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.
SAVE THE DATE: NCAA Diversity and Inclusion Social Media Campaign
The 2024 NCAA Diversity and Inclusion Social Media Campaign, presented in partnership with the NCAA Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee and national Student-Athlete Advisory Committees, will take place Tuesday, Oct. 15, through Thursday, Oct. 17.
NCAA Power Index for Championships
Click here for the most up-to-date resource that includes established NPI weights set by the fall, winter and spring championship sport committees and a frequently asked questions guide.
DEADLINE APPROACHING: Division III Student Immersion Program
For the 10th year, Division III will hold the Division III Student Immersion Program. This year’s program will be Jan. 14-17, in conjunction with the NCAA Convention in Nashville, Tennessee. The application, titled “2025 Division III Student Immersion Program,” is available on the Program Hub and closes at 5 p.m. Eastern time Monday, Sept. 16. Final selections will be announced in early October. Students accepted into the program will be invited to attend the NCAA Career in Sports Forum hosted in late spring. The program’s goal is to build a pipeline of candidates who have an interest in Division III coaching and/or administration to ultimately help diversify the division.
Division III Strategic Plan
Each year, the Division III Strategic Planning and Finance Committee updates and approves the division’s strategic plan and budget and forwards it to the Management and Presidents Councils for final approval. The strategic plan begins with the Division III philosophy statement to establish the framework from which the division’s programs, resource allocations and regulatory decisions are made. It summarizes the division’s strategic priorities by outlining what must be accomplished in the current year of the budget triennium for the division to be successful. The plan also highlights all the programs and services offered for the division. Click here to access the 2024-25 strategic plan.
NCAA Directory
As we start a new academic year, it is important to make sure your school and conference information is up to date in the NCAA Directory. NCAA communications are sent to the email addresses in the directory. Click here for instructions on how to update your NCAA Directory information.
Annual List of Required Forms
Click here for a chart that details the Division III annual required forms and actions for schools, and click here for a resource for conference offices that details the 2024-25 annual list of required forms.
Playing Rules
Click here for a document that details playing rules with a financial impact.
Applications are now open for the 2024-25 NCAA Postgraduate Internship Program. The deadline to apply is Friday, Sept. 6. The program annually provides on-the-job learning experiences at the national office to college graduates who are passionate in their pursuit of a career in college sports administration. The online application for the NCAA Postgraduate Internship Program is available on Program Hub.
The annual NCAA Convention will be Jan. 14-17 in Nashville, Tennessee. Registration opens Tuesday, Sept. 10. NCAA members should register by Wednesday, Oct. 9, to get the lowest registration rate ($325). Key events include the State of College Sports and Awards Presentation on Tuesday, Jan. 14, and the Woman of the Year Awards presentation Wednesday, Jan. 15. The Division III Issues Forum will occur Thursday morning, Jan. 16, while the Division III Business Session will be Friday morning, Jan. 17.
Division III LGBTQ of the Year Awards
The NCAA Division III LGBTQ of the Year Awards Selection Committee is pleased to announce its 2024 final nominees for the LGBTQ of the Year awards. The nomination period was open from February to June. The selection committee reviewed and evaluated the nominations with the purpose of identifying a standout nominee in each category. The award recipients will be announced and publicly recognized Wednesday, Jan. 15, in conjunction with the 2025 NCAA Convention in Nashville, Tennessee. To view the full list of final nominees, click here.
SAVE THE DATE: Division III SAAC Town Hall
The Division III Student-Athlete Advisory Committee Mental and Physical Health Subcommittee will be hosting a virtual town hall for student-athletes at 8 p.m. Eastern time Nov. 18. The town hall will feature special guests, and a link will be available in the coming months.
NCAA Championship Site Selection and Bid Process Update
The championships bid process was adjusted from a four-year process to a two-year process, with hosts and sites being awarded for approximately 88 of the 90 NCAA championships for the 2026-27 and 2027-28 academic years. Hosts and sites will be announced Oct. 2.
Sexual Violence Attestation
The NCAA’s Campus Sexual Violence Policy requires all member schools to meet the policy’s six provisions each academic year (Aug. 1-July 31). In the fall, each school’s president/chancellor, director of athletics and campus Title IX coordinator must attest to their compliance with the policy for the previous academic year. The attestation period for the 2023-24 academic year will be open in September through the attestation deadline of Nov. 1. In response to membership feedback, the national office has partnered with Docusign to develop a more streamlined attestation process this year. Keep an eye out for details regarding the new Docusign process and remember the NCAA Learning Portal will not be used for the attestation process. Additional communications regarding the attestation process will be delivered in the coming weeks. Please make sure your school’s information in the NCAA Directory is up to date to ensure communication is delivered to the appropriate people.
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:
Sept. 10 — Outcomes of Division III Financial Reviews.
Oct. 1 — Review of Division III Noncontroversial Legislation Recent Approvals.
Nov. 5 – Recap of Management and Presidents Council Meetings.
