SAN DIEGO -- The Division III business session January 10 produced a spirited debate about outside competition in nontraditional seasons that eventually resulted in the proposal being referred to the Division III Presidents Council.

Proposal No. 55 would have prohibited outside competition during nontraditional seasons, effective August 1, 2000.

The proposal initially was adopted by three votes, but several institutions thought their votes were not recorded by the electronic vote-recording system. Given the closeness of the vote and the technical difficulties that took place with the vote-recording system, the proposal was brought before the membership during the window of reconsideration later that day.

After much additional debate, a motion to refer the proposal back to the Presidents Council was passed by a margin of nearly 50 votes.

The issue will be on the Council's agenda for its next meeting April 27.

During its pre-Convention meeting, the Presidents Council had agreed to sponsor an amendment-to-amendment, delaying the effective date of the legislation for the sports of golf and tennis to August 1, 2001.

The amendment-to-amendment, which was adopted by the membership, was deemed necessary after members of the golf and tennis communities indicated the desire to honor contractual agreements already in place for the fall of 2000 and permit time to explore additional legislative options for those two sports.

But during the business session, the proposal received opposition, particularly from the Division III Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. Megan Stevens, a student-athlete at the State University of New York at Cortland who spoke on behalf of the committee, said the proposal was not in the best interests of student-athletes.

"The Division III mission statement asks institutions and conferences to encourage participation by maximizing the number and variety of athletic opportunities for their students," Stevens said.

"We feel the proposed legislation is in opposition to this philosophy because it reduces, rather than maximizes, the number of athletics opportunities for student-athletes. Furthermore, the opportunities available through nontraditional-season competition include the development of leadership qualities, team unity and the enhancement of the entire educational experience of the student-athlete."

John DiBiaggio, president of Tufts University and a member of the Presidents Council, was one of several delegates who supported the proposal.

"We should not take the 'maximizing opportunities' portion of the mission statement out of context. The mission statement also includes that primary emphasis should be given to regional in-season and conference competition," he said.

"Returning the nontraditional season to a more educational focus is consistent with the primary purpose of our division, which is to ensure that our student-athletes' athletics endeavors are conducted in an environment that fosters the successful completion of all students' academic programs."

Other key legislation

Proposal No. 57, establishing a National Collegiate Championship in the sport of women's ice hockey, effective 2000-01, was overwhelmingly approved by the membership. During discussion on the proposal, the group was informed by representatives of the Division III Presidents Council that the proposal was an interim step in moving toward a separate Division III championship, possibly as early as 2001-02.

Other key legislation that was adopted included Proposal No. 49, which will require institutional chief executive officers to have ultimate responsibility and final authority for the operation of member conferences. Proposal Nos. 49 and 50, which will require each multisport conference to establish a conference student-athlete advisory committee as a condition and obligation of membership, passed with an effective date of August 1, 2001.

The only proposal defeated (rather than adopted, referred or withdrawn) by the Division III membership was Proposal No. 89, which would have specified that the logo restrictions on student-athletes' apparel set forth in NCAA Bylaw 12.5.5 apply during NCAA championships to all personnel who are in the team bench area for practices and games, and who participate in NCAA news conferences.

An amendment-to-amendment of Proposal No. 87, which would permit those student-athletes who were enrolled as full-time students the previous academic year and have established eligibility for the subsequent academic year to participate on a summer foreign tour, also was sponsored by the Presidents Council and adopted by the membership.

In other business, the following nominees for positions on the Management Council were approved: Lon B. Boike, director of athletics at Clarke College; William Eng, director of athletics at Bernard M. Baruch College; and Christopher Bledsoe, director of athletics, intramurals and recreation at New York University. John Galgano, a baseball student-athlete at Manhattanville College, was introduced as a new Management Council member representing the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.