This is the third in a series of articles to review Division I proposals for the 2009-10 legislative cycle.

The Division I Legislative Council will consider a number of proposals that would regulate the duties and standards of coaches and non-coaching personnel, including a Southeastern Conference proposal that would require football graduate assistant coaches in the Football Bowl Subdivision to have graduated or exhausted athletics eligibility within the previous seven years.

Proposal No. 2009-10 is meant to halt a current practice that allows coaches with significant experience to fill graduate assistant positions. When the graduate assistant coach position was created, it was intended to allow recent graduates to begin their coaching careers while pursuing postgraduate education.

The rationale for the SEC proposal said that seven years is a “relatively short” time after exhausted eligibility or degree completion and provides sufficient time for former student-athletes with limited professional careers the chance to return to their institution to pursue a graduate degree and remain involved in coaching.

In addition to the SEC proposal, the Legislative Council will also review proposals offered by the Division I Recruiting and Athletics Personnel Cabinet, including one that would define the duties and criteria for student managers (No. 2009-14). It also will consider No. 2009-15, which would permit non-coaching staff members with sport-specific responsibilities to participate in certain organized activities with the coaching staff or to carry out administrative duties.

Earlier this year, the cabinet engaged the membership in a discussion about coaching limits. The proposals in the 2009-10 legislative cycle are meant to address some of the concerns generated from that discussion.

Other significant personnel-related proposals include:

• No. 2009-16, which would permit 10 coaches to recruit off campus at any one time during the fall evaluation period during a week in which no regular-season competition is scheduled.
• No. 2009-17, which would require an institution’s faculty athletics representative to administer the annual coaches’ certification test. The FAR would appoint someone outside of athletics to fulfill the duty if he or she was not available.
• No. 2009-19, which would set coaching limits for sand volleyball.
• No. 2009-21, which would further restrict the involvement of women’s volleyball coaches with local sports clubs.
• No. 2009-30, which would prohibit non-coaching staff members with men’s basketball responsibilities from attending off-campus athletics events involving prospects unless that staff member is an immediate family member or legal guardian of a participant.