All past webinar PowerPoints are on the Division III webinar webpage.
Rule of the Month — Permissible Recruiting Activities for Enrolled Student-Athletes
As you prepare to recruit during the upcoming academic year, it is important to remember the permissible recruitment activities for your currently enrolled student-athletes (Bylaw 13.02.5.1).
Permissible recruitment activities for your current student-athletes are limited to the following:
Engaging on social media, so long as the communications are private before Jan. 1 of the prospect’s senior year and their financial deposit to attend your school. Interactions on social media that do not involve recruiting are not held to this restriction.
Participating in virtual recruiting presentations involving multiple prospective student-athletes organized by or involving a member of the school’s athletics department. There are some limitations though to their participation, including:
The virtual presentation may only occur during the regular academic year and the student-athlete must be eligible to participate per Bylaw 14.1.7.
The student-athlete may not miss class to participate in the virtual presentation.
The student-athlete’s involvement must be voluntary.
During a prospective student-athlete’s official visits to the institution’s campus, acting as a student host.
During a prospective student-athlete’s unofficial visit, hosting an overnight stay in the enrolled student-athlete’s dorm room, provided the housing is available to all visiting prospective students.
NEW: Two-Year and Four-Year Transfer Student-Athletes.
At its August 2024 meeting, the NCAA Division III Presidents Council adopted emergency legislation, EM-2025-1, to change the requirement that student-athletes who transfer to a Division III school while academically ineligible at their previous institution serve an academic year of residence before being eligible to compete. The change is as follows:
Student-athletes who transfer while academically ineligible at their previous school are not immediately eligible for competition but may regain eligibility after one regular full-time term at the Division III school if it is confirmed that they meet the school’s academic standards for all student-athletes.
Though the legislation is effective immediately, Division III members will be asked to ratify the action at the 2025 NCAA Convention during the Business Session on Friday, Jan. 17. For additional information, please reference the question and answer guide.
NEW: Elimination of “Off-Ice” Week in Hockey
At last month’s Administrative Committee meeting, NC-2025-11 was adopted in final legislative format. This noncontroversial proposal, effective as of September 1, eliminates the off-ice training exception for ice hockey preseason practice. Ice hockey teams will have their eight flex days to use as they desire leading up to the official start of on-ice practice on the second Monday of October. This will allow programs opting to use their flex days before the start of the season to remain on the ice as they shift into the preseason start date, creating consistent training for the student-athletes. Importantly, this proposal does not change the acclimatization process. Bylaw 17.14.3.1 will remain as written and will not begin until the preseason officially begins on the ice on the second Monday of October.
NEW: Start & End Dates for Nordic Skiing
Also at last month’s Administrative Committee meeting, the group approved NC-2025-12 in final legislative format. Effective as of September 1, the sport of Nordic skiing’s playing season may begin as early as October 8 and must end by March 29 or the end of the United States Nordic Super Tour Finals, whichever occurs later. All other Bylaw 17 legislation for winter sports still applies.
Updated Educational Column: Proposal No. 2020-4 (2-4) Awards and Benefits — Housing and Meals — Exceptions — Snacks and Nutritional Supplements Incidental to Participation
This educational column, specifically Question No. 5 and its answer, was updated in August 2024 to clarify its application to chelated minerals, to lactase and to amino acids as additives to plant-based protein supplements. The original publishing date of Jan. 30, 2020, was maintained for ease of reference.
REMINDER: Bylaw 14.1.8.1 — Graduate/Postbaccalaureate Participation for Non-DIII Graduates.
The adoption of NC-2025-4 incorporated the previously existing waiver directive for non-Division III graduates into Bylaw 14.1.8.1, effective Aug. 1. Now, student-athletes who graduate from non-Division III schools may be certified as eligible without needing to submit a waiver into Requests/Self-Reports Online. Specifically, they need to meet the criteria set forth in Bylaw 14.1.8 parts (a) through (c) and additionally meet the following conditions outlined in Bylaw 14.1.8.1:
The student-athlete graduated with an undergraduate degree within four academic years.
The student-athlete has seasons of participation remaining based on Bylaw 14.2.4.1 (minimum amount of participation), regardless of where (e.g., other NCAA division, NAIA) the participation occurred.
The student-athlete maintained continuous full-time enrollment (e.g., no breaks in enrollment or part-time status).
Student-athletes who miss one or more criteria may submit a waiver request in RSRO to become eligible. The school should submit documents that speak to the student’s deficiency to try to secure an approval.
RESOURCES: Division III University.
E-learning modules called Division III University are here to help you educate your staff and coaches during the new academic year. The module topics are: Social Media Use in Recruiting, Graduate/Postbaccalaureate Students, the New Playing Season Model, Strength & Conditioning, and Waiver Basics. More modules will be coming your way soon, including Camps & Clinics and Fundraising. You can find all the modules in the NCAA Learning Portal (accessed through NCAA MyApps). To access the Division III University modules, individuals must have an active NCAA MyApps account and be assigned NCAA Learning Portal access within MyApps. If you have questions regarding the NCAA Learning Portal, contact webhelpdesk@ncaa.org.
