National Collegiate Athletic Association
NCAA News Archive - 2007
« back to 2007 | Back to NCAA News Archive Index
Council keeps membership issues on front burner
|
By Jack Copeland
The NCAA News
The NCAA News
The Division III Management Council quickly worked through a relatively light agenda during its April 16-17 meeting in Indianapolis as issues that have dominated that group’s attention in recent months — including an Association-wide study of the NCAA’s membership structure and an ongoing debate over the appropriate use of male practice players — are studied elsewhere.
The Council briefly discussed but took no actions related to the study of the Association’s divisional structure, which will be the topic April 25 of the first meeting of the NCAA Executive Committee Working Group to Review Membership Issues. It also agreed to await the Division III Student-Athlete Advisory Committee review of a recent survey of institutions’ use of male practice players (see story on page 1) before considering whether to seek restrictions in that area.
Council members’ discussion of the Association-wide divisional study focused on recent preparations for considering various ways to address future NCAA membership growth and related issues — including the possible creation of a fourth division or subdivision of Division III.
The Council received a report from a Division III working group that has been gathering information for use in advising the division’s five representatives on the 12-member Executive Committee’s working group. The report described information that the Division III panel has collected thus far.
Most of that information has been posted on the Division III page at the NCAA Web site, where it is accessible through the “Working Group on Membership” link under the “Committees” heading. The information is contained in links from agendas of the Division III working group’s recent meetings.
Although the Council took no actions relating to the upcoming study, members briefly broached the possibility of ending a current moratorium on accepting new Division III member institutions — an action taken in 2005 to temporarily halt the rapid growth of the division while permitting the study of division-specific actions to slow growth (which were adopted at the 2007 Convention) as well as the NCAA study.
The Council agreed that the Division III Membership Committee should discuss whether the moratorium is preventing an accurate assessment of how much the division might grow in the near future by discouraging institutions from expressing interest, and whether the Division III Presidents Council should consider ending the moratorium before the Executive Committee working group completes its work. The moratorium currently is scheduled to expire in January 2008.
Male practice players
In its only action involving male practice players, the Council gave final approval to a modification of Bylaw 14.1.11 to restrict benefits that can be provided to males who participate in women’s sports practices.
Acting on a recommendation from its Playing and Practice Seasons Subcommittee, the Council initially modified the bylaw to prohibit male practice players from receiving any benefits authorized for Division III student-athletes, except to permit providing practice apparel as a benefit of participation.
However, Council members agreed that institutions also should be permitted to provide expenses related to certifying males’ eligibility for participation in practice. They agreed to modify the bylaw to also permit institutions to pay medically related expenses such as insurance and to care for injuries sustained in practice.
On the broader question of whether the Division III governance structure should again propose legislation to restrict the use of male practice players, Council members agreed to await input from the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, which recommended limitations last year.
A resulting proposal sponsored by the Presidents Council, which would have limited the times of the year and number of practices per week when males can participate in women’s practices and also limited the number who can participate, was referred by the Division III membership during the 2007 Convention to the Management Council for further study.
Financial aid reporting
Also during the meeting, the Council reviewed a report from the recently completed second year of the Division III Financial Aid Reporting Process.
The program indicated an improvement in the membership’s comfort level with its reporting and review procedures, according to the Division III Financial Aid Committee. The 2006-07 reporting process involved 435 Division III institutions, from which 91 institutions were selected by the committee for a Level I review. Justifications for possible inequities in granting of financial aid were required from 30 of those institutions (compared to 48 in the program’s first year), and four of the institutions’ cases ultimately were referred to the NCAA enforcement staff due to apparent violations of financial aid legislation (compared to 25 institutions during the first year).
The committee reported to the Council that any institutions ultimately found in violation of financial aid legislation as a result of the 2006-07 reporting process likely will receive educational penalties, as were applied to institutions found in violation of legislation after the first year of the reporting and review process. Institutions referred to enforcement will not be publicly identified, but national office staff members indicated that none of the four institutions referred this year is a repeater from last year’s process.
Council members noted that penalties resulting from findings of violations could be more punitive in coming years, especially in cases where institutions repeatedly fail to comply with legislation. The committee also noted that sport group variances will be included as an additional Level I review filter for the 2007-08 reporting process. For example, the variance level of a women’s soccer team alone could trigger a Level I review in next year’s reporting process.
On another topic, the committee will review in June recent Virtual Focus Group survey results on the concept of permitting athletics leadership as an exception to the prohibition on awarding financial aid based on athletics ability, participation or performance.
April 16-17/Indianapolis
The Council briefly discussed but took no actions related to the study of the Association’s divisional structure, which will be the topic April 25 of the first meeting of the NCAA Executive Committee Working Group to Review Membership Issues. It also agreed to await the Division III Student-Athlete Advisory Committee review of a recent survey of institutions’ use of male practice players (see story on page 1) before considering whether to seek restrictions in that area.
Council members’ discussion of the Association-wide divisional study focused on recent preparations for considering various ways to address future NCAA membership growth and related issues — including the possible creation of a fourth division or subdivision of Division III.
The Council received a report from a Division III working group that has been gathering information for use in advising the division’s five representatives on the 12-member Executive Committee’s working group. The report described information that the Division III panel has collected thus far.
Most of that information has been posted on the Division III page at the NCAA Web site, where it is accessible through the “Working Group on Membership” link under the “Committees” heading. The information is contained in links from agendas of the Division III working group’s recent meetings.
