IWC to apply for NCAA DIII

The board of trustees of Iowa Wesleyan College voted today to apply for membership in the NCAA Division III by Jan. 15, 2012. The athletic programs are currently part of the NAIA.

The move came after a recommendation of the board?s enrollment management and athletics task force.

?There are a number of compelling reasons to pursue affiliation with NCAA as a member of their Division III,? said IWC President Jay Simmons. ?Chief among them is to provide our athletic teams an opportunity to be more competitive by playing colleges similar in size, budget and mission to Iowa Wesleyan College,? he said.

?In addition, as an NCAA D-III school, our scholarship focus would shift to give us greater equity in scholarship support for athletes and non-athletes as all of the college?s institutional aid would be based on academic merit, fine arts performance and need.?

Iowa Wesleyan will now pursue admission to the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC), which is composed of nine private institutions in Kentucky, Illinois and Missouri. Participation in the new conference as a provisional NCAA D-III school would begin in August 2012.

The change in scholarship policies applies only to those students enrolling at Iowa Wesleyan in the fall of 2012 or later. ?No currently enrolled student?s athletic scholarship will be affected by this change,? Simmons said. ?In fact, some currently enrolled student-athletes may qualify for additional aid, depending on academic merit.?

As a provisional member of the NCAA, IWC won?t be eligible for post-season competition until all current students receiving athletic scholarships graduate. ?Should any of our teams compile a record that would have allowed them to compete in a post-season tournament during this transitional period, we pledge that we will send that team to the USCAA event,? Simmons said.