The NCAA Division III staff has created this bi-weekly communication for the Division III membership to provide up-to-date communications on recent Division III governance meeting discussions and outcomes. Please share this communication with your campus and conference colleagues.
Recent Governance Meetings - Key Discussions and Outcomes.
Membership Committee, July 18 Athletics consortium request. The committee approved a request from Otterbein University to establish an athletics consortium with Antioch University – Yellow Springs. The request met the legislated criteria including approval from the Ohio Athletic Conference. Otterbein is required to renew the request to the Membership Committee every four academic years.
Sports sponsorship waiver requests. The committee approved a sport sponsorship waiver request from Medgar Evers College and denied a request from Lesley University citing insufficient mitigation.
Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, July 20-21 Key agenda items. The committee discussed sports wagering, the NCAA Division III Power Index, and enhancements to championships. SAAC plans to focus on subcommittee work related to Mental/Physical Health and Sports Ethics this coming academic year, and it also will host a quarterly podcast covering relevant issues for Division III student-athletes.
Joint session with Management Council.During the joint session, AMA staff presented on the NCAA’s Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) resources, and following the presentation, members engaged in a roundtable discussion about NIL. Afterward, everyone participated in a Special Olympics event at the NCAA Hall of Champions.
Management Council, July 21-23 Budget. The council approved the 2024-25 Division III Strategic Plan and 2024-26 Division III budget which includes new initiatives for the Enrichment Fund, championship enhancements and supplemental budget enhancements. The budget and strategic plan must receive approval from Presidents Council that meets in early Aug.
Championship Committee. The council approved a recommendation from the Championships Committee to approve a waiver of bylaw 31.3.5.1 (b) for up to two years to allow flexibility to ensure top ranked teams don’t compete against each other in the early round(s) of the championship. Additionally, the council approved an amendment to bylaw 31.3.5.1 to align the legislation with the current understanding that conference opponents will not meet in the first round of the championship and clarify that seeding will be considered but not be determinative when selecting hosts for championships. The council also approved noncontroversial legislation to eliminate the off-ice training exception for ice-hockey.
Athletic Trainer Working Group. The council reviewed and endorsed the revised recommendations from the working group. The working group intends to release the recommendations to the membership by the end of August.
Federated playing rules. The council received an update on the current review of the Division III Federated Playing Rules process. Staff has sent a questionnaire to the Division III members of five sport and rules committees that were in a rule making cycle in 2023-24. Staff also conducted a meeting with the Division III members of these committees to receive additional feedback. A final report is expected by its October meeting.
Legislative actions. The council recommended the Presidents Council take emergency legislative action during its Aug. meeting to limit or avoid NCAA liability as a result of litigation, ADR, or governmental proceedings. The recommendation will change the eligibility process for transfer student-athletes who were academically ineligible had they remained at their previous institution as follows:
The student-athlete would remain ineligible for competition upon transfer; and
The institution could certify that student-athlete as eligible after one regular term of full-time enrollment, based on that institution’s academic standards for all student-athletes.
This process eliminates the default position that all transfer student-athletes would have to serve an academic year of residence. If Presidents Council takes emergency legislative action, the membership will ratify the action during the 2025 NCAA Convention.
The council will sponsor 2025 Convention legislation to amend the Division III legislative process. Specifically, to:
Establish an initial membership proposal submission deadline of July 1 annually, where sponsors must submit intent and rationale statements and identify affected bylaws;
Establish a comment period for proposals from July 1 to September 1 annually;
Establish an alternate membership proposal submission deadline of September 15 annually, where sponsors must submit the proposal in final format and meet a sponsorship threshold of four multisport conferences or 20 institutions representing four multisport conferences;
Establish September 15 as the final sponsorship date for membership and governance proposals;
Produce a publication of proposed legislation on October 1 annually; and
Permit four multisport conferences, 20 institutions representing four multisport conferences or the Division III Presidents or Management Councils (by a three-quarter vote) to offer amendments that increase the modification of a proposal.
The council approved, in concept, noncontroversial legislation establishing, for the sport of Nordic skiing, a playing season start date of October 8 and an end date of March 29 or the end of United States Nordic Super Tour Finals, whichever occurs later.
The council will sponsor two 2025 Convention proposals recommended by the Membership Committee.
To establish a waiver of the reclassification period to shorten it from three years to two years.
To create an exception that would allow a student who has graduated from a Division III institution to maintain their athletics eligibility for that Division III institution while enrolled at an accredited non-member institution without a varsity athletics program, provided there is a formal institutional academic relationship between the Division III institution and the accredited non-member institution.
The council approved in final format noncontroversial legislation to create an exception for institutions accepted into the provisional membership process that would require only international student-athletes that are initially enrolling at Division III provisional member institutions to have NCAA Eligibility Center certification accounts.
Sports wagering. The council discussed feedback from the governance structure and membership on a concept to deregulate the prohibition of betting on professional sports. The council will continue its discussion during its Oct. meeting.
Management Council leadership. The council elected Jason Verdugo, director of athletics at Wisconsin Eau-Claire, to serve as chair and Rob Larson, faculty athletics representative at Luther, to serve as vice-chair effective immediately through the close of the 2026 NCAA Convention.
Nominating Committee, July 25 Committee vacancies The committee reviewed the nominees for governance and sport committee vacancies and forwarded recommendations to the councils and Championships Committee.
Meeting cadence. The committee has adopted a new meeting cadence that will have it meet three times per year (i.e., Sept., Feb., and June).
Upcoming Meetings and Anticipated Discussions.
Presidents Council, Aug. 5 New council members. The council will act on a recommendation from the Division III Nominating Committee regarding new council members effective Aug. 1 due to the 2023 NCAA Convention proposal to have every multi-conference representative on either the Presidents or Management Councils.
Council leadership. The council will vote for its chair and vice-chair effective with the close of the 2025 NCAA Convention.
Strategic plan and budget. The council will act on a recommendation from SPFC to adopt the strategic plan and budget for FY25 and FY26.
Transfer legislation. The council will act on a recommendation from Management Council. [See Legislative Actions in Management Council updates]
Sports wagering. The council will receive an update from the Management Council regarding its discussion on deregulating the prohibition of betting on professional sports.
NCAA Board of Governors. The council will participate in the consultative process regarding the BOG’s Aug. agenda.
Resources.
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. 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.
2024-25 NCAA compliance forms. The 2024-25 NCAA Compliance Forms are now available in the NCAA Compliance Forms application, which is available via NCAA My Apps. Click here for the PDF versions of the forms, which are available via the "Compliance Forms" link on the compliance page of each division's membership section at www.ncaa.org. Questions about the Compliance Forms application may be emailed to forms@ncaa.org.
NPI. The fall and winter sports committees have set their dials. Click here for an updated FAQ. Sport-specific webinars for winter sports will be held on the following dates:
The spring sport dials will be set and distributed by Aug. 1.
With every communication, we also anticipate additional questions. Please send all questions to DIIIGovernance@ncaa.org. Thank you for your continued collaboration and leadership.
This email was sent to NCAA Division III Presidents Council, Management Council, commissioners, directors of athletics and the NADIIIAA executive board based on contact information in the NCAA Directory.
