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.
The Woman of the Year Selection Committee has announced the national Top 30 honorees for the 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year Award. Selected from 577 school nominees — a group that was then narrowed to 156 nominees at the conference level — the Top 30 honorees include 10 from each of the three NCAA divisions. Each honoree has demonstrated excellence in academics, athletics, community service and leadership. The honorees represent 14 sports and include nine multisport student-athletes. The Top 30 honorees and finalists will be celebrated Thursday, Jan. 12, during a luncheon at the 2023 NCAA Convention.
Recruiting Fact Sheet
The NCAA staff has recently updated a two-page recruiting resourcethat provides thumbnail descriptions of the three NCAA divisions, as well as key facts and figures. This resource may be beneficial to Division III coaches and admissions counselors as they are promoting the benefits of Division III.
2023 NCAA Convention — Student Attendees
Do you have a student from your school who is attending the 2023 NCAA Convention? The student registration fee is $50, and students must register for the Convention and lodging in the same manner as all other delegates. (Note: Students serving on the national Division III Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, SAAC associate members or students selected through the Division III Student Immersion Program will be registered for the Convention through a different process.) Click
herefor a chart that identifies programming the staff and Division III SAAC believe will be beneficial to Division III student attendees.
Division III Webinars
Webinars are on the first Tuesday of the month from 1:30 to 2 p.m. Eastern time on the following dates and topics:
Nov. 1 — Updates from Management and Presidents Council meetings.
Dec. 6 — Academic and membership affairs review of 2023 Convention legislation.
Feb. 7 — 2023 Convention recap.
All past webinar PowerPoints are on the Division III webinar webpage.
2023 Student Immersion Program
The eighth annual Division III Student Immersion Program will be on Jan. 11-14 in conjunction with the NCAA Convention. A subgroup of the Division III Diversity and Inclusion Working Group selected this year’s
participants, who consist of 40 students of color interested in a career in athletics. The selected students will be exposed to Division III, its members and the governance process. In addition to taking part in the scheduled Division III Convention programming, participants will attend welcome and debriefing meetings, participate in a DISC assessment and be assigned to a mentor.
2023 NCAA Convention Resource Page
Please visit the 2023 Convention resource webpageto access this year’s Convention resources. Staff will post key information (for example, the Official Notice, legislative proposal Q&A guide, and education session PowerPoints) on this page as they become available.
2022 NCAA Financial Reporting
2022 NCAA financial reporting is due Jan. 15. There are two methods to meet the constitutional requirement of reporting financial data annually.
Submit financial data to the NCAA via the Financial Reporting System.
Submit the Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act Certificate of Completion to the NCAA via the Financial Reporting System.
The required financial data or EADA Certificate of Completion is submitted via the Membership Financial Reporting System located within My Apps (single-source sign-on), which can be accessed from NCAA.org. For information, contact Andrea Worlock (aworlock@ncaa.org) at the national office.
Many institutional sports teams are preparing to transition from the traditional season to the nontraditional season this academic year. During this time, it is important to remember what your institutional strength and conditioning coaches can post during the season and outside the season on social media.
During the declared playing season
May post photos/videos of in-season activities.
Outside the declared playing season
May not post voluntary workouts with student-athletes.
May not "retweet," comment on or share enrolled student-athletes’ posts about out-of-season voluntary athletically related activities.
SAVE THE DATE: Regional Rules
Join us in-person May 16-18 in Indianapolis at the 2023 NCAA Regional Rules Seminar.
The Regional Rules Seminar provides an opportunity for the membership, affiliate members and others across all three divisions to discuss NCAA rules, policies and procedures, share best practices and connect with peers. For more information, click here. If you have questions regarding the 2023 NCAA Regional Rules Seminars, please visitncaa.orgor contact NCAARegionalRulesSeminars@ncaa.org.
Bylaw 14.1.9 Graduate/postbaccalaureate student eligibility directive for non-Division III graduates. Following a request from the Subcommittee for Legislative Relief and a recommendation from Management Council, the Division III Presidents Council eliminated the waiver criteria that a graduate or postbaccalaureate student-athlete must possess a minimum 3.0 cumulative grade point average to be eligible. Rationale for the decision cites that the requirement to graduate with a minimum 3.0 grade point average is not a proper measure of academic success or aptitude, as Division III institutions offer graduate and postbaccalaureate admission to students with various experiences and academic histories. A grade-point average requirement prohibits non-Division III graduates from having the same opportunities to participate as their Division III peers. Existing Bylaw 14.1.9 resources will be updated in
the coming weeks and institutions are encouraged to send questions to NCAA staff through RSRO.
