NCAA DIVISION III PRESIDENTS COUNCIL AFFIRMS ITS SUPPORT OF 'REFORM AGENDA' TO ADDRESS THE FUTURE OF THE DIVISION

INDIANAPOLIS-The NCAA Division III Presidents Council has reaffirmed its support for a nine-proposal reform package it passed initially in August. The proposals will now go before the NCAA membership for a vote at the 2004 NCAA Convention in Nashville, Tennessee.

The Council had recommended several changes in Division III legislation and policies in response to the division's in-depth analysis of its future, and this was the Council's last chance to review the proposals and make changes prior to the Convention. The Council considered two possible changes to the package, ultimately rejecting a request from eight Division III members that have Division I programs that award athletically related aid. The Council also passed an amendment to one proposal that aims to eliminate the practice of "red-shirting."

"The Presidents Council affirmed its support for the reform agenda and also affirmed its seriousness in moving that agenda forward," said John McCardell, chair of the Presidents Council and president of Middlebury College. "We are prepared to engage the membership-whose diversity we reflect-in discussion and debate, and through that process to shepherd these reforms to passage."

McCardell noted that the proposal receiving the greatest attention was one that, if passed by the Division III membership, would eliminate the exception currently available to eight Division III institutions that are permitted to offer athletically related aid in their Division I programs.

"Ultimately, we rejected a motion to withdraw the original proposal, and as a result the multidivisional proposal will go before the membership for a vote in January as part of the reform agenda," he said, pointing out that each proposal will have a separate vote. McCardell noted that a similar discussion had taken place the previous week by the Division III Management Council with a similar outcome. "We were guided in our deliberations by the recommendation of the Management Council, where these issues received a thorough airing, and also by the responses communicated to us by the membership."

After lengthy discussion, the Council did adopt an amendment to the proposal to eliminate the practice of "red-shirting." The original proposal would permit student-athletes to participate in practices and competition for four seasons only. The amendment permits an exception that would, if passed, permit a student-athlete who has missed the traditional season for legitimate academic reasons, such as study abroad or student-teaching, to practice during the nontraditional season that year without triggering a season of eligibility.

McCardell noted that the amendment represented a commitment to the idea that athletics and academic endeavors should be a four-year experience at Division III while also acknowledging that there could be a verifiable academic basis for an exception. Neither the original proposal nor the amendment would affect the medical hardship waiver that currently exists.

"While there may be many reasons for extending a student-athlete's ability to participate, the only plausible one, short of a medical hardship, would be academics," McCardell said. "In no way is this a watering-down of substantive reform. Rather, it is an amendment that reflects the intent of the original proposal while recognizing that there might be solid academic reasons for an exception."

The proposed changes include the five areas-financial aid, membership, eligibility and recruiting, playing and practice seasons and championships-examined by an oversight group composed of members of the Management Council and Presidents Council. The Division III membership, which has been discussing the topic for the past two years, also participated in a survey and in several focus groups earlier this year.

The effort has compared the Division III philosophy with current policies and practices in order to determine the proper role athletics programs should play in the future education of Division III student-athletes.

The proposed changes include:

• Establishing an annual reporting process to examine and compare, on an institutional basis, financial aid awarded to student-athletes with that awarded to nonathletes;

• Eliminating financial aid from athletics funds or endowments, which have been permitted under an exemption if the endowment had been received by the institution prior to 1979;

• Eliminating the awarding of athletics aid by Division III member institutions in sports classified in another division;

• Eliminating red-shirting while permitting student-athletes to practice in the nontraditional season without losing a year of eligibility if there is a verifiable academic reason why the student-athlete did not participate in the traditional season or no competition occurs during that segment;

• Limiting the playing season to 18 weeks in fall sports and 19 weeks in winter and spring sports;

• Decreasing the overall length and combined contest limits in the traditional and nontraditional segment by 10 percent and establishing combined maximums, with caps, for both segments;

• Permitting a student-athlete toself-release" to speak to athletics departments at other Division III institutions regarding a possible transfer, while also strengthening the consequences for coaches and athletics personnel who speak to student-athletes at other institutions without permission;

• Adding language to the Division III Philosophy Statement to "assure that athletics recruitment complies with the established policies and procedures applicable to the institutional admissions process;"

• Eliminating a current exception that permits out-of-season instruction between coaches and student-athletes in selected sports; and

• Adopting a resolution to further address issues related to membership growth as part of the division's ongoing strategic-planning process. The resolution will include the division's broad-based program philosophy, appropriate championships access, postseason opportunities in lieu of championships, access to other NCAA programs and services, and the greater exercise of legislative autonomy by schools and conferences.

In actions taken by the other NCAA presidential bodies meeting in Indianapolis today:

• The Division II Presidents Council reviewed legislation that it will sponsor for a membership vote at the 2004 NCAA Convention. For 2004, the Division II Presidents Council will sponsor 47 proposals, including one that would require enrolled student-athletes to have successfully completed six credit hours from the previous term to be eligible for athletics competition. Current legislation identifies only annual academic thresholds for continuing eligibility.

• The Division II Presidents Council also agreed to sponsor legislation for the 2005 Convention to create an Academic Success Rate report that will provide a measure of Division II academic outcomes that includes student-athletes not receiving athletically related financial aid, incoming transfer student-athletes and student-athletes who leave the program.

• The Division I Board of Directors approved the report of the Division I Task Force that included a statement noting the Task Force had fulfilled its original objectives, which were to: review the division's broad goals and develop a conceptual and visionary framework for the strategic planning efforts; oversee the development of the economic baseline study; and review and prioritize issues within the Association, particularly as the issues related to academic and fiscal integrity. Also approved as part of the report was the task force's recommendation that a Committee on Academic Performance (CAP) be formulated to serve as an oversight body for the incentives/disincentives program. The committee would include nine members, with the recommendation that a member institution president or chancellor serve as chair on the newly created committee.

• The Division I Task Force also recommended the creation of a second appellate body, which would be limited to hearing matters involving postseason penalties, membership restrictions and claims of abuse of discretion by the CAP. This committee would serve as a subcommittee to the Board of Directors to ensure CEO oversight and involvement.

KH:mel

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