The NCAA News - News and Features

The NCAA News -- March 15, 1999

Management Council minutes

Following are the minutes of the January 8-9, 1999, meeting of the Division III Management Council at the Marriott Rivercenter in San Antonio. All actions taken by the Management Council are included. Highlights of the meeting were reported in the January 18, 1999, issue of The NCAA News.

1. Announcements. The Management Council reviewed the schedule for the 1999 Convention, including all Division III meetings. The chair also identified all guests scheduled to attend the Management Council meetings.

2. Previous Minutes. The Management Council reviewed the minutes of its October 19-20, 1998, meeting; the October 28, 1998, Presidents Council meeting; and the October 28, 1998, Executive Committee meeting.

It was voted that the minutes of the Management Council's October 19-20, 1998, meeting be approved as distributed.

3. Review Division III Strategic Plan. The Management Council:

a. Reviewed Section III, mission statement, and identified priorities to be addressed at the 1999 Convention. It agreed to address Nos. 2, 3, 6, 10 and 11 on the Convention agenda.

The Management Council recommended the following to the Presidents Council:

(1) A conference call for the strategic planning subcommittee to review and update the plan.

(2) A review and recommended refinement of priorities at its April meeting.

(3) Communication to Division III and Association-wide committee chairs and staff liaisons to identify accomplished priorities.

b. Reviewed Section V of the priorities and identified those accomplished and still in process.

The Management Council recommended that the Presidents Council:

(1) Highlight in bold issues in process.

(2) Add a list of accomplishments to Section V of the plan.

4. Budgetary issues. The Management Council reviewed its October discussion, affirmed the comments and forwarded the following to the Presidents Council:

a. Association-wide budget parameters. The Management Council recommended that the Presidents Council endorse implementation of the revised Association-wide budget process for 1999-2000, noting that Division III will continue to have an opportunity for input regarding issues affecting all three divisions through the Division III representatives who serve on the budget subcommittee of the Executive Committee and on the Executive Committee as a whole.

b. Division III budget priorities. The Management Council:

(1) Reviewed the budget for fiscal year 1999.

(2) Reviewed allocated and unallocated funds and recommended amending Note No. 2 to delete "proposed" as it related to bracket expansion.

(3) Reviewed encumbered funds.

(4) Reviewed future potential expenditures and recommended:

(a) Adding No. 5 -- Exploring use of self-insuring membership to support deductible for catastrophic-injury insurance coverage.

(b) Championships Committee address, in priority order, Nos. 4, 1, 2:

i. No. 4 -- championships experience -- needs assessment (mementos).

ii. No. 1 -- official travel party.

iii. No. 2 -- increase in per diem amount.

c. Cost-savings initiatives. The Management Council:

(1) Endorsed Option 4 (sell NCAA aircraft and purchase executive charter service for selected flights) and the recent implementation of Option 4. The Management Council expressed concern related to the timing of the decision to implement Option 4 prior to final Management Council and Presidents Council input.

(2) Endorsed Option No. 1 (First-class travel permitted for committee members if the direct route between the site of flight orientation and the destination is more than 1,200 miles. Sites of meetings held outside the Indianapolis area will be determined by the national office. Factors for consideration may be location of committee members, airfare rates to site, need to meet with other groups and availability of rooms. Hotel room rates will be held to a maximum of $150 per night), currently in operation, and added the following priorities:

(a) Critical to retain flexibility in travel. Pursue options that are the least intrusive on job demands and provide an opportunity to leave and return to campus.

(b) Travel to convenient airport locations and direct flights are important.

(c) Meeting location is not as important as travel flexibility.

(d) Communication to all constituents of effective date regarding implementation of any new policy is critical.

(e) Evaluate and identify real additional savings, given current implementation of Option No. 1.

(3) Endorsed retention of four meetings per year for the Division III Management Council, Division III Presidents Council and the NCAA Executive Committee.

(4) Endorsed the recommendation to use technology (e.g., World Wide Web, CD-ROM) to save money on related publications, including both formal publications (e.g., guides and brochures) and informal publications (e.g., minutes, agendas, supplements).

5. Committee/Subcommittee Reports.

a. Association-wide committees.

(1) Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports. The Management Council received an oral report regarding the work of the committee.

(2) Honors Committee. The Management Council:

(a) Noted the committee selection of the honorees for the Silver Anniversary award: David Casper, Anita DeFrantz, Pat Summitt, Lynn Swann, Robert Thomas and Bill Walton. The Management Council also noted that Anita DeFrantz will give the Association keynote and is a former Division III student-athlete.

