The NCAA News - News and Features

The NCAA News -- June 21, 1999

Board of Directors minutes

Following is the report from the April 20, 1999, meeting of the Division I Board of Directors at the Washington Monarch Hotel in Washington, D.C. All actions taken by the Board of Directors are included. Highlights of the meeting were reported in the April 26, 1999, issue of The NCAA News.

1. Opening remarks.

2. Previous minutes; January 12, 1999.

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

3. Report of January 12 meeting of the NCAA Executive Committee.

No action taken.

4. Report of the January 12 joint meeting of the Management Council and Board of Directors.

No action taken.

5. Litigation update.

No action taken.

6. Discussion of initial-eligibility standards.

BOARD ACTIONS:

a. Approved the recommendation of the Management Council to request the Management Council Administrative Committee to identify individuals within the governance structure who have been involved in the consideration of initial-eligibility standards (e.g., members of the Management Council, Academics/Eligibility/Compliance Cabinet, Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee and Student-Athlete Advisory Committee) who could act as consultants to the Board as it continues to evaluate the current and alternative initial-eligibility standards, with the understanding that the goal of the Board is to be prepared to establish a new or interim standard by September 1. (Unanimous voice vote.)

b. Received a detailed report from the NCAA research staff on the data regarding possible initial-eligibility models for consideration by the Board.

c. Noted that an initial-eligibility model recommended by the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee was included among the models presented to the Board.

7. Report of April 12-13 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.

BOARD ACTIONS:

(a) No. 98-58 (MC2) -- Financial Aid -- Midyear Graduate -- Division I-A Football. Intent: In Division I-A football, to permit a counter who graduates at midyear or who graduated during the previous academic year (or following summer) to be replaced with an initial counter.

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

(b) No. 98-62 (MC2) -- Playing And Practice Seasons -- Division I Golf. Intent: In Division I, to permit 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.

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

(c) No. 98-65 (MC2) -- Playing And Practice Seasons -- Division I Field Hockey -- First Permissible Contest Date. Intent: In Division I, to establish 11 weeks prior to the start of the NCAA field hockey championships as the first permissible contest date in the sport of field hockey.

BOARD ACTION: Adopted the proposal. [For 9 (Cartwright, Frohnmayer, Halligan, Lawless, Rawlins, Shaw, Spanier, Van Ummersen, Wethington); against 2 (Shapiro, Spencer).]

(d) No. 98-66 (MC2) -- Playing And Practice Seasons -- Division I Women's Soccer. Intent: In Division I, to establish 11 weeks prior to the start of the NCAA championships as the first permissible contest date in the sport of women's soccer.

BOARD ACTION: Adopted the proposal. [For 9 (Cartwright, Frohnmayer, Halligan, Lawless, Rawlins, Shaw, Spanier, Van Ummersen, Wethington); against 2 (Shapiro, Spencer).]

(e) No. 98-90 (MC2) -- Division I-AA Football--Maximum Contest Limitations. Intent: In Division I-AA football, to eliminate annual preseason exempted contests subsequent to the 2002 playing season; further, beginning with the 2002 football season, to permit Division I-AA 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: No action taken due to lack of quorum for Division I-AA members. The proposal will be included on the August Board agenda.

(f) No. 98-91 (MC2) -- Weekly-Hour Limitations -- Skill-Instruction -- Divisions I-A Football. Intent: In Division I-A football, to permit football student-athletes to participate in individual skill-related instruction outside the institution's declared playing season during the academic year, provided (a) the student-athlete requests such instruction; (b) such instruction does not involve the use of any pads or helmets; and (c) no more than four student-athletes are involved in skill-related instruction with their coaches at any one time in any facility.

BOARD ACTION: Declined to adopt the proposal. (Defeated: Unanimous voice vote; Division I-A only.)

(g) No. 98-108 (MC2) -- Eligibility -- Hardship Waiver -- Division I. Intent: In Division I, to require that contemporaneous or other appropriate medical documentation, as specified, be submitted with any hardship-waiver request.

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

(h) No. 98-109 (MC2) -- Eligibility -- Seasons Of Competition -- Division I. Intent: In Division I, to permit the NCAA Division I Academics/Eligibility/Compliance Cabinet Subcommittee on Student-Athlete Reinstatement to grant a student-athlete an additional season of competition when a coaching staff member erroneously directs a student-athlete to participate in competition prior to receipt of a formal declaration of his or her eligibility status and the student-athlete is subsequently determined to be ineligible for the competition.

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

(i) No. 98-110 (MC2) -- De Minimis Violations -- Enrolled Student-Athletes -- Division I. Intent: In Division I, to specify instances in which a de minimis violation will not render an enrolled student-athlete ineligible while retaining the fact that such a violation shall be considered an institutional violation.

