The Division III Presidents Council set the stage legislatively for the 2010 Convention by designating one proposal for a roll-call vote and giving its support to a pair of proposals sponsored by member conferences.

The Council, which met Thursday in Indianapolis, will seek a roll-call vote on a proposed amendment of the Division III philosophy statement. Approval of the proposal would express for the first time the membership’s expectation that institutional presidents and chancellors have “ultimate responsibility and final authority for the conduct of intercollegiate athletics programs at the institutional, conference and national governance levels.”

It will be the only proposal included in the Presidents Council legislative grouping that will lead the agenda during Division III’s business session January 16 in Atlanta. The Council, which in previous years has tended to use that grouping for roll-call voting on primarily controversial issues, this year is rethinking that approach as part of its initiative to enhance presidential leadership.

The grouping now will be used to focus on strategic, rather than administrative, concepts that are regarded as highly important to institutional presidents.

The proposed amendment of the philosophy statement likely will begin what is expected to be a multiyear effort to engage institutional presidents more strategically and effectively, not only in the division’s governance but also in oversight of athletics at the conference and institutional levels.

Eight other proposals, including two conference-sponsored proposals that will be supported by the Presidents Council, also are on the Convention agenda but will not require roll-call votes.

Council members accepted the Division III Management Council’s recent recommendations to support:

• A proposal to permit “walkthrough” sessions during the early days of preseason football practice, sponsored by the American Southwest, Empire 8 and New Jersey Athletic Conferences.
• A proposal to permit a student who was disqualified or suspended for disciplinary reasons from a previously attended school, but who hasn’t participated in intercollegiate athletics or organized competition for at least two years, to be immediately eligible for participation upon transfer to another institution rather than sit out for a year. The proposal is sponsored by the Massachusetts State College Athletic and Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference.

The remaining six proposals on the Convention agenda are sponsored by the Presidents Council. Those proposals would:

• End both the fall and spring nontraditional segments five weekdays before the beginning of an institution’s final exams.
• 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.
• 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 coaches to supervise a campus facility as part of their employment duties when enrolled or prospective student-athletes are present. (The Management Council last week adopted noncontroversial legislation contingent upon approval of the proposal to remove a requirement that the facility must be open to the general public in order for a coach to supervise a facility while prospective student-athletes are present.)
• Permit student-athletes to be involved in a date of competition or an alumni contest, or both, during the nontraditional season without using a season of participation.
• Allow institutions to schedule an alumni game any time during a nontraditional or traditional segment in sports that treat the game as an exempted contest.

Details of the proposals will be published November 15 in the Official Notice of the Convention.

Other actions

In other actions, the Council:

• Reviewed results from the Division III drug-education and testing pilot program, and requested further refinement of a report of those results before it is released for review by the Division III membership.
• Reviewed the Division III strategic positioning platform with the NCAA branding and communications staff. The Council discussed sharing the platform with various constituencies during coming weeks, as well as ideas currently being considered for formally unveiling the platform at the 2010 Convention.
• Received a status report on the voluntary academic reporting pilot program to be conducted for two years beginning in spring 2010. The program will collect data from volunteering institutions for use in exploring the possibility of calculating graduation and academic-success rates for Division III student-athletes.