The Division II Management Council will take positions on membership proposals and review the Life in the Balance package once more before the Convention at its October 19-20 meeting in Indianapolis.

The three proposals from the membership are:

• To change the first contest date in men’s and women’s basketball to the second Friday in November (Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association, the Peach Belt Conference and the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference)
• To stop requiring institutions to provide a prospective student-athlete written notice of the limit of five official visits (MIAA, the Lone Star Conference and the South Atlantic Conference)
• To spread out the nonchampionship segment in golf (24 days in 60 consecutive calendar days) (Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference)

The Legislation Committee reviewed all three proposals last month, deciding to oppose the first two and take no position on the third.

The basketball proposal is the same that has been submitted and voted down at the last two Conventions, though by just 11 votes last year. The Legislation Committee doesn’t approve of how the proposal increases the length of the regular season while shortening preseason practice. Members also pointed out that some institutions prefer to have more contests on weekdays rather than weekends because more campus personnel and students available to attend them during the week.

In addition to reviewing those proposals, the Management Council also will study the four-proposal Life in the Balance package that streamlines seasons and reduces games in 10 sports. Council members already have endorsed the package and will put finishing touches on it in preparation for the Division II business session on January 16 at the NCAA Convention in Atlanta.

Council members also will receive an update from the Legislation Committee on possible legislation for the 2011 Convention. Among proposals expected to generate discussion are:

• Requiring transfers who have been disqualified or suspended from the previous institution’s athletics team for disciplinary reasons to complete one calendar year of residence at the certifying institution.
• Requiring transfers from two-year colleges who were partial or nonqualifiers to complete six semester or eight quarter hours of transferrable credit in English and three semester or four quarter hours of math to be eligible for competition, practice and athletics aid during their first academic year in residence (remedial courses may not be used).
• Allowing a two-year college transfer with previous four-year collegiate attendance who attended the last two-year college as a full-time student for only one semester or quarter to be eligible for competition, practice and athletics aid during the first year at the certifying institution.