National Collegiate Athletic Association

The NCAA News - News and Features

The NCAA News -- April 12, 1999

Board of Directors

Following are the minutes of the January 12, 1999, meeting of the Division I Board of Directors at the Marriott Rivercenter in San Antonio. All actions taken by the Board of Directors are included. A report of the Board of Directors also accompanies these minutes. Highlights of the meeting were reported in the January 18, 1999, issue of The NCAA News.

1. Opening Remarks. Graham B. Spanier, chair, noted that this would be the last meeting of Brother Thomas J. Scanlan and Samuel H. Smith and that Anthony J. DiGiorgio also was concluding his term on the Board. Spanier noted that, effective at the conclusion of this meeting, David B. Frohnmayer, University of Oregon; Claire A. VanUmmersen, Cleveland State University; and Harold T. Shapiro, Princeton University, would begin their terms on the Board.

Spanier also noted that this would be the last meeting that Robert A. Bowlsby would attend as chair of the Division I Management Council and that Ted Leland would assume that role in April.

Report of the Division I Board of Directors' January 12, 1999, meeting

1. Opening remarks.

2. Previous minutes; October 27, 1998.

BOARD ACTION: Approved as distributed. (Unanimous voice vote.)

3. Report of October 28 meeting of the NCAA Executive Committee.

No action taken.

4. Report of January 9 and 11 Division I Management Council meeting.

a. Review of proposed legislation approved by the Management Council.

(1) Proposals given approval (initial and final) by the Management Council.

(a) No. 98-12 (MC2) -- Official Visits -- Baseball. Intent: To limit to 25 the number of official visits an institution may provide to prospective student-athletes in the sport of baseball in a given year.

BOARD ACTION: Adopted the proposal. (Unanimous voice vote.)

(b) No. 98-21 (MC2) -- Two-Year College-Transfer Eligibility. Intent: To permit a two-year college transfer to use an associate or equivalent degree that is academic or technical in nature to satisfy the two-year-college graduation requirement.

BOARD ACTION: Adopted the proposal. (Unanimous voice vote.)

(c) No. 98-36 (MC2) -- Recruiting -- Publicity -- Contests Involving National Teams. Intent: To allow athletics department staff members to serve as announcers or commentators during national team events, including the Olympic Games, regardless of whether there are prospective student-athletes involved in such competition. (Effective immediately.)

BOARD ACTION: Adopted the proposal. (Unanimous voice vote.)

(d) No. 98-47 (MC2) -- Eligibility -- Students with Learning Disabilities. Intent: To permit a student-athlete with a learning disability who was not a qualifier to earn a fourth season of competition, provided the student-athlete has satisfied specified procedures and has completed at least 75 percent of his or her degree program at the beginning of the fifth academic year following the student-athlete's initial, full-time collegiate enrollment.

BOARD ACTION: Adopted the proposal. (Unanimous voice vote.)

(e) No. 98-48 (MC2) -- Initial Eligibility -- GED Test/Equivalency Diploma. Intent: To specify that a prospect may qualify for athletically related financial aid and practice 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 the applicable core-curriculum grade-point average in corresponding ACT or SAT score for a partial qualifier as set forth in the sliding scale index in Bylaw 14.3.2.1.1.

BOARD ACTION: Adopted the proposal. (Unanimous voice vote.)

(f) No. 98-49 (MC2) -- Recruiting Calendar -- Division I Softball. Intent: To establish a recruiting calendar in the sport of Division I softball, as specified.

BOARD ACTION: Adopted the proposal. (Unanimous voice vote.)

(g) No. 98-50 (MC2) -- Recruiting Opportunities -- Division I Sports other than Football, Basketball and Men's Ice Hockey. Intent: To specify that in all sports other than Division I football, basketball and men's ice hockey, an institution is permitted seven permissible recruiting opportunities (contacts and evaluations) during the academic year, and that not more than three of the seven recruiting opportunities may be in-person, off-campus contacts.

BOARD ACTION: Adopted the proposal. (Unanimous voice vote.)

(h) No. 98-51 (MC2) -- Offers and Inducements -- Employment of Two-Year Prospects. Intent: To specify that the arrangement of employment by an institution for a two-year college prospect shall be permitted only if the prospect has officially withdrawn from or has completed requirements for graduation at the two-year college. (Effective immediately.)

BOARD ACTION: Adopted the proposal. (Unanimous voice vote.)

(i) No. 98-52 (MC2) -- Academic Honor Awards. Intent: In Division I, to permit entering student-athletes to receive an institutional academic honor award under specified conditions without including such aid in the institution's team limits during that academic year in the applicable sport.

