This will surely stir up a lot of folks, while others will nod their heads in agreement. The NAIA needs to re-tool the operation of the organization from top to bottom. Why? The main reason is that the type of schools entering the NAIA now and in the future are quite different than those who are leaving. This is not taking a shot at those schools, but it is true.

Several new schools who have been accepted into the NAIA in the past several years are schools that are just adding athletics or have a limited number of sponsored sports. These schools will need to develop their programs and that does not happen overnight. The NAIA is an easy way for them to get instant national affiliation. The membership process is quite simple now. Take SCAD-Atlanta who recently announced they would become NAIA members and were accepted. This despite the fact they have no current varsity sports and had just announced several weeks before they were even going to have an athletic program. I have heard way to many times this is a reason current NAIA members are looking to move to the NCAA, schools being accepted just to add another member.

NAIA members are facing some scheduling issues according to some athletic directors as membership dwindles and smaller programs are added. Presently on the NAIA site 37 member schools are considered independents of the 290 listed members or around 13%. The majority of these schools have limited athletic programs and some only compete in the association in one or two sports. The NAIA also has two conferences who will be ending their run in the future - Dakota Athletic Conference and the American Mideast Conference. The loss of schools in the Midwest will continue to cause scheduling issues for members in the future. Some schools in this region are scheduling Ohio Regional Campus schools, the majority who have no national affiliation and very different eligibility rules, the contests against these schools are considered counters. Scheduling will continue to become a bigger issue in the future with more members in this area and across the country due to schools looking to move on to D2.

The NAIA is not the same association as it was 10 years ago. The current leadership needs to evaluate the present condition of the organization. No matter what anyone says it still amazes me that numerous schools are looking to move to D2 now in these hard economic times. Then add the new tougher membership requirements for D2 and still schools will be lining up this coming June (2011) to try and make the move. The majority of these schools are leaving because of the condition of the NAIA. What would have happened had the NCAA had an open membership and as many schools who applied would have been accepted. That would have been a disaster for the NAIA. Why would the NCAA want to even merge with the NAIA, they were and are in control of their future. It also led to member schools seeing that big issues faced the association. I think it is to late to keep some quality members from leaving to go to the NCAA and more will be leaving in the future.

The NAIA is now trying to be a “carbon-copy” of the NCAA. That will not work, they need to be the NAIA and work with the current members and find solutions that they need. Recently I heard NAIA members talking that they would be willing to pay higher dues to help with national championship travel and expenses. Really? That to you would be a solution? No, it's trying to say, “hey look we offer the same benefits as the NCAA”. The same with the eligibility program, "look at us we have one too". Quit worrying about the NCAA, worry about the NAIA.

In the future the NAIA should consider absorbing the USCAA membership, a move that would strengthen the numbers. USCAA presently has some dual members (they don’t kick you out of the NAIA championships for that) that benefit from this. In the past when I was associated with the USCAA that it would never work because of the 2 year schools. That excuse doesn’t hold much water when you consider the fact I mentioned above about the Ohio Regional schools. The USCAA membership is strong in areas like the east and Midwest that would benefit the NAIA. The truth be told, the current schools the NAIA is accepting would be way ahead to start their programs in the USCAA.

One poor choice the NAIA and some conferences made was the way they handled schools who decided to make a move to D2. Allowing them to pay "full" dues but then be exempt from competing in championships after that first year. Possibly if the DAC had it to do it over again they might have handled that issue quite differently and it would have allowed for them to save the conference and make needed adjustments. The process was to punish those members, instead it backfired on them as well. The reason that rule was implemented, "We didn’t want those schools to bad mouth us on the way out." I think it burned bridges and friendships for everyone and the "Champions of Character" in my mind got a black eye.

The NAIA needs to save conferences for the future, losing two conferences recently will have a lasting effect. Several other conferences might be facing the same problems very soon. Conferences should be encouraged by NAIA leadership to strengthen the base and not take anything for granted. Don’t believe that? Ask the folks who were a part of the DAC and AMC. Had the NAIA leadership stepped in and not allowed four AMC members to move to other NAIA conferences for at least two years, possibly a plan could have been implemented to save it.

The NAIA will be around, but in what form is the question. Members who plan on remaining a part of the association need to be pro-active if the NAIA is going to survive.

The future of the NAIA may need to be in the hands of new leadership, folks who don’t say "This is how we did it in the past". It needs to be, "This is how we do it now".