The Division III Management Council will review the status of current initiatives during its October 19-20 meeting in Indianapolis, including pilot programs just now beginning to collect academic data and just now ending to test the effectiveness of drug-education and testing programs.

Council members will review details of the voluntary academic-reporting pilot program approved earlier this year by the Division III Presidents Council to explore the possibility of calculating graduation rate and academic-success rates for Division III student-athletes.

Division III recently solicited participants for the pilot program, which will be conducted using graduation-rate data collected from volunteering institutions in spring 2010.

The Council also will take a first look at results from the two-year drug-education and testing pilot program that was conducted through the end of the 2008-09 academic year at approximately 100 Division III institutions.

The program is seeking to learn the impact of education – in combination with or without drug testing – on student-athletes’ use of substances ranging from anabolic steroids to street drugs. Division III could consider a variety of options now that the pilot is ending, including extending NCAA funding of education, supporting testing conducted by institutions, extending the pilot to include another group of institutions, or establishing a division-wide education and testing program on a mandatory basis.

No action is expected before next spring in response to the pilot, and there would be no proposed legislation to establish a mandatory program before the 2011 Convention. Results of the pilot program are expected to be released to the membership in early November, following review by the Presidents Council. The pilot program’s results will be a discussion topic at the 2010 Convention in Atlanta.

Another current initiative also will receive Management Council review during the group’s fall meeting, as members review the Division III strategic communications platform, which will be a major focus of the Atlanta Convention.

The Council also will review proposed legislation for the 2010 Convention, particularly the only two proposals sponsored by Division III member conferences for consideration. Council members will decide whether to ask the Division III Presidents Council to support or oppose those proposals.

The proposals would:

• Permit a daily, one-hour “walkthrough” session in football during the preseason five-day acclimatization period. (Sponsored by the American Southwest, Empire 8 and New Jersey Athletic Conferences.)
• 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. (Sponsored by the Massachusetts State College Athletic and Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conferences.)

A report of Management Council actions will be published October 21 in The NCAA News.