The NCAA Division III staff has created this bi-weekly communication for the Division III membership to provide up-to-date communications on recent Division III governance meeting discussions and outcomes. Please share this communication with your campus and conference colleagues.

Division III Name, Image & Likeness (NIL) Working Group, June 30
The NIL Working Group recently held its inaugural meeting. The group was created to fulfill 2026-3, the resolution that was adopted by the membership at the 2026 NCAA Convention. The working group will continue to meet monthly to assess and discuss the status of NIL across the division. In the near future, the working group’s monthly meeting agendas and reports will be posted on ncaa.org. There will be a formal report-out at the 2027 NCAA Convention during the Division III Issues Forum.

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Upcoming Meetings and Anticipated Discussions. 

Nominating Committee, July 13
Committee vacancies. The committee will meet via videoconference to review the nominations for the six remaining September 2026 vacancies along with a handful of immediate vacancies. 

Membership Committee, July 16 
Athletics program assessments. The committee will review athletics program assessments from three institutions currently on probation for failure to meet Division III sports sponsorship minimums.

Sports sponsorship waiver requests. The committee will consider requests from two institutions to waive sports sponsorship requirements for the 2025-26 academic year. 

Presidents Council Futures Subcommittee, July 17
Division III Analysis. The subcommittee will review and provide feedback regarding the working group’s proposed options to address the identified tensions. 

Campus senior leaders initiative. The subcommittee will recommend that the Presidents Council support this new initiative to better engage and educate campus senior leaders (i.e., presidents/chancellors and Athletics Direct Reports). The Presidents Council will act during its August meeting.

Joint presidential session. The subcommittee will review and provide feedback on the identified higher education trends and roundtable questions for the joint presidents meeting (i.e., Presidents Council and PAG) occurring in Oct. with Division II presidential leadership. The feedback will be shared with the Presidents Council during its Aug. meeting. 

Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, July 18-19
New members. The committee will welcome 16 new members who will be attending their first in-person National SAAC meeting at the national office.

Agenda. Key agenda items include continued efforts to elevate the student-athlete voice and discussions on Division III and Association-wide priorities for the upcoming year. Members will hear updates from NCAA staff and guest speakers, receive an update on the DIII Analysis Working Group, get a first look at the legislative proposals for the 2027 NCAA Convention, finalize subcommittee assignments for 2026-27, review strategic goals and initiatives, and share best practices for communicating with SAACs and student-athletes across the division.

Special Olympics. The meeting will conclude with a Special Olympics activity involving local Indiana Special Olympics athletes and members of the Management Council, providing an opportunity to build connections and reinforce the committee's commitment to inclusion and engagement.

Management Council, July 20-21
FY27 and FY28 budget. The council will review the FY27 and FY28 recommended budget for the division.

Interpretations and Legislation Committee. The council will consider a request to issue an official interpretation that would clarify how Division III will evaluate the eligibility of a student-athlete who transfers from a division or association that does not recognize the use of a season.

The council also will consider a request to approve a modification of wording to clarify that an individual may enter and/or be drafted by a professional league before initial full-time collegiate enrollment without jeopardizing their eligibility.

Noncontroversial legislation. The council will consider the following recommendations to approve, in concept, noncontroversial legislation:

• Amend the legislation regarding the composition of the National Collegiate Championship committees.
• Amend the amateurism legislation to permit individuals before initial, full-time enrollment in team sports to accept prize money beyond their actual and necessary expenses and to permit all individuals to accept any prize money from the sponsor of the event.
• To allow the NCAA Division III Presidents Council to create a consent agenda at its annual NCAA Convention meeting for use at the Division III Business Session when appropriate.
• Permit conferences to be immediately eligible for representation on committees.
• To allow the NCAA Division III Championships Committee to have final approval on the slate of nominees for Division III sport and playing rules committees.
• Permit student-athletes to practice while a hardship waiver appeal is pending with NCAA staff.
• To increase the Division III Committee on Student-Athlete Reinstatement from six to 10 members.
• To eliminate the Awards Committee.

2027 Convention legislation. The council will consider the following requests to sponsor legislation for the 2027 convention:

• To permit individuals to enter into an agreement with an agent for the purpose of identifying or securing playing opportunities and receive benefits before their initial, full-time collegiate enrollment.
• Add flag football as an NCAA national collegiate championship and establish a women’s flag football committee.

Committee on Student-Athlete Reinstatement. The council will review a request to review the committee’s policies to: 

• Revise outdated language.
• Amend existing sports wagering guidelines that would allow penalty reductions, provided it is the student-athlete’s first violation, the violation does not involve integrity concerns, and the student-athlete engages in appropriate clinical evaluation or support.

Election of officers. The council will elect a chair and vice chair effective with the close of the 2027 NCAA Convention.

Commercial logos on uniforms. The council will discuss and determine if the governance structure should explore 2028 convention legislation to permit commercial sponsor logos on uniforms.

DIII Analysis. The council will review recommendations from the Division III Analysis working group regarding the referral of potential options to address tensions identified by the Division III membership.

Athletic Trainer Connect Program. The council will have an initial discussion about the development of a connect program for Division III athletic trainers. 

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Reminders. 

2027 convention legislative proposals – comment period. Eight of the nine membership proposals submitted by the July 1 deadline have reached the threshold to receive the benefit of the public comment period in LSDBi. During the comment period (ends September 1), institutions and conferences can publicly offer feedback on items in the legislative cycle. Each conference and institution is limited to one comment per proposal, but that comment does not have a length limit, and it can be updated/edited at any time before September 1.

2026-27 NCAA compliance forms. The 2026-27 NCAA Compliance Forms are now available in the NCAA Compliance Forms application, which is available via NCAA My Apps. PDF versions of the forms are available via the Compliance Forms and Reporting section of each divisions Legislation and Policy page at www.ncaa.org. Please note that the 2026-27 Division III Self-Release Form will be posted on August 1, when the Division III rules transition from permission to contact to notification of transfer. Questions about the Compliance Forms application may be emailed to forms@ncaa.org.