NCAA Division III Rules Test
Reminder that the 2024-25 Division III Rules Test is live and located on the NCAA Learning Portal. To access the exam, individuals must have an active NCAA MyApps account and be assigned NCAA Learning Portal access within MyApps. Institutional email addresses are preferred, but not required, to create a MyApps account. For more information, the Division III Rules Test page of ncaa.org has been updated with several resources to aid test takers and test administrators.
Please remember that, per Bylaw 11.8, your institution must administer the NCAA Division III Rules Test to all head coaches and athletics administrators with compliance responsibilities on an annual basis. Failure to administer the test on an annual basis shall be considered an institutional violation per Bylaw 20.15.2.
If you have questions regarding the 2024-25 NCAA Division III Rules Test, contact d3coachesexam@ncaa.org. If you have questions regarding the NCAA Learning Portal, contact webhelpdesk@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 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 Oct. 15. For more information, click here.
Media Coordination/Statistics Staff Contacts
To find information about whom to contact at the NCAA for media coordination and statistics, the current assignments can be found here.
Media Coordination Resources
Various statistics and media coordination resources are available on ncaa.org at this link. Many of the guides and instructions can be found under the “NCAA Media Coordination and Statistics Information for SIDs” page. Please note the “search for student-athlete or coach” link, as this is the current directory to view student-athlete and coach career records. There is a separate link for the older database for pre-2018.
The U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee recently announced its official roster for the 2024 Paralympic Games that run from Aug. 28 to Sept. 8. The roster includes 69 former, current, and incoming athletes with NCAA connections. In 2022, the Para-College Inclusion Project was launched in partnership between the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee and the NCAA office of inclusion. The purpose of the project is to engage NCAA schools to collectively increase Paralympic sport understanding, awareness and connection across the college landscape. The project includes programming efforts across the sports of wheelchair basketball, wheelchair tennis and para track and field as well as the creation of a Para-College Sport Hub.
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.
Update Conference Coordinators of Officials Positions in the NCAA Directory for 2024-25. Sport-specific coordinator of officials positions have been added to the NCAA Directory for all sports and divisions. Conferences should add/update contact information for their coordinators of officials through the steps here. By adding/updating this contact information, the NCAA will be able to enhance communication efforts with all conferences, including copying conference coordinators on important communications involving ejections and suspensions of student-athletes/coaches within their conference, as well as championship, officiating and playing rules updates throughout the season.
Update Conference Administrator Positions in the NCAA Directory for 2024-25. Sport-specific conference administrator positions have been added to the NCAA Directory for all sports and divisions. Conferences should add/update contact information for these positions through the steps here. By adding/updating this contact information to the NCAA Directory, the NCAA will be able to enhance communication efforts with all conferences, including copying these administrators on important communications involving ejections and suspensions of student-athletes/coaches within their conference, and championship, officiating and playing rules updates throughout the season.
Softball. Although it was not a rules change year, the Softball Rules Committee and Playing Rules Oversight Panel approved three rules changes for the 2025 season. The 2025 major rules changes are available here under “Updates.”
Wrestling. The 2024-25 wrestling weight management program information is available here under “Updates.”
The Eligibility Center just released its monthly newsletter, which includes key updates for this school year. To read it, click here.
All the materials for the Eligibility Center Division III session at the Regional Rules Seminar is now available to view. If you didn’t attend this year’s events, the session materials are now available in the NCAA Learning Portal (available in NCAA My Apps). Please use the email address you use to log in to NCAA My Apps when logging in to the Learning Portal. If you are unsure of your NCAA My Apps account information, please contact your campus NCAA applications administrator to gain access to NCAA My Apps. If you are unsure who your campus NCAA applications administrator is, check with your compliance administrator.
Committee on Women’s Athletics and MOIC Joint Meeting
Virtual
Oct. 15
Championships Committee
Virtual
Oct. 17
Membership Committee
Virtual
Oct. 18
Interpretations and Legislation Committee
Virtual
Oct. 21-22
Management Council
Indianapolis
Oct. 28
Presidents Advisory Group & Presidents Council
Indianapolis
Oct. 28-29
Presidents Council
Indianapolis
Oct. 29
Joint Presidential Luncheon (DI, DII, DIII)
Indianapolis
Oct. 30
Board of Governors
Indianapolis
Nov. 10-11
SAAC
Indianapolis
Nov. 12
Strategic Planning and Finance Committee
Virtual
Nov. 14
Convention Planning Subcommittee
Virtual
Nov. 18
Interpretations and Legislation Committee
Virtual
Nov. 19
Championships Committee
Virtual
Nov. 21
Membership Committee
Virtual
Nov. 22-24
Division III Field Hockey Championship
Lexington, VA
Nov. 23
Division III Cross Country Championship
Terre Haute, IN
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.
