FSU Submits Application to Transition to Division II

FROSTBURG, MD – Frostburg State University officially submitted their application to transition their athletic affiliation to Division II on Jan. 24^th at the NCAA Convention in Orlando, Florida. The application deadline was February 1^st.

FSU’s Director of Athletics, Troy Dell, Crystal Redinger, Assistant Athletic Director for Budget and Finance/Senior Woman Administrator, Eric Seifarth, Assistant Athletic Director for Compliance and Certification, Emma Gerhold, an intern in the athletics department, and Reid Amos, the commissioner of the Mountain East Conference [MEC] were all present.

In March of 2018, the Frostburg athletic department sent a letter of interest to the MEC. Formal relations between the two began shortly after. The MEC is interested in Frostburg State to replace the University of Virginia’s College at Wise as the institution plans to depart on July 1^st of 2019 to join the South Atlantic Conference. Shepherd University will also be departing the MEC to join the east division of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference on July 1^st of 2019. Decreasing the geographic footprint and cost efficiency were named the reasons for the departures respectively. Davis & Elkins accepted a full membership to join the MEC to begin competition for the 2019-20 season. The MEC sees the addition of Frostburg State and Davis & Elkins as a positive move because it shrinks the geographic footprint within the conference.

The Mountain East Conference’s Site Visit Team visited the campus in April of 2018 to tour the campus and facilities and meet with faculty and student-athletes. Later in May of 2018, representatives of Strategic Edge Athletic Consulting met with the athletic department and student-athletes. The primary intent of their May visit was to do an assessment of the FSU athletic department. The athletic department has worked closely with consultants as the process ensued. The Student Athletic Advisory Committee [SAAC] has also been involved in the transitional process.

20 of the 21 sponsored sports at Frostburg State compete in the Capital Athletic Conference [CAC]. Frostburg Football competes in the New Jersey Athletic Conference [NJAC]. Wesley College and Marymount University left the CAC for the 2018-19 season to join the Atlantic East Conference. This left the CAC with 8 teams as replacements were not found. For the 2019-20 season, Penn State Harrisburg plans to depart to compete in the North East Athletic Conference. Frostburg has been a member of the CAC since the 2010 realignment.

Frostburg State will have to pay a penalty for not giving two years notice of departure for the CAC. The penalty is equivalent to one year’s dues which is $25,000. They will also have to pay a $25,000 exit fee to the CAC. Upon acceptance to the MEC, FSU would have to pay annual dues of $25,000 and a $50,000 joining fee.

The idea of adding FSU was received favorably by the MEC. The application for transitioning to Division II was in the interest of the student-athletes having a viable conference to compete in, Dell noted. The University aims to protect the 21 sponsored sports.

Frostburg currently sponsors 17 sports that the Mountain East offers. Frostburg does not have men’s golf program, women’s golf program, or women’s acro and tumbling which the MEC offers. However, the MEC does not offer men’s lacrosse or field hockey – two sports Frostburg sponsors.

Men’s lacrosse will compete in the East Coast Conference [ECC] in the Spring of 2020 as an associate member. The ECC is affiliated with NCAA Division II. Its members institutions are located in New York, Connecticut, and the District of Columbia. Frostburg will compete in 6 conference games against ECC opponents. An additional 9 games will be competed against opponents that are members of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference [GMAC], another NCAA Division II affiliation. Dell credited Amos for helping reach out to other commissioners to find a conference for men’s lacrosse.

Field hockey will compete as an independent for the first and maybe second year in Division II. Kaitlin Thompson, Frostburg’s head field hockey coach, put together a full schedule for the 2020 fall season against other Division II institutions with help from Dell to shape it. There will also be a post-season tournament “conference championship” for field hockey against the other independent institutions.

There is a 3-year provisional period in the transition from Division III to Division II in which teams are ineligible to compete in the NCAA tournament.

Dell believes that Frostburg’s facilities are on “par with what the Mountain East is looking for.” He continued noting that there are upgrades that should be made in order to continue to grow the athletic programs specifically mentioning 43-year-old bleachers in Bobcat Arena and an arena floor that needs replaced.

Transitioning to Division II would enable Frostburg coaches to offer athletic scholarships to potential student athletes. Dell worked closely with a consultant in allocating funds to each sport. The respective coach is then responsible for making judgements on prospective student-athletes. The scholarships would be a 1-year agreement between the university and student-athlete. The decision remains up to the coach on whether to renew the scholarship or discontinue it.

Dell said that the university is following a model where financials for the scholarships will come from auxiliary fees. The plan is to increase the roster size of each sport by a small percentage which would then generate more money from tuition and fees. Dell noted that it would be 3 or 4 years to increase the rosters to the desired sizes.

Although Frostburg sits in a favorable position to join the MEC, if the institution were to be denied acceptance, they would play out the current schedule and take a look at why they were not accepted to then potentially re-apply or potentially revisit Division III.

Frostburg State will find out if the application to transition to Division II and join the MEC is officially approved by mid-July.

Dell wants the Frostburg campus community to “wait out the process” and “let the shuffling of members in the CAC occur.” He continued emphasizing that the university is being proactive and “ahead of the curve” as they aim to preserve the student-athlete experience, conference, and schedule.