Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Subcommittee, June 16
Legislative landscape. The subcommittee received an update on the current DEI legislative landscape.

Diversity programs. The subcommittee discussed the recent Division III programs (e.g., Institute for Administrative Advancement) and received updated on the One Team and Inclusive Leaders programs.

Championships Committee, June 16-17
Championships live streaming. This academic year, Division III streamed over 800 events between NCAA.com and ESPN+. There was a total of 65.6 million minutes watched.

Coaches Connect Program. The committee continued working on the logistics to implement the newly approved Division III Coaches Connect Program, which is intended to further engage the coaching community in Division III governance and policy matters. The program is on track to begin with the 2025-26 academic year, and the committee approved football, women’s ice hockey, and men’s and women’s tennis (together) as the initial three sports. The grouping provides one sport for each season. Additionally, two have NCAA playing rules committees (football and ice hockey), while tennis does not, all of which provides a diverse sampling for evaluation purposes. Staff will work with conference commissioners to populate the coaches connect groups and begin the meeting cadence this August.

Playing rules committee structure. The committee provided feedback on a potential change to the playing rules committee structure. After reviewing feedback from the Division III Commissioners Association and the National Association of Division III Athletics Administrators executive committees, the committee indicated that the preferred model for Divisions III is to continue collaborating on rules changes with Division II and to closely monitor the changes in Division I to ensure consistency, where appropriate. The playing rules process would continue to be federated, with each division having autonomy over its playing rules. A joint Division II and Division III Playing Rules Oversight Panel (PROP), with equal representation, also would be created to give final approval on playing rules changes.

The committee discussed the structure and process at length, including potential composition requirements and duties of the proposed Division II/III PROP and the accompanying joint Division II and III playing rules committees by sport. The committee directed staff to revise potential models based on these discussions to inform the committee’s final recommendation to the Division III Management Council in July. The new process, if implemented, is expected to become effective September 1. The committee also emphasized the need to revisit the structure in a few years to ensure it is operating effectively.

National Collegiate championships stability policy. The committee received an update regarding internal discussions on how NCAA National Collegiate championships transition into divisional championships. All divisions have bylaws or policies outlining the minimum sponsorship and legislative requirements to establish new division-specific championships. However, these bylaws and policies suggest division-specific independence without considering the resulting impacts on the sport’s regular season, budgeting and logistics for the new divisional championship, or the administration of the existing National Collegiate championship. 

A new budget policy is being considered that would state that after divisional approval of a division-specific championship (i.e., adoption of legislation at the Convention), the new divisional championship effective date shall be after a minimum of two National Collegiate championships have taken place and with at least two years notice provided to the National Collegiate championship committee and sponsoring members in the sport. (For example, if Division III were to adopt legislation at the 2026 Convention to establish a Division III Women’s Wrestling Championship, it would not begin until the winter of 2028 after the 2026 and 2027 National Collegiate championships have taken place.) The two-year waiting period offers time to properly budget for the championship, coordinate the administration of the new championship (e.g., establish format and qualifications processes; host site selection, committee creation) and allows the membership time to schedule their regular-season contests and post-season tournaments accordingly.

The committee agreed with the rationale and endorsed establishing this new policy. The Division III Strategic Planning and Finance Committee will be asked to formally adopt the new stability policy during its July meeting.

Field hockey. The committee approved preliminary-round hosts that have a water-based astro surface to use the Kookaburra dimple ball during the 2025 Division III Field Hockey Championship so long as the host indicates such a desire in its bid submission and provides the appropriate quantity of practice and warm-up balls (minimum of 40 per team with a preference of 75 per team).

Women’s lacrosse. The committee approved the following schedule for the 2027 NCAA Division III Women’s Lacrosse Championship to accommodate the joint championship with Division II:

This change would apply only to 2027 and not to the championship date formula in any other year. The rest of the dates (selections and preliminary rounds) will remain the same as currently approved. Additionally, the change does not alter the original dates for selection and preliminary rounds of the championship. It only moves the dates of the semifinals and finals.

Women’s volleyball. The committee denied a request to change the legislated AQ deadline to 8 p.m. on Saturday before selections. The committee noted concerns with reducing flexibility for outdoor sports with potential weather challenges, creating challenges for conferences that have contractual arrangements, and disrupting the consistency of the legislation for all sports. The current deadline is 6 p.m. local time, the day of selections (Sunday) for all championships.

Men’s wrestling. The committee approved the wrestling committee’s proposed regional alignment for 2025-26. The changes balance the regions due to new programs being added and some existing programs being discontinued. Click here for the new regional alignments.

The committee approved the wrestling committee’s recommendation that Loras College host the Region VI Regional in 2026.

Convention Planning Subcommittee, June 25
Education sessions. The subcommittee finalized its recommendations for the Division III Convention educational sessions. The subcommittee is recommending the following sessions: (1) How AI and other technologies can help Division III institutions and athletics departments; and (2) Communicating with Generation Z. The third session, being conducted by NADIIIAA, is still being determined. The Management Council will review the recommendations during its July meeting. 

Convention programing. The subcommittee continued to discuss Division III Convention programing and the agenda for the Issues Forum. 

Membership Committee, June 25-26
Annual reports. The committee reviewed annual reports from four Provisional and Reclassifying institutions. It voted to advance the University of Hartford (Year 3 Reclassifying) and Lyon College (Year 3 Provisional) to active status effective Sept. 1. It also voted to advance Penn State University – Brandywine (Year 1 Provisional) to the next year in the three-year process and voted to require Carlow University to repeat Year 2 of the Provisional process.

Regional Rules Seminar. The committee is recommending the Strategic Planning and Finance Committee approve funding to live stream future Division III Regional Rules Seminar education sessions. Live streaming the event reduces the institution’s administrative burden by reducing travel costs and logistical challenges. SPFC will act during its early July meeting.

Referral of accreditation legislation. The committee discussed the Management Council’s referral of accreditation legislation in light of the change to the Higher Education Act of 1965 regarding the categorization of accrediting agencies. The divisions have been asked to consider whether they should amend the membership requirement regarding regional accreditation. The committee noted it would be appropriate for Division III to take no action at this time considering the uncertainty with the status of the U.S. Department of Education, the entity responsible for higher education accreditation. The committee also noted there would be no disparate impact on current Division III members if the current rule was maintained.  

PC Futures Subcommittee, June 26
Mission and purpose. The subcommittee finalized its mission and purpose that states it will serve as an action oriented, future-looking thought leadership body. The subcommittee will review and provide insights on current external issues with potential long-range impact on Division III intercollegiate athletics, while simultaneously monitoring future issues. It will bring to, receive from, and engage the full Division III Presidents Council on key issues and topics.

Strategic priorities. The subcommittee began a deeper review and analysis on identified strategic priorities to discuss during the August Presidents Council meeting.