The NCAA News - News and Features

The NCAA News -- January 4, 1999

DIVISION II legislative summary

Division II delegates will consider 24 legislative proposals during the Division II business session January 11.

Of those proposals, the first eight are roll-call votes placed in the presidential grouping. Of the remaining 16 proposals, 14 either are sponsored or supported by the Division II Presidents Council.

Of particular note is Proposal No. 1, which would would permit, under defined conditions, institutions outside of the United States (and its territories and possessions) to apply for NCAA membership in Division II. The NCAA Executive Committee has ruled that proposal out of order and has indicated that it will consider the issue at a later date as an Association-wide issue. However, a challenge to the out-of-order ruling is possible.

The Division II business session will occur from 9:30 a.m. to noon and 1:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. January 11 in the Grand Salon E of the Marriott Rivercenter Hotel.

Here is a listing of Division II legislative proposals, their intent and the position, if any, of the Division II Presidents Council:

No. 1: Eligibility For Membership. Intent: To specify that, under defined conditions, institutions outside the United States, its territories and possessions would be permitted to apply for NCAA Division II membership. Opposed by Division II Presidents Council. Ruled out of order by the NCAA Executive Committee.

No. 2: Eligibility -- Additional Season-Of-Competition Waivers. Intent: In Division II, to specify that the Management Council or its designee has the authority to waive the normal application of the season-of-competition rule based upon objective evidence that demonstrates circumstances that warrant a waiver.

No. 3: Two-Year College Transfers -- Partial Qualifier Or Nonqualifier. Intent: In Division II, to specify that a two-year college student who was not a qualifier shall be limited to using no more than 50 percent of the total number of transferable-degree credit hours from physical education or recreation-activity courses. Opposed by the Division II Presidents Council.

No. 4: NCAA Championships -- Minimum Sponsorship Criteria -- Division II Lacrosse Championships. Intent: In Division II, to create a protected status to continue a National Collegiate Championship or a division championship in the sports of men's and women's lacrosse. Opposed by the Division II Presidents Council as it relates to men's lacrosse.

No. 5: Division II Championship -- Women's Golf. Intent: To establish a National Collegiate Division II Championship in the sport of women's golf. Sponsored by the Division II Presidents Council.

No. 6: Division II Championship -- Men's Ice Hockey. Intent: To discontinue the National Collegiate Division II Championship in the sport of men's ice hockey. Sponsored by the Division II Presidents Council.

No. 7: Championship Site Criteria -- Division II. Intent: To eliminate geographical proximity from the site-determination criteria for Division II championships. Sponsored by the Division II Presidents Council.

No. 8: Resolution: Commitment to Diversity. Sponsored by the Division II Presidents Council.

No. 9: Recruiting -- Telephone Calls -- Division II Football. Intent: In Division II football, to permit one telephone call to a football prospect (or the prospect's relatives or legal guardians) during the month of May of the prospect's junior year in high school; further, to preclude any additional telephone calls until September 1 at the beginning of the prospect's senior year in high school. Sponsored by the Division II Presidents Council.

No. 10: Telephone Calls -- Division II Men's and Women's Basketball. Intent: To permit institutions to make one telephone call to a prospect [or the prospect's parents or legal guardian(s)] on or after June 21 of the prospect's junior year in high school; further, to permit only three telephone calls to a prospect [or the prospect's parents or legal guardian(s)] during the month of July following the prospect's junior year in high school, with the restriction that no more than one telephone call may occur per week. Sponsored by the Division II Presidents Council.

No. 11: Unofficial Visit -- National Girls and Women in Sports Day. Intent: To specify that National Girls and Women in Sports Day activities held on an institution's campus are exempt from the limitations on providing entertainment to a prospect. Sponsored by the Division II Presidents Council.

No. 12: Recruiting -- Recruiting Calendar -- Division II Football. Intent: In Division II, to permit contact with a two-year college football prospect at the conclusion of the two-year college prospect's football season. Supported by the Division II Presidents Council.

