This update is a tool to enhance communication between the NCAA national office and the Division III membership, with distribution to athletics directors, senior woman administrators, faculty athletics representatives, presidents, national SAAC, conference commissioners and the National Association of Division III Athletic Administrators listserv. We encourage athletics directors to share this communication with their athletics department members. Please contact Katie Mucci to include an item or share comments, and remember to check out the Division III governance homepage for the latest news and information.
Division III is excited to engage the National Council for Mental Wellbeing to fund Division III athletic trainers and head coaches to receive adult Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training to support the mental well-being of student-athletes throughout the division. Schools will be eligible to receive one fully funded training during the program, which is in effect until Aug. 1, 2027.
To learn more about the program, click here, and to schedule a fully funded Adult MHFA training for your NCAA Division III school, athletics directors or athletic trainers should visit mentalhealthfirstaid.org/ncaa/ to complete an inquiry form.
MARK YOUR CALENDAR: Join the DIII Week Social Media Blast
Join us in celebrating Division III with a coordinated social media blast. We ask all members to post a celebratory Division III Week message at 3 p.m. Eastern time Monday, April 7, using the hashtags #D3Week and #WhyD3.
SAVE THE DATE: Division III Week
Mark your calendars! The annual Division III Week will be held April 7-13. Division III Week is a positive opportunity for all individuals associated with the division to observe and celebrate the impact of athletics and of student-athletes on the campus and surrounding community. During the week, every Division III school and conference office is encouraged to conduct a type of outreach activity that falls into one of three categories: academic accomplishment; athletics experience; or leadership/community service/campus involvement. For more information, click here.
2026 Division III Convention Education Session
The Division III Convention Planning Subcommittee is pleased to announce the creation of a pilot program that will allow Division III members to conduct one of the three Division III-specific NCAA Convention education sessions. This initiative provides an exciting opportunity for the membership to plan and lead an education session at the 2026 NCAA Convention.
Members are invited to submit proposals to conduct the education session via the NCAA Program Hub titled “2026 NCAA Division III Convention Education Session Proposals” by May 9, 5 p.m. Eastern time. This pilot program aims to enhance the educational programming available to the Division III membership during the Convention.
Please contact Bill Regan, Managing Director Division III (bfregan@ncaa.org) with any questions.
Sports Sponsorship Data Collection
The 2024-25 sports sponsorship data collection process is now open. Completed sports sponsorship data is due by 11:59 p.m. Tuesday, July 1. There will be a one-month correction period from Wednesday, July 2, to Monday, Aug. 4. Contest and participation data is used to ensure Division III minimum requirements are met. All schools have an obligation to submit accurate data to assist in upholding the integrity of the NCAA. Please email Sadie Martinez (smartinez@ncaa.org) with questions.
Graduation Rates Data Collection
The 2024-25 graduation rates data collection process is open, and the data is due by 11:59 p.m. Sunday, June 1. Please reach out to Sadie Martinez (smartinez@ncaa.org) with questions.
LGBTQ of the Year Recognition Awards
The 2025 LGBTQ of the Year Awards nomination application period is now open. For the award criteria, click here. Visit the NCAA Program Hub to submit nominations until June 1.
NCAA GOALS Study
Faculty athletics representatives at each NCAA member school have been asked to administer the 2025 NCAA GOALS Study to one to three prespecified teams. THANK YOU to those who have already administered (or have scheduled a date to administer) this survey, which stands for Growth, Opportunities, Aspirations and Learning of Students in college. The deadline is June 1.
Why it matters: Given the rapid changes occurring on campus communities nationwide, and in college athletics at all levels, this is a crucial time to hear directly from NCAA student-athletes about their current experiences. The data from the 2025 study can be compared with data from previous GOALS study iterations to provide NCAA committees with important information on how NCAA student-athletes are currently experiencing the pursuit of athletic and academic excellence.
FARs can find information about administering the GOALS study, including materials to support the institutional review board process, at NCAA GOALS Study — ncaa.org. Questions and requests can be referred to Lydia Bell (lbell@ncaa.org).
Division III Webinars
Webinars will be from 1:30 to 2 p.m. Eastern time the first Tuesday of the month on the following dates and topics:
April 8 – NIL Assist.
May 6 – Recap of Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, Management Council and Presidents Council meetings.
June 3 – Athletics Communication Strategic resource.
All past webinar PowerPoints are on the Division III webinar webpage.
As you plan for the upcoming summer camp season, remember Bylaw 13.11.3.2. You and your coaches can host or conduct camps and clinics involving prospective student-athletes, provided the following conditions are met:
The events must be open to the general public.
The events do not offer free or reduced admission to prospective student-athletes.
Any awards or mementos given to attendees are included in the admissions fees.
In addition to those conditions, here are a few more helpful camp and clinic reminders:
No athletics department staff member may be employed (salaried or volunteer) in any capacity if the events are established, sponsored or conducted by a recruiting and scouting service.
