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The NCAA News -- April 26, 1999

Changes in legislative cycle top Council's governance actions

BY GARY T. BROWN
STAFF WRITER

NEWPORT BEACH, California -- The Division I Management Council gave final approval at its April 12-13 meeting to a new legislative model that will change the way legislation is processed through the Division I structure.

The new legislative cycle, proposed by the Council's Subcommittee to Review the Division I Governance Structure and given initial approval by the Council in January, calls for the Management Council and the Division I Board of Directors to consider and act on legislation only at their April and October meetings.

The proposal was forwarded to the Board of Directors and was adopted during The Board's April 20 meeting.

Also new to the legislative cycle is a single comment period (Proposal No. 99-13), which will be 60 days after the Council's initial review of legislative proposals. This proposal eliminates the 60-day comment period following cabinet actions on legislative proposals, effective immediately.

Conferences will have the opportunity to submit new legislative proposals twice a year, compared to the four submission dates under the current system. The new submission deadlines are August 15 (for proposals to be reviewed by the Council in October) and January 15 (for proposals to be reviewed by the Council in April). The Council's Administrative Committee will refer conference proposals directly to the appropriate cabinets/committees to create a more efficient referral process. Proposals received late would be delayed to the next six-month cycle.

The new cycle will become effective with the August 15, 1999, deadline for conference submission of legislative proposals and the October 1999 Management Council meeting.

The Council also gave final approval to Proposal No. 99-14, which provides for the Council to adopt only emergency, noncontroversial legislation during its January and July meetings of each calendar year, subject to review by the Board of Directors. The Council amended the effective date of the proposal to August 1, 1999, which will allow the Council to consider and act upon legislation already in the system at its July meeting. The Council also directed the subcommittee to clarify how to determine when a legislative proposal satisfies the "emergency and noncontroversial" standard.

Composition of Council

Among the subcommittee's recommendations regarding the Division I governance structure was a series of options regarding the composition of the Management Council and Board of Directors. The Council in January had given initial approval to a proposal that would have expanded the Council to 51 members, with three categories of Division I conferences (Proposal No. 99-16), but the Board expressed concerns with the proposal and charged the Council subcommittee to explore alternatives and to develop general principles for how positions are to be allocated.

The subcommittee developed the following six principles, which were accepted by the Council:

  • That each conference in each subdivision of Division I be represented by at least one member (person) and at least one vote.

  • That the voting ratio between Division I-A and Divisions I-AA/AAA, set at 53/47 by the current bylaws, be, as nearly as possible, maintained either by membership (seats) on the Management Council or by voting multipliers applied to members of the Management Council.

  • That the difference in the number of votes between Division I-A and Divisions I-AA/AAA, set at two by the current bylaws, be adjusted proportionately, either by a change in the membership of the Management Council or by a change in the voting multipliers, as the size of the Management Council increases.

  • That the difference in the values of the voting multipliers of the representatives of each subdivision may be used to achieve the requisite voting ratios and number of votes between Division I-A and Divisions I-AA/AAA and within Division I-A.

  • That votes in Division I-A be allocated in no more than two categories, as provided by current bylaws.

  • That limits on the number of members of the Management Council be set, with the number to be not less than 38 or more than 53.

    The subcommittee presented three options regarding the composition of the Council for review, including Proposal No. 99-16. The Council tabled that proposal until July.

    The Council gave initial approval to the other two options, one that would expand the Management Council to 49 members, with only two categories of Division I-A conferences (Proposal No. 99-41), and another that would expand the Management Council to 38 members, with only two categories of Division I-A conferences and weighted voting (Proposal No. 99-42).

    Proposal Nos. 99-41 and 99-42 will be sent out for comment. All three proposals will be reviewed again by the Council in July.

    The Board during its April 20 meeting asked the Council to consider several issues during the ongoing review of the composition of the Council, including the budgetary impact of any increase in size, and the continued concern that different categories of Division I-A conferences exist without any defined criteria.

