Report of the Division I Management Council
[Note:
The “Action” reported is that of the Management Council
(MC).]
(See Attachment A
for a record of the roll-call votes taken at the meeting.)
è Indicates action items or key issues for
the Division I Board of Directors
1. Opening remarks.
MC
ACTION: Approved the minutes as distributed. (Unanimous Voice Vote)
3. Division I Administrative Committee report on interim actions. [Reference MC Supplement No. 2.]
MC
ACTION: Received a report of interim actions taken by the Administrative
Committee on behalf of the full Management Council.
4. Minutes of
MC
ACTION:
Received a report
of the meeting.
5. Report of
MC
ACTION:
Received a report
of the meeting.
6. Litigation
update.
MC
ACTION:
Received a report
from the NCAA general counsel regarding current cases involving the
Association.
7. Governmental
relations report. [Reference MC Supplement No. 6.]
MC
ACTION:
Received a report
and took no action.
8. Cabinet reports.
a. Report of
MC ACTIONS:
(1) Received a report from
the chair-elect of the Championships/Competition Cabinet regarding the February
7-8, 2006, meeting in which she reviewed the cabinet’s budget priorities,
noted the cabinet approved an increase to the mileage limitation from 300 to
350 miles for ground transportation for championships in all sports other than
basketball, and referenced the fact sports committees gave the authority to
guarantee hosting opportunities to the top four seeds in all championships in
which predetermined sites are not used although funding is not available under
this biannual budget process..
(2) Considered
a request to use its emergency or noncontroversial authority to adopt the
following:
[Note:
See Attachment B for the full text of the
following legislative proposals.]
(a) Proposal No. 2006-7 – Women’s Lacrosse Committee – Composition. Intent: To specify that the Women's Lacrosse Committee shall consist of one representative from each of the four regions (Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, South and West/Midwest) and two representatives selected at-large; further, to specify that no more than two committee members shall be from any single region. [Source: NCAA Division I Championships/ Competition Cabinet (Women's Lacrosse Committee).]
è MC ACTION: Designated the proposal as noncontroversial (Unanimous Voice Vote); approved and agreed to request that the Board use its authority to adopt the proposal as noncontroversial legislation. (Unanimous Voice Vote – Effective Date: Immediate (Composition will be achieved through normal attrition.)
(b) Proposal No. 2006-8 – Committees -- Women's Basketball Committee – Composition. Intent: To specify that the Women's Basketball Committee shall consist of one member from each of the four women's basketball regions and six members selected at large; further, to specify that no more than three committee members shall be from any single region. [Source: NCAA Division I Championships/Competition Cabinet (Women's Basketball Committee).]
è MC ACTION: Designated the proposal as noncontroversial (Unanimous Voice Vote); approved and agreed to request that the Board use its authority to adopt the proposal as noncontroversial legislation. (Unanimous Voice Vote – Effective Date: Immediate (Composition will be achieved through normal attrition.)
b. Report of the February 15-17, 2006,
Academics/Eligibility/Compliance Cabinet meeting. [Reference MC Supplement No. 8.]
(1) Received a report from the chair of the
Academics/Eligibility/Compliance Cabinet regarding the February 15-17, 2006, meeting
in which she encouraged the Management Council to review the cabinet’s
many informational items and asked for the Management Council’s
consideration of legislative proposals deemed noncontroversial as follows:
[Note:
See Attachment B for the full text of the
following legislative proposals.]
(a) Proposal No. 2006-3 – Amateurism – Involvement with Professional Teams – Tryout Before Enrollment – Predraft Basketball Camp Exception. Intent: In basketball, to permit a prospective student-athlete to accept actual and necessary expenses from a professional sports organization to attend that organization's predraft basketball camp regardless of the length of the camp. [Source: NCAA Division I Academics/Eligibility/Compliance Cabinet (Subcommittee on Agents and Amateurism).]
è MC ACTION: Designated the proposal as noncontroversial (Unanimous Voice Vote); approved and agreed to request that the Board use its authority to adopt the proposal as noncontroversial legislation. (Unanimous Voice Vote – Effective Date: Immediate.)
