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.
Division III concluded a yearlong celebration of its 50th anniversary on July 31. Throughout the year, the division shared 50 episodes of its podcast, Small Talk, spotlighting current and former student-athletes across the membership. The celebration also featured a recognition of every inaugural champion, weekly “did you know?” posts on social media, highlighting the partnership with Special Olympics and more. In November, Division III hosted a “Week of Service” to celebrate the dedication to citizenship. During that week, membership reported more than 60,000 hours of community service activities.
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.
RefQuest Plus
The NCAA has entered into a multiyear agreement with RefQuest Plus, a leading officiating software provider, to address officiating concerns with a centralized platform for assignments, payments and education. Starting in the 2024-25 academic year, the NCAA will cover costs for Division II, Division III and single-sport conferences, and supplement the cost up to $10,000 for Division I conferences.
Benefits:
Financial relief: Immediate financial support for conferences.
Bigger pool: Potential 31% increase in the number of officials.
Enhanced education: National standards in education and training for consistent officiating.
Regional support: Identification of regions with shortages of officials.
Integrity strengthening: An officiating compliance program with background checks and sports wagering education.
Improved student-athlete experience: Emphasis on fair and safe competition.
Cross-conference opportunities: More opportunities for officials to work across conferences and divisions.
Mandatory registration: Officials must register with the platform to be eligible for NCAA championships, insurance and more opportunities.
Visit RefQuest Plus for additional details and resources on the officiating reform initiative.
Post-Eligibility Insurance Program
Starting Aug. 1, the NCAA will sponsor a Post-Eligibility Insurance Program for all student-athletes at all schools in all divisions. Excess accident medical coverage will be available for properly documented athletic injuries occurring on or after Aug. 1. For up to two years (104 weeks) after student-athletes separate from school or voluntarily withdraw from athletics, the program will cover medical expenses for athletically related injuries sustained during participation in a qualifying intercollegiate sport, including NCAA emerging sports.
Benefits:
The coverage provides benefits in excess of any other valid and collectible insurance.
The policy has a $90,000 excess limit per injury, with no deductible. Of the $90,000 available, up to $25,000 will be available for mental health services related to an eligible, documented athletic injury.
Injury documentation is required for a post-eligibility insurance claim, so schools should retain injury documentation for the duration of the 104-week benefit period, plus an additional year.
A claim may be initiated by a former student-athlete or the school the student-athlete attended at the time of the injury.
For Division I members and Division II or Division III programs that sponsor a Division I sport: This program does not replace the requirement for schools to provide medical care to student-athletes and reimburse out-of-pocket expenses related to athletic injuries for two years after separation from school. There is no obligation for schools to purchase additional insurance to cover the two-year period.
The NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Committee announced Indianapolis as the host for the 2026 Division II and III men’s championship games and the NIT semifinals and finals, all coinciding with the Men’s Final Four weekend. The Final Four will take place April 4 and 6, 2026, at Lucas Oil Stadium. The Division II and III championship games will occur April 5 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. The Division I Women’s Basketball Committee also announced Indianapolis as the host for a joint championships event in 2028, where national champions for all three divisions will be crowned. The games will be from March 31 to April 2, 2028.
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.
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. 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.
Application Open: 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. Students of color, preferably juniors and seniors with a strong interest in a career in Division III athletics (coaching and/or administration), are encouraged to apply. Final selections will be announced in early October. Participants will engage with a mentor, participate in a DiSC assessment, learn from professionals, network and have an opportunity to participate in the NCAA Convention. 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 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:
Aug. 6 — Recap of SAAC, Management and Presidents Council Meetings.
Sept. 3 — Outcomes of Division III Financial Reviews.
Oct. 1 — Review of Division III Noncontroversial Legislation Recent Approvals.
All past webinar PowerPoints are on the Division III webinar webpage.
Coaching staff involvement with institutional club or non-NCAA sponsored varsity teams.
Varsity coaches are often asked to be involved with an institutional club or non-NCAA sponsored varsity teams. However, what if these teams have a current student-athlete participating? It is going to be impermissible for institutional coaching staff members and student-athletes to engage in athletically related activities (Bylaw 17.02.1.1) outside the institution’s declared playing season per Bylaw 17.1.5.
Therefore, a member institution’s coach is not going to be permitted to be involved in any capacity outside the declared playing and practice season with an institutional club or non-NCAA sponsored varsity team, in any sport, if the institutional club or non-NCAA sponsored varsity team includes a student-athlete from that coach’s sport.