No. 13: Foreign Tours -- Seasons of Competition. Intent: To permit a student-athlete to engage in competition on an institution's foreign tour conducted after the intercollegiate season and prior to the start of the next academic year without using a season of competition; further, to permit student-athletes who were enrolled as full-time students the previous academic year and have established eligibility for the subsequent academic year to participate on a summer foreign tour. Sponsored by the Division II Presidents Council.

No. 14: Hardship Waiver -- Division II. Intent: To require the submission of contemporaneous medical documentation with any hardship-waiver request. Sponsored by the Division II Presidents Council.

No. 15: Initial Eligibility -- GED Test/Equivalency Diploma -- Division II. Intent: To specify that a prospect may qualify for athletically related financial aid and practice on-campus or at the institution's regular home facility, but not for competition, by presenting a minimum average score of 45 on the five-part GED test and satisfying either the minimum grade-point average and core-course requirements or the minimum standardized test score as set forth in 14.3.2.1.2. Sponsored by the Division II Presidents Commission.

No. 16: Eligibility -- One-Time Transfer Exception -- Division II. Intent: In Division II, to permit a student-athlete who attended a four-year institution, did not receive athletically related financial aid and did not participate in intercollegiate athletics (other than in limited preseason tryouts) to exclude attendance at that institution for purposes of applying the one-time transfer exception, provided the student-athlete was meeting satisfactory-progress requirements at that institution. Opposed by the Division II Presidents Commission.

No. 17: Financial Aid -- Outside Sources. Intent: To permit a student-athlete (recruited or nonrecruited) who is the recipient of a permissible outside financial aid award administered pursuant to 15.2.5.4 and 15.2.5.6 to receive such an educational award directly from the awarding agency, provided the aid is awarded prior to the recipient's initial enrollment at a member institution and the awarding agency provides written notification of the award to the institution. Sponsored by the Division II President Council.

No. 18: De Minimis Violations -- Improper Financial Aid -- Division II. Intent: To specify instances in which a de minimis violation will not render a prospective or enrolled student-athlete ineligible while retaining the fact that such a violation shall be considered an institutional violation. Sponsored by the Division II Presidents Council.

No. 19: Financial Aid -- Professional Sports Organization. Intent: To permit an institution to continue providing financial aid for the remainder of the term of the award to a student-athlete who completes his or her four seasons of competition in a sport and signs a contract or receives compensation from an agent or a professional sports organization. Sponsored by the Division II Presidents Council.

No. 20: Restitution for Receipt of Improper Benefits -- Division II. Intent: In Division II, to specify circumstances in which an institution does not have to declare a student-athlete ineligible and seek reinstatement on behalf of a student-athlete who received an improper benefit, provided the student-athlete repays the value of the improper benefits. Sponsored by the Division II Presidents Council.

No. 21: Permissible Expenses -- Meals. Intent: To permit institutions to provide meal expenses to student-athletes serving on university committees who miss a regular meal as a result of a committee meeting conducted when regular institutional dining facilities are open. Sponsored by the Division II Presidents Council.

No. 22: Awards Banquets -- Complimentary Admissions. Intent: To permit institutions to provide complimentary admissions to one annual awards banquet for a student-athlete's two guests and spouse. Sponsored by the Division II Presidents Council.

No. 23: Refreshments at Educational Events. Intent: To permit institutions to provide reasonable refreshments to a student-athlete's parents or legal guardians in conjunction with educational activities. Sponsored by the Division II Presidents Council.

No. 24: Playing and Practice Seasons -- Division II Basketball -- Annual Exemptions. Intent: In Division II, to permit a member institution to exempt annually not more than two exhibition contests against Division I or III institutions from the maximum number of permissible basketball contests during any year in which it does not utilize an exempted contest against a foreign team in the United States or against a "club" member of USA Basketball.