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 email DIIIGovernance@ncaa.org to include an item or share comments, and remember to check out the Division III governance
homepage for the latest news and information.
As we prepare for the 2025-26 competition seasons, click here for the established NCAA Power Index weights and a Frequently Asked Questions guide. Every Division III sport championship’s webpage also includes an NPI informational webinar recorded last year. The end of the 2025-26 academic year will conclude two years of NPI use, and at this time, sport committees may recommend changes to the dials. All changes must be approved by the Division III Championships Committee, and if approved, there will be a one-year delayed implementation date (i.e., 2027-28).
Eligibility Waiver Pilot
The Division III Presidents Council established a pilot program to evaluate alternative enrollment options that might provide the appropriate flexibility for student-athletes to complete their athletics eligibility. Specifically, the program allows the Subcommittee for Legislative Relief to consider waiver requests from Division III schools for student-athletes to complete their athletics eligibility at the Division III institution while enrolled at a non-member institution that does not sponsor intercollegiate athletics, provided there is an existing academic relationship between the institutions and additional conditions are satisfied. Institutions may now submit legislative waiver requests (through Requests/Self-Reports Online) for the 2025-26 academic year. Click
here for a recently published Q&A.
Application Open: Division III Student Immersion Program
For the 11th year, Division III will hold the Division III Student Immersion Program. This year’s program will be Jan. 13-16, in conjunction with the NCAA Convention in Washington, D.C. The application process is available on Program Hub, titled “2026 Division III Student Immersion Program
,” and closes at 5 p.m. Eastern time Sept. 9. Students, 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. In addition to the scheduled Convention programming for Division III, participants will attend welcome and debriefing meetings, participate in a DISC assessment, and be assigned a mentor. Students accepted into the program also will be invited to submit an application 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.
Impact Forum
Save the date for the 2025 Impact Forum. Join us from Nov. 10-12 in Indianapolis as we embrace humanity and build community. Inspired by previous programming opportunities like the Inclusion Forum, this professional development experience offers educational and engaging sessions centered around creating cultures of belonging and well-being. Registration will open in September. If you have any questions, reach out to inclusion@ncaa.org.
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 2024-25 academic year will be open in September through the attestation deadline of Friday, Nov. 7. Additional communications regarding the attestation process will be delivered in the coming weeks. For an FAQ, click
here. Please make sure your school’s information in the NCAA Directory is up to date to ensure communication is delivered to the appropriate people.
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. 12 – Recap of Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, Management Council and Presidents Council meetings.
Sept. 2 – NCAA Transfer Portal.
Oct. 7 – Review of Division III Noncontroversial Legislation Recent Approvals.
All past webinar PowerPoints are on the Division III webinar webpage.
Ensuring the health and safety of student-athletes is a top priority. Bylaw 17.1.6.4.1 requires schools to confirm the sickle cell trait status of all student-athletes before they participate in intercollegiate athletics. This can be done in two ways:
Documentation: The student-athlete can provide documented results of a sickle cell solubility test administered before participation.
Pending documentation: If the test results are not yet confirmed, the student-athlete may still participate, provided the student-athlete engages in mandatory education about sickle cell trait status and follows appropriate precautions set by the institution.
Additionally, Bylaw 17.1.6.4.1.1 emphasizes the importance of education. Every student-athlete must receive education on sickle cell trait status. Those awaiting test results will receive additional education on the risks, impact and necessary precautions associated with the trait.
Recent Interpretations and Educational Columns
Staff Interpretation: Sickle Cell Solubility Test (III). The academic and membership affairs staff determined that only results from a sickle cell test that meet or exceed the standard of a sickle cell solubility test, as determined by a team physician, satisfy NCAA legislation.
Educational Column: Sickle Cell Solubility Test (III). Per Bylaw 17.1.6.4.1, institutions are required to confirm the sickle cell trait status of student-athletes before participation in intercollegiate athletics. This educational column contains questions and answers designed to assist the membership in understanding the application of the sickle cell solubility test legislation. This educational column replaces previous guidance contained in educational columns that have been archived.
