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.
DEADLINE APPROACHING: 2026 Division III Convention Education Session
The Division III Convention Planning Subcommittee is pleased to announce the creation of a pilot program that will allow Division III members to conduct one of the three Division III-specific education sessions at the 2026 NCAA Convention. Members are invited to submit proposals in the NCAA Program Hub. Search for “2026 NCAA Division III Convention Education Session Proposals.” Proposals are due by 5 p.m. Eastern time on Friday, May 9. This pilot program aims to enhance the educational programming available to the Division III membership at the Convention. Please email Bill Regan, managing director of Division III (bfregan@ncaa.org) with any questions.
DEADLINE APPROACHING: Graduation Rates Data Collection
The 2024-25 graduation rates data collection process is open, and the data is due by 11:59 p.m. Eastern time, Sunday, June 1. Please reach out to Sadie Martinez (smartinez@ncaa.org) with questions.
DEADLINE APPROACHING: LGBTQ of the Year Recognition Awards
The 2025 LGBTQ of the Year Awards nomination application period is now open. For the award criteria, click here. Visit the NCAA Program Hub to submit nominations until 5 p.m. Eastern time, June 3.
2025 NCAA Woman of the Year
Institutions should consider nominating graduating women for the 2025 NCAA Woman of the Year to honor their academic, athletic, community and leadership achievements. The prestigious Woman of the Year award honors top female student-athletes’ accomplishments in the classroom, in competition and in the community. To be eligible, nominees must have competed and earned a varsity letter in an NCAA-sponsored sport, have a minimum cumulative undergraduate GPA of 2.50 and have earned their undergraduate degree by summer 2025. Up to two nominees may be submitted by each member school if at least one nominee is a student-athlete of color or international student-athlete. Nominations can be submitted through the NCAA Program Hub by any athletics department administrator with an .edu email address but must be approved by the director of athletics and senior woman administrator. Nominations are due by 5 p.m. Eastern time on Monday, June 23.
2026 NCAA Convention Planning Survey
Please complete this short survey to help the Division III Convention Planning Subcommittee determine the Division III educational sessions and Issues Forum roundtable topics.
Division III Diversity Grant Recipients
Thirty-eight institutions and conference offices will receive grants in the upcoming cycles of the Pathway to Excellence Grant (22 recipients), the Strategic Alliance Matching Grant (seven recipients) and the Coaching Enhancement Grant (nine recipients). Committees consisting of membership representatives select the recipients. Successful grant applications encourage the access, recruitment, selection and long-term success of underrepresented individuals in Division III athletics administration and coaching. The full list of recipients can be found here.
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:
May 6 – Recap of Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, Management Council and Presidents Council meetings.
June 3 – Athletics Communication Strategic resource.
Aug. 12 – Recap of Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, Management Council and Presidents Council meetings.
All past webinar PowerPoints are on the Division III webinar webpage.
Sports Sponsorship Data Collection
The 2024-25 sports sponsorship data collection process is now open. Completed sports sponsorship data is due by 11:59 p.m. Eastern time Tuesday, July 1. Please email Sadie Martinez (smartinez@ncaa.org) with questions.
Mental Health First Aid Program
Division III is excited to engage the National Council for Mental Wellbeing to fund Division III athletic trainers and head coaches to receive adult Mental Health First Aid training to support the mental well-being of student-athletes throughout the division. Schools will be eligible to receive one fully funded training during the program, which is in effect until Aug. 1, 2027.
To learn more about the program, click here. To schedule a fully funded Adult MHFA training for your Division III school, athletics directors or athletic trainers should visit mentalhealthfirstaid.org/ncaa/ to complete an inquiry form.
Rule of the Month — Graduate and Postbaccalaureate Students.
Because it’s graduation season and your coaches may still be out recruiting for next year’s roster, it’s important to review the eligibility requirements for graduate and postbaccalaureate students in DIII. That way, there are no issues when these students arrive on your campus in the fall.
For graduates of NCAA Division III schools (Bylaw 14.1.8):
Check enrollment: The student must be enrolled in a second bachelor’s or graduate degree program (certificate programs are not sufficient).
Check eligibility: Ensure the student has seasons of participation remaining.
Check enrollment timeline: Ensure the student-athletes have some of their 10 semesters or 15 quarters (of full-time enrollment) remaining.
For graduates of non-NCAA schools (Bylaw 14.1.8.1). Everything listed above, plus:
Check graduation timeline: The student-athletes must have earned their undergraduate degree within four academic years.
Check seasons remaining: They must have at least one season of participation remaining, per DIII rules, regardless of where they played before.
Check for continuous enrollment: The student-athletes must have been continuously enrolled full time during their undergraduate studies (no breaks or part-time status).
