At the 2022 NCAA Convention, Division II members will vote on nine proposals during their Jan. 22 business session, including changes to the football preseason structure, transfer legislation, the division's legislative options and the infractions process.
Of the nine proposals, three are sponsored by members. For a proposal from the Division II membership to be voted on at an NCAA Convention, it must have at least 15 active Division II schools or two Division II conferences on behalf of 15 or more of their member schools as sponsors. The Division II Presidents Council sponsored the six others.
The proposals that the Division II membership will vote on at the Convention impact the following areas:
Football preseason
One proposal includes the following changes to the division's football preseason practice period to enhance student-athlete safety:
- Extending the five-day acclimatization period to seven days, with one required day off.
- Reducing the maximum number of full-contact practices during the preseason from 17 to nine and establishing limits on the amount of contact during the preseason while retaining flexibility for programs regarding how to structure that period.
- Eliminating the restriction on the number of football student-athletes per group that may engage in skill instruction. This would align football with all other Division II sports.
If adopted, the changes would be effective immediately.
The proposal was developed by the Division II Football Committee and the division's participants on the Football Concussion Data Task Force. Both groups also recommended the prohibition of certain football activities and drills that may increase the probability of head impact exposure and do not simulate gamelike scenarios, which the Presidents Council in June voted to immediately approve. Feedback from key stakeholders such as student-athletes, coaches and medical professionals also helped shape these recommendations.
Football group size restriction
This membership-sponsored proposal from the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and Gulf South Conference would eliminate the group size restriction in football for individual skill instruction outside the playing season. This change is also included in the more expansive football preseason proposal and will become moot if that proposal is adopted. This specific proposal has an immediate effective date if adopted.
Football scrimmage in spring
This membership-sponsored proposal would allow a football team to scrimmage against another four-year school during its spring practice period as one of its three permissible 11-on-11 scrimmages outside the playing season. Additionally, the proposal specifies that a student-athlete's participation in such a scrimmage would not trigger the use of a season of competition if the student-athlete was academically eligible during the fall term. Sponsored by 20 Division II schools, the proposal was opposed by the Division II Presidents Council, the Division II Management Council and the Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports, which noted the proposal does not address the timing of the scrimmage or appropriate physiological preparation for competition against another school.
Transfers
Another proposal would amend legislation in several areas related to four-year college transfers. The proposal, if adopted, has an immediate effective date for student-athletes transferring for the 2022-23 academic year. It includes the following changes:
- Requiring undergraduate student-athletes to complete an educational module related to transferring before the school may enter the student-athlete's information into the NCAA Transfer Portal.
- Eliminating the previous school's ability to object to the use of the one-time transfer exception.
- Requiring the head coach of the certifying school and the student-athlete to certify in writing that no athletics staff member or other representative of the school's athletics interest contacted the student-athlete or any individual associated with the student-athlete (e.g., family member, scholastic or nonscholastic coach, advisor), directly or indirectly, without first obtaining authorization through the notification of transfer process.
- Establishing June 15 as the date by which a student-athlete must provide written notification of transfer to the school to use the one-time transfer exception (not applicable to midyear transfers).
- Permitting schools to reduce or cancel an athletics aid agreement previously signed for the next academic year if a student-athlete requests to be entered into the Transfer Portal. It would remain impermissible to reduce or cancel a student-athlete's athletics aid during the academic year in which the student-athlete provides notification.
Legislative authority
One proposal would broaden the division's legislative options in three areas: emergency legislation, resolutions and special conventions. The aim of this proposal, which has an immediate effective date, is to broaden the division's ability to respond in the future to challenges like those seen during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Recommended by the Division II Presidents and Management Councils, this proposal would broaden the Presidents Council's ability to use emergency legislation to include instances such as immediate health and safety concerns. It would also give the Presidents Council the ability to enact a resolution at any time. Currently, resolutions can be sponsored for a full membership vote only at an annual or special convention. Additionally, it would reduce the sponsorship deadlines for special conventions from 90 days to 30 days.
Civic engagement day
Similar to legislation passed in Division I in 2020, this proposal would prohibit countable athletically related activities, such as practices and games, on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November every year to provide more opportunities for student-athletes to participate in civic engagement activities like voting, volunteering and other community engagement.
The Division II Student-Athlete Advisory Committee recommended the proposal, which would have an Aug. 1 effective date if adopted. Division II SAAC noted that the proposal supports its "Total Package Student-Athlete" goal that encourages student-athletes to be well-rounded students.
Infractions process
One proposal would establish a negotiated resolution path in the Division II infractions process, similar to that of Division I's. To use this path, the enforcement staff, school and involved individuals must agree on the violations, the level of violations and penalties. The Division II Committee on Infractions must then review and approve the resolution agreement.
The proposal was put forward by the Division II Enforcement and Infractions Task Force, which was created to study the recent changes made to the Division I infractions process and to recommend ways to enhance Division II's process. If adopted, this proposal would become effective immediately.
Summer credits, progress-toward-degree requirements
This membership-sponsored proposal would permit student-athletes to use a maximum of six credit hours earned during a summer term toward a voluntary or optional minor to meet progress-toward-degree requirements. Current legislation does not permit student-athletes to use summer credit hours earned in a voluntary or optional minor to meet progress-toward-degree requirements after a student-athlete is required to designate a degree.
The Presidents and Management Councils and the Division II Academic Requirements Committee supported this proposal, which was sponsored by the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference. If adopted, this proposal would become effective immediately.
Sickle cell test
This proposal would eliminate the option for a student-athlete to sign a written release or waiver declining the sickle cell solubility test. All three divisions will vote on this legislative proposal. It was recommended by the Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports, which called for consistent mandatory testing, citing the benefits of appropriately monitoring student-athletes who test positive.
If adopted, its effective date would be Aug. 1, 2022.
Awards
The Division II Award of Excellence winner will be announced during Convention. Twenty-five schools and two conferences were named finalists for the award, which recognizes initiatives in the past year that exemplify the Division II philosophy, community engagement and student-athlete leadership.
Additionally, the 2021 and 2020 Division II Faculty Mentor Award winners will be recognized during the 2022 Convention.