BOARD ACTION: Adopted the proposal. (Unanimous voice vote.)

(j) No. 98-53 (MC2) -- Off-Campus Contacts/Evaluations -- Division I-A Football. Intent: In Division I-A football, to permit an institution's head football coach to make an off-campus contact or evaluation with a prospective student-athlete at any time during a calendar week (Sunday through Saturday) during a permissible contact or evaluation period, provided no more than seven coaches (including the head coach) are engaging in off-campus recruiting activities at any one time during the calendar week.

BOARD ACTION: Adopted the proposal. (Unanimous voice vote.)

(k) No. 98-63 (MC2) -- Playing And Practice Seasons -- Maximum Dates Of Competition -- Division I Tennis. Intent: In Division I, to specify that tournaments conducted under a team tennis format competition, involving no more than three men and three women participants, shall not count as an institutional date of competition for either the men's or women's tennis team and shall count as a single date of competition for each individual participating in the event, regardless of the actual number of days during which competition occurs.

BOARD ACTION: Adopted the proposal. (Unanimous voice vote.)

(l) No. 98-71 (MC2) -- Scouting Opponents. Intent: In the sports of Division I men's and women's basketball and women's volleyball, to permit an institution, subsequent to the selection of the championship field until the conclusion of the championship, to purchase videotapes of opponents from individuals and/or professional scouting services. (Effective immediately.)

BOARD ACTION: Adopted the proposal. [For 9 (Fort, Lawless, Rawlins, Scanlan, Schwartz, Shaw, Smith, Spanier, Wethington); against 1 (Dennison).]

(m) No. 98-90 (MC2) -- Division I-A Football -- Maximum Contest Limitations. Intent: In Division I-A football, to eliminate annual preseason exempted contests subsequent to the 2002 playing season; further, beginning with the 2002 football season, to permit Division I-A institutions to schedule a 12th football contest in those years in which there are 14 Saturdays from the first permissible playing date through the last playing date in November.

BOARD ACTION: Adopted the proposal. (Unanimous voice vote; Division I-A vote only.)

(n) No. 98-92 (MC2) -- Playing And Practice Seasons -- Contest Limitations -- Division I Basketball. Intent: In the sport of Division I basketball, to permit Division I institutions to participate in a maximum of 28 basketball contests and to specify that participation in a certified basketball event shall count as a single contest; to eliminate all annual exemptions for which certification is required with the exception of the postseason men's and women's National Invitation Tournament (NIT); further, to specify that beginning with the 2000-01 academic year, Division I institutions shall be limited to participating in not more than one certified basketball event in a given academic year, and not more than two certified basketball events every four years, with not more than one of those events to be conducted outside of the continental United States (i.e., Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands).

BOARD ACTIONS:

(i) Discussed the concerns expressed by several organizations that sponsor exempted events, particularly regarding possible unintended consequences of the one-in-four-year limitation for events outside the continental United States.

(ii) Adopted the proposal, except for the limitation prohibiting institutions from participating in only one certified event conducted outside the continental United States (i.e., Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands) during a four-year period.

(iii) Noted that there might be unintended consequences with this modification to the proposal and that the Board would be willing to consider other legislation submitted through the normal legislative process to address any complexities.

(Unanimous voice vote.)

(o) No. 98-93 (MC2) -- Playing and Practice Seasons -- Daily Contest Limitations/Starting Times -- Division I Softball. Intent: To establish a maximum limit of three softball contests that may be played during any one day.

BOARD ACTION: Adopted the proposal. (Unanimous voice vote.)

(p) No. 98-94 (MC2) -- Outside Competition -- Division I Men's Water Polo. Intent: To permit student-athletes in the sport of men's water polo to compete on outside teams during the spring outside of the institution's playing and practice seasons, as specified. (Effective May 1, 1999.)

BOARD ACTION: Adopted the proposal. (Unanimous voice vote.)

(q) No. 98-95 (MC2) -- Membership Requirements -- Minimum Participants -- Division I Women's Fencing. Intent: To specify that in Division I women's fencing, an institution's team shall include a minimum of five participants in each contest that is counted toward meeting the minimum-contest requirement. (Effective immediately.)

BOARD ACTION: Adopted the proposal. (Unanimous voice vote.)

(r) No. 98-97 (MC2) -- Sport Committees with Championships Administration Responsibilities -- Regional/District Representation. Intent: To establish regional/district representation on various sports committees with championships administration responsibilities without increasing the current size of the committee.

BOARD ACTION: Adopted the proposal. (Unanimous voice vote.)