(b) Accepted the committee's recommendation that unique situations beyond the control of the award winners would merit special attention with regard to the person's actual attendance at the dinner.

(c) Noted the committee's selection of the Today's Top VIII award honorees, including Matthew Brill and Henry Gerten from Division III.

(d) Noted the committee's selection of Bill Richardson, a former Division III student-athlete, as the 1999 Theodore Roosevelt award winner.

(3) Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee. The Management Council received an oral report regarding the work of the committee.

(4) National Youth Sports Program Committee. The Management Council received an oral report regarding the work of the committee.

(5) Olympic Sports Liaison Committee.

(a) The Management Council adopted noncontroversial legislation to amend NCAA Bylaw 13.11.3.1 to permit athletics department staff members to serve as announcers or commentators on radio or television broadcasts of contests of national teams in which prospective student-athletes may be participants, including the Olympic Games.

The Management Council also:

(b) Deferred action to amend Bylaw 12.1.1.4.4 (exception for training expenses prior to collegiate enrollment) until its April meeting, noting that outside funding issues will be addressed during a financial aid discussion session at the Convention. The Management Council noted the delay should not impact potential legislation for the 2000 Convention.

(c) Accepted information that women's ice hockey and women's water polo are nearing the required number of sponsored programs to establish a national collegiate championship in each sport.

(6) Postgraduate Scholarship Committee. The Management Council received an oral report.

(7) Research Committee. The Management Council received an oral report.

(8) Committee on Sportsmanship and Ethical Conduct. The Management Council recommended that the Presidents Council:

(a) Endorse the creation of NCAA annual sportsmanship awards that honor student-athletes from each division who, through their actions in the competitive arena of intercollegiate athletics, have demonstrated one or more ideals of sport including fairness, civility, honesty, and value of respect and responsibility.

The Council recommended the following suggestions:

i. Clarify criteria to include "significant" positive behavior.

ii. Consider selecting state winners to increase recognition of award nationally (possibly award certificate to all state winners.).

iii. Consider using competition during NCAA championships as a means to generate a pool of student-athlete nominees for the national awards.

(b) Endorse creation of an antigambling video focusing on the impact of gambling on student-athletes in all divisions, not just Division I. The Management Council also recommended pursuing funding through Association-wide resources.

(c) Accept the committee's recommendation for the development and distribution of a code of conduct that utilizes principles and values it incorporated in its definitions of sportsmanship and ethical conduct.

(9) Committee on Women's Athletics. The Management Council:

(a) Recommended that the Presidents Council endorse a statement of support for gender equity and endorse in concept the gender-equity audit and proactive implementation of policies addressing its findings as appropriate. The Management Council noted that it expects to review any audit report following receipt of the report from the Ad Hoc Committee to Review Gender and Ethnic Issues by the Executive Committee.

(b) Recommended that the Presidents Council support in concept:

i. Efforts to hire and/or promote women in top management positions at the NCAA national office.

ii. Assignment of responsibility for women's issues to the highest management level (i.e., senior vice-president level) at the NCAA national office.

(c) Deferred action on the committee recommendation to extend the tenure of the chair for a period of two years until its April meeting and noted:

i. Committee member at issue represents Division I.

ii. Broader potential impact of decision.

iii. Possible need for Division III Nominating Committee to review issue/implications.

(d) Accepted the information related to the gender-equity and diversity audit, noting that the Executive Committee should receive the report and forward it to each divisional CEO body and Management Council to be handled within the governance structure.

b. Management Council subcommittees.

(1) Administrative Review Subcommittee. The Management Council approved the subcommittee's actions on eight appeals and noted one editorial correction to Case No. 2887, Page No. 4, to delete institutional reference.

(2) All-Star Contests Certification Subcommittee. The Management Council:

(a) Approved the following committee recommendations:

i. That Division III member institutions should engage at a minimum in a comprehensive review of campus insurance coverage as it relates to student-athlete and/or staff participation in: (1) all-star contests/competition; (2) nontraditional and out-of-season activities; (3) institutional camps, clinics and on/off-campus activities related to "captains practices;" (4) use of institutional equipment; and (5) transportation issues.

ii. That Division III member institutions at a minimum should conduct a review of campus policies related to: (1) use of institutional facilities for hosting all-star or "third-party" contests/competitions; (2) use of institutional equipment; and (3) permission process for student-athlete and/or staff participation in all-star contests/competition.

iii. If Division III institutions permit involvement of student-athletes, staff, facilities and/or equipment in all-star contest/competition, they should request from the agency sponsoring the event proof of: (1) certificate of participant injury coverage; and (2) certificate of liability insurance (minimum of $1 million/occurrence).

