DENVER – Fall and spring nontraditional seasons would be placed on the same footing and end five work days before the beginning of an institution’s final exams under one of two legislative proposals forwarded to the Division III Presidents Council for possible sponsorship at the 2010 Convention.

The Division III Management Council decided during its summer meeting that student-athletes participating in the spring nontraditional season should be given more time following the end of that practice- and scrimmage-focused period to prepare for final exams. The Council also concluded that  institutions should have the ability to conduct the fall nontraditional season beyond the October 30 date by which such activities currently must end.

Currently, the spring nontraditional season can be completed any day up to the first day of final exams. Last year, the governance structure sponsored a proposal that also would have permitted the fall nontraditional season to end on the first day of final exams, based on a desire to treat the fall and spring segments in the same manner.

However, the Presidents Council decided before the 2009 Convention to withdraw the proposal after the Faculty Athletics Representatives Association and the Division III Student-Athlete Advisory Committee expressed concern that the proposed end date could conflict with student-athletes’ ability to prepare for exams. The Management Council asked its Playing and Practice Seasons Subcommittee to study the issue, leading to the proposed legislation endorsed this week by the Council.

If the Presidents Council agrees during its August 6 meeting to sponsor the proposal, it would become one of as many as seven proposals from the Division III governance structure that currently are on track for a vote at the 2010 Convention.

Hardship-waiver calculation

The Presidents Council also will consider sponsoring a proposal originating from the Division III Committee on Student-Athlete Reinstatement to change the way a student-athlete’s eligibility for a hardship waiver is calculated.

The Management Council endorsed the proposal to base calculation of 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. If adopted, the change in many cases would permit student-athletes to play more contests in a season before receiving the hardship waiver.

The Management Council agreed that basing the hardship waiver on the maximum number of contests or dates is preferable because Division III institutions currently schedule a different number of contests, meaning that the calculation for student-athletes in a specific sport can vary widely from one school to another.

The Council agreed that because student-athletes have no role in scheduling contests, the current basis for calculation results in inequitable application of the hardship waiver among institutions.

Governance-structure proposals

The Presidents Council agreed in principle earlier this year to sponsor five proposals at the 2010 Convention, meaning that if it agrees to sponsor the proposals endorsed this week by the Management Council, the Division III governance structure could produce at least seven proposals for a membership vote.

Those previously approved proposals, which the Presidents Council will review again August 6, would:

• Amend the Division III philosophy statement to add the expectation that presidents and chancellors shall perform a leadership role in intercollegiate athletics at the institutional, conference and national levels.
• Simplify tryout legislation in Bylaw 13.11 to emphasize activities that are prohibited under the legislation, while introducing a less “prescriptive” list of exceptions than currently exists.
• Permit an institution’s coaching staff member to observe non-organized sport-specific activities involving current student-athletes when that individual, as a part of regular employment duties, is monitoring a facility available to all students.
• Permit student-athletes to be involved in both a date of competition and an alumni contest during the nontraditional season without losing a season of participation.
• Allow institutions to schedule an alumni game any time during a nontraditional or traditional season segment in sports that treat the game as an exempted contest.

The Management Council also reviewed seven proposals submitted for the Convention by Division III conferences, noting that six of the seven proposals require sponsorship by a second conference by September 1 in order to be forwarded for a vote. A seventh proposal is sponsored by two conferences, although presidents of those sponsoring conferences must confirm that sponsorship by August 1.

Those proposals will be reviewed by various committees in the Division III governance structure before the Management Council recommends positions on those proposals during its October meeting in Indianapolis.