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.
Institutions should consider nominating graduating women for the 2025 NCAA Woman of the Year to honor their academic, athletic, community and leadership achievements. The Woman of the Year award honors top female student-athletes’ accomplishments in the classroom, in competition and in the community. Nominations can be submitted through the NCAA Program Hub by any athletics department administrator with an .edu email address but must be approved by the director of athletics and senior woman administrator. Nominations are due by 5 p.m. Eastern time on Monday, June 23.
DEADLINE APPROACHING: 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. Eastern time Tuesday, July 1. Please email Sadie Martinez (smartinez@ncaa.org) with questions.
Health and Safety Survey
The latest Health and Safety Survey (for all three divisions) is live on Institutional Performance Program webpage on ncaa.org. Thank you to all that participated in the survey.
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:
June 3 – NCAA Legal Updates.
Aug. 12 – Recap of Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, Management Council and Presidents Council meetings.
All past webinar PowerPoints are on the Division III webinar webpage.
Certifying transfer student-athletes. Per NCAA Bylaw 14.5.1, a student-athlete who transfers to a Division III institution from any other collegiate institution is required to satisfy applicable transfer requirements or qualify for an exception before being eligible to compete for or to receive travel expenses from the institution. A transfer student-athlete is immediately eligible for competition at a Division III school provided the student-athlete meets one of the criteria in Bylaws 14.5.4 (for two-year college transfers) or 14.5.5 (for four-year college transfers).
To determine whether a transfer student-athlete meets a criterion, it is important to first understand the student-athlete’s complete and accurate educational and athletics participation history. To do so, we recommend creating a timeline starting with the student’s high school graduation date and continuing through the student’s enrollment at your institution. You’ll want to know the following:
Each collegiate institution where the student was enrolled full-time.
Any gaps in full-time enrollment (i.e., academic terms when the student was not enrolled in college or when the student was part-time).
Athletics participation history, both practice and competition, per term at each institution.
The resources you use to ensure the timeline is accurate may include transfer tracers from previous institutions, NCAA Transfer Portal information (if available), official transcripts or your registrar's office for reviewing transferable credits. Once you have a full educational and participation history outlook, you can accurately identify the type of transfer (two-year college transfer or four-year) and apply the correct transfer legislation.
Remember, if you determine that the transfer student-athlete is not immediately eligible for competition, then in most cases, you may recertify the student-athlete after the student’s first full-time term at your institution provided the student meets the standards that are required of all student-athletes.
NCAA Division III Amendment Procedures for the 2026 NCAA Convention
Information related to submitting new legislative amendments for the 2026 NCAA Convention is now available on the NCAA website. All materials regarding this mailing can be accessed by clicking this link. Any questions regarding legislative procedures, the amendment-to-amendment or the resolution processes should be referred to Jeff Myers (jmyers@ncaa.org) or Corey Berg (cberg@ncaa.org).
Sports Sponsorship Participation and Demographics Form Waiver
If your institution did not meet overall sports sponsorship requirements for the 2024-25 school year, you may consider filing a sports sponsorship waiver via Requests/Self-Reports Online. We recommend reviewing the Filing a Division III Sports-Sponsorship Waiver Request resource before submitting the request. If you have additional questions, please contact Eric Hartung (ehartung@ncaa.org) and Julie Zike (jzike@ncaa.org) .
NCAA Compliance Forms
As of Friday, May 30, the NCAA Compliance Forms application went offline for annual maintenance and form updates. The maintenance is expected to last approximately one month. While offline, users will be unable to access the application and any data stored within it. Don’t worry, though: PDF versions of the 2024-25 compliance forms remain available on Division III’s membership page on ncaa.org. Please direct any questions to forms@ncaa.org.
NCAA Division III Rules Test
Beginning July 21, the NCAA Division III Rules Test will be offline as the NCAA Learning Portal undergoes annual maintenance and updates. While offline, users will be unable to access the application and any data stored within it. The 2025-26 Rules Test will be available Aug. 1. Please direct any questions to d3coachesexam@ncaa.org.
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 d3identity@ncaa.org.
DEADLINE APPROACHING: 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 Oct. 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.
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 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. To schedule a fully funded Adult MHFA training for their Division III school, athletics directors or athletic trainers should visit mentalhealthfirstaid.org/ncaa/ to complete an inquiry 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 Sport Science Institute recently released a new resource for schools and student-athletes to better understand cannabis myths and truths. The resource uses a campus-based harm reduction approach incorporating education as a tool in preventing, identifying and managing problematic cannabis use. This fact sheet addresses myths about cannabis use in collegiate athletes.
NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports
Indianapolis
June 10
Faculty Athletics Representatives Advisory Group
Virtual
June 10
Playing Rules Oversight Panel
Virtual
June 10
Presidents Advisory Group
Virtual
June 12
Interpretations and Legislation Committee
Virtual
June 16-17
Championships Committee
Indianapolis
June 16
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Subcommittee
Virtual
June 25
Convention Planning Subcommittee
Virtual
June 25
Membership Committee
Indianapolis
June 26
PC Futures Subcommittee
Virtual
July 1
NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship Committee
Virtual
July 9
Strategic Planning and Finance Committee
Virtual
July 17
Membership Committee
Virtual
July 17
Playing Rules Oversight Panel
Virtual
July 19-20
Student-Athlete Advisory Committee
Indianapolis
July 20
Management Council/SAAC Joint Meeting
Indianapolis
July 21-22
Management Council
Indianapolis
Aug. 4
Presidents Council
Virtual
Aug. 7
NCAA Board of Governors
Virtual
Aug. 13
Playing Rules Oversight Panel
Virtual
Aug. 19
Championships Committee
Virtual
Aug. 19-20
Division III Commissioners Association/NADIIIAA Executive Committees
Indianapolis
Aug. 21
Membership Committee
Virtual
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.
