Division III could consider as many as seven legislative proposals submitted by member conferences at the 2010 Convention, though most of those proposals still must gain additional sponsorship before being placed on the agenda in January.

One of the seven proposals submitted by Wednesday’s legislation deadline is sponsored by two voting conferences, as required for consideration at the Convention. The other six proposals will require another conference or additional schools to join as cosponsors by September 1, in order to be considered.

A conference or 10 institutions that submitted a Convention proposal by July 15 can continue to seek cosponsorship from an additional conference or 10 more institutions until September 1.

The proposal now eligible for consideration at the Convention would:

• Permit a daily, one-hour “walkthrough” session in football during the preseason five-day acclimatization period. The proposal by the American Southwest Conference and Empire 8 would prohibit wearing protective equipment (such as a helmet or shoulder pads) , use of football equipment (such as a football or blocking sled) or conditioning activities during the period, which is intended only for instruction. The proposal also specifies that student-athletes must be provided at least three hours of continuous recovery time between the end of an on-field practice session and the start of the walkthrough session.

The other six proposals would:

• Permit an institution to send electronically transmitted correspondence via such media as instant messaging, text messaging and social-networking sites, provided the information transmitted is similar to that available to a general audience via the institution’s Web site and that a prospective student-athlete “initiates, accepts and ‘opts-in’” to receive the information. The Centennial Conference proposal is very similar to a recommendation  from the Division III Interpretations and Legislation Committee that will be considered next week by the Division III Management Council.
• Permit a student who was disqualified or suspended from a previously attended school but who meets requirements of the two-year nonparticipation exception to be immediately eligible for athletics participation upon transfer to another institution. The Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference proposal seeks to eliminate the current requirement that such a student serve a calendar year in residency at the institution to become eligible.
• Decrease the maximum number of baseball and softball contests from 40 to 36 and decrease the number of games required to meet sports-sponsorship requirements from 25 to 20. The North Atlantic Conference says it is seeking to bring the number of contests in those sports in line with other spring team sports while reducing pressure due to weather conditions to schedule spring trips.
• In another option proposed by the North Atlantic Conference, decrease only the number of baseball and softball games required to meet sports-sponsorship requirements from 25 to 20.
• Enlarge the area within which prospective student-athletes must live to participate in a local sports club or organization involving an institution’s coach. The Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference proposal would increase the area from a 50-mile to 100-mile radius of the institution.
• Permit certified strength and conditioning personnel to conduct voluntary workouts for all student-athletes. The Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference proposal seeks to provide strength-and-conditioning expertise for student-athletes seeking it outside the competitive season.

The Division III Management Council will be the first governance-structure body to review the proposals, during its meeting beginning Monday in Denver. 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.