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.
Celebrate graduating women for their academic achievements, athletics excellence, community service and leadership by making an NCAA Woman of the Year nomination. Each member school can nominate up to two graduating female student-athletes if at least one of the nominees is a student-athlete of color or international student-athlete. Submit your school’s nomination(s) through the NCAA Program Hub by 5 p.m. Eastern time Wednesday, June 21. Visit ncaa.org/woty for details.
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:
June 6 — Board of Governors Congressional Engagement.
Aug. 8 — Updates from Management Council, Presidents Council and Student-Athlete Advisory Committee meetings.
Sept. 5 — Special Olympics updates.
All past webinar PowerPoints are on the Division III webinar webpage.
Sports Sponsorship and Demographic Form
The Sports Sponsorship and Demographic Form is now open. Completing the form is a membership requirement, and it must be submitted no later than Friday, July 21. If you have additional questions, please contact Sadie Martinez.
Athletic Trainer Working Group
After an open solicitation to the membership seeking interest in serving on the working group, the Division III Administrative Committee reviewed 54 nominations. It selected 13 individuals that satisfy the compositional requirement Management Council endorsed during its April meeting as well as provide constituent, gender, ethnic/racial and geographic diversity.
Certifying transfer student-athletes. Per NCAA Bylaw 14.5.1, a student-athlete who transfers to a Division III institution from any other collegiate institution is required to serve an academic year in residence at the certifying institution before being eligible to compete. However, there are several exceptions to this general rule that would allow a transfer student-athlete to be immediately eligible at your institution. The exceptions can be found in Bylaws 14.5.4 (Two-Year College Transfers) and 14.5.5 (Four-Year College Transfers).
To determine whether a transfer student-athlete meets any exceptions, it is important to first understand their complete and accurate educational and athletics participation history. To do so, we recommend creating a timeline starting with the student's high school graduation date and continuing through the student’s enrollment at your institution. You’ll want to know the following:
Each institution the student was enrolled at full time.
Any gaps in full-time enrollment (i.e., academic terms when the student was not enrolled in college or when the student was part time).
Athletics participation history, both practice and competition, per term at each institution.
Use all of your resources to ensure the timeline is accurate, including transfer tracers from previous institutions, Transfer Portal information (if applicable), official transcripts, and your registrar's office for reviewing transferable credits. Once you have a full educational and participation history, you can accurately identify the type of transfer (two-year college transfer or four-year) and apply the correct transfer legislation.
Recent Interpretations and Educational Column
Staff interpretation: Use of Out-of-Season Days for Ice Hockey. The academic and membership affairs staff confirmed that for the sport of ice hockey, an institution may use its allowable out-of-season days for either on-ice or off-ice practices. Any out-of-season days used for on-ice practices may not be counted toward a student-athlete’s five-day acclimatization period.
Staff interpretation: Member Institution Displays Jersey with Prospect’s Name. The academic and membership affairs staff determined that a member institution may display a jersey with a prospect's name on it during the prospect’s visit to the campus, provided the display is only intended for the prospective student-athlete and the prospect does not retain the jersey.
Educational Column: Activities During Unofficial and Official Visits — Photographs (III). A member institution may not publicize a prospective student-athlete’s visit to campus. Taking a picture of a prospective student-athlete while on a campus visit and posting it on social media would be impermissible publicizing of the visit. However, prospective student-athletes are not similarly limited. Prospective student-athletes may post photographs/videos on social media of their visit to campus, provided an institutional staff member does not direct the action.
Accordingly, the following are some examples of what may occur, provided institutional staff members do not direct the activity:
An institutional staff member may use any camera to photograph or video the prospective student-athlete and send a digital copy of the photo or video to the prospective student-athlete. The prospective student-athlete may post it on social media.
A prospective student-athlete may take a photograph or video with a coach or student-athlete and post it on social media.
A prospective student-athlete who is on the sideline or the field/court before or after a contest may take a photograph or video of themselves and post it on social media.
A prospective student-athlete may take a photograph or video while dressed in or with any item, including personalized items (e.g., locker, sign, institutional uniform, helmet, etc.) and post it on social media. [Note: the PSA may only keep items that are generally available to the institution’s prospective students or constitute a permissible recruiting material.]
A prospective student-athlete may take a photograph or video with a scoreboard or videoboard displaying their name and image and post it on social media.
[Note: An institution may photograph a prospective student-athlete during a campus visit to be used in the institution's permissible publicity and promotional activities (e.g., press release, media guide).]
NEW! Resources, resources, resources!
The Division III compliance page is your one-stop shop for all things resources. In addition to the question & answer documents for the two blanket waivers in effect for the 2023-24 academic year, we encourage you to check out the updated social media resource and the brand-new resources for the days-based playing season model.