(b) Proposal No. 2006-4 – Recruiting – Contacts and Evaluations – Contact Period Exception – Institutions with Official Admissions Notification Dates After Final Contact Period. Intent: To eliminate the waiver of contact periods for institutions with established admissions acceptance dates that occur after the normal contact deadline; further, to establish an exception to permit an institution that does not subscribe to the National Letter of Intent in a particular sport and has an official admissions notification date that occurs subsequent to the end of the final contact period of the academic year, to extend the final contact period of the academic year through 30 days after the institution's official admissions notification date. [Source: NCAA Division I Academics/ Eligibility/Compliance Cabinet (Subcommittee on Recruiting).]
è MC ACTION: Designated the proposal as noncontroversial (Unanimous Voice Vote); approved and agreed to request that the Board use its authority to adopt the proposal as noncontroversial legislation. (Unanimous Voice Vote – Effective Date: Immediate.)
(c) Proposal No. 2006-5 – Ethical Conduct – Gambling Activities – Sanctions – Timing of Reinstatement Request. To eliminate the requirement that a request for reinstatement of a student-athlete's eligibility may be submitted only on fulfillment of the minimum one-year period of ineligibility for instances in which a student-athlete solicits or accepts a bet or participates in any gambling activity that involves intercollegiate athletics or professional athletics, through a bookmaker, a parlay card or any other method employed by organized gambling. [Source: NCAA Division I Academics/Eligibility/Compliance Cabinet (Committee on Student-Athlete Reinstatement).]
è MC ACTION: Designated the proposal as noncontroversial (Unanimous Voice Vote); approved and agreed to request that the Board use its authority to adopt the proposal as noncontroversial legislation. (Unanimous Voice Vote – Effective Date: Immediate.)
(d) Proposal No. 2006-6 – Recruiting – Unofficial Visit – Activities – Eligibility Ramifications. Intent: To specify that a prospective student-athlete's eligibility would be affected and that an institution would be required to seek reinstatement of the prospect's eligibility in cases involving violations related to the types of activities that may occur on an unofficial visit (e.g., personalized recruiting aids, game-day simulations). [Source: NCAA Division I Academics/Eligibility/Compliance Cabinet (Committee on Student-Athlete Reinstatement).]
è MC ACTION: Designated the proposal as noncontroversial (Unanimous Voice Vote); approved and agreed to request that the Board use its authority to adopt the proposal as noncontroversial legislation. (Unanimous Voice Vote – Effective Date: Immediate.)
9. Approval of
minutes of Legislative Review and Interpretations Committee (LRIC).
[Reference MC Supplement No. 9.]
MC ACTIONS:
a. Approved a recommendation to modify a previous Council-approved official interpretation [Reference: 07/18/2001, Item No. 1] to specify that evaluation activities related to individuals who are not yet prospective student-athletes may only occur during contact or evaluation periods when it is permissible to evaluate prospective student-athletes. [References: NCAA Bylaws 13.02.11 (prospective student-athlete), 13.02.4 (recruiting periods) and 13.1.8 (limitations on number of evaluations-all sports).] [Vote: For 29.5, Against 18.5, Not present 3; See Vote No. 1, Attachment A.]
b. Reaffirmed an official interpretation
(Reference: 12/13/2005, Item No. 3.) that attachments to general correspondence
may only include information that is not created for recruiting purposes,
except for items that are specifically permitted as printed recruiting
materials. (e.g., questionnaires) [References: Division I Bylaws 13.4.1.1
(printed recruiting materials), 13.4.1.2 (electronic transmissions) and
13.4.1.3 (other recruiting materials).]
[Vote: For 27, Against 20, Abstain 1, Not present 3; See Vote No. 2,
Attachment A.]
c. Approved the remainder of the minutes from the December 13, 2005 meeting and 2006 conference calls No. 3 and 4 as distributed. (Unanimous Voice Vote)
10. Update from the Committee on Academic
Performance (CAP). [Reference MC Supplement
No. 10.]
