move
http://www.nccu.edu/campus/athletics
BY PAUL BONNER, The Herald-Sun
November 15, 2005 10:14 pm
http://www.herald-sun.com/sports/nccentral
DURHAM -- An N.C. Central University trustee committee approved moving the university's sports programs up to NCAA Division I competition Tuesday.
The recommendation goes today to the full board of trustees, who are expected to approve a formal application to join the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.
They also will consider undergraduate tuition and fee increases totaling $300 and 10 percent higher food service charges next school year.
Although
NCCU was a founding member of the MEAC in the 1970s, it soon switched to the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association, which plays at the Division II-A level. Football for NCCU in the MEAC would be at the AA level.
The trustees had been operating under a deadline of Dec. 1 to apply this year. A recent guideline change would have allowed them to do so by June 1, said Trustee Glenn Adams, who chaired the Trustee-Student Relations Committee.
"But we want to go ahead," since the trustees and others have given the issue ample consideration, Adams said.
On student government Trustee Renee Clark's motion, the move was approved unanimously by a voice vote of the committee's five members. Athletics Director Bill Hayes made a fist in victory as he left the meeting hall.
But the easy part for Hayes will end with today's formal vote, Adams said after Tuesday's meeting. Then the four- to five-year process begins, in which NCCU meets Division I criteria in upgraded facilities, athletics scholarships and two additional intercollegiate sports, which are likely to be baseball and women's golf.
NCCU Chancellor James H. Ammons said the long process seems to be nearing a well-deliberated determination.
"We did all the things necessary to answer any concerns the board members had," he said. "I'm happy to be at this point. We've gone all over the country, meeting with alumni and meeting with local constituents as well."
Adams said that in Fayetteville, where he lives, an alumnus walked up to him in the grocery store.
"He just said, 'It's time to go,' " Adams said. On campus, too, "I think there's an excitement," he said.
It doesn't hurt that NCCU had a 10-1 season in football this year, won the CIAA title and will play in the NCAA Division II tournament at home Saturday, against the University of North Alabama.
But the Division I quest has been going on in a formal way for three years, Adams noted.
"This decision was on the horizon," he said.
In other business Tuesday, the trustees' Finance Committee approved a tuition increase of $200 a year for undergraduates and increases in general fees for athletics, technology and health services totaling $100. A new technology support fee for nursing students will cost $100, and a graduate student application fee will increase from $30 to $40.
Half the money raised from the tuition increase will go toward faculty raises and the other half to need-based financial aid.
"Unfortunately, it's necessary for us to make progress in addressing salary issues in the faculty," Ammons said.
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NCCU votes to move to Division I
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