(s) No. 98-131 (MC2) -- Emerging Sports -- Equestrian. Intent: To add the sport of equestrian as an emerging sport for women.

BOARD ACTION: Adopted the proposal. (Unanimous voice vote.)

b. Request to establish an NCAA award for student-athletes who display outstanding sportsmanship.

BOARD ACTION: Approved the recommendation of the Management Council to establish an annual Association-wide sportsmanship award to be presented in conjunction with the Citizenship Through Sports Alliance, which includes several professional sports leagues and other athletics associations; and agreed that institutional student-athlete advisory committees should be involved in the selection of institutional nominees. (Unanimous voice vote.)

c. Status report regarding the review of the Division I governance structure.

BOARD ACTIONS: Reviewed a preliminary report regarding changes to the Division I governance structure and took the following actions:

(1) Electronic Communication. Agreed that staff should make the use of electronic communication of legislative matters and cabinet, Management Council and Board of Directors business a high priority. (Unanimous voice vote.)

(2) Number of Board Meetings per Year. Noted that the 1999 meeting dates have been established; agreed that the Board would consider meeting approximately two weeks after the Management Council's April and October legislative meetings and that this decision does not preclude scheduling other meetings, as necessary. (Unanimous voice vote.)

(3) Composition of the Management Council.

(a) Discussed the Management Council's decision to give initial approval to a proposal that would expand the composition of the Management Council to 51 members, including the rationale for the proposal.

(b) Supported the current percentage of Division I-A and Division I-AA/I-AAA members on the Management Council and noted the need to accommodate the Mountain West Conference in the governance structure.

(c) Expressed great concern with the proposal for several reasons, including the proposed increase to 51 members, the fact that the proposal does not address future conference realignments, and the lack of criteria for identifying different categories of Division I-A institutions.

(d) Encouraged the Management Council to continue to explore alternative options for the composition of the Management Council, to develop general principles for how positions are allocated, and to submit to the Board in April a report of recommended changes to the composition of the Management Council and cabinets, including the impact on meeting and travel expenses.

(4) Composition of the Board of Directors. Expressed no objection to the proposal initially approved by the Management Council that would expand the composition of the Board of Directors to a total of 18 members to include an additional member from the Mountain West Conference, one representative each from the Big West and Mid-American Conferences and one additional Division I-AA/I-AAA representative.

d. Continued discussion of funding alternatives for restricted-earnings coach litigation.

BOARD ACTION: Noted that members of the Board had participated in discussions regarding this topic during the joint meeting with the Division I Management Council earlier in the day.

e. Other issues.

BOARD ACTIONS:

(1) Waiver of Bylaw 21.6.1.1.3 Regarding the Men's Basketball Committee. Ratified a waiver of the "on-the-staff" requirement for committee service, as approved by the Management Council under Bylaw 21.6.1.1.3, between January 1 and September 1, 1999, to allow Craig Thompson, a member of the Division I Men's Basketball Committee and recently appointed commissioner of the Mountain West Conference, to remain on the committee while the conference prepares to become an NCAA conference member September 1, 1999. [Note: Mr. Thompson's term on the committee will expire September 1, 2000.] (Unanimous voice vote.)

(2) Format of Division I Manual. Approved the recommendation of the Management Council, which includes:

(a) Eliminating the "gaps" in legislative citations, all voting-line references to federated provisions other than subdivision distinctions, and all references to other divisions in the text of the Division I Manual, as long as a cross-reference system or master Manual is maintained, effective with the 2000-01 Manual. (Unanimous voice vote.)

(b) Emphasizing that improving membership online access to interpretations should be a very high priority.

(3) Review of the Feasibility of Increasing a Full Grant-In-Aid to the Cost of Attendance. Received a report, submitted in response to a referral from the Board, regarding the feasibility of increasing a full grant-in-aid to the cost of attendance or an equivalent amount as a possible alternative to student-athlete employment during the academic year for full grant recipients and the possible implications of increasing the grant-in-aid for student-athletes who receive partial grants; and accepted the decision of the Management Council to not change the current student-athlete employment legislation at this time.

(4) Interim Cabinet and Management Council Vacancies. Approved a policy, as recommended by the Management Council, that interim appointments that do not meet gender, ethnic diversity and position requirements may be appointed with the provision that, one time each year, the conferences will review all interim appointments made during the previous year and make any adjustments necessary to the cabinet and Management Council rosters to satisfy all gender, ethnic diversity and position requirements, subject to approval by the Management Council for cabinets and by the Board of Directors for Management Council. (Unanimous voice vote.)