(b) Recommended that communication with membership include current permissible activities related to all-star events/
competition.

(c) Recommended that the NCAA add notice of lack of catastrophic-injury insurance coverage in NCAA Student-Athlete Statement.

(d) Approved the committee's recommendation to have NCAA legal counsel review the recommendations. Membership notice of findings/recommendations would appear in The NCAA News, NAD3AA listserver and a presentation at NACDA Convention in June 1999. The Management Council also suggested that findings/recommendations be forwarded to the Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports for further review and recommendations.

(e) Recommended that the Presidents Council sponsor legislation for the 2000 Convention to amend Bylaw 11.1.6 -- Involvement in Noncertified All-Star Contests -- to eliminate reference to "that is not certified by Association's Special Events Committee" and noted that the legislation may be controversial.

(f) Recommended that the Presidents Council sponsor legislation for the 2000 Convention to amend Bylaw 14.7.6 -- Collegiate All-Star Contests -- to include all sports, not only football and basketball, noting that the legislation may be controversial.

(g) Recommended that the Presidents Council sponsor legislation for the 2000 Convention to amend Bylaw 20.2.2 -- College Football and Basketball -- to treat all sports consistently by precluding use of institutional facilities for any college all-star contest that does not meet legislative requirements, noting that the legislation may be controversial.

c. Division III committees.

(1) Budget Committee. The Management Council discussed the committee's report in conjunction with the budget discussion described in Minute No. 4.

(2) Championships Committee. The Management Council:

(a) Approved an editorial change to Bylaw 31.3.3-(d) -- Division III Championships -- Selection Principles and Automatic-Qualification Requirements, as follows:

"if criteria (a) through (c) are equal, the sports committee also may consider the remainder of the institution's schedule, including out-of-region play and competition against Division I and Division II member institutions and nonmember institutions."

(b) Approved an editorial change to Proposal No. 38-2 -- Division III Championships -- Selection Principles and Automatic-Qualification Requirements -- (Resolution: At-Large Berths) as follows:

"Whereas, the allocation of championships berths in each team sport to at-large participants (i.e., independent institutions, institutions that are members of conferences that do not meet automatic-qualification requirements and nonconference champions) will vary from sport to sport on an annual basis, based on the number of conferences that qualify for an automatic bid and the overall size of the championship pool; and"

(c) Received an update and accepted information that the 1999 NCAA Division III Baseball Championship be permitted to use only those baseball bats, if available, that meet the three-pronged performance standard scheduled to become effective August 1, 1999. The Council also noted some key Division III membership issues:

i. More than 12 conferences (including many public institutions) had taken a position based at least in part in response to the safety issue identified in the August 1998 memorandum.

ii. Need to clarify proposed indemnification.

iii. Timely communication with the membership is critical.

The Management Council also noted that the ultimate resolution of this issue rests with the Executive Committee.

(d) Accepted the action of the Championships Committee to approve a recommendation from the Division III Baseball Committee to create a waiver provision for institutions that as a result of institutional or conference policies that preclude them from participating in contests against institutions that use "high-performance" bats during the 1999 regular season, are unable to meet the minimum number of regular-season contests (29) for selection to the championship.

(3) Financial Aid and Awards Committee. The Management Council received an oral report.

(4) Student-Athlete Reinstatement Subcommittee. The Management Council:

(a) Did not support the committee's recommendation to oppose a legislative proposal by the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee to permit a Division III student-athlete to serve on the Division III Committee on Infractions and Student-Athlete Reinstatement (Student-Athlete Reinstatement Subcommittee).

(b) Recommended draft legislation to amend Bylaws 21.8.6.3.1 and 21.8.6.3.3.1 to include one student-athlete representative to the Student-Athlete Reinstatement Subcommittee.

(c) Recommended that the Management Council representative to the committee inform the subcommittee of the action and proposed implementation process and timetable.

(5) Interpretations and Legislation Committee. The Management Council accepted information regarding Phase II of the proposed deregulation of the Division III Manual, which includes substantive changes to Bylaws 10-14 and 16-17. The Management Council noted that Bylaw 15 is primarily being reviewed by the Financial Aid and Awards Committee.

(6) Membership Committee. The Management Council:

(a) Approved the recommendation to accept the Illini-Badger Football Conference as a nonvoting member conference.

