The Division I Management Council is accustomed to managing mountains of legislation at its October meeting, but the 2003 version of the group's fall session served as a change of pace since Division I's new single annual legislative cycle moves initial consideration of proposals to January.

Instead of voting legislation up or down at its October 20-21 meeting in Indianapolis, the Council focused more on process than product. In the previous cycle based on two six-month periods, the Council used its October and April meetings as its primary voting sessions. At this October meeting, though, the group simply reviewed legislative proposals submitted by conferences or cabinets at the beginning of the 12-month cycle in July and considered any conflicting suggested amendments to those proposals that have been forwarded since then.

Only one such conflict came before the group this time. The Big Ten Conference submitted a proposal in July specifying that telephone contact on more than one occasion with a prospect does not mean the prospect is considered to be recruited; rather, a prospect would be considered recruited only if the institution issues a National Letter of Intent or written offer of athletically related financial aid. The Academics/Eligibility/Compliance Cabinet in September, however, recommended that the proposal be defeated unless it was amended to retain the more than one phone call as the trigger of recruited status.

The Council agreed that both versions of the proposal should be included in the Official Notice that will be distributed to the Division I membership in mid-November.

Though Council members used this October meeting to consider conflicting proposals, they agreed that in subsequent years that function should be performed at the Council's January meeting. The group made its decision after hearing from its governance subcommittee that at the start of the academic year, it is difficult for conferences and institutions to track suggested amendments to pending legislative proposals and to be prepared to take action on any conflicting options by the October Council meeting. Delaying that function to January gives more time for membership review and a better opportunity to have meaningful discussion at the newly created Division I legislative review forum at the NCAA Convention.

Other legislative action

Another function of the Council's October meeting in the new cycle is to hear members speak to various proposals and consider as a group whether to sponsor any amendments. Council members proposed two such amendments during that discussion. One would amend Proposal No. 03-67 (elimination of foreign tours) to allow tours in any sport as long as they are conducted outside a time period that extends from 30 days before the first practice date through the first permissible contest date. The other would amend Proposal No. 03-15 (summer financial aid before initial full-time enrollment) to allow institutions to provide summer financial aid to student-athletes who are academically "at risk" as defined by the institution. The original proposals and the proposed amendments will be included in the Official Notice.

The Council also considered various proposals that had been submitted by either the Academics/Eligibility/Compliance Cabinet or the Championships/Competition Cabinet as emergency or noncontroversial legislation. Before Council members undertook that review, however, they heard a report from the group's newly created legislative review subcommittee on what in fact makes a proposal "emergency" or "noncontroversial."

The legislative review subcommittee was appointed earlier this fall to assist the Council in managing all the legislative proposals that move through the Division I cycle. The subcommittee is responsible primarily for developing a legislative consent package for the Council's consideration (which it will do before the April meeting) and deciding what proposals merit immediate attention as either emergency or noncontroversial legislation. The group used its first meeting to determine parameters for those categories.

The subcommittee determined -- and the Council agreed to adopt as policy -- that legislative proposals will be considered noncontroversial only if:

Broader consultation and debate are unlikely to improve the proposal in any substantial way;

Significant disagreement or alternative points of view will not be generated; and

Such proposals do not have a significant impact (unanticipated consequences, undesirable precedent) on existing legislation or proposed legislation.

A noncontroversial proposal, at a minimum, should have the following factors present:

The proposal should have a minimum impact on competitive or recruiting equity.

The proposal should have minimal financial impact.

The proposal must enjoy broad support from its primary stakeholders.

The proposal should not negatively impact student-athlete welfare.

The proposal should not significantly impact the Division I academic standards (initial eligibility and progress toward degree).

Legislative proposals will be considered emergency only if:

Significant value or harm is at stake; and

The use of the regular legislative cycle is likely to cause undue hardship to the Association or the Division I membership because of the delay in its effective date.

Examples of situations in which it may be appropriate to consider legislation emergency include, but are not limited to, the following:

Immediate health and safety concerns or issues.

Potential legal action.

Issues that have a significant financial impact.

Egregious situations involving disparities and fairness.

Unintended or unanticipated consequences resulting from the current legislation.

The subcommittee agreed that it would not recommend a proposal to be considered by the Council as noncontroversial or emergency unless a minimum of five subcommittee members supported such a position.

As for voting procedures the Council will use, the subcommittee suggested a two-part process:

* When examining a proposal submitted as emergency or noncontroversial legislation, the Council will initially vote on whether it fits either category. A three-fourths majority is required in order for a proposal to meet either standard. Proposals that gain less than the three-fourths majority will not be considered defeated; rather, they will return to their normal place in the legislative cycle.

Proposals that gain the three-fourths majority will be debated by the full Council on their merits. A three-fourths majority vote means the proposal is approved and forwarded to the Board of Directors for adoption. Proposals that pass but gain less than the three-fourths majority will return to their normal place in the legislative cycle.

Under those approved parameters and guidelines, the Council approved the following proposals as either emergency or noncontroversial legislation:

Proposal No. 02-88, specifying that results of the medical exams conducted by an institution during a prospect's official or unofficial visit may not be used to determine the admission of a prospect. (Approved as noncontroversial legislation.)

Proposal No. 03-116, which reinstates for purposes of committee composition the geographic districts as legislated in the 2000-01 Division I Manual. (Approved as noncontroversial legislation.)