A camp or clinic is considered open to the general public provided participation is only limited by number of attendees, age, gender and grade level. If participation is limited by any other criteria, including academic criteria (for example, grade-point average, standardized test score), the event is not considered open to the general public.
When coaches are invited to coach outside camps and clinics, Bylaw 13.11.3.2 still applies.
Finally, check out the Camps & Clinics DIII University module, available in the NCAA Learning Portal for your use anytime.
2025 NCAA Regional Rules Seminar Registration Open
Registration is open for the 2025 NCAA Regional Rules Seminar! Please click here to register. The seminar will be held in person May 28-30 in Indianapolis. This three-day event offers participants the opportunity to select educational sessions from a variety of program offerings.
Association-wide programming will take place Wednesday morning of that week and conclude late Friday afternoon. Division III sessions will begin Thursday morning and conclude by late afternoon Friday. Division III attendees may attend the 2025 NCAA Regional Rules Seminar in one of the following ways:
Attending in person May 28-30 in Indianapolis.
Viewing the livestream of the Division III sessions.
In addition, a special panel discussion sponsored by Teamworks, tailored specifically for Division III attendees, will explore “Leveraging Digital Solutions for Compliance Efficiency.” It will be available before the lunch break Thursday to those attending in person. In the registration link, you will have the opportunity to arrange a hotel room associated with the seminar. Attendees are encouraged to register as early as possible to secure a hotel room.
If conference offices, schools or specific membership groups are interested in obtaining meeting space for ancillary meetings from May 27 to 30, please submit a meeting space request here by April 8. Available meeting space is on a first-requested, first-served basis and at no cost. A frequently asked questions document is available here.
Division III Attendance Requirement
Division III schools required to attend the 2025 NCAA Regional Rules Seminar may complete the requirement only by attending the in-person seminar in Indianapolis. Viewing the Division III Regional Rules Seminar sessions via livestream will NOT reset the once-in-three-year’s attendance requirement. Additional staff from a school that is required to attend may access the livestream option; however, an individual from the school must attend in person to satisfy the attendance requirement.
At least once every three years, an active member school must be represented by at least one institutional staff member at a Conference Rules Seminar or the NCAA Regional Rules Seminar. If you are unsure if you need to attend, please reference the Division III 2025 Regional Rules Seminar Required Attendance List.
You can also find the Division III 2025 Regional Rules Seminar required attendance information on the event website.
If you have questions related to the above attendance requirements, contact Brittany Higgins (bhiggins@ncaa.org) or if you have general questions regarding the 2025 NCAA Regional Rules Seminar, please visit ncaa.org or contact ncaaregionalrulesseminars@ncaa.org.
REMINDER: Blanket Waiver in Effect for Athletics Diversity and Inclusion Designee Legislation.
The NCAA Division III Management Council Subcommittee for Legislative Relief recently issued a blanket waiver providing relief of the following Division III legislation:
Bylaw 20.8.4.22 — Athletics Diversity and Inclusion Designee.
Bylaw 20.9.4.6 — Athletics Diversity and Inclusion Designee.
In granting the request, the Division III Subcommittee for Legislative Relief noted:
More than 20 states have passed legislation over the past two years that prevents dozens of member schools in all three divisions from complying with these requirements. In turn, the NCAA has previously provided relief to these requirements on an individual basis as the laws become effective and member schools make operational adjustments to comply.
On Jan. 21, President Donald Trump signed Executive Order 14173, titled “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity.” The order addressing diversity, equity and inclusion policies calls for the federal government to develop plans to investigate and consider significant enforcement actions against any college or university that may engage in “DEI discrimination” actions. Given the nationwide impact of the order, blanket relief for all member schools from these requirements is necessary.
The blanket waiver is effective through the 2025-26 academic year.
See RSRO Case No. 1239044 in Requests/Self-Reports Online via the search tab for more information.
ATHLETICS COMMUNICATION UPDATES
Share Your Stories
Division III is looking to feature membership stories on social media and through NCAA.com. To share stories for consideration, please email Katie Mucci at kmucci@ncaa.org.
NCAA and D3SIDA Recognition Award
The NCAA Division III and D3SIDA Recognition Award seeks to honor the best work — including news releases, feature articles, videos, blogs and other materials — produced by Division III campus and conference athletics communication offices. Each top honoree will receive a $1,500 credit to attend Division III Day at the annual College Sports Communicators convention. The next submission deadline is May 15. For more information, click here.
Media Coordination/Statistics Staff Contacts
The current contacts at the NCAA for media coordination and statistics can be found here.
Application for the Women Leaders in Sports 2025 Leadership Experiences are now open. To learn more about the opportunities, click here. Scholarship/grant dollars are available for all. There also is program-specific information for the On the Rise Summit, an entry level virtual opportunity, and the Accelerator Summit, a senior level in-person program.
