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 2023 NCAA Woman of the Year Award. Selected from a record-breaking 619 nominees and representing 15 sports, the top 30 honorees include 10 from each of the three divisions. Each honoree has demonstrated excellence in academics, athletics, community service and leadership. Established in 1991, the award is rooted in Title IX and recognizes female student-athletes who have completed their undergraduate studies and distinguished themselves in their community, in athletics and in academics throughout their college careers.
2024 NCAA Convention Resource Page
To access this year’s Convention resources, visit the 2024 Convention resource webpage. 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.
2024 NCAA Convention — Student Attendees
Do you have a student from your institution who is attending the 2024 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 here for a chart that identifies programming the staff and Division III SAAC think will be beneficial to Division III student attendees.
DUE NOV. 3: Campus Sexual Violence Attestation
All Division III institutions must complete the campus sexual violence attestation by Friday, Nov. 3. As a reminder, the campus sexual violence attestation requires members to attest they complied with the policy for the 2022-23 academic year. For administrators to complete the attestations, they need their school’s NCAA MyApps administrator to assign the courses to them in the NCAA Learning Portal. Questions about the attestation processes can be sent to webhelpdesk@ncaa.org.
DEADLINE APPROACHING: FAR Orientation
The New FAR Orientation is scheduled for Feb. 22-24 in Indianapolis at the NCAA national office. Participants will have the opportunity to build networks of new and experienced FARs and to establish goals for engagement in the role. Orientation participants will engage in pre-work, facilitated networking and debrief sessions, as well as a closing workshop. This program is fully funded by Division III, including participant travel. The deadline to apply is 5 p.m. Eastern time Nov. 15 via the NCAA Program Hub, with selection announcements made by Dec. 1. Contact Leah Kareti with any questions.
NEW DEADLINE: Sports Sponsorship Participation and Demographics Form
The Sports Sponsorship Participation and Demographics data collection will open April 1, 2024, and close June 21, 2024.
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:
Nov. 7 — Updates from Management and Presidents Council meetings.
Dec. 5 — AMA Review of 2024 Convention Legislation.
Feb. 6 — 2024 NCAA Convention recap.
All past webinar PowerPoints are on the Division III webinar webpage.
Sports Wagering
The NCAA is advocating for updating existing state sports betting laws and regulations to protect student-athletes from harassment or coercion, address the negative impacts of problem gambling and protect the integrity of NCAA competition. In the past five years, 38 states have passed 38 different laws legalizing sports betting, and while some contain robust protection and integrity provisions, many do not. Click here to read more.
The NCAA also launched its first sports wagering e-learning module designed to further educate current and prospective student-athletes on the risks and potential harms associated with sports wagering. The module is a free, interactive tool for student-athletes that immerses the learner in an educational experience with helpful information, scenarios, Q&As and resources, all delivered by former student-athletes. While the wagering module will be integrated into the education provided to all incoming prospective student-athletes through their NCAA Eligibility Center account in the coming weeks, it is not a legislated component of academic or amateurism certification. Click here for the module.
2024 Student Immersion Program
The ninth annual Division III Student Immersion Program will be Jan. 10-13 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 Financial Reporting
2023 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 at the national office.
Last month, the Division III Management Council approved a two-year pilot program for processing hardship waiver requests based on mental health assertions. While the current Bylaw 14.2.5 criteria regarding the first half of the traditional segment and one-third of contests or dates of competition remain unchanged, the pilot program does provide new documentation standards for hardship waivers based on a student-athlete’s mental health. Specifically, contemporaneous or noncontemporaneous medical documentation may be submitted from a licensed practitioner qualified to provide mental health services. Previously, only contemporaneous medical documentation from a physician would result in an approved hardship waiver request at the conference level.
The process for submitting requests through the pilot program will remain unchanged. Your institution will submit the hardship waiver request to your conference office at the end of the traditional season. (Independent institutions will submit their requests via RSRO.) Requests that are denied at the conference level may still be appealed to the Student-Athlete Reinstatement staff in RSRO and, if necessary, the Division III Committee on Student-Athlete Reinstatement.
Two final items of note: (1) The pilot program will consider requests only for the 2023-24 and 2024-25 academic years. If a student-athlete experienced an incapacitating mental health condition during the 2022-23 academic year or earlier, the hardship waiver request will be processed by your conference office using the non-pilot program criteria. (2) Conference offices will be gathering data during the pilot program to determine the scope and appropriateness of a potential future legislative change.
