The Campus Chronicle

Volume 3, No. 34
August 29 and September 5, 2003

SCAD Athletics Director Jud Damon, Brewton-Parker College and Georgia-Alabama-Carolina Conference faculty athletic representative Dr. Ronald Melton, NAIA Region XIII and XIV director Rob Miller and Warner Southern College president and Council of Presidents representative Dr. Gregory Hall board a SCAD bus for a tour of the college Aug. 22. Melton, Miller and Hall are part of a four-person committee that also includes Warner Southern athletic director and NAIA Region XIV chair Gary Bays who visited SCAD.
Photo by Dan Saelinger

SCAD hosts NAIA team

By Michael MacEachern

On Aug. 22, Savannah College of Art and Design coaches and staff hosted the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Region XIV Membership Evaluation Team. The visit was the next step in the process for SCAD’s 19-team athletics program to switch affiliations from the National Collegiate Athletic Association to the NAIA.

SCAD applied to the NAIA, which is based in Olathe, Kansas, in mid-June. The NAIA sponsors 23 national championships for more than 300 member institutions.

The four-person committee — NAIA Region XIII and XIV director Rob Miller, Warner Southern College president and Council of Presidents representative Dr. Gregory Hall, Warner Southern athletic director and NAIA Region XIV chair Gary Bays, and Brewton-Parker College and Georgia-Alabama-Carolina Conference faculty athletic representative Dr. Ronald Melton — started the visit with a tour of the SCAD campus and later the athletics facilities.

After the tour, the remainder of the day was spent in meetings with the different departments involved with athletics, including the college administration and the registrar’s office.

“The campus visit [was] a great informative time for us to learn about SCAD and for SCAD to learn about the NAIA,” said Miller. “It will help SCAD, if they are selected to join the NAIA, understand the policies and the procedures of the NAIA.

“SCAD is one of the most unique and hospitable campuses I have been on during a campus visit,” said Miller.

“We had a great visit,” said Athletic Director Jud Damon. “I think it went well and we look forward to hearing back from the NAIA in late September.”

The next step in the process will be a conference call by the team in the next week to 10 days to discuss the visit. The committee will then make a recommendation to the NAIA Council of Presidents on SCAD’s application for admission to the NAIA. The Council of Presidents, which is made up of 35 presidents of NAIA member colleges, would consider SCAD’s request when they meet Sept. 29.

Should the Bees join the NAIA, SCAD wouldn’t be eligible for championship play during the 2003-04 season as part of its one-year provisional status. However, SCAD has applied for an exemption to this regulation based on the Bees previous NAIA membership, from 1987-1992. If the exemption is approved by Council of Presidents Sept. 29, the Bees will become eligible for NAIA championships immediately as an independent institution for the 2003-04 academic year.

SCAD may also become part of a conference for the first time in its history and be able to compete for conference and regional titles as well as national titles. In the NAIA, the winner from each conference automatically qualifies for regional or national play in all 14 team sports. In addition, SCAD student-athletes will be able to earn all-conference honors for the first time.
According to Damon, the Bees hope to join either the Florida Sun Conference or the Georgia-Alabama-Carolina Conference. FSC Com-missioner Daniel Stewart informally visited SCAD Aug. 8 and was able to get a firsthand look at the campus and the athletics facilities.

A decision about which conference the Bees would join for the 2004-05 season would be made sometime in November, according to Miller.

MacEachern is the SCAD sports information director.