    As for the composition of the Board, the Council tabled Proposal No. 99-15, which would expand the Board to 18 members, until July.

    The Council also agreed, as part of its overall review of the cabinet structure, to request input from the Academics/Eligibility/Compliance and the Championships/Competition Cabinets regarding whether it would be desirable for their compositions to continue to directly parallel that of the Management Council and whether any of the structures detailed in Proposal Nos. 99-16, 99-41 and 99-42 would be acceptable to the cabinets.

    Championships issues

    Several items with budgetary impact emerged from the Championships/Competition Cabinet report, including requests for bracket expansion in five sports.

    The Council supported the requests for expansion in the following order:

  • Division I field hockey from 12 to 16 teams.

  • National Collegiate men's and women's fencing from 120 to 144 participants to accommodate the addition of women's sabre and an additional 24 female competitors.

  • Division I men's golf from 324 to 423 participants in regional qualifying tournaments.

  • Division I women's golf from 204 to 252 in regional qualifying tournaments, and from 99 to 126 participants in the women's championships.

  • Division I men's soccer from 32 to 48 teams.

    The requests will be reviewed by the Division I Budget Subcommittee and final recommendations will be acted upon by the Board and the Executive Committee in August. All approved expansions would become effective with the 1999-00 academic year.

    Other championships issues with budget impact supported by the Council and forwarded to the budget subcommittee included background checks on game officials in the Division I men's and women's basketball championships, an officiating-improvement program for women's softball starting in 1999-00, increases in the officials fees for the Division I Women's Basketball Championship to match those in the men's tournament, and increases in officiating expenses resulting from the previous expansion of the Division I baseball and softball championship brackets.

    In other championships issues, the Council did not support a recommendation from the cabinet that the starting date for the Division I Baseball Championship be moved one week later, effective with the 2001 championship. One of the issues raised is whether it is cost-effective for schools whose academic terms end in early spring to pay expenses for student-athletes to remain on campus until the championship.

    Automatic qualification

    Several issues relating to automatic qualification were addressed by the Council, including Proposal No. 98-61, which would limit to 30 the number of automatic qualifying conferences into the Division I Men's Basketball Championship.

    The Council amended the proposal to state explicitly that limiting the number of automatic qualifiers to 30 is subject to the championship-access guarantee afforded to the members of Division I-AA and I-AAA as set forth in Constitution 4.01.2.3.1 (for example, all contests that are part of the championship shall be administered and funded by the NCAA and broadcast on television, and any team that participates in the championship shall be awarded at least one financial unit) and to clarify that the remainder of the field would be at-large selections.

    The proposal is intended to assure that the current field in men's and women's basketball will not be altered, while maintaining the constitutionally guaranteed access to the championships afforded to Divisions I-AA and I-AAA institutions.

    The Council defeated a recommendation to circulate the proposal for a 60-day comment period and forwarded the proposal to the Board, consistent with the normal process for amendments to administrative and executive regulations. The Board subsequently adopted the proposal but amended it to apply only to the men's tournament.

    The Council also heard a presentation from the Mountain West Conference and reviewed the conference's request to affirm the February 18 interpretation of the Legislative Review/Interpretations Subcommittee that the conference should not be considered a new conference for determining its eligibility for automatic qualification for the Division I Men's Basketball Championship because it satisfies the continuity of conference membership requirement in Bylaw 31.3.4.3.1-(a) and the "core group" principle related to automatic qualification for Division I championships, including men's basketball.

    Ultimately, the Council acted to set aside the interpretation of the subcommittee and to table final action until its July meeting. It noted that the conference does not satisfy the requirements for automatic qualification in any sport at this time, but to be considered for automatic qualification for championships in sports other than men's basketball, it could apply immediately to the Championships/Competition Cabinet for a waiver of the required two-year waiting period, as specified in Bylaw 31.3.4.2.

