REPORT OF THE

NCAA DIVISION I CHAMPIONSHIPS/COMPETITION CABINET

AWARDS/TRAVEL POLICIES/BYLAW 16 SUBCOMMITTEE

INFORMATIONAL ITEMS.

1. Review of Previous Report. The NCAA Division I Championships/ Competition Cabinet Awards/Travel Policies/Bylaw 16 Subcommittee reviewed the report from the February 2007 subcommittee meeting.

2. Review of NCAA Awards Program. The staff updated the subcommittee on the recent change in vender for the NCAA awards program. The staff indicated that the new vendor is maintaining a traditional look to the awards while also making slight changes to the presentation of the NCAA logo within the award.

3. Regional Awards Concept. The subcommittee continued its discussion on the concept of awarding only a national championship trophy at the finals site and regional championship trophies at the conclusion of championship competition. The subcommittee reviewed feedback from each sports committee on its desire to implement such a program. While some committees do not wish to provide regional awards, the subcommittee is still supportive of the concept and would like to obtain more information from the committees that do not support such a program. Finally, the subcommittee requested the staff to finalize the financial impact of a regional awards program for review at its September meeting.

4. Review of Traveling Party Priorities. The subcommittee reviewed the cost of implementing the philosophy that, in team sports, each sport should have at least its legislated number of coaches plus a manager, trainer, sports information staff member and an administrator in its traveling party. Further, the subcommittee explored a proposal, including the budget impact, to increase the number of nonstudent-athlete individuals included in the individual/team sport traveling parties. Both proposals have a significant budget impact and the subcommittee members will collect feedback from their colleagues for the September meeting. The subcommittee also discussed the possibility of altering either (or both) proposals, factoring in the necessity of additional nonstudent-athletes, safety concerns and the championship experience for the student-athlete, on a sport-by-sport basis.

5. Squad Size Comparisons. The subcommittee reviewed a draft of an NCAA survey to be sent to the membership regarding squad size limits for regular-season and conference championships. The subcommittee was comfortable with surveying conference offices this summer and requested that the following two items be added to the survey:

· Does the conference office have any exceptions to its squad size limitation?

· Are there different squad size limitations for conference and non-conference games?

6. Bylaw 16.8.1.2 – Departure and Return Restrictions. The subcommittee discussed whether there was support for recommending a legislative proposal to permit institutions more flexibility to depart campus more than 48 hours before competition. The subcommittee discussed several options to provide this flexibility but ultimately did not support a legislative change, noting competitive equity, missed class and campus time and cost concerns. The staff noted that the NCAA Division I Management Council recently supported a recommendation to propose legislation for the 2007-08 legislative cycle that would, if adopted, provide an exception to the 48-hour departure restriction for participation in a conference championship.

7. Update on the NCAA Division I Management Council Discussion on Meals Provided to Student-Athletes. The staff updated the subcommittee on the two legislative proposals related to meals incidental to a student-athlete’s participation in competition sponsored by the Management Council at its April meeting

8. Football Championship Subdivision Squad Size Increase. The subcommittee supported the recommendation from the Football Championship Committee to increase the squad size for the final game of the NCAA Division I football championship from 60 to 70. The subcommittee noted that this increase would not require additional money because the additional 10 student-athletes per team will be counted within the official traveling party of each institution.

9. Future Discussion Items. The subcommittee agreed to discuss the budget impact of the following two items in relation to other budget requests at its September meeting:

· A discussion on whether it is appropriate to provide varying levels of per diem depending on the cost to participate in a particular location.

· A discussion on the current budget impact of funding regional competition in sports that currently are not funded at the regional level.

Committee Chair: Susan Delaney-Scheetz, Pennsylvania State University

Staff Liaisons: Wayne Burrow, Championships

Brad Hostetter, Membership Services