The Division III Management Council will address the hot-button topic of social networking when it considers a recommendation to modify restrictions on member institutions’ use of outlets such as Twitter or Facebook to distribute information about athletics.

The recommendation from the Division III Interpretations and Legislation Committee is a highlight of the agenda for the Council’s summer meeting in Denver, which begins Sunday with the Council’s annual joint meeting with the Division III Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and continues through Tuesday.

Division III currently prohibits any type of social networking related to college athletics that could reach a prospective student-athlete. The prohibition stems from legislation adopted in 2008 that bans communication to prospects by any electronic means other than e-mail and facsimile.

The prohibition affects institutions’ use of social networking to distribute such information as athletics-related news releases, scores or other general information, because of the possibility that prospects may be among the recipients of that information. An institution currently must take steps to prevent prospects from receiving the information via social-networking outlets, or refrain from using those outlets.

The Interpretations and Legislation Committee is asking the Management Council to adopt a noncontroversial legislative proposal to permit distribution of information intended for the general public, while maintaining the 2008 legislation’s restrictions on person-to-person communication via social networking between coaches or other institutional personnel and prospective student-athletes.

The committee is recommending that institutions be permitted to use outlets such as Twitter or Facebook to communicate the same types of information that it provides to the public through an athletics Web site.

If adopted, the revised legislation would continue to prohibit communication to a specific prospect through such means as texting, instant messaging, or contact through social-networking (for example, through direct messaging via Twitter, “Wall-to-Wall” communication via Facebook or comments via MySpace). Communication with prospects via phone, e-mail and fax would continue to be permissible.

In addition to considering the social-networking proposal, which if approved as noncontroversial legislation would become effective immediately, the Council also will consider several possible legislative proposals for the 2010 Convention, including:

• A proposal by the Division III Membership Committee to shorten prescribed probation periods for an institution’s failure to comply with a membership requirement.
• A proposal from the Council’s Playing and Practice Season Subcommittee to require that the fall and spring nontraditional segments be completed no later than five weekdays before the first day of an institution’s final examination period.
• A proposal from the Division III Committee on Student-Athlete Reinstatement to base the calculation of a student-athlete’s eligibility for a hardship waiver on the maximum number of contests or dates of competition permitted under Bylaw 17, rather than a specific team’s actual number of contests or dates of competition.

The Management Council also will become the first Division III governance body to review any legislative proposals for the 2010 Convention that are submitted by conferences or institutions by today’s legislation deadline. The Council is expected only to assign each proposal to an appropriate committee for review and comment; it typically takes no position on membership-sponsored proposals until its October meeting.

Council members also will receive nonlegislative recommendations from the Division III Strategic Planning and Finance Committee relating to the Division III Strategic Initiatives Grant Program, including a recommendation to earmark funding through Tier Two grants for “integration institutes.”

The Council also will receive a variety of reports, including a progress report on the “identity initiative” being led by the Division III Presidents Council. The committee also is recommending steps to boost professional development among various groups, including funding to support participation by minorities in programs providing educational or professional-develop opportunities.

The NCAA News will report next week on Council actions.