On June 13, 2011, UNA issued a press release stating a resolution had been signed to transition UNA athletic’s from Division II competition to Division I competition.

One of those goals was to get a D-I conference invite, which has not happened yet.

“We have been in contact with two conferences,” said Mark Linder, athletic director. “Division I conference affiliations are really fluid, really fluid.”

Linder said a key for the move to D-I can be found on the hardwood.

“Obviously everybody knows about football and wanting to be good at football,” he said. “As far as Division I and success there, it is really driven by basketball.”

Bobby Champagne, UNA’s head basketball coach, noted the exposure that the NCAA basketball tournament can bring to small schools.

“I think with men’s and women’s basketball, the popularity of the tournament has the opportunity for exposure to many schools,” he said.

Linder said being in D-I would benefit the students by providing higher quality events.

“Playing a Jacksonville State (in football) at home or playing a UT Martin, a Belmont or a Lipscomb (in basketball), which the students see playing in the NCAA tournament, really adds value to being a student here,” Linder said.

The success of the basketball teams is very important to the move, while the facilities are very helpful in the cause.

“We had a conference representative come in a year and a half ago; everybody knew about their visit,” Linder said. “Facilities were not a concern for them. But whether we go Division I or stay Division II, we are always going to have to be looking to improve the facilities.”

UNA had a goal of reaching $3 million in funds, which includes the $1.42 million application for becoming a D-I institution.

In January, Linder reported that the athletic department had 95 percent of the $3 million, but in May he reported that the department had lost some of the funding due to the passing of a couple of the donors.

“We are working with their families to see if they are interested in continuing with the pledges,” he said. “We have proposals out to donors, but are waiting on the D-I conference invitation to follow up and make the requests.”

The scheduling of D-I games for teams prior to the move is also a requirement. The UNA football team scheduled a game against D-I Jacksonville State for next season, which appeared to be a step toward fulfilling that requirement, but Linder said it was because of scheduling difficulties.

“We have to play 10 games in order to play in the post-season,” he said. “The tenth game — it didn’t matter whether it was Division I, II, III or NIAI — we just needed to have a tenth game. And in talking to the Jacksonville State folks, they had an opened date, we had an open date, and that is how it all worked out.”

The process was supposed to be finished by the 2017-2018 athletic seasons, but without the conference invite, the process has been delayed. Linder said that the focus of the athletic department now was to stay relevant.

“We are trying to stay on the radar screen of the Division I scene and just let people know that we are looking for a Division I conference,” Linder said.