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UBC will delay a decision on whether to join the NCAA—again.

For many athletes and coaches at UBC, the summer is a time to reflect on the past season and plan for the upcoming year.
But for the university, it will be a time to make decisions about whether to apply for membership in Division II of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).

“By the end of September we will have an idea of how hospitable our future in CIS might be,” said UBC VP Students Brian Sullivan.

“I suspect by the end of September we will have a little more clarity about the process of moving us forward, getting to a decision point for December and June,” he added.

It is the second time UBC has missed a self-imposed deadline on making a decision on whether to enter the NCAA and leave Canadian Inter-university Sport (CIS), the organization that governs all university sport in Canada. With the exception of SFU, who joined the NCAA last year, all Canadian universities with varsity teams compete in the CIS.

Exactly one year ago today, UBC President Stephen Toope told the Senate that UBC would delay a decision on whether to join the American association for a year, saying the university had several unresolved issues with joining the NCAA.

In March 2009, the NCAA Division II Review Committee issued a 588-page report, which did not make a recommendation either way on the contentious issue. It revealed that of the 537 people who filled out a survey on the issue, 52 per cent were against moving to the NCAA.

With the CIS Annual General Meeting coming up in June, Director of UBC Athletics Bob Philip assured that UBC will retain membership in both Canada West and the CIS, committing for the next two years. However, whether or not they will apply for the NCAA is still undecided.

One of the key factors UBC is taking into consideration in terms of the move to NCAA is the full-ride scholarship opportunities available, which often make playing in the US more appealing than playing in Canada for student athletes. Philip has long claimed the lack of scholarships hampers UBC’s ability to keep top athletes in Canada.

Other issues the university seeks to resolve is the often weak competition in the Canada West conference for many UBC teams, and the necessity of the university undergoing American accreditation if they were to join the NCAA.

While there are proposed changes to the CIS scholarship program this year, including a flexible scholarship model that would allow for limited full scholarships for key players, Philip does not believe these changes would affect UBC’s decision.

“There are a number of factors that will go into UBC’s decision to go or not go into the NCAA that are not just the scholarship issue,” he said.

“What I have seen in CIS in regards to the change in scholarship proposal, I would say that this would have no effect on [our decision]. You can argue that it is better than it was, I am not arguing that it isn’t, but it is not a significant change.”

Philip argued that regardless of what the CIS does, it will not impact UBC’s decision.

“[Our contemplation of the NCAA] is not an anti-CIS thing, it is more what’s the right thing to do for UBC Athletics in Vancouver,” he said.

“We didn’t go to the CIS and say, ‘if you don’t change we’re leaving.’ We never felt that the CIS was in a position to change…it is not about the CIS not doing its job, it’s about the CIS doing what it can do,” he said.

With two years of negotiations, meetings and discussions behind them, both Sullivan and Philip are aware that UBC needs to make a decision as soon as possible.

“We need to settle this issue to be fair to perspective students, student athletes and coaches who are thinking of coming to UBC,” said Sullivan.

Philip added, “This can’t continue on too much longer and we are all aware of that. Yet, I think having this interval to pause and to constructively work hard within the existing structure of CIS to try to get these improvements has been the wise thing to do.”

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