MC
ACTIONS:
a. Were informed that pursuant to an earlier
recommendation by the Management Council and Board of Directors, APR
adjustments and institutional waiver requests were considered prior to the
publication of APR data on March 2 and learned that to date a total of 99
sports teams were subject to contemporaneous penalties.
b. Received an update regarding major
items on the Committee on Academic Performance’s agenda including:
(1) Issues
associated with incentives. Now that the Board has approved a
program of public recognition for the top 10 percent of academic performers in
each sport, issues regarding need based grants to help institutions, rewards
for top performing programs and funding need to be addressed;
(2) Cut
points associated with public warning penalties. A determination of where to draw the cut points for public warning
penalties under the historically-based penalties. [Note: It is anticipated that the CAP
will forward a recommendation regarding this issue to the Board of Directors
for consideration at its April meeting along with a request to adopt appeals
procedure for historically-based penalties.]; and
c. Requested data regarding the number of
student-athletes per sport leaving school early for professional athletics.
11. Update
from the Working Group to Review Initial-Eligibility Trends. [Reference MC Supplement No. 11.]
MC
ACTIONS:
a. Received a report from the Working
Group to Review Initial-Eligibility Trends, which is an Ad Hoc group established
for the purpose of reviewing recent trends regarding secondary school education
and how such trends should impact NCAA legislation and academic policies;
b. Learned that
there are key underlying assumptions that have guided the group’s work including:
·
Reliance
on the integrity of high school principals who are subject to state regulations
and oversight is a sound principle that should be maintained, with the caveat
that institutions that are not subject to state regulations and oversight present
a more problematic scenario.
·
Achieving
the appropriate balance between over regulation and ensuring academic integrity
is a challenge and member institutions and the Clearinghouse must work together
to share the responsibility for ensuring academic integrity.
·
Ensuring
students have properly achieved tests scores used in the certification of
eligibility is an important component in ensuring students are prepared for
college.
c. Were informed that the group is scheduled to
meet again on April 17-18, 2006, and is expected to recommend that the Board of
Directors use its emergency authority to:
·
Establish
a more comprehensive process for reviewing high schools used to meet
requirements for purposes of meeting NCAA initial eligibility requirements and
to provide a mechanism to conduct a special review of a prospect’s
academic credentials to ensure academic eligibility be provided.
·
Require
a prospect to register with the NCAA Clearinghouse prior to or during an
official visits.
·
Require
member institutions to place a prospect on an IRL prior to or during an
official visit; whichever is earlier.
12. Status
report on the establishment of the NCAA Amateurism Clearinghouse. [Reference MC
Supplement No. 12.]
è MC ACTION: Received an update on plans for the NCAA Amateurism Clearinghouse, which will be charged with certifying all international and domestic prospective and transfer student-athletes prior to initial participation at Division I or II member institutions and were informed of the following:
·
It is anticipated that the Clearinghouse will
open during the summer of 2006 to begin the process of certifying the
amateurism status for prospective student-athletes enrolling in the fall of
2007;
·
Under this process, which is intended to be
seamless, student-athletes will be asked to complete a questionnaire online
regarding their activities.
Students’ amateurism status will be assessed based on the
NCAA’s existing bylaws; and
·
It is intended that the Clearinghouse will
assist institutions and prospects early in the recruitment process with
valuable information regarding amateurism issues.
13. Report
of the NCAA/USOC Joint Task Force.
[Reference MC Supplement
No.13.]
è MC ACTIONS:
a. Received a report and tabled a
request to endorse the value statement for maintaining broad-based
intercollegiate athletic programs in the United States. [Vote: For 45, Against 5, Not present 2;
See Vote No. 3, Attachment A.]
b. In tabling this
request, indicated a desire to learn not only more about the other initiatives
included in the report but also about the funding sources for those
initiatives; and
c. Expressed concern
that endorsing this statement may be read by some as an endorsement of all the
recommendations included in the report.
14. Update
regarding the Division I budget recommendations. [Reference MC Supplement
No. 14-A,B,C,D,E,F.]
MC ACTION: Received information regarding the Association’s biennial budget process and reviewed the Division I recommended budget allocations for fiscal year 2006- 07 and 2007-08. It is anticipated that the Board of Directors will take final action to approve the Division I budget in April.
15. NCAA-Sponsored Group Basic
Accident Medical Program. [Reference MC Supplement
No. 15.]