    The Council also agreed to request that its Administrative Committee appoint a Council subcommittee (with four members from Division I-A and two each from Division I-AA and Division I-AAA) to clarify the application of the automatic-qualification requirements for the Division I Men's Basketball Championship and other championships when changes in Division I conference membership occur, including a review of the "core group" principle and its application, current conference criteria for automatic qualification, and the continuity of conference membershiprequirements, with a report to the Council for review in July.

    Legislation

    Among legislative proposals gaining final approval from the Council were three dealing with playing and practice seasons in golf, field hockey and soccer.

    Proposal No. 98-62 permits an institution that is a member of a conference that conducts its only conference championship in the sport of golf during the fall term to begin preseason practice on August 24 or the institution's first day of classes for the fall term, whichever is earlier, and to begin the first date of competition on September 1 or the institution's first day of classes for the fall term, whichever is earlier.

    Proposal Nos. 98-65 (field hockey) and 98-66 (women's soccer) establish 11 weeks before the start of the respective sport's championship as the first permissible contest date.

    All three proposals become effective August 1, 1999.

    Other legislative proposals that were given final approval by the Council and forwarded to the Board were:

  • No. 98-58, which in Division I-A football permits a counter who graduates at midyear or who graduated during the previous academic year to be replaced with an initial counter.

  • No. 98-91, which permits football student-athletes in Division I under certain conditions to participate in individual skill-related instruction outside the playing season but during the academic year. (The Board subsequently declined to support this proposal.)

  • No. 98-106, which would amend Bylaws 30.15 and 30.16 to prohibit any individual who has been found or pleaded guilty to sports bribery, point shaving or game fixing from having any involvement as an operator, staff member or participant in an NCAA certified basketball event or summer basketball league.

  • No. 98-108, which in Division I would require that contemporaneous medical documentation be submitted with any hardship-waiver request (effective immediately).

  • No. 98-109, which would give the Academics/Eligibility/Compliance Cabinet Subcommittee on Student-Athlete Reinstatement the authority to grant student-athletes an additional season of competition under certain circumstances (effective immediately).

  • No. 98-110, regarding de minimis violations in Division I.

  • No. 98-111, regarding restitution for receipt of improper benefits for Division I student-athletes.

  • No. 98-122, regarding regional representation on sports committees with championship administration responsibilities.

  • No. 99-20, which specifies that a forfeiture of a regular-season football victory required by the NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions, a conference or self-imposed by an institution due to an NCAA rule violation may not be counted by either of the competing institutions in satisfying the definition of a deserving winning team.

  • No. 99-21, which specifies that a conference with automatic qualification into an NCAA championship shall not lose its automatic bid if a conference champion declines to compete in an NCAA championship for reasons related to written religious policies that prohibit competition on certain days. (The Council amended the proposal to be effective August 1, 1999, and to specify that the automatic bid would be awarded to the second-place team as identified under the conference policy used to select the automatic qualifier in accordance with Bylaw 31.3.4.1.)

  • No. 99-38, which allows women's rowing teams to compete in the Henley Royal Regatta on a foreign tour, event though the event may include competition with other American teams (effective immediately).

    The Council tabled Proposal No. 98-54, which would expand the spring evaluation period to permit 30 consecutive days, and in Division I-A football, allow one phone call to a prospect during the school's designated spring evaluation period.

    In addition, the Council declined to give final approval to Proposal No. 98-41, which would permit institutions to pay certain withholding taxes of foreign students.

    Proposal Nos. 98-90 and 99-17 regarding Division I-AA football were approved by the I-AA members of the Council, but were not acted on by the Board due to the lack of a quorum for Division I-AA members at the Board's April 20 meeting. Both proposals will be included on the Board's August agenda.

    Initial approval

    The Council gave initial approval to the following legislative proposals:

  • No. 98-37, which would allow prospective and enrolled student-athletes to receive funding to cover actual and necessary developmental training expenses that are approved by the United States Olympic Committee or appropriate national governing body to pay for equipment, room and board, travel, and other essential items unrelated to participation in a specific competition.

  • No. 98-107, which revises the current women's basketball recruiting calendar.