Although the Council took no actions relating to the upcoming study, members briefly broached the possibility of ending a current moratorium on accepting new Division III member institutions — an action taken in 2005 to temporarily halt the rapid growth of the division while permitting the study of division-specific actions to slow growth (which were adopted at the 2007 Convention) as well as the NCAA study.
The Council agreed that the Division III Membership Committee should discuss whether the moratorium is preventing an accurate assessment of how much the division might grow in the near future by discouraging institutions from expressing interest, and whether the Division III Presidents Council should consider ending the moratorium before the Executive Committee working group completes its work. The moratorium currently is scheduled to expire in January 2008.
Male practice players
In its only action involving male practice players, the Council gave final approval to a modification of Bylaw 14.1.11 to restrict benefits that can be provided to males who participate in women’s sports practices.
Acting on a recommendation from its Playing and Practice Seasons Subcommittee, the Council initially modified the bylaw to prohibit male practice players from receiving any benefits authorized for Division III student-athletes, except to permit providing practice apparel as a benefit of participation.
However, Council members agreed that institutions also should be permitted to provide expenses related to certifying males’ eligibility for participation in practice. They agreed to modify the bylaw to also permit institutions to pay medically related expenses such as insurance and to care for injuries sustained in practice.
On the broader question of whether the Division III governance structure should again propose legislation to restrict the use of male practice players, Council members agreed to await input from the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, which recommended limitations last year.
A resulting proposal sponsored by the Presidents Council, which would have limited the times of the year and number of practices per week when males can participate in women’s practices and also limited the number who can participate, was referred by the Division III membership during the 2007 Convention to the Management Council for further study.
Financial aid reporting
Also during the meeting, the Council reviewed a report from the recently completed second year of the Division III Financial Aid Reporting Process.
The program indicated an improvement in the membership’s comfort level with its reporting and review procedures, according to the Division III Financial Aid Committee. The 2006-07 reporting process involved 435 Division III institutions, from which 91 institutions were selected by the committee for a Level I review. Justifications for possible inequities in granting of financial aid were required from 30 of those institutions (compared to 48 in the program’s first year), and four of the institutions’ cases ultimately were referred to the NCAA enforcement staff due to apparent violations of financial aid legislation (compared to 25 institutions during the first year).
The committee reported to the Council that any institutions ultimately found in violation of financial aid legislation as a result of the 2006-07 reporting process likely will receive educational penalties, as were applied to institutions found in violation of legislation after the first year of the reporting and review process. Institutions referred to enforcement will not be publicly identified, but national office staff members indicated that none of the four institutions referred this year is a repeater from last year’s process.
Council members noted that penalties resulting from findings of violations could be more punitive in coming years, especially in cases where institutions repeatedly fail to comply with legislation. The committee also noted that sport group variances will be included as an additional Level I review filter for the 2007-08 reporting process. For example, the variance level of a women’s soccer team alone could trigger a Level I review in next year’s reporting process.
On another topic, the committee will review in June recent Virtual Focus Group survey results on the concept of permitting athletics leadership as an exception to the prohibition on awarding financial aid based on athletics ability, participation or performance.
Other highlights
Division III Management Council
April 16-17/Indianapolis
- Recommended that the Division III Presidents Council sponsor a proposal at the 2008 Convention to eliminate legislation that prohibits institutional personnel from being employed at institutional or privately owned camps or clinics (including as speakers or clinicians) where prospective student-athletes are also employed. Because the practice of employing prospective student-athletes at privately owned camps where institutional personnel are employed apparently has been widespread, the Council also granted the NCAA enforcement staff authority to relieve institutions of the requirement to self-report violations of the legislation that already have occurred. The Division III Interpretations and Legislation Committee recommended eliminating the legislation for privately owned camps or clinics, in response to concerns expressed at the 2007 Convention about the rule’s impact on such events. The Council decided that restrictions on hiring prospective student-athletes at institutionally owned camps should be removed as well, and included that in the 2008 legislative proposal. The Council also used its authority to issue a blanket waiver permitting institutional camps and clinics to employ prospects and also allowing institutional personnel to be employed in privately owned camps and clinics that employ prospects until the membership enacts or defeats the Convention proposal.
- Recommended that the Presidents Council sponsor a 2008 Convention proposal to permit waivers when a coach’s or administrator’s documented misunderstanding of season-of-participation legislation results in a student-athlete losing a season of participation as a result of specific situations, including limited participation in practice or in an alumni contest, exhibition contests, scrimmage or nontraditional-season contest. The proposal would require that the student-athlete be withheld from twice as many practices or competitions that the student-athlete participated in, and also specifies that the institution’s president or chancellor will receive a letter reporting the situation from the NCAA student-athlete reinstatement staff.
- Approved a recommendation from the Division III Strategic Planning and Finance Committee to allocate $165,000 (from a previously approved $400,000 increase in Tier II funding for the Strategic Initiatives Conference Grant Program) to the Student-Athlete Leadership Conference, resulting in the first increase in funding for the event since its inception in 2002. The Council also approved an annual 3 percent inflationary adjustment in funding for the conference to further ensure adequate support for expenses related to increased attendance.
- Discussed procedures for soliciting nominations for the position of Management Council vice chair. The position currently is held by Kevin McHugh, who recently was named director of athletics at Bates College and will resign from the Council (and also as chair of the Division III Working Group on Membership Issues) as a result. The Council plans to select a new vice chair before its July meeting.
© 2010 The National Collegiate Athletic Association
Terms and Conditions | Privacy Policy