The NCAA Leadership Collective is now housed under a new URL: leadershipcollective.ncaa.org. The NCAA is committed to fostering a culture of diversity and inclusion across college athletics, and the Leadership Collective serves as a tool to progress toward an environment of diverse representation in collegiate coaching and athletics administration. The Leadership Collective is an interactive and user-friendly platform, which highlights the vast professional accomplishments of ethnic minorities within college sports through customizable, in-depth personal profiles. For more information, check out the program website here.
DISC
NCAA leadership development is happy to announce the return of the DISC program for this academic year. All workshop time slots through November have been filled. Requests are still being accepted for Dec. 1-15 and Jan. 20 through May 30. Please reference the below dates for this academic year:
DISC Winter Moratorium: The DISC program will be on a moratorium from Dec. 16 until Jan. 20. Workshops will not be held during this time.
DISC Summer Moratorium: The DISC program will be on a moratorium from May 31 until Sept. 11. Workshops will not be held during this time.
NCAA member athletics departments and conference offices can utilize the updated workshop request form link to secure their workshop for this coming academic year. For questions about the DISC Program, email disc@ncaa.org.
The NCAA Division III and D3SIDA recognition award is a partnership to recognize the best work by athletics communication directors portraying the Division III identity and student-athlete experience. Timothy Farrell of the University Athletic Association was selected as the winner of the fall 2022 award. To view his story, click here.
Applications are now open for the winter 2022 award, and submissions are due by Feb. 15, 2023. For more information on nominating, click here.
Division III Public Service Announcements
To increase brand awareness and promote Division III, six 30-second public service announcements and one combined video of all six announcements were created by the national office for use during championship and regular-season events, where space is available. You can find links to download those for use in your broadcasts here.
The first edition of the monthly communications update was sent Oct. 18. Future emails will be sent on the third Tuesday of each month. The update includes key information for communications directors in Division III member schools and conferences.
There were no submissions for the October Spotlight. The Diversity Spotlight Initiative recognizes and promotes outstanding diversity-related projects, programming and initiatives occurring on Division III campuses and in conference offices. To submit an initiative for consideration for November, email Katie Mucci with a brief statement (no more than 500 words) as to why your school or conference office deserves to be the spotlight recipient. Attach a video or photo if applicable. The nomination deadline is Nov. 21.
Diversity Tip of the Month
For academic eligibility purposes, the NCAA defines an education-impacting disability as a current impairment that has a substantial educational impact on a student’s academic performance and requires accommodation. Click here to learn more.
Leadership development educates and empowers student-athletes, coaches and athletics administrators through transformative experiences that develop effective leaders, cultivate an inclusive community and enhance the college sports landscape. To browse the NCAA leadership development full program catalog, click here. Follow along and engage with NCAA Leadership Development by using the hashtag #NCAALearnLead on social media.
DEADLINE APPROACHING: NCAA Winter Programming
NCAA leadership development is excited to announce the opening of four program applications. The Emerging Leaders Seminar, Foundations of Fundraising, NCAA/NFL Coaches Academy and Student-Athlete Leadership Forum Facilitators applications are now accepting submissions via Program Hub. Applications close at 5 p.m. Eastern time Nov. 11. For more information about these programs, check out the leadership development website, here. To apply via Program Hub, click here.
The NCAA Division III Special Olympics Spotlight Poll is a storytelling initiative on ncaa.org/D3SpecialOlympics. It features new stories each month that highlight a Division III and Special Olympics joint activity or event. Starting in October, the story with the highest number of votes on the 15th day of each month is the winner. That school or conference receives $500 to use for its next Special Olympics event. Written and digital submissions both are accepted. Featured stories are selected based on inclusion of the student-athlete perspective and Division III messaging. To submit a story for consideration, email d3specialolympics@ncaa.org.
Have you checked out the new 360 Proof app? This free, alcohol harm reduction program is now available within MyApps on ncaa.org, apps.ncaa.org. You can make a positive difference in the alcohol choices your student-athletes make just by sharing a school-specific link. Please contact Leah Kareti with any questions about the resource.