  • No. 99-3, which permits an institution's volunteer coach to receive compensation for employment in an institution's sports camp or clinic, provided the compensation is commensurate with the going rate for camp or clinic counselors of like teaching ability and camp or clinic experience; further, to permit an institution to provide a volunteer coach with parking expenses associated with practice.

    The Council declined to give initial approval to Proposal No. 99-22, which would have permitted a student-athlete to be employed as an academic tutor within the student-athlete academic unit controlled or operated by the athletics department and earn compensation (not to exceed $2,000) without considering such earnings as institutional aid.

    Other highlights

    Division I Management Council
    April 12-13/Newport Beach, California

  • Requested that the Subcommittee to Review the Division I Governance Structure to continue its discussion of the future of the Strategic Planning and Business/Finance Cabinets, taking into account each cabinet's analysis of its role and future and the presentations made by their chairs and to bring recommendations to the Council for consideration at its July meeting.

  • Reviewed a request from the Division I-A Athletics Directors Association for the Great Eight Basketball Festival exemption to be continued for two years and agreed to interpret the effective date to provide an exception for the 1999-00 academic year for any basketball event that was exempted prior to the adoption of the proposal and that had no opportunity to select participants (and, therefore, had no opportunity to enter into a binding contract with any institution) for its 1999-00 academic-year event before October 20, 1998, due to the manner by which teams are selected.

  • Reviewed potential cost reductions associated with the NCAA Initial-Eligibility Clearinghouse and agreed that the Clearinghouse committee should be authorized to raise the student fee a maximum of $2 per year, rather than incurring large, infrequent fee increases. The Council also agreed that the Clearinghouse should increase the use of technology, which should result in cost-savings after capital costs are recouped. The Council tabled a recommendation for a $15,000 study of the potential cost-savings and standards associated with a post-junior-year final certification, pending the completion of a pilot study funded with existing resources.

  • Approved a Business/Finance Cabinet recommendation to broaden the permissible expenses for the NCAA Conference Grant Program to include gambling education.

  • Affirmed the Committee on Athletics Certification's policy to prohibit conference representatives from attending on-campus interviews or meetings of peer-review teams.

  • Approved a Division I Student-Athlete Advisory Committee recommendation to include one Division I student-athlete (preferably a representative of the Division I SAAC) in an advisory capacity on each of the following committees: Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports, Committee on Sportsmanship and Ethical Conduct, Research Committee, National Youth Sports Program Committee, Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee and Committee on Women's Athletics. The Council referred to the respective committees recommendations that a Division I-AA football student-athlete be appointed to the Division I-AA Football Governance Committee, a Division I-A football student-athlete be appointed to the Football Issues Committee and a Division I student-athlete be appointed to the Financial Aid Committee.

  • Noted that the conference selections for cabinet vacancies effective September 1 did not meet all of the minimum ethnic minority, gender and position requirements for the cabinets and agreed with the recommendation to delay approval of September cabinet appointments until the July meeting, pending resolution of the discussions regarding possible changes to the cabinet structure and submission of revised selections from the conferences.

  • Agreed to notify the Championships/Competition Cabinet that the Management Council has determined that it would be permissible under Bylaw 21.6.2.5 and past practice to grant limited term extensions to sports committee members to provide for adequate staggering of terms within each subdivision, through the use of one-, two- or three-year terms, in addition to a full four-year term; and requested the cabinet to use this policy to work with the Men's Basketball Committee to establish the necessary term extensions, to the most limited extent possible, to achieve appropriate staggering within each subdivision.

  • Supported a variety of budget requests, from reallocated funds, forwarded by the Strategic Planning Cabinet from the six Association-wide committees that report to it. The requests will be reviewed further by the Division I Budget Subcommittee, Board of Directors and Executive Committee as part of the budget process.

  • Referred all issues regarding establishing NCAA rules and regulations for equestrian to the Academics/Eligibility/Compliance and Championships/Competition Cabinets.