Amateurism, the proposed financial aid audit, the Division III budget and new requirements for Division III provisional members were all high on the list of topics discussed by the Division III Presidents Council at its meeting in Indianapolis April 26.

The Council, led by new chair Thomas B. Courtice, president of Ohio Wesleyan University, also tried a new format for its agenda, separating out action items from noncontroversial matters for a "consent package" that was managed in one vote. That format, which was designed to create greater efficiency and permit additional time for discussion of other matters of concern to the division, proved popular with the Council and likely will be used again.

"The idea is to restructure the agenda to provide the best use of our time," Courtice said. "We can do our homework ahead of time and take anything out of the consent package that anyone would like to discuss further. That provides us with more time to discuss our action items, as well as giving us time to discuss other issues of importance."

Council members were reluctant to halt the drafting of relevant legislation, but they also were unready to express support for the proposals until they appear before the Council in draft form. Council members were concerned about a variety of elements in the proposals that many believed would be changing the definition of "amateurism" in the division, and some Council members were concerned about the unintended consequences of the proposals, which would:

Permit enrolled students to receive Operation Gold grants administered by the U.S. Olympic Committee.

Permit the receipt of prize money based on place finish.

Establish a new "organized-competition" rule.

Provide for exceptions to the organized-competition rule.

State a new definition of organized competition.

Permit involvement with professionals.

Permit competition with professionals.

The Council noted that another proposal, one commonly known as permitting "pay for play" on the part of pre-enrolled student-athletes, had been referred by the Management Council back to the Division III Amateurism Task Force. Even without the pay-for-play element, many Council members were troubled by the proposals, noting competitive-equity concerns about former professionals -- particularly those who had played on professional teams overseas, which seemed likely to many members -- participating on Division III squads.

Financial aid

The Council expects to hear preliminary results of the pilot audits at its next meeting in August, at which time it is expected to consider sponsoring legislation regarding the audit for the Division III membership at the 2002 NCAA Convention.

In a related matter, Council members noted that, as envisioned at this time, audit report results will be forwarded from independent auditors to individual institutions. Institutions will be obligated to note any irregularities and contact the NCAA to report them, along with any mitigating factors. Council members also noted that, in the event of a violation, audit report results could become public.

Provisional membership process

The Council also asked NCAA staff to plan for a high level of service, with commensurate educational programming to be financed through provisional membership fees, for provisional members.

The recommendations are to:

Analyze the application fee and adjust it appropriately so that provisional members fully fund the provisional-member education program.

Require provisional members to administer the Division III Rules Test to their coaching staff members by the conclusion of year two of provisional membership.

Require institutions interested in applying for provisional membership in Division III to proceed through an "exploratory period" the year immediately before application.

Require provisional-member applicant institutions to refrain from awarding any new athletically related financial aid at the time of application. (Current legislation prohibits provisional members from awarding any new athletically related aid at the conclusion of year one.)

Require provisional-member applicant institutions to offer at least five sports for each gender, three of which must be team sports, at the time of application. (Current legislation permits an institution two years before full compliance with sports-sponsorship requirements.)

Require provisional members to complete the Division III financial aid audit (which is yet to be finalized) before year four of provisional membership and each year of NCAA membership thereafter.

Require provisional members to implement a campus Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and appoint a faculty athletics representative (FAR) by the completion of their first year of provisional membership.

Budget

NCAA staff noted that, even after the $2 million was removed from the reserve, Division III retained a reserve balance of approximately $4.1 million.

The approved budget also included the addition of $40,000 (plus related overhead costs) to enhance the financial aid audit pilot program by increasing the number of institutions participating in the pilot program from 10 to 20.

The Council also supported and forwarded to the Executive Committee Budget Committee prioritized Association-wide initiatives and also agreed to establish a policy applying overhead rates to current and future budget requests.

In other action, the Council discussed potential NCAA Convention topics and also strategies to increase presidential involvement in Division III.