National Collegiate Athletic Association
NCAA News Archive - 2001
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Division III is moving, although with caution, toward deregulation of its amateurism rules.
The Division III Presidents Council agreed at its August 9 meeting to sponsor a deregulation package that will be up for a membership vote at the 2002 NCAA Convention in January.
Several of the presidents expressed a lack of comfort with some element of the proposals, and they had numerous questions for NCAA staff members who presented the proposals to the Council on behalf of the Division III Amateurism Task Force.
The full Council ultimately voted to sponsor the legislation, but also agreed that if the legislation is passed by the membership, the Council will review the impact of the legislation after three years.
Since the Presidents Council's last meeting in April, the task force has perhaps made the package more palatable to the presidents by withdrawing its proposal that would have permitted "pay for play." At the April meeting, several presidents expressed the opinion that the pay for play element of the proposal was objectionable since it would have permitted prospective student-athletes to accept a salary from a professional team and still eventually be eligible for Division III athletics.
At that time, the presidents expressed concern that permitting pay for play was too far removed from the Division III philosophy. Division III does not permit athletics scholarships, and its members maintain that sport should be practiced as an avocation rather than as a vocation. The task force agreed, and it removed that element of the proposal, noting that the Division III concept of not awarding athletically related financial aid would be inconsistent with the acceptance of pay for play since it would enable a prospect to receive money based on a promise to compete.
As it stands now under the current proposal, accepting a salary would make a prospective Division III student-athlete ineligible to compete and thus subject to the NCAA reinstatement process. (This is different from the amateurism legislation already passed by Division II, which would permit a prospective student to accept a salary and then retain limited eligibility provided that there was no agent and no accompanying promotional contract.)
The Council thus agreed to sponsor a package of legislation for the 2002 Convention that would, if passed by the membership:
* Permit prospective and enrolled student-athletes to accept funds that are administered by the U.S. Olympic Committee as part of its Operation Gold program.
* Permit prospective student-athletes to accept prize money or other forms of compensation based on place finish from the sponsor of an open athletics event, the U.S. Olympic Committee or the appropriate national governing body in the sport, without losing eligibility in the sport. (Accepting such prize money after a prospect's first opportunity to enroll at a Division III institution or after the discontinuation of high-school enrollment, however, would make a prospective student-athlete subject to the seasons-of-competition rule described below.)
* Charge a prospective student-athlete with the loss of a season of competition for every year of participation in organized competition from the date of the prospective student-athlete's next opportunity for collegiate enrollment after high-school graduation. (This is commonly known as the seasons-of-competition rule.) The legislation also would specify that a prospective student-athlete would be required to fulfill an academic year in residence upon initial, full-time collegiate enrollment if the student-athlete engaged in such athletics participation after high-school graduation.
* Permit exceptions to the application of the seasons-of-competition rule for organized competition during postgraduate college preparatory school and also a maximum one-time, one-year exception for participation in official Pan American, World Championships, World Cup, World University and Olympic training, tryouts and competition.
* Redefine organized competition for the application of the seasons-of-competition rule. Under this definition, a prospect would trigger the rule if he or she participated in any team competition or training in which pay in any form was provided to the participant above actual and necessary expenses; in any competition or training in which the individual accepted pay ( including prize money) in any form based on his or her place finish; in any competition pursuant to the signing of a contract or entering the draft; or any competition that was funded by a representative of an institution's athletics interests that is not open to all participants.
* Permit prospective student-athletes to sign a contract or commitment of any kind to play professional athletics.
* Permit a prospective student-athlete to enter a professional league's draft and be drafted without compromising the prospective student-athlete's NCAA eligibility.
* Permit prospective student-athletes to participate on a professional team.
In a related action, the Council agreed that, if passed by the membership, the amateurism legislation would be effective August 1, 2002, for those prospective student-athletes first entering a collegiate institution full time on or after August 1, 2002.
Prize money issues
The current proposal would still permit prospective student-athletes to accept prize money based on place finish, which drew questions from several members of the Presidents Council. The task force has drawn a distinction between salary and prize money based on place finish, noting that accepting prize money based on place finish is different from salary, where a payment is made based on the individual's athletics potential or promise.
The task force also revised the proposed definition of "organized competition" for the application of the seasons-of-competition rule so that acceptance of prize money or pay in any form would trigger the rule. This means a prospective student-athlete could accept prize money after the discontinuation of high-school enrollment, but he or she would have to sit out a year in residence and then forfeit a season of competition for every year of participation in organized competition after high school but before enrolling in college.
The task force further noted that current NCAA legislation permits prospective student-athletes to compete against professionals in contests where prize money is at stake, so long as the money is not accepted. Thus, the task force believes no competitive advantage is gained by accepting the money and the recruitable pool of Division III student-athletes would remain unchanged since those individuals, under current rules, can regain their eligibility by replaying the money. Several members of the Presidents Council noted that they are uncomfortable with this element of the current proposal, especially since it does not place any cap on how much prize money can be earned.