An interpretation regarding the 20-second action clock has been issued for NCAA baseball. The interpretation can be found here, under “Updates.”
Men’s and Women’s Soccer
Volume 4 of the 2022 Playing Rules Questions and Interpretations is available here. Volumes 1, 2 and 3 also are available at the link. For playing rules questions, please contact Rich Grady, NCAA men’s and women’s soccer secretary-rules editor, at ncaasoccersre@gmail.com.
REMINDER:Rule 5.8 in the 2022 and 2023 NCAA Soccer Rules Book outlines the procedure for submitting a postgame protest. Player misidentification, illegal participation or a violent behavior II or fighting red card are the only situations that may be protested. For a violent behavior II or fighting red card to be reviewed, the protest, including video of the incident, must be submitted by the conference office or coordinator of officials.
Softball
REMINDER: The Softball Rules Committee is allowing teams to experiment with a double first base during the 2022 fall and/or 2023 spring season. Any school interested in experimenting with the double first base must submit the request in writing to Vickie Van Kleeck (ncaasbsre@gmail.com). More information is available here.
The NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports met in September and discussed a potential reorganization of the Association’s health and safety strategic priorities, a statement on mental health from the national Student-Athlete Advisory Committees and the upcoming Summit on Cannabis in Collegiate Athletics. Click here for more information on the meeting.
Please note that Phase Two (2022-23 academic year) of the NCAA transgender student-athlete participation policy requires a trans woman to establish eligibility before competing in an NCAA women’s sport. Specifically, a school must submit eligibility documentation prior to the student-athlete’s first competition during the traditional segment, before the nontraditional segment and again before any NCAA championship competition. For complete details, refer to the memo sent earlier this fall or visit ncaa.org/transgender.
NCAA Drug Testing Appeals
During the summer, the NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports approved changes to the NCAA Drug-Testing Appeals process, effective for the 2022-23 academic year.
Several committees conducted meetings in October: Advisory Council, Oct. 4 Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee, Oct. 6 Management Council, Oct. 17-18 Interpretations and Legislation Committee, Oct. 19 Membership Committee, Oct. 20 Presidents Council, Oct. 25-26
KEY DATES NOVEMBER THROUGH JANUARY 2022
2022-23
Dates
Meeting/Championships
Location
Nov. 6
Field Hockey Selection Show (10:30 p.m. ET)
NCAA.com
Nov. 7
Women's Volleyball Selection Show (1 p.m. ET)
NCAA.com
Nov. 7
Men's Soccer Selection Show (1:30 p.m. ET)
NCAA.com
Nov. 7
Women's Soccer Selection Show (2 p.m. ET)
NCAA.com
Nov. 9
Division III Advisory Council
Virtual
Nov. 10
Convention Planning Subcommittee
Virtual
Nov. 13
Cross Country Selection Release (by 3 p.m. ET)
NCAA.com
Nov. 13
Football Selection Show (5:30 p.m. ET)
NCAA.com
Nov. 13-14
Student-Athlete Advisory Committee
Indianapolis, IN
Nov. 14-15
Financial Aid Committee
Indianapolis, IN
Nov. 15
Strategic Planning and Finance Committee
Virtual
Nov. 15
Championships Committee
Virtual
Nov. 16
Interpretations and Legislation Committee
Virtual
Nov. 16-19
Women’s Volleyball Championship
Pittsburgh, PA
Nov. 17
Membership Committee
Virtual
Nov. 18-20
Field Hockey Championship
Glassboro, NJ
Nov. 19
Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Championship
Lansing, MI
Dec. 2-3
Men's and Women's Soccer Championship
Salem, VA
Dec. 5
Advisory Council
Virtual
Dec. 7
Administrative Committee
Virtual
Dec. 13
Championships Committee
Virtual
Dec. 15
Convention Planning Subcommittee
Virtual
Dec. 15
Membership Committee
Virtual
Dec. 16
Football Championship
Annapolis, MD
Dec. 21
Interpretations and Legislation Committee
Virtual
Jan. 11-14
NCAA Convention
San Antonio, TX
Jan. 10-11
SAAC
San Antonio, TX
Jan. 11
Management Council
San Antonio, TX
Jan. 12
Presidents Council
San Antonio, TX
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.