NOW AVAILABLE: 2024-25 Rules Test
Beginning today, 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 you in the transition.
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, please contact D3CoachesExam@ncaa.org. If you have questions regarding the NCAA Learning Portal, please contact webhelpdesk@ncaa.org.
WRAP UP: 2024 NCAA Regional Rules Seminar
The 2024 NCAA Regional Rules Seminar PowerPoints are now available on the NCAA Learning Portal.
Save the Date! The 2025 NCAA Regional Rules Seminar is set to be held June 18-20 in person in Indianapolis.
RESOURCE: Division III University
To help educate your staff and coaches this academic year, several e-learning modules known as Division III University are still available in the NCAA Learning Portal. These modules were designed to provide basic information on Division III-specific rules and can help supplement your on-campus or conference-wide education efforts. There are six modules, covering the following topics:
NCAA DIII: Graduate & Postbaccalaureate Students.
NCAA DIII: Strength & Conditioning Activities.
NCAA DIII: Transfers.
NCAA DIII: Waiver Basics.
NCAA DIII: Social Media Use in Recruiting.
NCAA DIII: Playing & Practice Season Structure.
And more modules will be coming your way soon, including:
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.
2025 NCAA Convention — Division III IPOPL
The 2025 Convention Division III Initial Publication of Proposed Legislation will be available through the NCAA website Aug. 15. The IPOPL is published and provided to the Division III membership to provide all proposed amendments to NCAA legislation that were properly submitted from Division III members by the July 15 deadline. The IPOPL may contain proposals that are sponsored by at least one member conference or 10 member schools. If a proposal is not properly co-sponsored by Sept. 1, the proposal will be automatically withdrawn. Sponsors of the proposals are permitted to refine and change amendments in any manner germane to the proposal as presented until Sept. 15. Such changes may either increase or decrease the modification in the original proposal.
No new proposals may be submitted by members for the 2025 Convention after the July 15 deadline has passed. Member schools and conferences that wish to offer and suggest revisions to a proposal are encouraged to contact the proposal’s designated primary contact person. Such contacts should be made as early as possible and before the Sept. 15 deadline to ensure time for appropriate consideration by the sponsors.
The IPOPL is not mailed to Division III members. The online version of the IPOPL contains all the information of the former hard-copy version and can be printed from your computer in the traditional format. The IPOPL is produced directly from the Legislative Services Database for the Internet each time it is downloaded. Therefore, the content of the publication may change each time it is accessed from the NCAA webpage. As modifications or corrections are made to proposals during the sponsor modification period, updates will be made to LSDBi, and those changes will be reflected in this document.
The 2025 NCAA Convention Division III Second Publication of Proposed Legislation, which will include proposals sponsored by the Division III governance structure, will be available online Sept. 23. The 2024 NCAA Convention Division III Official Notice, which will include final versions of proposed legislation, will be available to Convention attendees in an online format only. The Official Notice will be available Nov. 15.
Please contact Jeff Myers if you have any questions regarding either the IPOPL or SPOPL.
NCAA Division III Manual
The NCAA Division III Manual for the 2024-25 academic year is now electronically available. Hard-copy versions of the manual will not be distributed, nor will they be available to purchase through NCAA Publications. Instead, schools and conferences may use LSDBi (which always has the most up-to-date version of NCAA legislation) to download electronic versions of the standard manual or other custom reports (e.g., sport-specific) and print such versions as needed.
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.
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.
On behalf of the Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports, the NCAA Sport Science Institute released annual updates to the following NCAA drug-testing and drug education efforts:
2024-25 NCAA Drug-Testing Manual: This resource for athletics administrators provides detailed information about the NCAA drug-testing process. 2024-25 NCAA Drug Policies Brochure: This resource for student-athletes provides information about NCAA banned substance classes.
CSMAS approved a change to the medical exception process for spironolactone, a drug most commonly prescribed as a hormonal acne treatment. Schools are now required to submit a medical exception for the use of spironolactone only following a positive NCAA drug test. It is no longer necessary to submit as part of the medical exception pre-approval process. CSMAS noted that the typical dosage reported for spironolactone is unlikely to be useful as a masking agent or a performance-enhancing drug. Additional information on this topic can be found in the Banned Substances and Medical Exception Process FAQ.