2025-26 Rules Test
The 2025-26 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 has been updated with several resources to aid you in the transition.
Please remember that, per Bylaw 11.8, your school 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 2025-26 NCAA Division III Rules Test, please contact d3coachesexam@ncaa.org. If you have questions regarding the NCAA Learning Portal, please contact
webhelpdesk@ncaa.org.
2026 NCAA Convention Legislation Timeline
From July 1 to Sept. 1, membership-sponsored proposals and governance-sponsored proposals will be posted and available for comment by the Division III membership. Feedback collected during this period will be shared with proposal sponsors for consideration. By Sept. 15, final submissions for membership-sponsored proposals that missed the initial July 1 deadline must be provided in final legislative format. These proposals will not benefit from the comment period.
Governance-sponsored proposals, which must be sponsored by either the Division III Management Council or Presidents Council, are also due by this date. On Oct. 1, the 2026 Convention Division III Publication of Proposed Legislation will be available on the NCAA website. This publication includes both membership-sponsored and governance-sponsored proposals.
Finally, on Nov. 15, the 2026 NCAA Convention Division III Official Notice, containing the final versions of proposed legislation, will be available online for Convention attendees.
REMINDER: 2026 Convention Proposals Feedback
There are currently eight governance-sponsored and nine membership-sponsored proposals posted for Division III’s first-ever Comment Period. If you're interested in offering feedback, access LSDBi between now and 5 p.m. Eastern time Sept. 1 and do the following:
Hover over the blue “Legislative Process” tab at the top of your screen. Then click “Comment Periods.”
Review the proposals by clicking the hyperlink for each. Once you click, you'll be able to see the title, intent and rationale for the proposal, as well as the initial sponsor (with contact info).
To submit comments, click the blue “Add/Edit Comment” button.
Each school or conference may only submit ONE comment, but that comment can be edited/adjusted as much as you like between now and Sept. 1.
Hit the “View Comments” to see what others in the membership are saying.
NCAA Regional Rules Seminar
The 2026 NCAA Regional Rules Seminar will take place May 13-15 in Atlanta. Educational programming will run from Wednesday morning through Friday evening and include specific sessions for all three divisions and Association-wide sessions. The NCAA Regional Rules Seminar is the premiere forum on NCAA legislation, athletics compliance and associated educational sessions. More information on registration and hotel information will be made available in early spring 2026. Please contact ncaaregionalrulesseminars@ncaa.org with any questions. Also, please note that you may find several presentation materials from the 2025 seminar in the NCAA Learning Portal. To access the portal, click into
NCAA My Apps.
NCAA Division III Manual
The NCAA Division III Manual for the 2025-26 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.
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. 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.
Transfer Portal
Version 8.0 of the NCAA Transfer Portal will go live Aug. 8 with several new enhancements. The portal will be unavailable for several hours Aug. 8 when this update occurs. An announcement will be posted to the portal’s announcement page once it is back online. Transfer Portal resources reflecting version 8.0 enhancements will be available in the resources section in early September.
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 d3identity@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.
PLAYING RULES AND OVERSIGHT PANEL UPDATES
Softball
The Softball Rules Committee met June 16-18 for its annual meeting. It was a rules change year. We anticipate announcing rules changes for the 2026 and 2027 seasons in mid-August.
Men's Wrestling
The 2025-26 and 2026-27 major playing rules changes are available here. The 2025-26 weight management packet will be sent to head coaches in mid-August.
Women's Wrestling
The 2025-26 National Collegiate women’s wrestling playing rules are available here.
OFFICIATING
Toolkit on Becoming an Official
Launched last year, this toolkit provides graphics and social media deliverables to co-brand with your conference logo for a shared recruitment message across all sports. The toolkit can be found under the Officiating and Member Resources section on the NCAA Say Yes to Officiating website here.