MC ACTION: Received information on a new NCAA-sponsored Group Basic Accident Medical Program, which is intended to mitigate the effects of medical inflation, create a stable, long-term solution to financing medical expenses within the catastrophic deductible of $65,000 and result in the development of best practices risk management and claims management protocols.
[NOTE: This NCAA-sponsored pilot program will initially include approximately 25 to 30 member institutions but the ultimate goal is to make the program available to interested institutions.]
16. Governance Subcommittee
Report. [Reference MC Supplement No. 16.] [Addendum]
MC
ACTIONS:
a. Supported a concept to modify its current process for initially reviewing legislation. Pursuant to this modification, Management Council members will have four options when casting an initial vote on a proposal: (a) Send the proposal directly to the Division I Board of Directors for adoption; (b) Send the proposals out for additional membership comment during the 60-day comment/amendment period; (c) Defeat the proposal; or (d) Abstain. Under this recommended modification, proposals would still be required to receive at least 2/3 support of the Management Council members present and voting to move directly to the Board of Directors for consideration on the initial review. Proposals that do not receive the requisite 2/3 support but receive at least a majority of the Management Council members that either support the proposal being sent directly to the Division I Board of Directors for adoption or support sending the proposals out for additional membership comment, shall be sent out for additional membership comment. (Unanimous Voice Vote)
è [Note: The Board of Directors will be asked to take emergency action to adopt the legislative concept, which is Proposal No. 2006-10 in April.]
[Additional background: The Governance Subcommittee discussed whether the Management Council should have the option of noting whether a proposal should be sent out for comment with/without support or whether a proposal should just be sent out for comment and determined that the Management Council should be presented with only four voting options. The subcommittee reached this determination on grounds it wanted to ensure the Management Council’s voting process was easy to apply and simple for the membership to understand. Further, the subcommittee felt publishing the Management Council’s voting totals under the four identified categories would provide the membership with helpful guidance.]
b. Agreed to forward a recommendation to the Division I Board of Directors asking the Board to schedule its current January meeting later in the cycle in order to establish a larger window between the January Management Council and Board of Directors meetings. By scheduling the Board of Directors meeting a few weeks later, the Board, along with the membership, will have more time to become familiar with the Management Council’s legislative actions before being asked to consider the legislation. (Unanimous Voice Vote)
c. Received an update on the subcommittee’s on going examination of the governance structure and learned that thus far, the subcommittee has identified desired outcomes to help guide its examination, developed preliminary Division I governance models and has determined that at a minimum a successful governance model should:
(1) Provide the Board of Directors with quality information and helpful guidance.
(2) Allow for the governance substructure and membership to provide meaningful and significant input.
(3) Result in a global examination of issues and enhance communication at all levels regarding the major issues facing Division I, so that the Division I governance structure helps to lead the Division rather than react to events.
(4) Be responsive and able to react to the many issues facing Division I. [Note: Despite the need to be dynamic, the subcommittee acknowledged there will always be a need to establish Ad Hoc groups to respond to select issues quickly.]
d. Having identified standards for assessing successful Division I governance models, the subcommittee plans to evaluate the current Division I governance structure and to conduct a similar evaluation of the other governance models identified by the subcommittee.
17. Report
of the Legislative Review Subcommittee. [Reference MC Supplement No. 17.] [Addendum]
MC
ACTIONS:
Received a report from the subcommittee, which included
recommendations related to noncontroversial/emergency proposals and proposals
in the 2005-06 legislative cycle to be acted on by the Management Council
during the course of its meeting.
18. Legislative issues.
a. Comments submitted by member
institutions and affiliated groups.
[Reference MC Supplement No. 18]
[Note: This information was provided for the
Management Council’s use in considering legislation.]
b. Review and discussion of proposals
deferred by the Board of Directors in January. [Reference MC Supplement No. 19.]
(1) Proposal No. 2005-97 – Academic Performance Program Academic Progress Rate – Exception- Student-Athletes who have graduated with eligibility remaining.
MC
ACTION:
Recommended that
CAP amend its policies so that student-athletes who graduate with eligibility
remaining and earn points can be included in the APR cohort but that
student-athletes who graduate with eligibility remaining but fail to earn
points shall be excluded from that cohort.
