The Division II Academic Requirements Committee is recommending that student-athletes be required to have completed six hours from the previous semester or quarter to be eligible for competition.

The committee, which met June 9-10, recommended that the Management Council sponsor legislation to amend Bylaw 14.4.3.1 (credit-hour requirements) to specify that a student-athlete must earn six semester or quarter hours of academic credit the preceding regular academic term in which the student-athlete has been enrolled full time at any collegiate institution.

In a worst-case scenario, the current rule would allow a transfer student-athlete to compete for a year in Division II without attending a class. The committee believes that requiring a term-by-term certification will demonstrate that academics is a student-athlete's first priority.

The committee made the recommendation as part of its review of whether midyear academic certification should be required of Division II institutions. Sixty-four percent of Division II institutions responding to a survey said they conduct some type of certification, decertification or eligibility review at the end of every term.

The committee considered other elements of midyear certification but decided not to recommend any changes at this time. It will continue to study the issue and, among other things, will examine whether a minimum grade-point average should be attached to the proposed credit-hour requirement, if it is approved.

If endorsed by the Management Council and Presidents Council, the proposal will be considered at the 2004 Convention and would be effective for transfers students, continuing student-athletes and students first entering a collegiate institution on or after August 1, 2005 (the delayed effective date would provide appropriate notice for continuing student-athletes). Institutions would be required to begin certifying completion of the six hours for hours earned in the 2005 fall semester or quarter.

Transfer student-athletes

As requested by the Division II Presidents Council (see the May 12, 2003, issue of The NCAA News), the committee also discussed the division's transfer rules.

Before making any recommendations, the committee wants to review the results from the second pilot study for the Division II "Graduation-Success" Rate, which will include more detail about transfer students. That information will be available for the committee's February 2004 meeting.

In other business, the committee:

Requested an interpretation to permit the use of computer-screen printouts for reporting standardized test scores to fulfill institutional requirements related to official visits.

Continued to consider the charge of the Division II Presidents Council to review progress-toward-degree requirements for Division II student-athletes. The committee did not recommend any changes to the grade-point average requirements but will continue to address progress-toward-degree requirements as more recent Division II-specific data become available. The committee also will monitor the effect of new grade-point average requirements that were adopted by the Division II membership at the 2003 Convention.

Appointed John Rich, associate dean of business at Emporia State University, as chair, replacing Mary Lisko of Augusta State University.

Appointed Jim Welch, associate professor of business administration at Kentucky Wesleyan College, to the Division II Degree-Completion Committee.