The task force believes a shift in philosophy is necessary to provide for the equitable application of amateurism regulations.
"The previous analysis focused on the intent of the prospective student-athlete to professionalize," said Jennifer Strawley, NCAA student-athlete reinstatement representative, who spoke on behalf of the task force. "The subjective nature of trying to determine intent is problematic. The task force believes that these proposals shift the focus from 'intent' to 'competitive experiences.' The idea is to determine if an organized competitive experience existed and then address it, thus mitigating the competitive advantage, through the seasons-of-competition rule."
The Division III Administrative Committee, which includes the chairs of the Division III Presidents and Management Councils, will review the final draft of the proposed legislation in late August before its publication.
Provisional membership selection
The Presidents Council agreed to sponsor legislation lifting the membership moratorium August 1, 2002, and establishing a timeline for a revised provisional membership program. The Council also agreed to sponsor legislation that would create a provisional membership lottery, a random selection process to determine which six eligible institutions would be available for provisional membership each year once the membership moratorium is lifted.
The Division III Membership Committee had determined that six was the maximum annual number of provisional members that could be provided with appropriate services under the division's new comprehensive four-year, in-person education plan.
The first selection would be held in conjunction with the June 2002 Division III Membership Committee meeting. The first six eligible institutions chosen would begin provisional membership on September 1, 2003. The next six eligible institutions chosen by random selection at that time (if necessary) would start their provisional membership on September 1, 2004.
To be eligible for the random selection process, institutions would have to fulfill and exploratory year, comply with the new Division III sport-sponsorship requirements, award no new athletically related aid and meet other provisional-membership requirements at the time of application.
The Council also agreed to sponsor legislation creating the new education plan and also a new provisional membership educational fee of $12,000 per school. (Previous estimates of $11,000 had failed to include overhead costs.) Half of the fee would be paid at the start of year one of provisional membership, with the remaining half paid at the start of year three.
Other highlights
Division III Presidents Council
August 9/Indianapolis
* Reviewed preliminary championships proposals endorsed by the Division III Management Council. While the proposals -- largely dealing with automatic qualification -- were not action items for the Presidents Council, the Council agreed to review them given the membership's interest in the subject and the proposals' influence on the division's strategic plan. The Council agreed in principle with the Management Council's endorsements. The Presidents Council also directed the Division III Championships Committee to keep in mind, as it makes recommendations for possible bracket increases to enhance at-large berths, how any proposed expansion might affect the length of the championships season, missed class time and conflicts with commencement and final exams.
* Approved an updated Division III strategic plan and strategic-planning priorities, noting that the new NCAA biennial budget process will affect planning timelines. The Council also noted that its three priorities remain: student-athlete welfare, diversity and membership education/communication.
* Approved the 2001-02 Division III proposed budget with revenue allocation of $10,659,000 and total expenses of $12,584,780, including an additional emergency allocation of up to $40,000. This emergency allocation is intended to accommodate bracket expansion to provide necessary at-large berths in the sports of men's lacrosse, women's lacrosse and men's ice hockey. It may also be used for women's rowing and women's ice hockey.
* Reviewed the status of the pilot financial aid audit program, which is under the supervision of the Division III Financial Aid Committee. Results of the pilot audit should be available at the Presidents Committee's October meeting.
* Received an overview of the progress of the Division III initiatives grant program.
* Reviewed membership-sponsored legislative proposals for the 2002 NCAA Convention, taking positions in support or opposition when appropriate.
* Held a discussion on the book, "The Game of Life," by James L. Shulman and William G. Bowen.
* Discussed ways to improve communication between the Council and Division III presidents.
Division III 2001-02 approved budget
Revenue:
-- Division III 3.18 percent revenue allocation -- 10,663,000
Total revenue -- 10,663,000
Expenses:
-- Total championships expense -- 9,658,000
-- Division III Web site/technology enhancement -- 85,000
-- Regional seminars -- 15,000
-- Annual meeting division III independent institutions -- 30,000
-- Annual meeting division III commissioners -- 35,000
-- Minority and women's enhancement scholarships -- 36,000
-- Senior Woman Administrators Enhancement Grant Program -- 24,000
-- Minority Male Enhancement Grant Program -- 24,000
-- Planning/development of initiatives -- 50,000
-- Contingency for planning/development -- --
-- Conference grant for SAAC -- 60,000
-- Program/workshop grants -- Student-athlete welfare issues -- 200,000
-- STARR Program -- 96,000
-- Women and minority internship grants -- 240,000
-- Strategic Alliance Matching Grant -- 650,000
-- Initiative Grant Fund -- 400,000
-- FAR Education Grant Fund -- 50,000
-- Conference grant for technology -- 350,000
-- Financial aid compliance audit -- pilot program -- 100,000
-- Amateurism Task Force -- 17,000
-- Overhead allocation -- 504,780
-- Reserve allocation -- --
Total program expenses -- 2,966,780
Total Division III expenses -- 12,624,780
Excess expenses over revenue -- (1,961,780)
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