Player to Ref Program
As student-athletes return to campus, we want to remind you that the intake form for the NCAA Player to Ref program, known as P2R, is active and can be shared with student-athletes who have expressed an interest in becoming an official or may have been identified as someone who would make a good official. As part of this program, student-athletes who have never received any formal officiating training are provided access to RefReps
at no charge after registering with the program. The NCAA national office will be working to connect state high school associations or conference coordinators with student-athletes who have completed officiating training to get those student-athletes started on their officiating experience.
Elevate Respect
The NCAA is continuing our alliance with Officially Human to provide the membership with learning modules, Elevate Respect and Elevate Respect – Team, as an effort to improve student-athlete, coach and fan behavior directed at officials. The Elevate Respect – Team course is a “play through” option that was developed with the intention of being available to giving full teams access to the content during team meetings at the start of the academic year. The Elevate Respect course is a “click through” option that can be used as a remediation tool for behavioral issues that occur during the season. These courses are available on the NCAA Learning Portal. To access the course, log in to the Learning Portal on MyApps through ncaa.org. In the search feature at the top of the main page, enter “Elevate Respect,” enroll in the course(s) and begin learning.
The NCAA compiles and provides statistical information regarding certain demographic characteristics of various groups within our member schools and conferences. Since the 2010-11 year, data previously compiled as the Student-Athlete Race and Gender Demographics Report has been provided in an online searchable database. Click here to explore the database.
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.
This resource for athletics administrators provides detailed information about the NCAA drug-testing process.
2025-26 NCAA Drug-Testing Fact Sheet
This resource for student-athletes provides information about NCAA banned substance classes.
Caffeine Educational Resource
Energy drinks continue to be reported by Drug Free Sport AXIS as one of the top five supplement inquiries submitted. Caffeine, one of the ingredients commonly found in these types of drinks, is an NCAA banned substance where a urinary concentration is equal to or greater than 15 mcg/ml. The Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports has approved a revised educational resource, Caffeine and Athletic Performance Fact Sheet, which provides information about the effects of caffeine. Student-athletes should consult with their primary athletics health care provider and/or dietitian before including caffeinated products in their nutrition plan.
Cannabinoids Educational Resources
Additional educational resources are now available to support schools in their efforts to prevent, identify and manage problematic cannabis use. The newly developed fact sheets promote a campus-based harm-reduction approach.
The Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports approved a modification to the NCAA banned substance list to further align with the World Anti-Doping Agency’s Prohibited List. Sports for which beta-blockers are prohibited now include golf. If a student-athlete in rifle or golf tests positive for a beta-blocker during an NCAA drug test, schools should follow the procedures outlined in Section 8.0 of the NCAA Drug-Testing Manual to request a medical exception.
Division III Commissioners Association/NADIIIAA Executive Committees
Indianapolis
Aug. 21
Membership Committee
Virtual
Sept. 8
Convention Planning Subcommittee
Virtual
Sept. 8
Presidents Council Futures Subcommittee
Virtual
Sept. 8-9
Championships Committee
Indianapolis
Sept. 9
FAR Advisory Group
Virtual
Sept. 10
Nominating Committee
Virtual
Sept. 10
Playing Rules Oversight Panel
Virtual
Sept. 16
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Subcommittee
Virtual
Sept. 16-17
Interpretations and Legislation Committee
Indianapolis
Sept. 18
Membership Committee
Virtual
Oct. 14
Championships Committee
Virtual
Oct. 16
Interpretations and Legislation Committee
Virtual
Oct. 16
Membership Committee
Virtual
Oct. 20-21
Management Council
Indianapolis
Oct. 27
Presidents Advisory Group Meeting
Indianapolis
Oct. 27-28
Presidents Council
Indianapolis
Oct. 29
NCAA Board of Governors
Indianapolis
This email was sent to members of the NCAA Division III Presidents Council, Presidents Advisory Group, national Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, Division III athletics direct reports, directors of athletics, faculty athletics representatives, senior woman administrators, sports information directors, directors of compliance, commissioners, assistant/associate commissioners, provisional, reclassifying and exploratory members based on contact information in the NCAA Directory.
National Collegiate Athletic Association, 700 W. Washington St., Indianapolis, IN 46204 US