Drug-Testing Education Resources
At least once annually, NCAA member schools are required to educate student-athletes about NCAA banned drugs and the products that may contain them. CSMAS has approved drug-testing educational templates for member schools to consider using when educating student-athletes on the NCAA Drug-Testing Program and nutritional and dietary supplements. Additionally, NCAA member schools, student-athletes and athletics staff also have free access to Drug Free Sport AXIS(access code ncaa1, ncaa2 or ncaa3) to learn more about specific medications and supplements and their associated risk levels related to NCAA banned substances.
Emerging Concerns
Student-athletes continue to test positive for NCAA banned substances potentially due to the use of contaminated supplements. High numbers of positive tests for substances found in the hormone and metabolic modulators and anabolic agents banned drug classes continue. In 2023-24, the substances most commonly found during NCAA drug testing in these drug classes were GW1516 sulfoxide, clomiphene, testosterone and ostarine. An observed decrease in GW1516 positives may be linked to the new threshold of 0.1ng/ml established by CSMAS and effective for all tests after Sept. 1, 2023. Drug-testing results also indicated testosterone positives were higher than in previous years.
Although this was not a rules change year for softball, the NCAA Softball Rules Committee and Playing Rules Oversight Panel recently approved three rules changes. These rules changes are effective with the 2025 season; however, they will not be incorporated into the hardcopy rules book until the 2026 and 2027 version. These rules changes may be viewed by going to “2025 Major Rules Changes” located under the “Updates” section here.
With the upcoming academic year approaching, we recognize that many member schools have added new compliance administrators. As a best practice, the Eligibility Center recommends reviewing the EC contact list within your school’s EC account to ensure the contact information is accurate.
MyApps and Learning Portal Webinars
MyApps Administrator Training: The Basics. Noon–1 p.m. Eastern time, Wednesday, Aug. 7. Register here. This session will offer an overview of the roles and responsibilities of NCAA My Apps administrators. During the session, we will provide step-by-step instructions on how to perform tasks like adding new users, assigning an NCAA application to users, updating user information and marking a user inactive. Note: This session will not cover any specific NCAA application (e.g., Compliance Assistant 2.0, Academic Portal, Program Hub) but rather how to provide access to these applications.
Learning Portal Administrator Training: The Basics. Noon-1 p.m. Eastern time, Tuesday, Aug. 13. Register here. This session will offer an overview of the roles and responsibilities of Learning Portal administrators and how to perform basic tasks in the Learning Portal. The training will give you the chance to follow each step, locate resources and ask questions. Questions related to other NCAA applications (e.g., Compliance Assistant 2.0, Academic Portal, Program Hub) will not be addressed.
Learning Portal Administrator Training: Reporting. Noon-1 p.m. Eastern time, Wednesday, Aug 21. Register here or Noon-1 p.m. Eastern time, Wednesday, Aug. 28. Register here. During this session, we will dive into the reporting functions of the Learning Portal. We will provide an overview of the Learning Portal reporting functionalities, including the pre-made reports available, how to customize reports and where to find resources. Note: This session will be offered on two dates, Aug. 21, and Aug. 28. The content for the sessions will be the same, so registering for only one session is recommended. Also, questions related to other NCAA applications (e.g., Compliance Assistant 2.0, Academic Portal, Program Hub) will not be addressed.
NCAA Emerging Sports
The NCAA office of inclusion continues to host a webinar series dedicated to highlighting the six sports in the Emerging Sports for Women program: acrobatics and tumbling, equestrian, rugby, stunt, triathlon and women’s wrestling. This series began in July and presents an opportunity to learn more about these sports, receive the latest updates on their growth and explore opportunities to increase sports participation for women on your campus. Each webinar will feature panelists who are leaders from the sport’s national governing body or sponsoring organization, as well as athletics administrators from schools that currently sponsor the sport on their campus. Additionally, each session will include a Q&A segment, providing a chance to engage directly with the experts.
Remaining schedule and registration: (all times are Eastern)
Acrobatics and tumbling: 3-4 p.m. Aug. 5. (Register here.)
Webinars for the other sports have already occurred, but all webinars are being recorded and will be promoted in NCAA Weekly in early September. Please send questions to inclusion@ncaa.org.
Committee on Women’s Athletics and MOIC Joint Meeting
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. 30
Board of Governors
Indianapolis
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.
