National Collegiate Athletic Association

The NCAA News - News and Features

The NCAA News -- August 16, 1999

Division III: Membership to make choice on nontraditional seasons

BY KAY HAWES
STAFF WRITER

Division III members will have a chance to make a clear choice at the January NCAA Convention -- either for or against nontraditional seasons.

Nontraditional seasons, all-star contests, championships and other proposed legislation for the 2000 Convention were among the many items on the agendas of the Division III Management and Presidents Councils, both of which met recently.

The Division III Management Council met July 26-27 in Hilton Head, South Carolina, and the Division III Presidents Council met August 5 in Indianapolis.

Nontraditional seasons

The Management Council recommended giving the Division III membership a clear choice on whether to keep or discard competition in the nontraditional seasons. The Presidents Council also endorsed the Management Council's recommendation to present a clear option, voting to sponsor legislation to eliminate competition in the nontraditional season, with the exception of tennis and golf (per Bylaw 17.1.11.4, which addresses institutions that elect to conduct more than one-half of the playing season in the fall.)

The Presidents Council noted that its decision was consistent with the Division III philosophy.

The Management Council discussed the issue at length after receiving the report of its Nontraditional Seasons Subcommittee.

The subcommittee, whose members were divided on the issue, forwarded three options to the Management Council: no change in legislation; further study of the issue; or sponsorship of legislation.

The recommendation of the Division III Student-Athlete Advisory Committee was to retain the current legislation.

In addition to its desire to offer a clear choice, the Management Council reasoned that eliminating the nontraditional season would be more in keeping with the Division III philosophy to emphasize academics over additional competition, and it also would help reduce demands on institutional personnel and resources while retaining the benefits of practice.

The Presidents Council agreed with the Management Council's rationale, while expressing a desire for more data on the extent of institutional competition in nontraditional seasons.

The Presidents Council scheduled a membership vote on the legislation at the 2000 NCAA Convention.

If passed, the legislation would become effective August 1, 2000.

All-star contests

What began as a housekeeping effort to clear up outdated language in the Division III Manual has turned into a full-fledged debate on all-star contests in Division III.

In Bylaw 11.1.6, the Division III Manual refers to a certification process for all-star contests and prohibits institutional personnel from participating in an all-star contest that is not certified.

However, the certification process predates the federated government structure and does not exist in Division III.

Further, the Presidents Council has expressed a clear reluctance to establish such a certification process.

In the course of cleaning up the Manual's language, the Division III Management and Presidents Councils have discovered a complicated issue.

As discussed in the May 24, 1999, issue of The NCAA News, there is a potential liability risk for institutions that permit their staff, facilities or equipment to be involved in all-star contests, and there is an incorrect assumption in the membership that the NCAA catastrophic-injury insurance program would cover a student-athlete participating in such a contest.

The Presidents Council agreed to sponsor legislation to remove language referring to the certification process and to preclude eligible student-athletes in all sports from participating in all-star contests.

The Council plans to further study the idea of limiting institutional involvement, including a clear definition of affected all-star events.

Ann H. Die, president of Hendrix College and Presidents Council chair, plans to send a letter to all Division III institutions informing them of institutional liability issues related to all-star contests and urging them to inform student-athletes of potential risks.

Other highlightsDivision III Presidents Council

August 5/Indianapolis

  • Approved the Management Council's update to the Division III strategic plan for 1999-2001, including a revised schedule to reflect a closer tie to the academic year. It also approved the Management Council's recommendation to place additional emphasis on the following priorities: student-athlete welfare, amateurism, enhancing diversity and reviewing the roles of the senior woman administrator, faculty athletics representative and chief executive officer in the NCAA governance structure.

  • Agreed with the Management Council's recommendation to decline to add Division III football to the NCAA's year-round drug-testing program. (Division III championships drug testing remains, however.)

  • Agreed to recommend to the Executive Committee that the Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee and the Committee on Women's Athletics be granted approval for a third in-person meeting for 1999-00 that is to be held, at least in part, jointly.

  • Reviewed the issue of Association-wide marketing and recommended to the Executive Committee that an Association-wide marketing committee be established rather than placing the issue under the auspices of the Division I Management Council.

  • Supported the Management Council's endorsement in principle of all recommendations from the Committee on Women's Athletics regarding the enhancement of the senior woman administrator role and the identification and recruitment of women and minorities.

  • Endorsed the Management Council's recommendation to permit the chairs of the Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee and the Committee on Women's Athletics to meet with the Executive Committee on an annual basis to address issues related to gender and ethnic diversity.

  • Endorsed the Division III business session agenda and an Association-wide keynote address for the 2000 NCAA Convention as put forth by the Division III Convention-Planning Subcommittee of the Management Council. The Presidents Council also endorsed the Division III Convention schedule and discussion topics.

  • Agreed to sponsor legislation to revise Bylaw 18.2.4.2.1 to reduce from two to one the number of years that the applicable minimum number of schools must sponsor a sport in order for it to be a Division III championship. It also approved and forwarded on to the Executive Committee recommendations from the Management Council to sponsor similar legislation to establish a National Collegiate Championship, including the establishment of championships in women's water polo and women's ice hockey in 2000-01. In both cases, the Presidents Council recommended that the composition of the Association-wide sports committees reflect the sports sponsorship data by division.

  • Agreed to establish a nine-person Division III amateurism task force with Thomas Weingartner, athletics director at the University of Chicago, as chair.

  • Approved the 1999-00 Division III operating budget of $9,280,000.

  • Agreed to sponsor a package of deregulation legislation and a package of noncontroversial legislation for the 2000 NCAA Convention as recommended by the Division III Interpretations and Legislation Committee.

  • Agreed to sponsor legislation to require Division III institutional chief executive officers to have ultimate responsibility and final authority for the conduct of NCAA member conferences, effective August 1, 2001.

  • Agreed to sponsor legislation requiring Division III multisport conferences to sponsor a conference student-athlete advisory committee, effective August 1, 2001.

  • Agreed with Management Council's action to defer the sponsorship of noncontroversial legislation that made equestrian an emerging sport. Both Councils noted numerous concerns regarding the proposal, especially related to awards limits and amateurism standards. The noncontroversial legislation will be withdrawn and will not be presented to the membership for approval at the 2000 NCAA Convention.