Proposal No. 03-123, which increases the composition of the Initial-Eligibility Waivers Committee from 19 to 20. (Approved as noncontroversial legislation.)

Proposal No. 03-124, which permits institutional coaching staff members to have incidental contact with the recipient of the Two-Year College Player of the Year award presented at the annual American Volleyball Coaches Association awards banquet. (Approved as noncontroversial legislation.)

No. 03-127, which specifies that one of the three positions on the Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports from the field of medicine shall be filled by a board-certified orthopedic specialist. (Approved as noncontroversial legislation.)

No. 03-128, as amended by Proposal No. 03-128-1, which permits a sports committee to schedule competition before noon, local time, during the NCAA championship in the event of extenuating circumstances that would affect the health and safety of participants or otherwise cause postponement of the championship. (The original proposal applied only to men's and women's tennis.)

No. 03-129, which amends the first contest date in men's soccer to the Friday before the 11th weekend before the start of the Division I Women's Soccer Championship. (Approved as noncontroversial legislation.)

All seven proposals will be forwarded to the Board of Directors for adoption at the Board's October 30 meeting. (see "Other highlights" for a list of proposals the Council voted not to consider as emergency or noncontroversial.)

Less bureaucratic/more responsive

In addition to acting on legislative matters, the Council approved three items from its administrative review subcommittee that align with NCAA President Myles Brand's desire to create a less bureaucratic NCAA that is more responsive to student-athlete needs.

The first is the Council's reversal of a May 9, 2001, official interpretation that based medical-hardship waivers on the number of scheduled contests in determining eligibility. The legislation in question (Proposal No. 2000-76) calculates a student-athlete's eligibility for a medical hardship by the number of scheduled contests rather than completed contests. The legislation, which became effective August 1, 2001, was intended to provide injured student-athletes with more certainty as to the outcome of a waiver. The Council's action allows Proposal No. 2000-76 to help student-athletes who have eligibility remaining but who were injured before the 2001-02 academic year and would benefit from the interpretation in effect at that time.

The Council also endorsed a recommendation from the administrative review subcommittee that gives the subcommittee the authority to waive application of a rule, before receiving Management Council input, when the circumstances of the case do not fit the intended consequences of the rule, even when the result could be a temporary rule change. Historically, subcommittee members have been hesitant to grant such waivers until being assured that the Management Council would support the action.

The subcommittee will consider the following guidelines when dealing with such cases:

There is minimal to no competitive or recruiting advantage gained by the waiver being granted;

Student-athletes collectively benefit from the granted waiver (as opposed to a select group of student-athletes benefiting at the cost of others); and

The activity being prohibited from the rule appears to be an unintended consequence.

Finally, the Council also approved a subcommittee recommendation regarding Bylaw 15.5.4.1 (voluntary withdrawal). For requests to waive the bylaw when student-athletes who receive athletically related financial aid voluntarily withdraw from the institution during preseason practice but before the first contest or first day of classes (whichever comes first), the subcommittee will grant relief by allowing institutions to redistribute the aid to previous noncounters who had been with the institution's team for two or more academic years.

Other highlights

Division I Management Council
October 20-21/Indianapolis

Agreed to appoint an ad hoc group to evaluate possible legislation to amend Bylaw 14.5.5.2.10 (one-time transfer exception) to permit all Division I student-athletes to use the one-time transfer exception, including participants in basketball, football and men's ice hockey at the institution to which the student-athlete is transferring. The group will include coaches, student-athletes and campus administrators.

Approved a governance subcommittee recommendation to increase communication and involvement of affiliated member associations in the legislative process by sending those groups a copy of the Official Notice, and by ensuring that comments received from member groups such as FARA, coaches associations, NACDA and NACWA during the comment period be included in the legislative history notes provided to the Management Council and Board of Directors in April.

Heard an update from the Division I Working Group on Incentives/Disincentives and indicated it was comfortable with modifications made to the incentives/disincentives structure that would be forwarded to the Board of Directors later this month. Legislative proposals regarding the incentives/disincentives structure are scheduled to be reviewed in January and April.

Agreed to forward as emergency legislation Proposal No. 03-110, which increases from two to three the number of women's basketball coaches permitted to recruit off-campus during the April contact period before the Women's Final Four championship game, to the Board of Directors for consideration. The proposal is in tandem with Proposal No. 03-53, which adjusts the dead period surrounding the Women's Final Four to Friday after the semifinals through midnight the Thursday after the championship game. The Council approved Proposal No. 03-53 in July but the Board tabled it after hearing from women's basketball coaches that the two concepts were meant to be considered together. The Council's action allows that to occur later this month.

Voted not to consider the following as emergency or noncontroversial legislative proposals and thus returned them to their place in the normal legislative cycle:

Proposal No. 03-122, which would permit the Academics/Eligibility/Compliance Cabinet to grant waivers of Bylaw 14.3.3.1 (fourth season of competition -- partial qualifiers and nonqualifiers) to institutions on behalf of student-athletes who have not completed their baccalaureate degree requirements.

Proposal No. 03-125, permitting men's basketball coaches to attend NBA predraft camps when those camps occur outside a contact or evaluation period and prospects are in attendance.

Proposal No. 03-126, to increase the official travel party in men's ice hockey from 31 to 37 individuals.

Proposal No. 03-130, to establish an NCAA Women's Lacrosse Rules Committee.

Proposal No. 03-131, to increase the official travel party in women's bowling to 13 individuals. <