Purple Pride
December 8th, 2007, 10:42 AM
Members of the University of North Alabama board of trustees decided Friday to look into the feasibility of taking the university's athletic program to the NCAA Division I level.
Should the move occur, all Lions athletic teams would compete in Division I, except the football program, which would participate in the Football Championship Subdivision, formerly known as NCAA Division I-AA.
UNA is an NCAA Division II member, where it has won national championships in football and basketball.
Ironically, the university and the Shoals are the hosts for the NCAA Division II National Championship football game, which will be played next weekend in Florence.
"We're probably overdue, and we've had other opportunities to do this, but now is certainly the time," said trustee Billy Don Anderson.
The decision came during a called executive committee meeting Friday, which was held outside the trustees' regular meeting.
The executive committee board agreed unanimously to spend $30,000 with NACDA Consulting Firm for a feasibility study. Johnny Williams, a UNA graduate and all-conference defensive tackle for the Lions, will spearhead the study. He is a former senior associate athletic director at the University of Alabama and was the athletic director at Troy University during its transition from a Division II to a Division I school.
Mark Linder, who came to UNA as athletic director in August from Western Missouri State, said there would be challenges to the transition.
"There would be lots of staff, resources and scholarships to add, but our goal would be to get it to where it is a competitive (Division I) program," he said.
The earliest UNA could transition into Division I would be 2011. The NCAA has a moratorium on schools seeking a move to Division I.
This is not the first time UNA has explored Division I status for its athletic teams. Shortly after winning a third NCAA Division II football championship in 1995, officials inquired about making the change. The issue has been debated on other occasions.
Also as part of the meeting, trustees and other university officials toured UNA's East Campus. UNA bought Powell School in 2006 from Florence City Schools, with the intent of converting it to office and classroom space for continuing education and the Alabama, Math, Science and Technology Initiative.
Renovations at the campus also included a large commercial kitchen that will be the site of the Culinary Art Program, which is projected to be part of the Human Environmental Science curriculum in the fall of 2008.
Should the move occur, all Lions athletic teams would compete in Division I, except the football program, which would participate in the Football Championship Subdivision, formerly known as NCAA Division I-AA.
UNA is an NCAA Division II member, where it has won national championships in football and basketball.
Ironically, the university and the Shoals are the hosts for the NCAA Division II National Championship football game, which will be played next weekend in Florence.
"We're probably overdue, and we've had other opportunities to do this, but now is certainly the time," said trustee Billy Don Anderson.
The decision came during a called executive committee meeting Friday, which was held outside the trustees' regular meeting.
The executive committee board agreed unanimously to spend $30,000 with NACDA Consulting Firm for a feasibility study. Johnny Williams, a UNA graduate and all-conference defensive tackle for the Lions, will spearhead the study. He is a former senior associate athletic director at the University of Alabama and was the athletic director at Troy University during its transition from a Division II to a Division I school.
Mark Linder, who came to UNA as athletic director in August from Western Missouri State, said there would be challenges to the transition.
"There would be lots of staff, resources and scholarships to add, but our goal would be to get it to where it is a competitive (Division I) program," he said.
The earliest UNA could transition into Division I would be 2011. The NCAA has a moratorium on schools seeking a move to Division I.
This is not the first time UNA has explored Division I status for its athletic teams. Shortly after winning a third NCAA Division II football championship in 1995, officials inquired about making the change. The issue has been debated on other occasions.
Also as part of the meeting, trustees and other university officials toured UNA's East Campus. UNA bought Powell School in 2006 from Florence City Schools, with the intent of converting it to office and classroom space for continuing education and the Alabama, Math, Science and Technology Initiative.
Renovations at the campus also included a large commercial kitchen that will be the site of the Culinary Art Program, which is projected to be part of the Human Environmental Science curriculum in the fall of 2008.