Calendar

RISK MANAGEMENT

NCAA, city of Indianapolis reach long-term agreement for events

The NCAA and the city of Indianapolis have reached an agreement that provides a layer of protection for some of the Association's high-profile events.

The NCAA and the Indiana Sports Corporation February 4 revealed that they had entered into a "memorandum of understanding" that will establish Indianapolis as a permanent backup site for the Men's and Women's Final Fours when they are scheduled in other locations, should an emergency occur in those locations that causes the event to be relocated.

The arrangement provides an important component to the NCAA's risk-management goals and significantly reduces the cost of securing event-cancellation insurance.

In exchange, Indianapolis is guaranteed of hosting one of the Association's high-profile events (Men's and Women's Final Fours, preliminary rounds of the Division I Men's and Women's Basketball Championships, the NCAA Convention) every year.

Part of the arrangement also calls for Indianapolis to ensure that "the NCAA's current location continues to meet the needs of the Association in the future." That includes such capital projects as making land available for future expansion of the headquarters, as well as the creation of additional parking for the dedicated use of the NCAA.

Staff contact: Jeff Howard -- jhoward@ncaa.org.

DRUG TESTING

Subcommittee recommends option for lesser penalty

A proposal by the NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports would create a third option in deciding drug-test appeals.

The proposed change in Bylaw 18.4.1.5.1 would grant authority to the subcommittee that decides appeals to assess less than the one-year penalty currently mandated by legislation for a positive test, in cases where it is demonstrated a student-athlete was not at "significant fault" in testing positive for a banned substance.

If the proposal is approved, the subcommittee would retain its existing authority to negate a positive test and sanction in cases where a student-athlete is determined to be at "no fault" for a positive test, and it also would retain authority to uphold the full penalty.

But the committee is seeking flexibility in dealing with cases in which, currently, the full penalty must be assessed. If approved, the committee will have the authority to reduce the penalty if the student-athlete demonstrates he or she was not significantly at fault for use of a banned substance.

The recommendation will be forwarded to the Association's governance structure for consideration.

Staff contact: Mary Wilfert -- mwilfert@ncaa.org.

DIVISION II

Championships group appoints five subcommittees

The new Division II Championships Eligibility Project Team determined how to address its business during a January 25-26 meeting.

The project team is responsible for evaluating issues relating to eligibility for Division II championships and sharing findings with the membership by the 2005 Convention. It was established as a result of 2004 Convention Proposal No. 54.

Subcommittees were formed to deal with the following issues: ineligibility and outcomes, penalties and sanctions, student-athlete welfare/due process, legislation, and compliance/education.

For more information, see page 14.

Staff contact: Sharon Cessna -- scessna@ncaa.org.