If you’re working with a non-DIII grad who does not meet the criteria above, make sure to talk to your compliance officer to see whether a legislative relief waiver might be an option.
Register for 2025 NCAA Regional Rules Seminar
Mark your calendars and register for the 2025 NCAA Regional Rules Seminar happening May 28-30 in Indianapolis.
Why it matters: The seminar is an educational forum on NCAA legislation, athletics compliance and associated issues designed to benefit participants with different responsibilities, backgrounds, experiences and levels of expertise. Attendees are athletics administrators, coaches and other campus administrators in the areas of financial aid, registration, eligibility certification and admissions from Division I, II and III member schools and conferences.
The event will offer a variety of sessions for participants to select from, including Association-wide and division-specific sessions.
Division III attendance requirement: At least once every three years, an active member school must be represented by at least one institutional staff member at a Conference Rules Seminar or the NCAA Regional Rules Seminar. If you are unsure whether you need to attend, please reference the Division III 2025 Regional Rules Seminar Required Attendance List.
Division III schools required to attend the 2025 NCAA Regional Rules Seminar may complete the requirement only by attending the in-person seminar in Indianapolis. Viewing the Division III Regional Rules Seminar sessions via livestream will NOT reset the once-in-three-years attendance requirement. Additional staff from a school that is required to attend may access the livestream option; however, an individual from the school must attend in person to satisfy the attendance requirement.
You can also find the Division III 2025 Regional Rules Seminar required attendance information on the event website.
If you have questions about attendance requirements, contact Brittany Higgins (bhiggins@ncaa.org). If you have general questions regarding the Regional Rules Seminar, please contact NCAARegionalRulesSeminars@ncaa.org.
NCAA Division III Amendment Procedures for the 2026 NCAA Convention
Information related to submitting new legislative amendments for the 2026 NCAA Convention is now available on the NCAA website. All materials regarding this mailing can be accessed by clicking this link. Any questions regarding legislative procedures, the amendment-to-amendment or the resolution processes should be referred to Jeff Myers (jmyers@ncaa.org) or Corey Berg (cberg@ncaa.org).
Sports Sponsorship Participation and Demographics Form Waiver
If your institution did not meet sports sponsorship requirements for the 2024-25 school year, you should consider filing a sports sponsorship waiver via Requests/Self-Reports Online. We recommend reviewing the Filing a Division III Sports-Sponsorship Waiver Request resource. If you have additional questions, please contact Eric Hartung (ehartung@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.
DEADLINE APPROACHING: 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 May 15. For more information, click here.
Media Coordination/Statistics Staff Contacts
The current contacts at the NCAA for media coordination and statistics can be found here.
Spring Selection Shows
Find more information on the Division III spring championship selections here.
Transgender Student-Athlete Participation Policy Update. The participation policy for transgender student-athletes prohibits individuals assigned male at birth from competing on women’s teams. Additional guidance pertaining to noncompliance was recently added to the policy page. Any previous policies that permitted mixed team competition against a women’s team are now void.
If you have additional questions, please submit your questions via RSRO.
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.
Starting with the 2024-25 academic year, the NCAA purchased a license for all Division II and III and single-sport conferences to use the RQ+ platform. Information on the Officiating Reform Initiative, including the updated summary document beginning with the 2025-26 academic year, is available here under Officiating Links.
Softball
The NCAA Softball Rules Committee will meet June 16-18 for its annual meeting. It is a rules- change year.
Men’s Wrestling
The NCAA Men’s Wrestling Rules Committee met April 28-30 for its annual meeting. It was a rules-change year, and the committee expects to begin the two-week comment period for commissioners, directors of athletics and head coaches the week of May 5.
The NCAA recently celebrated Sport Science Institute staff who formerly served as athletic trainers on campus. Of the 11 SSI staff members, five have backgrounds in athletic training, representing over 50 years of experience spanning across NCAA divisions and even into professional sports. Click here to read the feature.
Will your international recruits be ready to play when they hit campus? Ensure they are requesting their final amateurism certification from the Eligibility Center. Click here to learn more about this quick process and help ensure recruits are ready to compete.
NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sport
Indianapolis
June 10
Faculty Athletics Representatives Advisory Group
Virtual
June 10
Playing Rules Oversight Panel
Virtual
June 12
Interpretations and Legislation Committee
Virtual
June 16-17
Championships Committee
Indianapolis
June 25
Convention Planning Subcommittee
Virtual
June 25
Membership Committee
Indianapolis
July 9
Strategic Planning and Finance Committee
Virtual
July 17
Membership Committee
Virtual
July 17
Playing Rules and Oversight Panel
Virtual
July 19-20
Student-Athlete Advisory Committee
Indianapolis
July 20
Management Council/SAAC Joint Meeting
Indianapolis
July 21-22
Management Council
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.
