As UNA continues the transition to becoming a Division I university, students are excited to see the addition of two new women’s sports teams and increased enrollment in the fall.

The university board of trustees voted in the spring of 2011 to initiate the six-year transition period toward becoming a D-I university. University officials hope that the increased enrollment expected as a result of the move will benefit the university as a whole.

“Some of our research showed that the last 20 institutions that went from Division II to Division I gained, on average, about an 11 percent growth in their enrollment,” said Mark Linder, director of athletics. “Well, for us that’s right around 800 more students, and 800 more students means there’s more revenue.”

With the additional revenue, the university was able to sustain the budget cuts enacted by the state of Alabama. Linder said the university has lost $10 million in the past three years from the budget cuts.

“A lot of the times we don’t like to equate higher education to business, but the more students that we have, the more cash flow that we have,” he said. “We think that the Division I move can be a stimulation of growth for our university.”

A February 2011 SGA referendum found that 58 percent of UNA students opposed the transition. However, students have been more receptive of the idea in the past year.

“I think that (the D-I transition) has helped to put UNA on the map,” freshman Ashlyn Brown said. “We grew up with the Auburn and Alabama mindset. I know the D-I decision motivated me to come here.”

“I think it will be a more positive move for the university over time,” student Alana Pollard said. “It will definitely help UNA in recruitment.”

Lauren Franklin, a LaGrange Society member, agrees.

“I think, in the long term, it will benefit athletic programs because it will bring more prestige to the university as we continue to build up,” she said.

When the decision to enter into the D-I level was accepted by the board and a six-year timeline was created, university athletics began working to follow the new standards for sporting teams.

“We had 12 sports, and the Division I minimum for sports sponsorship is 14, so we knew we had to add two sports,” Linder said. “So, knowing that we wanted to address a couple Title 9 issues as well, we wanted to add two women’s sports.”

UNA decided to add women’s indoor and outdoor track teams to help promote the cross country team with the change.

As part of the 6-year plan, the university was to withdraw from the Gulf South Conference by May 1. The university was still waiting on a conference bid for teams as of April.