(5) Sponsoring Agency for Exempted Basketball Contests. Adopted Proposal No. 99-12 to amend Bylaw 30.10.1.3 to permit an exempted event in Alaska, Hawaii or Puerto Rico to be sponsored by a provisional NCAA member located in that state or territory. (Unanimous voice vote.) (Effective immediately.)

5. Report on membership response to legislation acted upon by the Board at its October meeting.

No action taken.

6. Review of proposed change to principle of nondiscrimination.

BOARD ACTIONS:

a. Approved legislation to amend Constitution 2.6 regarding the principle of nondiscrimination as follows:

"The Association shall promote an atmosphere of respect for and sensitivity to the dignity of every person. It is the policy of the Association to refrain from discrimination within its own governance policies, educational programs, activities and employment policies, including on the basis of age, color, disability, gender, national origin, race, religion, creed or sexual orientation. It is the responsibility of each member institution to determine independently its own policy regarding nondiscrimination." (Unanimous voice vote.)

b. Noted that this change to Constitution 2.6 is subject to approval by all three divisional presidential bodies and the Executive Committee and a two-thirds majority vote of the total membership in all three divisions (present and voting) no earlier than at the 2000 Convention.

7. Division I budget.

a. Division I budget process and timeline.

BOARD ACTION: Reviewed the recently approved Division I budget process and requested that the staff and Budget Subcommittee develop a possible Division I budget process that would account for the possible elimination of a summer meeting of the Board of Directors in future years.

b. Identification of Division I budget priorities.

BOARD ACTION: Approved the Division I budget priorities recommended by the Division I Budget Subcommittee. (Unanimous voice vote.)

c. Expenditure savings proposals.

BOARD ACTIONS:

(1) Reviewed various cost-saving initiatives and noted that a contract has been received for the sale of the NCAA aircraft.

(2) Agreed to support the sale of the NCAA aircraft and the purchase of executive charter service for selected flights either through the use of charter aircraft or part ownership of a charter aircraft.

(3) Agreed that committee members should book airfares at least 30 days in advance of travel to take advantage of zone airfares contracted through airlines and that first-class travel should be eliminated, with the understanding that to ensure the continued willingness of individuals in the membership to serve on NCAA committees, it is important to have the flexibility to change airline tickets when schedules unexpectedly change.

(4) Supported the concept that national office staff and committee members should have more flexibility to select meeting sites within cost parameters and that hotel room rates will be held to a maximum of $170 per night, with annual adjustments for inflation.

(5) Agreed that these travel policies should be monitored to ensure that adequate cost savings occur and that the business of the Association and the willingness of the membership to serve on committees is not sacrificed as a result of these policies; and authorized the president to make exceptions to these policies for compelling reasons.

(6) Approved the use of technology (e.g., the Internet, CD ROM) to save money on formal publications, such as guides and brochures, and informal publications, such as minutes, agendas and supplements.

(Unanimous voice vote.)

8. Selection of Division I Board members to replace Anthony J. DiGiorgio, Bro. Thomas J. Scanlan and Samuel H. Smith on the Executive Committee.

BOARD ACTION: Selected on the basis of seniority the following individuals to serve on the Executive Committee: John T. Casteen III, University of Virginia, Atlantic Coast Conference (Division I-A); Edward B. Fort, North Carolina A&T University, Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (I-AA); and Rev. David T. Tyson, University of Portland, West Coast Conference (I-AAA). (Unanimous Voice Vote.)

9. Status report from the Division I Working Group to Study Basketball Issues.

Noted that a status report was provided in conjunction with the Division I Forum conducted on January 11.

10. Update from chair of the Board.

BOARD ACTIONS:

a. Noted that Board meetings are not considered open sessions and determined that it would be appropriate for the chair of the Board to determine when outside individuals should be permitted to attend a portion of the meeting.

b. Indicated support for meeting with a top-level group from the National Football League (NFL), as suggested by Paul Tagliabue, commissioner of the NFL, to discuss various issues, including agents and the draft.

11. Federal relations report.

No action taken.

12. Litigation update.

No action taken.

13. Review of athletics apparel manufacturers.

a. Code of conduct.

b. Fair Labor Association.

Received an update from legal counsel regarding the code of conduct developed by a task force of institutions affiliated with the Collegiate Licensing Company and indicated that it would be helpful for institutions to receive from the NCAA an analysis of various codes highlighting the similarities and differences.

14. Other business.

BOARD ACTION: Heard a report from Joseph Crowley, president, University of Nevada, regarding a gambling seminar planned for the 1999 NACDA convention in Reno; and agreed that the Board was supportive of NACDA conducting a seminar of this type at its Convention. (Unanimous voice vote.)