The NCAA News - News and Features

September 29, 1997

Administrative Committee minutes

Division II -- Administrative Committee

Conference No. 3
September 10, 1997

1. The minutes of the August 26 telephone conference were approved as distributed.

2. Acting for the Division II Presidents Council and Management Council, the committee approved the adoption of noncontroversial legislation per Constitution 5.3.1.1.1 to increase the size of the Men's Water Polo Committee from four voting members to five voting members, which would allow representation from each of the three divisions, as well as from each of the subdivisions of Division I.

3. Acting for the Division II Management Council, the committee:

a. Approved the Division II Championships Committee's recommendations regarding terms for sports committee members on the Division II Men's Soccer Committee, Division II Women's Soccer Committee, Division II Women's Softball Committee, Division II Men's and Women's Track and Field Committee, and the Division II Women's Volleyball Committee.

b. Agreed to forward to the Olympic Sports Liaison Committee and the Committee on Women's Athletics a recommendation from USA Gymnastics that a group be appointed and charged with reviewing issues related to the decline of NCAA institutions sponsoring certain men's sports.

c. Agreed to establish a process to enable Division II institutions to request an expedited hearing on behalf of a student-athlete or prospective student-athlete appealing an initial-eligibility decision and agreed that the Management Council Subcommittee will be charged with hearing such appeals.

d. Agreed to establish a process whereby all Division II institutions will be notified of a vacancy in the at-large position on the Division II Management Council, that the notice of vacancy will be sent to chief executive officers, faculty athletics representatives, directors of athletics and senior woman administrators at every Division II member institution and that the nomination form will include a requirement that the chief executive officer at the nominee's institution acknowledge that he or she is aware of the individual's interest in and willingness to serve on the Division II Management Council.

e. Discussed the time line for filling the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference vacancy on the Management Council and agreed that the vacancy should be filled during the next regularly scheduled meeting of the Management Council.

Division III -- Administrative Committee

Conference No. 2
August 29, 1997

1. Acting for the Division III Management Council and Presidents Council, the Administrative Committee:

a. Approved five proposals drafted in legislative form that the Presidents Council agreed to sponsor during its August 12-13 meeting for the 1998 NCAA Convention. The Administrative Committee made modifications to the following proposals:

(1) Proposal No. 1 (Gambling Activities). The Administrative Committee noted that the majority of changes to NCAA Bylaw 10.3 (gambling activities) are incorporations of official interpretations and, thus, could be incorporated into the 1998-99 NCAA Manual through the normal approval of interpretations by the Division III membership at the 1998 NCAA Convention. Therefore, these changes will be forwarded to the Division III Interpretations and Legislation Committee and then to the Management Council and Presidents Council in October for review. The Administrative Committee noted, however, that the addition of conference administrators to the application of this legislation would require a separate legislative proposal and a formal vote of the Division III membership at the Convention. Further, Divisions I and II also must approve the addition of conference administrators through their respective legislative processes.

The Administrative Committee also agreed to forward to the Interpretations and Legislation Committee a recommendation to further define the definition of parlay card in Bylaw 10.3-(d) and to clarify in a general statement at the beginning of Bylaw 10.3 that this provision is meant to include a prohibition against all gambling activities. The Administrative Committee believes that such a statement would assist in preventing any misunderstanding or misinterpretation of the bylaw.

(2) Proposal No. 5 (Membership Reclassification -- Division III). The Administrative Committee recommended that the staff redraft the proposed wording of Bylaw 20.5.2.3 to clarify the meaning of the legislation.

b. Approved the adoption of noncontroversial legislation to increase the size of the Men's Water Polo Committee from four to five members, which would allow representation from each of the three divisions, as well as from each of the subdivisions of Division I pursuant to Bylaw 21.1.1 (Association-wide/general committees -- method of selection and operation). The Administrative Committee noted that in order for this recommendation to be approved as noncontroversial legislation, it will be necessary for each of the divisions' governance structures, as well as the new Executive Committee, to approve this request.

c. Approved Kerry Gotham, Nazareth College, to replace Michael Heithaus as the male student-athlete representative from the Division III Student-Athlete Advisory Committee to the Management Council, effective immediately.

d. Approved the Championships and Nominating Committees' recommendations for appointments to fill two vacancies on the Division III Men's Soccer Committee. [Note: This action was conducted in an ad hoc meeting of the Administrative Committee prior to the June 24-25 meeting of the Division III subcommittee of the NCAA Presidents Commission and is included in these minutes for convenience of reference.]

e. Approved the Postgraduate Scholarship Committee's recommendation for appointing district selection committee chairs. The Administrative Committee noted its approval of the specific criteria related to term limits, diversity and prior committee experience. [Note: This action was conducted by facsimile August 20 and is included in these minutes for convenience of reference.]

f. Approved the Championships and Nominating Committees' recommendations for appointments to fill one vacancy on the Division III Men's Ice Hockey Committee, one vacancy on the Division III Women's Soccer Committee and two vacancies on the Division III Women's Volleyball Committee. The Administrative Committee also approved the appointment of Randi Borgen, Middlebury College, as the interim replacement to fill a vacancy on the Division III Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. [Note: This action was conducted by facsimile September 10 and is included in these minutes for convenience of reference.]