Special Olympics Unified College Championship Week is coming back this spring from April 7-11. More information regarding registration, activities and kickoff events will be shared throughout the semester. Learn more about champ week here. If you have any questions, please contact Elizabeth Price (eprice@specialolympics.org).
Special Olympics Reporting Form
Share the Special Olympics activities taking place on your campus or with your conference by filling out the Special Olympics reporting form here. You can also email stories about activities to d3specialolympics@ncaa.org.
The Field Hockey Rules Subcommittee approved four rules modifications for the 2025 season. The subcommittee is interested in your feedback on these proposed modifications. The two-week comment period will be sent to coaches and administrators in early March.
RefQuest
The NCAA has extended its current agreement with RQ+, its officiating services provider, and is implementing a long-term strategy, the Officiating Reform Initiative, to provide additional resources and tools to assist all conferences in addressing concerns about officiating. Starting with the 2024-25 academic year, the NCAA will cover the cost of the RQ+ officiating platform, including payment transaction fees and signature software costs, for Division II, Division III and single-sport conferences if certain requirements are met. We anticipate announcing changes to the 2025-26 Officiating Reform Initiative soon. Updated summary and FAQ documents for 2025-26 and beyond will be available here.
Softball
The Softball Rules Survey is available April 1-30. Head coaches, conference coordinators and umpires will receive an email April 1 with the survey link. Conference commissioners, directors of athletics and school senior woman administrators may access the survey through the survey dashboard. If you did not receive the link or are unable to access the survey, please contact Ashlee Follis (afollis@ncaa.org).
Men’s Wrestling
The Men’s Wrestling Rules Committee will meet April 28-30 for its annual meeting. It is a rules change year.
In partnership with the Big Ten Conference and the University of Michigan, the NCAA Sport Science Institute invites you to register for the seventh annual NCAA-U.S. Department of Defense Grand Alliance Concussion Conference: A New Era of Scientific Collaboration that will occur virtually Thursday, April 10. During the daylong event, concussion experts and researchers will share preliminary and recently publicized data from the NCAA-U.S. Department of Defense Grand Alliance, the largest longitudinal clinical and advanced research study to investigate concussion and head impact exposure. Participants will hear from key concussion studies including the CARE Consortium, the NCAA one-year study, TRACK-TBI and NFL LONG studies. To register, click here.
The NCAA, in partnership with EPIC Global Solutions, recently announced an extension of its gambling harm education program, which has provided free in-person educational sessions to over 80,000 participants. Additional resources include:
A new module for coaches that was recently released in the NCAA Learning Portal (learn more).
The “Draw the Line” campaign, which offers tool kits to prepare educational materials for student-athletes.
The NCAA monitors over 22,000 contests annually to promote fair play and screens 20,000 officials each year.
Collaborating with Signify, the NCAA is studying championships at higher risk for online abuse, including the Division I Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships, to enhance protection measures.
Learn more about the results from the first year of the program.
With increased reports of student-athletes receiving social media abuse via direct message on Instagram, the NCAA encourages discussions with student-athletes about use of the “Limits” feature on Instagram. Student-athletes can temporarily limit unwanted interactions by hiding comments and message requests from certain groups, such as nonfollowers or recent followers. Learn more here.
Learn more: Dive into the NCAA’s resources and efforts by visiting its sports betting page.
NCAA Post-Eligibility Insurance Program
As winter sports come to a close, it’s important to remember the NCAA Post-Eligibility Insurance Program, which supports all NCAA student-athletes beyond their playing days. This program provides peace of mind by covering medical expenses for athletic injuries sustained during participation in a qualifying sport. Coverage includes up to $90,000 for injuries occurring on or after Aug. 1, 2024.
Key information includes the following:
The program covers up to two years (104 weeks) after a student-athlete separates from school or voluntarily withdraws from athletics.
No enrollment action is required from schools; student-athletes are automatically covered.
Schools should ensure all injuries are documented and on file with their athletics department.
Administrative Committee, Mar. 3
Nominating Committee, Mar. 12
Championships Committee, Mar. 18
Interpretations and Legislation Committee, Mar. 20
Membership Committee, Mar. 20
Strategic Planning and Finance Committee, Mar. 25
NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sport
Indianapolis
June 10
Faculty Athletics Representatives Advisory Group
Virtual
June 10
Playing Rules Oversight Panel
Virtual
June 12
Interpretations and Legislation Committee
Virtual
June 16-17
Championships Committee
Indianapolis
June 25
Convention Planning Subcommittee
Virtual
June 25
Membership Committee
Indianapolis
This email was sent to NCAA Division III presidents and chancellors, athletics direct reports, directors of athletics, faculty athletics representatives, senior woman administrators, sports information directors, directors of compliance, commissioners, assistant/associate commissioners, national Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, provisional, reclassifying and exploratory members based on contact information in the NCAA Directory.
