Registration for the next NCAA Women Coaches Academy will open October 17 at noon Eastern time. The academy will be December 10-14 at the Inverness Hotel and Conference Center in Denver.

For the first time, a Dimension 2 program will also be offered at the same site during the December academy. Dimension 2 registration will occur at the same time. Only 25 positions are available at each academy. Registration is first come, first served, though some considerations will be made to balance the programs for divisions, sport and ethnic minority status.

The academy provides skills training for coaches at all levels to assist them in being more efficient, productive, resourceful and successful. The academy is designed for women coaches who are ready to increase their individual effectiveness by learning advanced skills and strategies that directly affect their personal and team success. The participants learn skills that are not sport specific, yet ones that are relevant and necessary for coaching responsibilities beyond game preparation. Dimension 2 provides an opportunity for further education and networking for coaches who have already participated in the initial academy.

Tuition, room and board are provided. Coaches are responsible only for their travel expenses. For more information, visit www.coachesacademy.org/ncaa.php.

Chancellors and presidents at Division III institutions have received a memorandum inviting participation in the pilot drug education and testing program recently established by the Division III Presidents Council.

The memo and a description of the program, which will be conducted during the 2007-08 and 2008-09 academic years, also was sent to directors of athletics and senior woman administrators.

Up to 100 institutions will be selected to participate in the voluntary program, which seeks to help Division III evaluate the long-term role that education and drug testing might play to ensure a safer and more equitable environment for student-athletes.

Institutions selected to participate in the pilot program will receive assistance to enhance drug education efforts, including a Drug Education Model checklist. Schools annually will receive $1,000 in funding following completion of the checklist and related drug education enhancements.

Testing will be conducted by random selection of sports and student-athletes from institutions participating in the pilot program. There will be no sanctions for a positive test in the pilot program, and no individual test results will be provided. Institutions may request a report of aggregate data from drug tests conducted on their campuses.

Institutions interested in participating in the pilot program should reply to the memorandum by October 13.

NCAA President Myles Brand’s goal of an 80 percent Graduation Success Rate for Division I is a percentage point closer to fruition with the release of NCAA data showing the overall GSR for the division at 77 percent, up from 76 percent last year.

The data is from the four-class aggregate of entering classes from 1996 through 1999, for which the NCAA has compiled sport-by-sport GSR and the comparable graduation rate using the federal methodology required annually of colleges and universities through the 1990 Student Right-to-Know Act.

The NCAA developed the GSR two years ago because the federal rate does not credit institutions for student-athletes who leave in good academic standing or for transfers into the school who graduate.

All three Division I subdivisions also realized percentage-point jumps in the four-class GSR data. Schools with football in the Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A) went from 77 to 78 percent, schools with football in the Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA) went from 73 to 74 percent, and schools that do not sponsor football went from 79 to 80 percent.

Skiing (89 percent), lacrosse (88 percent) and fencing (87 percent) were the highest-ranking men’s sports in the GSR, while gymnastics, fencing, field hockey and skiing all were at 94 percent on the women’s side.

The overall GSR for men has increased from 68 percent to 71 percent and from 85 to 88 percent for women.