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

(j) No. 98-111 (MC2) -- Restitution For Receipt Of Improper Benefits -- Division I. Intent: In Division I, 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 benefit.

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

(k) No. 98-122 (MC2) -- Sports Committees With Championship Administration Responsibilities -- Regional Representation. Intent: To establish regional representation on various sports committees with championships administration responsibility without increasing the current size of the committee.

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

(l) No. 99-13 (MC2) -- Division I Legislative Process -- Comment Period. Intent: To modify the current Division I legislative process by eliminating the current 60-day comment period following cabinet action related to a proposed legislative change.

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

(m) No. 99-14 (MC2) -- Division I Legislative Process -- Noncontroversial Legislation. Intent: To provide legislative authority for the Management Council to adopt only emergency, noncontroversial legislation during its first and third meetings of each calendar year, subject to review by the Board of Directors.

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

(n) No. 99-17 (MC2) -- Division I-AA Football--Heritage Bowl. Intent: To permit the Heritage Bowl to be conducted on the same weekend as the Division I-AA Football Championship, provided there is no conflict in the times of the contests.

BOARD ACTION: No action taken due to lack of quorum for Division I-AA members. The proposal will be included on the August Board agenda.

(2) Proposals to Amend Administrative and Executive Regulations.

(a) Proposal No. 98-61 -- Limitations on Automatic Qualification -- Division I Basketball. Intent: To establish a limit of 30 on the number of automatic qualifiers (with the remaining positions selected at-large) in the men's and women's basketball championship field, 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 (e.g., all contests 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).

BOARD ACTIONS:

(i) Noted the concerns expressed since the Management Council approved this proposal that the Division I Women's Basketball Committee had not had an opportunity to evaluate the proposal and that the discussions at the Management Council meeting had focused primarily on the Men's Basketball Championship.

(ii) Further noted that because the proposal concerned an administrative bylaw, a similar limitation could be adopted for the Women's Basketball Championship as early as the August meeting of the Board, following review by the appropriate groups, including the Championships/Competition Cabinet and Management Council.

(ii) Adopted the proposal for the men's basketball championship only. [For 10 (Cartwright, Frohnmayer, Halligan, Lawless, Rawlins, Shapiro, Shaw, Spanier, Van Ummersen, Wethington); against 1 (Spencer).]

(b) Proposal No. 98-106 -- Basketball Event Certification/Summer Basketball Leagues. Intent: To amend Bylaws 30.15 and 30.16 to prohibit any individual who has been found or pleaded guilty to sport 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.

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

(c) Proposal No. 99-20 -- Postseason Bowl Games -- Deserving Winning Team. Intent: To amend Bylaw 30.9.2 (Contest Status) to specify 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.

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

(d) Proposal No. 99-21 -- Championships -- Automatic Qualification -- General Requirements (written religious policies regarding competition). Intent: To amend Bylaw 31.3.4.1-(f) to specify 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, 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.

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

(e) No. 99-38 -- Foreign Tour -- Women's Rowing Exception. Intent: To allow women's rowing teams to compete in the Henley Royal Regatta on a foreign tour, even though the event may include competition with other American teams.

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

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

BOARD ACTIONS:

(1) Principles for the Structure of the Management Council. Reviewed the following six principles adopted by the Management Council in response to issues raised by the Board of Directors in January:

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

(b) 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.

(c) 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.

(d) 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.

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

(f) 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.

(2) Review of Alternative Structures for the Management Council. Received a report regarding the three Management Council structures that will be reviewed by the Management Council in July (Proposal Nos. 99-16, 99-41 and 99-42), for possible action by the Board in August and requested that the Management Council take into consideration the following issues raised by several Board members:

(a) The budgetary impact of increasing the size of the Management Council, including specific expense estimates;

(b) The continued concern that different categories of Division I-A conferences exist without any defined criteria and that further consideration should be given to the "minimum representation" model, which would establish a 42-member Management Council with only one category of Division I-A conferences;

(c) The fact that, although the smaller size of the Management Council is preferable, weighted voting would appear to discount the votes of some Management Council members.

(3) Legislative Calendar. As noted above [Item Nos. 7-a-(1)-(l) and (m)], approved the following legislative proposals:

(a) Proposal No. 99-13 -- Division I Legislative Process -- Comment Period. Intent: To eliminate the current 60-day comment period following cabinet actions related to a proposed legislative change.

(b) Proposal No. 99-14 -- Division I Legislative Process -- Noncontroversial Legislation. Intent: To provide legislative authority to the Management Council to adopt only emergency, noncontroversial legislation during its first and third meetings of each calendar year, subject to review by the Board of Directors.

c. Strategic plan.