In the event a policy change is made, the Management Council recommends
that Board defeat Proposal No. 2005-97.
(Unanimous Voice Vote.)
(2) Proposal No. 2005-65 – Amateurism – General Regulations –Amateur Status if Professional in another Sport.
(3) Proposal No. 2005-104 –Eligibility – General Eligibility Requirements– Drug Testing Consent Form – 14-Day Grace Period.
(4) Proposal No. 2005-31
– Recruiting and Initial Eligibility Standards – Notification to
Prospective Student-Athletes.
(5) Proposal No. 2005-71, as amended, – Recruiting – Transportation – Unofficial Visit.
(6) Proposal No. 2005-144 – Postseason Bowl Certification– Contest Status – Minimum Wins– Division I-A Football.
(7) Proposal No. 2005-25 – Amateurism – Institutional Charitable, Educational, or Nonprofit Promotions – Sale of Items Bearing Names, Likeness or Pictures of Student-Athletes.
(8) Proposal No. 2005-54, as amended – Eligibility – Graduate Student or Postbaccalaureate Participation – Transfer Eligibility.
(9) Proposal No. 2006-1
– Institutional Control – Financial Disclosure.
c. Second review of legislative
proposals initially approved by the Management Council. [Reference MC Supplement No. 20.]
[Note:
See Attachment C for the full text of the
following legislative proposals forwarded to the Board for approval.]
(1) Proposal No. 2005-26 – Amateurism – Promotional Activities – Institutional, Charitable, Educational or Nonprofit Promotions. Intent: To revise the restrictions related to the use of a student-athlete's name, picture or appearance in institutional, charitable, educational or nonprofit promotional activities, as specified. [Source: NCAA Division I Board of Directors.]
MC
ACTION:
Withdrawn and recommended
that the Agents and Amateurism Subcommittee of the Academics/Eligibility/Compliance
Cabinet seek, with the help of staff, student-athletes and corporate partners
to develop an alternative concept.
(2) Proposal No. 2005-67-1 – Amateurism – Promotional Activities – Permissible – Continuation of Modeling and Other Nonathetically Related Promotional Activities After Enrollment – Sports Other Than Football and Men's Basketball. Intent: To amend Proposal No. 2005-67 to remove, in sports other than football and men's basketball, the condition that a student-athlete's involvement in modeling and other nonathletically related promotional activities must be initiated prior to his or her enrollment at a member institution. [Source: Pacific-10 Conference]
MC
ACTION:
Defeated the proposal.
[Vote: For 10, Against 39, Not present 2; See Vote No. 4, Attachment A.]
(3) Proposal No. 2005-67 – Amateurism - Promotional Activities - Permissible - Continuation of Modeling and Other Nonathetically Related Promotional Activities After Enrollment. Intent: To remove the condition that a student-athlete's involvement in modeling and other nonathletically related promotional activities must be initiated prior to his or her enrollment at a member institution. [Source: NCAA Division I Management Council (Academics/Eligibility/ Compliance Cabinet) (Subcommittee on Agents and Amateurism).]
MC
ACTION:
Defeated the proposal.
[Vote: For 23, Against 26, Not present 2; See Vote No. 5, Attachment A.]
(4) Proposal No. 2005-99 – Amateurism – Promotional Activities – Promotion by Third Party of Highlight Film, Videotape or Media Guides. Intent: To allow institutions to designate a third party to sell photographs of student-athletes in the same manner as the sale of highlight films and media guides. [Source: NCAA Division I Management Council (Big West Conference).]
MC
ACTION:
Defeated the proposal.
[Vote: For 17, Against 32, Not present 2; See Vote No. 6, Attachment A.]
(5) Proposal No. 2005-102 – Awards and Benefits – Medical Expenses – Permissible – Medical Insurance. Intent: To permit an institution to purchase a medical insurance policy to cover the medical expenses for any injury or illness sustained by the student-athlete. [Source: NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports (Mid-American Conference).]
MC ACTION: Tabled the proposal and requested that data be gathered regarding both the costs associated with providing