If you have any additional questions about hardship waivers or the pilot program, submit them to AMA staff through RSRO.
Recent Interpretation
Staff Interpretation: Women’s Team Members as Practice Players. The academic and membership affairs staff determined that when the women’s team and men’s team in the same sport have different traditional segments (i.e., volleyball and water polo) members of the women’s team may practice with the men’s team provided it occurs during the nontraditional segment for the women’s team and counts as one of the 24 nontraditional days for the women’s team.
2024 NCAA Convention Division III Second Publication of Proposed Legislation
At least once every three years, an active member school must be represented by at least one institutional staff member at the NCAA Regional Rules Seminar. Unsure if you need to attend the upcoming seminar? Please reference the Division III Institutions Required To Attend the 2024 NCAA Regional Rules Seminar List. The 2024 in-person seminar will be June 12-14 in Las Vegas. If you have attendance requirement questions, contact Eric Hartung at ehartung@ncaa.org.
ATHLETICS COMMUNICATION UPDATES
NCAA and D3SIDA Recognition Award
The fall NCAA and D3SIDA Recognition Award recipient is Aaron Morse of Bates College with a feature “Meet Johnny ‘Walk-On’: The Bobcat Football Player Who Never Played in High School.” The article shares the journey of Johnny Walker to the Bates football team.
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 Feb. 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 2023-24 assignments can be found here.
Fall Selection Shows
Find more information on the Division III fall championship selections here.
Mark your calendars: The 2024 NCAA Inclusion Forum will take place April 24-26 in Indianapolis. The Inclusion Forum brings together leaders within higher education and intercollegiate athletics, including student-athletes, to engage in powerful programming and provide key takeaways to enhance efforts on diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging initiatives. Educational programming focuses on each of the office of inclusion’s five core areas of disability, international, LGBTQ, race/ethnicity and women. The office of inclusion also is excited to announce the return of the Athletics Diversity and Inclusion Designee Summit, in conjunction with the forum. Stay tuned for more information on this year's keynote speakers, session topics and additional programming. The Inclusion Forum registration fee will include admission to all programs, auxiliary offerings, a reception and select meals. Information on pricing will be released soon. Registration will open in early February.
Diversity Spotlight Initiative
The Diversity Spotlight Initiative recognizes and promotes outstanding diversity development projects, programming and initiatives occurring on Division III campuses and in conference offices. Each month an institution or conference is identified by the selection committee to be featured on the DIII webpage and in the DIII Monthly Update. In addition, the featured institution or conference office receives $500 toward its next diversity initiative. Click here for more information.
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. 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.
In mid-October, the NCAA announced its updates to the 2023 NCAA Concussion Safety Protocol Checklist and other relevant concussion safety materials. Effective Jan. 15, 2024, schools must ensure that concussion management practices are updated to comply with legislative requirements and related documents. Specific updated resources include the Concussion Safety Protocol Checklist and the Concussion Safety Protocol Template. Schools also must continue to comply with “Interassociation Recommendations: Preventing Catastrophic Injury and Death in Collegiate Athletes.” In an effort to proactively address some of the most anticipated membership questions related to those institutional review and update activities, the NCAA has created a page with Frequently Asked Questions. Please email ssi@ncaa.org with any additional questions not addressed in this communication or related resources.
The 2023 playing rules Points of Emphasis, Preseason Reminders and Questions/Interpretations, Volumes 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 are available here under Updates and on the Center Circle website.
The 2023 playing rules survey will be sent to head coaches, commissioners, directors of athletics and senior woman administrators Wednesday, Nov.1.
Softball
The 2024 and 2025 approved playing rules changes and interpretations/clarifications are available here under Updates.
REMINDER: Beginning Jan. 1, 2024, all softballs used in competition must meet the new ball specifications, which includes a maximum compression of 275-375 pounds. This rules change was approved in 2021 to standardize ball specifications with NFHS and USA Softball.
Wrestling
The 2023-24/2024-25 Wrestling Case Book has been updated and should be used in conjunction with the 2023-24/2024-25 Wrestling Rules Book. It is available hereunder Rules of the Game.
Men’s Lacrosse
The Men’s Lacrosse Rules Committee was asked to clarify the rules around goal nets. Provided that the mesh of the net does not exceed 1½ inches, it may be of varying shapes (square, hexagon, octogen, etc.). In addition, advertising on goal nets has made it a challenge for officials to see whether the ball has crossed the goal line or entered the goal. Only institutional, commercial and memorial logos are permitted to be affixed to the back center of the goal nets, no higher than three feet.
