The Division III Management Council and Presidents Council plan to discuss financial aid issues at their upcoming meetings, including a proposed simplification of NCAA Bylaw 15 that would change how the division monitors institutional compliance with NCAA financial aid legislation.

Other issues to be reviewed by the Councils include the timeline to review the Division III championships automatic-qualification process and the Division III budget. The Councils also are expected to review legislative proposals from the membership regarding competition in the nontraditional segment.

The Management Council meets July 24-25 in Boston, and the Presidents Council meets August 10 in Indianapolis.

Both Councils are planning to review a recommendation by the Division III Financial Aid and Awards Committee to sponsor legislation for the 2001 NCAA Convention simplifying NCAA Bylaw 15 and changing the process by which compliance with NCAA financial aid legislation is monitored.

The Management Council had asked the committee to provide a timeline for completion of the financial aid award review process, and the Council also had asked that the committee review Bylaw 15 and consider a process for enhanced enforcement of Division III financial aid legislation.

The committee has recommended the following:

Establish a review process to enforce institutional compliance with Division III financial aid legislation.

Ensure that athletics department staff members are not involved with arranging or modifying a student-athlete's financial aid package.

Retain and enforce consistent financial aid package requirements.

Eliminate the award review process for awards of circumstance and nonathletics achievement awards.

The Financial Aid Committee has proposed the changes to be more consistent with the principles espoused in the Division III philosophy statement; to better ensure that no institution awards athletically related financial aid to any student; and to ensure that athletics participants are not treated differently than other members of the student body.

The committee also noted in its recommendation to the Councils that the current practice of reviewing institutions' awards of circumstance and nonathletics achievement awards does not effectively or efficiently ensure institutional compliance with the Division III philosophy or fundamental bylaws concerning financial aid.

The committee also has recommended that it spend the next year establishing a review process that would eventually culminate in random campus visits beginning in August 2002.

In a related action, the committee has proposed a timeline calling for the completion of the current review of financial awards by September. At its April meeting, the Management Council had mandated that the committee complete the current review process and provide the Council with a timetable for doing so.

Championships issues

The Councils are expected to discuss numerous championships issues, including a proposed timeline for the review of the automatic-qualification process and principles.

After adoption of the automatic-qualification legislation in 1999, the Presidents Council and Management Council stipulated that there would be no significant changes to automatic qualification for at least two years. The Division III Championships Committee has recommended that 1999-00 be considered Year One in the timetable, and that 2000-01 be considered Year Two. Under this proposal, 2001-02 would be considered an evaluation year, and 2002-03 would be the first year that any significant changes to the current automatic-qualification process could be implemented.

The Councils are expected to discuss this timetable in light of both the impending membership moratorium and the fact that Division III soon will require members to increase sports sponsorship (from four sports for women and four for men to five for each gender).

In another action, the Councils are expected to review a recommendation that Division III establish a policy regarding conflicts between NCAA championships and institutions' commencement. The proposal calls for a policy that would be in effect for the 2000-01 academic year. As proposed, the policy would permit some championships to be moved to the nearest possible date when there is a conflict with commencement.

As forwarded from the committee, the policy would not apply to individual sports -- only to team sports -- and it would require institutions to give prior written notice of possible commencement conflicts by declaring graduation dates at the beginning of the season. The policy also would not apply to those finals that take place at predetermined sites, those that are held in conjunction with other divisions (such as lacrosse) or those championships that are televised (such as football). Nor would the proposed policy apply to nonpredetermined preliminary-round contests when multiple teams are participating, such as in a baseball regional, for example, when it would place a hardship on other teams.

In other championships issues, the Council is expected to review a proposed change to the current legislation regarding Sunday competition. As the legislation currently reads, a championship cannot be scheduled before its original date. The proposal would permit a competition to be rescheduled from a Sunday to a Saturday, for example, rather than requiring that the competition take place on Monday.

The Championships Committee also has asked that championships site selection and hosting be a discussion topic at the 2001 NCAA Convention.

In other actions, the Management Council is expected to select a chair and vice-chair, and the Presidents Council is expected to consider recommendations for chair and vice-chair. The Presidents Council also will be reviewing nominations for an immediate vacancy and other vacancies that are anticipated in January as terms expire.

The Councils also expect to:

Review proposals submitted from the membership (by the July 15 deadline) regarding competition in the nontraditional segment.

Update the Division III strategic plan.

Approve the 2001 NCAA Convention schedule, which will include discussion sessions on Saturday, January 6; a Division III issues forum from 1:30 to 3:45 p.m. January 7; and a business session from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. January 8.

Approve a $9,875,000 Division III operating budget for 2000-01, including $1,951,000 in new championships and committee initiatives.

Review a package of 16 proposals for deregulation from the Division III Interpretations and Legislation Committee addressing existing legislation that may pose antitrust ramifications.

Review maximum-contest limitations in baseball and softball as recommended by the Division III Interpretations and Legislation Committee.