REMINDER: 2023-24 Rules Test
Beginning Aug. 1, the Division III Rules Test will move to the NCAA Learning Portal. In order to access the exam, individuals must have an active NCAA MyApps account and be assigned NCAA Learning Portal access within NCAA MyApps. Resources on how to create accounts, assign access and take the exam will appear on the Division III Rules Test page of ncaa.org.
Join us for the 2023 College Sports Communicators Convention. The event takes place June 11-14, with Division III Day running on June 12. Topics for DIII Day include "Preparing for the Big Moments," Collaboration Culture" and a team building activity. To view a complete schedule, click here.
A direct outcome of the 2021 ISA Inclusion Think Tank, two new resources suggest best practices to enhance international student-athletes’ sense of belonging. From specific action steps for athletics departments to important considerations for administrators/coaches, these resources offer guidance to anyone who work directly with ISAs.
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.
Sport-specific testosterone thresholds and submission deadlines related to the NCAA transgender student-athlete participation policy have been published for the 2023-24 academic year. Notably, all testosterone thresholds continue to align with the relevant sport-governing body. The only change from the 2022-23 academic year is in triathlon. As a reminder, in January 2023, the NCAA Board of Governors approved a recommendation from the NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports to extend Phase Two of the policy through the 2023-24 academic year.
Should a national governing body or international federation change its transgender student-athlete participation policy after the release of the NCAA eligibility requirements for that academic year, the published eligibility requirements will not be reconsidered for that academic year. Such changes will be considered as part of the following annual review of NCAA transgender student-athlete eligibility requirements. Visit ncaa.org/transgender for additional information about eligibility documentation submission requirements and the review process.
Supporting Transgender and Nonbinary Student-Athletes
The following resources were designed to assist membership efforts to support an inclusive environment that promotes and develops the mental and physical health of transgender and nonbinary student-athletes in collegiate sport:
Finally, member schools are encouraged to explore, identify and utilize all available resources as they consider how best to support transgender student-athletes. Such resources may include, among others, resources designed to support LGBTQ student-athletes, coaches and administrators, as well as resources on mental health best practices. Transgender student-athlete participation policy questions can be submitted to ssi@ncaa.org. Questions on supporting inclusive environments can be submitted to inclusion@ncaa.org.
NCAA Catastrophic Sport Injury Reporting Reminder
As a reminder, NCAA legislation requires member schools to report annually on all student-athlete fatalities and catastrophic injuries, regardless of whether such fatality/injury is sport-related. Schools must report a catastrophic event that occurred during this annual cycle and they must report retroactively a catastrophic event that occurred since the legislation became effective Aug. 1, 2014, if that event has not already been reported.
To assist in the collection of this data, the NCAA Sport Science Institute has partnered with the National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research and the Datalys Center. In addition, an online reporting tool has been developed to facilitate reporting. Schools can also report a catastrophic event by calling the National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research at 919-843-8357. For more information and for answers to frequently asked questions about fatality and catastrophic injury reporting, visit the NCAA website at ncaa.org/injuryreporting.
The Eligibility Center has released a new FAQ outlining the sunsetting of COVID-19 relief policies initiated during the pandemic. This resource outlines which student-athletes are impacted and when those policies will end. Please refer to this document for information regarding the sunsetting of the COVID relief policy.
The Eligibility Center staff welcomed Regional Rules attendees to Indianapolis last week with three membership-focused sessions. Across the three sessions, more than 500 members were present to hear about upcoming updates from the Eligibility Center and learn more about the initial-eligibility process. Thank you to everyone who made their way to Indianapolis and chose to spend time with the Eligibility Center staff during one of our sessions. We greatly appreciated having an opportunity to engage with you in person!
Administrative Committee, May 15
Championships Committee, May 16.
Membership Committee, May 25.
Nominating Committee, May 25.
KEY DATES JUNE THROUGH AUGUST
2023
Dates
Meeting/Championship
Location
June 1-7
Softball Championship
Marshall, TX
June 2-8
Baseball Championship
Cedar Rapids, TX
June 20-21
Championships Committee
Indianapolis
June 21-22
Membership Committee
Indianapolis
June 21
Interpretations and Legislation Committee
Virtual
June 22
Strategic Planning and Finance Committee
Virtual
July 15-16
Student-Athlete Advisory Committee
Indianapolis
July 17-18
Management Council
Indianapolis
July 20
Membership Committee
Virtual
July 27
Nominating Committee
Virtual
August 2
Presidents Council
Virtual
August 16
Championships Committee
Virtual
August 17
Membership Committee
Virtual
August 24
Nominating Committee
Virtual
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.
