MAC Endorses Membership Standards Plan
2/10/2005 12:00:00 AM | General
Feb. 8, 2005
Feb. 8, 2005
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- The Mid-American Conference Council of Presidents endorsed the initial value statements and competitive benchmarking of the MAC Membership Standards Plan, as well as authorized consideration of future membership expansion consistent with the Membership Standards Plan, in meetings held Monday at the NCAA Headquarters in Indianapolis.
"While we have work still ahead of us, we are pleased with the efforts thus far of our Joint Committee on the Membership Standards Plan," said MAC Council of Presidents Chairman John Peters, President of Northern Illinois University. "Our goal is a governing document -- reflective of our athletics departments -- that squares with the NCAA Strategic Plan and the collegiate model articulated by NCAA President Dr. Myles Brand. Our plan will be wide-ranging; establishing standards related to the sport structure of each of our 23 championship sports, as well as benchmarking the support that is provided within each of our departments for the athletics and academic success of our student-athletes. Done well, this offers the real promise of both a philosophical and competitive blueprint to solidify the MAC's distinctive position in major college athletics.
"In tandem with the final development of the Membership Standards Plan, it is also a natural and appropriate time for the Council of Presidents to formally authorize consideration of membership expansion," continued Peters. "We will be researching institutions that have been identified as potentially compatible in the MAC, and will undertake the necessary due diligence and deliberation that membership decisions warrant.
"We anticipate final adoption of the Membership Standards Plan by our June 2005 meeting," he concluded. "Regarding expansion, while not desiring to self-impose a time deadline, the matter is certainly a high priority for the conference and we expect discussions to move forward efficiently."
In other action, the Council of Presidents approved the divisional and crossover football opponents for the 2005 thru 2009 football seasons, with Bowling Green State University moving back to the MAC East Division in all sports beginning with the 2005-06 academic year. Also the Council approved the move of the MAC volleyball championship, for the next three years, to SeaGate Centre in Toledo.