Birmingham-Southern College is leaving Division I to join Division III and will add football. In a Friday afternoon news conference, Board of Trustees chair Jim Stephens said the board has instructed the president and administration to apply for reclassification to Division III.

"The board has a legal responsibility to examine all of the college's programs to determine mission fit and financial impact on the institution," said Stephens. "Obviously one of the things you consider in such a study after seven years is if Division I is indeed the right fit for an institution of our size, of our academic mission and quality, and of our financial resources.

"The financial performance of our intercollegiate athletics program is substantially below the expectations set when the board approved the move to NCAA Division I."

"We had no interest in looking at Division II," president David Pollick told D3football.com. "We're looking at that which complements our academic profile and we believe that amateur athletics is where institutions ought to be finding themselves." More of the discussion is available in our Q&A with Birmingham-Southern president David Pollick.

A timeline for adding football was not announced. However, $1.5 million was announced as the funding for a stadium, which would be built on land the school already owns. The timeline is dependent on conference membership, according to Pollick.

The school will pursue membership in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference. The conference presidents meet next week and could consider an application at that time.

The school was first reported to be considering the move earlier in May. More information and coverage is available on the D3hoops.com Daily Dose, our Division III basketball blog.

Birmingham-Southern has 1,381 full-time undergraduates. Pollick is the former president at Division III Lebanon Valley.