CSUSM Recommended for NCAA Division II Candidacy
By Matt Berson
The Cougars have reached the final step in the application process for NCAA Division II status.
California State University San Marcos has been recommended for NCAA Division II candidacy, Director of Athletics Jennifer Milo announced Friday.
Milo received a phone call from the NCAA DII Membership Committee informing her of the recommendation. The Membership Committee’s recommendation will be forwarded to the NCAA Division II Management Council, which will make a final decision on whether to accept or reject the committee’s recommendation by the end of the month.
If the recommendation is accepted later this month, CSUSM will begin a three-year transition process in order to become a fully-active NCAA Division II member.
“We have made it to the final step of the membership process,” said Milo. “We are optimistic that the NCAA Management Council will accept the Membership Committee’s recommendation.”
CSUSM has been affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) as an independent team since the athletics program was established in 1998. CSUSM joined the Association of Independent Institutions (A.I.I.) in 2008-09, a nationwide conference comprised of independent squads from across the country.
The University submitted its application for NCAA Division II membership on February 1 with the goal of joining the NCAA and the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA), a conference consisting of 12 public universities from across California. Eleven of the 12 institutions in the CCAA are in the California State University (CSU) system; the only non-CSU school is the University of California, San Diego.
If the NCAA DII Membership Committee’s recommendation is accepted by the NCAA Management Council, CSUSM would remain in the NAIA through the first year of the NCAA transition process (2014-15). During the second year of the candidacy period (2015-16), CSUSM athletic schedules would begin to include CCAA members, but the Cougars would not be eligible for postseason competition. During the 2016-17 academic year, CSUSM would be granted provisional membership into NCAA Division II and would continue to play a CCAA conference schedule, but would still not be able to compete in the NCAA DII postseason.
CSUSM would gain full NCAA Division II member status in the fall of 2017 and be eligible to compete in the NCAA DII postseason during the 2017-18 academic year.
The Cougar athletics program fields 14 intercollegiate sport teams: men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s cross country, women’s volleyball, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s track and field, women’s indoor track and field, softball and baseball.