(b) Approved the recommendation to accept the New England Small College Athletic Conference as a voting member conference.

(c) Supported the recommendation to deny a waiver of the three-sport requirement from Polytechnic University (New York).

(7) Nominating Committee. The Management Council:

(a) Approved an interim appointment to the Division III Women's Lacrosse Committee.

(b) Recommended an editorial correction to the last page of the chart illustrating the current conference and independent institutional representation in the Division III governance and committee structure.

(8) Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. The Management Council agreed to:

(a) Identify Management Council and Presidents Council members (CEO, AD, FAR) interested in participating in the 1999 NCAA Foundation Student-Athlete Leadership Conference scheduled for late May and early June in Orlando, Florida.

(b) Referred to the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee the issue of whether or not a current committee member who quits his or her athletics team would remain eligible to continue to serve through the remainder of his or her term of appointment, recommending consideration of a possible amendment to Bylaw 21.8.6.8.2 to specify that a student-athlete who quits or is removed from the team no longer is eligible to continue to serve on the committee.

6. 1999 NCAA Convention.

a. Convention Planning Subcommittee. The Management Council recommended that the Presidents Council endorse the Convention schedule and requested that an updated schedule be distributed to all Division III delegates during registration.

b. Review 1999 NCAA Convention program. The Management Council reviewed the program, noting a new room for the keynote address.

c. Review of proposed legislation, speaker assignments and positions for all legislation. The Management Council recommended that the Presidents Council:

(1) Endorse speaker assignments, positions and proposed legislation.

(2) Discuss Proposal No. 38 and identify additional Presidents Council members to address principles upon which the proposal is based.

d. Review of interpretations of legislative proposals to be included in the 1999-2000 NCAA Division III Manual. The Management Council reviewed interpretations recommended by the Division III Interpretations and Legislation Committee and took the following actions:

(1) Approved interpretations of Proposal Nos. 28 and 38 from the committee's December 21 teleconference and Proposal No. 48 from the committee's December 11 teleconference, with appropriate editorial revisions.

(2) Approved an editorial change to Bylaw 31.3.3-(d) in Proposal No. 38 as recommended by the Championships Committee, to be distributed to the membership at the Convention.

(3) Approved an editorial change to Proposal No. 38-2 (Resolution: At-Large Berths) as recommended by Championships Committee and agreed to include the revision with the interpretations to be distributed to the membership during the Convention.

e. Review of noncontroversial legislation adopted by the Management Council per NCAA Constitution 5.3.1.1.1. The Management Council endorsed Appendix E of the 1999 NCAA Official Notice.

f. Review of legislative modifications of wording by the Management Council per NCAA Constitution 5.4.1.1.1. The Management Council endorsed Appendix G of the 1999 NCAA Official Notice.

g. The Management Council discussed expectations and requested six Management Council members to help count votes should the electronic voting units malfunction during the Division III Business Session.

h. The Management Council discussed the process during the Division III Business Session regarding the strategic planning oral reports.

i. The Management Council discussed the process for the Division III membership straw vote during the discussion session regarding the nontraditional segment.

7. Proposed legislation.

a. Proposed legislation for the 2000 Convention. The Management Council recommended that the Presidents Council sponsor legislation to amend Constitution 2.6 -- Principles of Nondiscrimination, for the 2000 Convention to make the principle more descriptive.

b. Noncontroversial legislation per NCAA Constitution 5.3.1.1.1. The Management Council:

(1) Approved the legislative proposals to ensure that all-star contests in all sports are treated consistently (Bylaw 11.1.6 -- Involvement in Noncertified Contests; Bylaw 14.7.6 -- Collegiate All-Star Contests; and Bylaw 30.2.2 -- College Football and Basketball) for membership vote at the 2000 Convention rather than as noncontroversial legislation.

(2) Approved the following noncontroversial legislative proposals:

(a) Proposal No. 2 -- Emerging Sports -- Equestrian (Bylaw 20.02.5) to add equestrian as an emerging sport for women.

(b) Proposal No. 3 -- Waiver of Composition Requirement -- Division III Sports Committees (Bylaw 21.8.1.4) to establish a waiver opportunity for the composition requirements for Division III sports committees.

(c) Proposal No. 4 -- Admissions and Graduation-Rate Disclosure (Bylaw 30.1) to eliminate the requirement that Division III institutions send admissions and graduation-rate information specified in Bylaw 30.1 directly to the NCAA national office.