BOARD ACTION: Received a draft of the Division I strategic plan and noted that in August the Board would review the final plan for 1999-00 and 2000-01. (Unanimous voice vote.)

d. Waiver of Bylaw 21.6.1.1.1 on behalf of the Division I Men's Lacrosse Committee.

BOARD ACTION: Ratified a waiver of Bylaw 21.6.1.1.1 to permit Richie Moran, Cornell University, to continue his term on the Men's Lacrosse Committee in the interim between January 1, when he announced his retirement, and September 1, 1999. (Unanimous voice vote.)

e. Other issues.

(1) NCAA Conference Grant Program. Approved the recommendation from the Business/Finance Cabinet and the Management Council to broaden the permissible expenses for the NCAA Conference Grant Program to include gambling education. (Unanimous voice vote.)

(2) Cabinet Appointments. Received a report that the conference selections for cabinet vacancies to be effective September 1 did not meet all of the minimum ethnic minority, gender and position requirements for the cabinets and agreed with the Management Council's recommendation to delay approval of September cabinet appointments until after the Management Council's July meeting, pending resolution of the discussions regarding possible changes to the cabinet structure and submission of revised selections from the conferences. (Unanimous voice vote.)

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

No action taken.

9. Division I budget.

a. Continued discussion of funding alternatives for restricted-earnings coaches litigation.

BOARD ACTIONS:

(1) Received a report regarding the Management Council's review of a recommendation for funding the restricted-earnings settlement developed by Management Council members of the Division I Budget Subcommittee and noted that the following concerns have been raised:

(a) That some conferences would appreciate more time to discuss the options with their member institutions before final action on the matter.

(b) That some conferences believe that more NCAA reserves should be used to fund the settlement, including Investment Reserves or funds from the NCAA Foundation.

(c) Whether the Association and the national office could contribute more through further reductions in operating expenses.

(2) Defeated a motion to table the recommendation and to request the Division I Budget Subcommittee to consider using additional money from reserves or Foundation funds. [Defeated: For 2 (Halligan, Lawless); against 9 (Cartwright, Casteen, Frohnmayer, Rawlins, Shaw, Spanier, Spencer, Van Ummersen, Wethington)]

(3) Noted that the NCAA's reserves are not excessive, that it is prudent to maintain some reserves, that some of the reserves are necessary to maintain the Association's credit rating, and that, although no conference appears to be entirely satisfied, the recommendation is workable and allows the division to bring closure to this case.

(4) Approved the option supported by the Management Council and the Division I Budget Subcommittee for allocating the $54.5 million restricted-earnings settlement expense as follows (Unanimous voice vote.):

(a) $18.25 million from reserves.

(b) $18.125 million in funds allocated to Division I institutions through the revenue-distribution plan.

(c) $18.125 million in funds based on an equal payment among the 310 institutions in Division I.

[Note: A $20 million credit ($10 million from basketball funds and $10 million from broad-based funds) is to be applied to the amount each institution owes from (b) and (c) above. This $20 million is from the expected $10 million revenue distribution previously placed in escrow by the Board of Directors from the 1998-99 budget and an additional $10 million in revenue distribution recommended to be withheld from the 1999-00 budget that will be credited toward each institution's share of the payment in the amount that would have been received if the distribution had been made as scheduled.]

(5) Noted that the Executive Committee would also review the recommendation to use $18.25 million in reserves, establish the process for obtaining payments through conference offices and develop a loan program for conferences to use to pay their respective shares, if desired.

[Note: The Executive Committee subsequently reviewed and approved this portion of the plan.]

b. Status of 1999-00 budget.

BOARD ACTIONS:

(1) Reviewed the tentative budget allocations recommended by the Division I Budget Subcommittee, including a $10 million increase in 1999-00 over the 1998-99 distribution to Division I institutions, and new allocations of $800,000 for Division I championship enhancements and bracket expansions and $850,000 for Association-wide requests.

(2) Noted that total new funds requested for Division I and Association-wide initiatives exceeded the amounts recommended by the Executive Committee Budget Subcommittee and the Division I Budget Subcommittee by approximately $2 million and referred the evaluation of these requests to the Division I Budget Subcommittee.

(3) Approved the $10 million recommended increase in the 1999-00 (FY 2000) distribution to Division I institutions, noting that this increase can be provided without impacting the $20 million escrow fund to be used in the restricted-earnings case according to the following revised distribution schedule (unanimous voice vote):

FY 1998 FY 1999 FY 2000 FY 2001

Sched. (millions)