Division III delegates will be talking about new possibilities but also acting on old controversies at the 2008 Convention.

The gathering in Nashville provides the first opportunity to react to recently proposed models for restructuring the NCAA or Division III to address persistent membership growth, but also brings back for a vote two legislative proposals that were tabled at last year’s business session.

Delegates will have at least three opportunities — during an Association-wide gathering January 12 and a Division III issues forum January 13, as well as breakout discussions during the division’s annual business session January 14 — to learn about and react to models proposed by a Division III working group for creating a fourth NCAA division or subdividing Division III.

The models are described in more detail in the Centerpiece section of this issue of The NCAA News, which also features an article about factors that are driving restructuring discussions.

With such a momentous subject on the agenda, it’s easy to overlook the fact that there also are important legislative issues on the agenda.

Delegates aren’t just being asked to resolve questions first raised at last year’s Convention about restricting the use of male practice players in women’s sports and requiring the presence of personnel certified in sport-safety training at athletics activities. They also will vote on a proposal supported by the Division III governance structure to ban text messaging, and will tackle several proposals sponsored by member conferences but opposed by the Division III Presidents Council.

Upon further review

Last year, a proposal to restrict the use of male practice players emerged as the most high-profile controversy of the Convention. Division III was the first NCAA division to consider legislation governing the practice, and delegates decided they weren’t ready yet to act on the question, deciding instead to refer it to the Division III Management Council for further study.

This year, the Presidents Council has decided that Division III should at least limit males’ participation in women’s practices, citing a survey conducted last spring that indicated interest by a majority of the Division III membership in limiting both the frequency of use and number of males who may practice with women.

The slightly revised proposal would allow males to practice one day per week during the traditional segment, and limit the number to half of a team’s starting squad (rounded up).

Delegates also decided last year to table a proposal that would have required the presence of at least one person certified in first aid, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and use of an automatic external defibrillator (AED) — and familiar with emergency-plan activation policies — at all competitions and at required practices and strength and conditioning sessions involving student-athletes.

That proposal also is back on this year’s agenda, due in large part to passionate support by the Division III Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. The Presidents Council’s proposal would permit an institution to designate any certified employee (including a part-time or graduate assistant coach) to provide emergency treatment. However, the presidents also are specifying that students employed at an institution would not be permitted to serve in that role.

Text messaging

Much of the Convention’s legislative agenda was generated by member conferences. Delegates are expected to consider eight conference-sponsored proposals (a ninth proposal relating to single-sport conferences formally has been withdrawn after recent action by the Division III Management Council that creates a waiver opportunity for such conferences to receive automatic qualification to championships.)

The Presidents Council is a co-sponsor of one of those conference proposals — an effort by the Centennial and New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conferences to ban the use by athletics department personnel of text messaging and other electronic communication (except e-mail and fax) to contact prospective student-athletes. The proposed ban would include communication with recruits via text messaging, instant messaging and social networking sites.

The Council agreed to support the ban after the Division III SAAC said coaches’ use of those technologies is an intrusion on recruits’ time. The SAAC also believes that text messaging and similar means of communication are intended for social interaction among friends, and that institutions should use more formal and appropriate avenues for recruiting.

Other conference-sponsored proposals have attracted opposition from the Council. They include proposals:

To permit Division III schools to provide academic or other support services specifically for student-athletes, so long as they are comparable to services provided for nonathletes. Supporters believe the proposal would give institutions more flexibility to provide programming or services similar to those generally available to students on campuses, but geared more specifically to needs and interests of student-athletes. The Council, however, argues that institutions should not provide — nor should athletics departments administer — separate student-athlete services.

To allow provisional member institutions to be counted by a conference toward the seven-institution requirement to receive automatic qualification in a sport’s championship. The North Eastern Athletic and North Atlantic Conferences, which initially proposed permitting any provisional member to be counted toward the requirement, now is proposing through an amendment-to-amendment that the opportunity apply only for institutions in the third or fourth year of provisional membership, arguing that approval will allow conferences that recently have experienced membership changes to retain existing automatic qualification to championships while gaining more flexibility in seeking new members. The Council, which opposed the original proposal because provisional members are not eligible for championships and are still preparing for active membership, will consider its position on the proposed amendment during its pre-Convention meeting.

To change the starting date for the first contest in basketball from the Friday immediately before Thanksgiving to November 15. Supporters say the proposal would provide institutions more flexibility in scheduling early in the season and provide relief for conferences that currently are scheduling three league games in a week, but the Council opposes the measure because it regards the action as an expansion of the playing season.

To permit extending the regular season to “make up” a conference postseason contest suspended because of weather or other unforeseen circumstances for the purpose of determining a conference champion or NCAA automatic qualifier. The Council said it prefers to handle such situations through an existing waiver process when they are “extraordinary” in nature.

Drug education and testing

Besides voting on legislative proposals and then breaking into smaller groups to discuss restructuring models, delegates attending the January 14 business session also will hear a status report about the Division III drug-education and testing pilot program.

The program, in addition to supporting drug and alcohol education for the entire membership, includes a voluntary testing component in which about one-fourth of the division’s membership is participating in an evaluation of the impact of both education and testing on student-athletes’ use of performance-enhancing and street drugs.

Delegates also will elect new members to the Division III Management Council. The nominees are Joan Sitterly, director of athletics at State University College at Cortland, and Rita Wiggs, commissioner of the USA South Athletic Conference. The membership also is being asked to re-elect Lee McKinney, director of athletics at Fontbonne University who filled a Council vacancy earlier this year, to a full term.