(d) Proposal No. 5 -- NCAA Championships -- Sunday Competition (Bylaw 31.1.4) to establish a requirement that if a participating institution has a written policy against competition on a particular day for religious reasons the championships schedule must be adjusted to accommodate that institution; further, to establish a waiver opportunity for such a requirement if the governing sports committee concludes that accommodating that institution's policy would unduly disrupt the orderly conduct of the championship. Recommended an editorial revision to correct a typographical error -- "unruly" should be "unduly."

c. Modifications of legislation per Constitution 5.4.1.1.1. The Management Council approved the following intent-based legislative proposals:

(1) Proposal No. 1 -- Continuation of Modeling and Other Nonathletically Related Promotional Activities After Enrollment (Bylaw 12.5.1.3) to clarify that an individual may continue modeling or other nonathletically related promotional activities without jeopardizing his or her eligibility, provided such activity was initiated prior to enrollment in an NCAA"member" institution as opposed to a "collegiate" institution.

(2) Proposal No. 2 -- Division III -- Multidivisional Classification (Bylaw 13.3.1.2.1) to add a reference to Bylaw 20.6.1.2 (Division III application) to Bylaw 13.3.1.2 (Division III -- multidivision classification).

8. Process to evaluate the new governance structure. The Management Council recommended that the Presidents Council:

a. Approve a timetable for evaluation of the new Division III governance structure.

b. Create a joint subcommittee of Management Council and Presidents Council members to assist with the evaluation process.

c. Direct the staff to develop and forward written documents outlining the process and timetable to all Division III and Association-wide committee chairs and staff liaisons as part of their committee planning process for the upcoming year with feedback for Management Council and Presidents Council review in July/August 1999.

9. Federal relations report. Doris A. Dixon, NCAA director of federal relations, reviewed and presented the highlights of the federal relations report and major actions of the NCAA Washington office for 1998.

10. Update -- NAIA and NCAA joint meeting. The Management Council reviewed and recommended that the Presidents Council approve the summary of issues discussed during an October 1998 meeting between NAIA and NCAA staff members and forward specific issues to the committee structure for review and possible action:

a. Division III Championships Committee:

(1) Rules committees. NAIA is interested in a vehicle for formal input to rules committees, since it follows NCAA rules. It currently has a mail ballot on rules changes in baseball. It would like to apply that concept in other sports. This also seems like a good concept for the high-school federation. The NCAA should pursue this concept first with its own sports committees.

(2) Championships selection criteria. NAIA desires greater consideration of NAIA opponents by NCAA sports committees in selection criteria used to determine participants in NCAA championships.

b. Committee on Women's Athletics. "Collegiate" championships -- NAIA is interested in jointly sponsoring postseason "championships" events in sports in which NCAA has no championship (e.g., emerging sports) or in which championships access is limited across divisions (e.g., men's volleyball). This concept should be forwarded to the Committee on Women's Athletics and the Olympic Sports Liaison Committee. NAIA also interested in legislation to redefine the permissible end of the playing season to NAIA or NCAA championship, whichever occurs later, to permit dual members the option to participate in NAIA championship.

c. Division III Membership Committee.

(1) Scheduling limits. The 50 percent minimum continues to be a concern to the NAIA, especially related to football and men's basketball. It appears to limit the option available to dual members who want to participate in the NAIA championship. Division III will address this issue through proposed legislation at the 1999 Convention, but it remains a sticking point in Division II. NAIA believes that a key long-term goal is the creation of more competitive opportunities between NAIA and NCAA members within regions.

(2) Exempted events/contests. NAIA is interested in greater exposure by permitting dual members to participate in more exempted events, especially in football and basketball. This would take legislative action in each applicable NCAA division and not likely a concrete proposal would emerge earlier than the 2000 Convention.

(3) Provisional member information. The NAIA desires greater communication with the NCAA regarding provisional members and the provisional member education process. It is willing to make available to the membership committees more information related to provisional members (e.g., issues related to probation or lack of rules compliance by provisional members related to NAIA rules during the NCAA provisional period).

11. Miscellaneous.

a. Review of agenda for joint meeting of the Management Council and Presidents Council. The Management Council recommended the addition of sportsmanship and student-athlete behavior issues to the agenda.

b. Review of agenda for post-Convention Management Council meeting. The Management Council approved the agenda.

12. Other business.

a. NCAA Fellows program request. The Management Council discussed and approved a request for the six NCAA Fellows to observe its April meeting as part of their leadership experiences.

b. Management Council members expiration of terms. The Management Council recognized the contribution of the four departing Management Council members and thanked them for their service and leadership.