DEADLINE APPROACHING: Leadership Development Programs
All of the following fall applications will close at 5 p.m. Eastern time Nov. 10.
NCAA and NFL Coaches Academy:The NCAA and NFL Coaches Academy provides current, full-time college football coaches at NCAA member schools an educational opportunity to build connections and develop leadership acumen to pursue their career aspirations.
NCAA Emerging Leaders Seminar: This professional development event provides leadership, educational and transitional programming for current graduate assistants and interns from NCAA member schools, conference offices and affiliate organizations. The three-day virtual program educates, develops and connects selected participants and equips attending young professionals with the skills necessary to accelerate their career progression in college sports.
Foundations of Fundraising: With a focus on women and ethnic minorities, Foundations of Fundraising is a collaborative effort between the NCAA and the National Association of Athletic Development Directors designed to educate future leaders (interns, graduate assistants, development associates, etc.) in the field of development in intercollegiate athletics.
NCAA Career in Sports Forum Facilitators: Facilitators for the Career in Sports Forum work closely with participants to provide an engaging programming experience. Facilitators are assigned to lead teams in open dialogue about career exploration, interpersonal skills and more. Facilitators at the Career in Sports Forum play an integral role in the learner's experience, and taking part provides an impactful opportunity to grow as a professional in collegiate athletics.
Student-Athlete Leadership Forum Facilitators: Facilitators for the Student-Athlete Leadership Forum work closely with participants to provide an engaging programming experience. Facilitators are assigned to lead teams in open dialogue about a wide variety of topics to instill and emphasize themes of personal leadership development. Facilitators at the forum play an integral role in the participant experience, and taking part provides an impactful opportunity to grow as a professional with collegiate athletics.
Eligibility Center Updates
What is a matriculation letter, and why do we need it? The matriculation letter confirms the date of the prospective student-athlete’s initial full-time collegiate enrollment at any institution (two-year or four-year college, international college or university or another NCAA institution). NCAA rules change when/if a prospect enrolls full time, so this information is needed to determine what legislation applies.
The Eligibility Center released its October DIII Newsletter. Click here to view important information from the Eligibility Center.
LGBTQIA+ Working Group, Oct. 2.
Interpretations and Legislation Committee, Oct. 5. Management Council, Oct. 16-17.
Membership Committee, Oct. 19.
Championships Committee, Oct. 24.
Presidents Advisory Group, Oct. 24.
Technology Users Group, Oct. 24. Presidents Council, Oct. 25.
Financial and Risk Management Working Group, Oct. 25.
Nominating Committee, Oct. 26.
Athletic Training Working Group, Oct. 30.
KEY DATES, NOVEMBER THROUGH JANUARY
2023-24
Dates
Meeting/Championships
Location
Nov. 8
Interpretations and Legislation Committee
Virtual
Nov. 12-13
Student-Athlete Advisory Committee
Indianapolis
Nov. 15
Strategic Planning and Finance Committee
Virtual
Nov. 15-16
Financial Aid Committee
Virtual
Nov. 16
Membership Committee
Virtual
Nov. 17
Convention Planning Subcommittee
Virtual
Nov. 17-19
Field Hockey Championship
Newport News, Virginia
Nov. 18
Cross Country Championships
Newville, Pennsylvania
Nov. 21
Championships Committee
Virtual
Nov. 27
Athletic Training Working Group
Virtual
Nov. 28
FAR Advisory Group
Virtual
Nov. 29-Dec. 2
Women’s Volleyball Championship
Claremont, California
Nov. 30
Nominating Committee
Virtual
Nov. 30-Dec. 2
Women’s Soccer Championship
Salem, Virginia
Dec. 1-3
Men’s Soccer Championship
Salem, Virginia
Dec. 4
Financial and Risk Management Working Group
Virtual
Dec. 12
Championships Committee
Virtual
Dec. 12
Convention Planning Subcommittee
Virtual
Dec. 15
Football Championship
Salem, Virginia
Dec. 21
Membership Committee
Virtual
Jan. 10-13
NCAA Convention
Phoenix
Jan. 9-10
Student-Athlete Advisory Committee
Phoenix
Jan. 10
Management Council
Phoenix
Jan. 11
Presidents Council
Phoenix
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.
