Q & A
NCAA Division III
Strategic Initiatives Grant Program
2007-08
Overall:
Q: What role should presidents and
chancellors play in the new grant process?
A:
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______
Q: How should conferences establish the
policies to govern the distribution of funds and the selection of grant
recipients?
A: A broad-based, conference-wide
dialogue should occur to determine the best approach. Each constituent group within member
conferences and the Association of Independents should participate in this
process. Conferences should not
simply rely on the conference executive to “hand pick”
recipients. At a minimum, a
representative of the presidents/chancellors; athletic directors, faculty
athletics representatives, senior woman administrators and SAAC should also be
designated, as they will be expected to sign off on the Requisition and Impact
Forms prior to submission.
Involving other campus constituents (e.g., CHAMPS/Life Skills
coordinators; coaches; student personnel) may also be appropriate.
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Q: Is
it acceptable to have a SAAC advisor sign on behalf of SAAC?
A: No. The SAAC signature must come from a
student-athlete member of your Conference SAAC.
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Q: Will there be an annual request form
or will the funds come automatically?
What will be submitted at the end of the year?
A: There will be both an annual
Requisition Form, due June 1 of each year, and an annual Impact Form, due July
1 of each year. The Strategic
Planning and Finance Committee will make recommendations regarding these funds
for the July Management and August Presidents Council meetings. Conferences will be informed of their
allocation in late summer.
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Q: Will the conference be
“audited”?
A: The Strategic-Planning and Finance
Committee and NCAA staff reserve the right to request further details and
information on allocation and use of funds at any time.
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Q: Is the conference office required to
receive (from grant recipients) and retain all receipts and keep them on file?
A: For IRS purposes, it is critical to
distinguish and have appropriate documentation for issues such as “grant
for research” vs. “reimbursement for out of pocket expenses”
(not taxable, if receipts justify expenses). Conferences can develop a spreadsheet
itemizing travel/lodging/meals/registration/fees/miscellaneous and also request
receipts for items over $25. Use of
a spreadsheet would be beneficial particularly for grants allocated for
individual
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Q: If a faculty athletics
representative (FAR) is issued $300 to travel to the FARA Fall Forum, does
he/she have to provide receipts to justify expenses?
A: Yes, any expense over $25 should
have a receipt. In addition, conferences
should also request that an “Expense Form” be completed and
returned.
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Q: Are
provisional members eligible to receive resources from grant programs?
A: That is a matter of conference
discretion. Only Division III
active members are included in financial allocations. Affected conferences that have
provisional members may choose to share grant resources with the provisional
members, however.
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Q: What if my institution is a member
of two conferences?
A: Conferences that have members
involved with another conference will receive a “half-member”
allocation of resources (Tiers One and Two). Institutions in more than one conference
should discuss their role in the resource allocation process with each
conference.
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Q: My institution is an independent but
not a member of the Association of Division III Independents. How do I access grant resources?
A: The Association of Division III
Independents has agreed to manage and support the resource allocations for all
independent institutions (21 schools during 2006-07). Affected institutions should contact the
Association of Division III Independents for details.
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Q: What if all funds are not used in a
given year in each Tier?
A: Unused funds totaling less than
$1,000 (all three tiers) may remain with the conference; however, a
justification and plans for their future use must be submitted as a component
of the Impact Form. Further, Tier
One excess resources must remain in Tier One. Flexibility exists for moving excess
resources of less than $1,000 between Tiers Two and Three only.
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Q: Did the membership receive any
financial benefit of the Strategic Grant Program administration shifting to the
Conference level?
A: Yes. Division III institutions and
conferences realize additional allocations through administrative savings at
the national office. Division III had
previously been assessed a significant overhead fee on the affected
programs. Moving program
administration to the conference level generated approximately $55,000 in net
savings, also being allocated as part of the Conference Grant Program. This includes the allocation of a $2,500
administration fee to each conference/independent.
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Q: What happens if conferences do not
request all resources appropriated in a given year (e.g., Conference A is
allocated $44,000 and requests only $30,000)?
A: There will not be retroactive
approval for additional funds from other conferences. It is likely that the Strategic Planning
and Finance Committee would use the unallocated funds during the following year
to enhance conference allocations and programming.
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Q: Can a Conference/Association of
Division III Independents request “additional resources” beyond
their basis due to their number of member institutions?
A: There is a maximum allocation per
Tier and therefore a total conference allocation, as noted in the Grant Program
Composite. The Strategic-Planning and
Finance Committee has approved the concept of adjusting 2007-08 allocations in
each Tier to reflect the size of conference membership.
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Q: Can a Conference/Association of
Independents request to carryover more than $1,000 to support multi-year
programming?
A: The intent of the program is for an allocation
of resources to support annual programming. The Strategic-Planning and Finance
Committee will consider additional flexibility for multi-year programming and
resource carryover for future use.
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Q: Do Strategic Initiatives Grant
policies governing the distribution of funds universally apply to all
Conferences/Association of Independents?
A: Yes, established stated policies
apply across the board. Beyond
that, Conferences/Association of Independents are allowed flexibility, provided
the spirit of the program and strategic plan is fulfilled.
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Q: May I take any portion of the grant,
or a particular Tier, and send each of my members an equal amount or rotate
annually in some fashion?
A: Yes, but while that may be
administratively convenient on the front end, keep in mind the following:
·
$2,000
is spent annually on the conference SAAC.
·
At
least one faculty rep is accommodated to FARA, and more than one if the demand
exists in your conference.
·
The
same applies for the SWA/NACWAA.
·
Someone
from your conference attends a compliance seminar.
·
At
the end of four years, the three expenditures of Tier Two are met.
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Tier One - Professional Development, Education and
Communication - Annual:
Q: What
expenses does the NCAA cover for the Commissioner meeting and SID meeting and
what expenses must come from the conference?
A: The
Division III budget will continue to cover on-site expenses such as meeting
room charges, audio visual, and food and beverage fees. The commissioner and SID may use grant
funds to pay for
______ _____________________________________________________________________________
Q:____ How could a conference develop a
process for distribution of the funds to support
A:____ The group of
·
Top
priority: Any newly appointed FAR
in the conference.
·
Second
priority: FAR that has not attended
FARA within last four years.
______ A Conference may also decide that
they have other priorities that best meet their needs. Whatever the case, the constituency
groups most affected should have ample opportunity to develop an approach that
works best for them.
______ _____________________________________________________________________________
Q: What if two or three vice presidents
from my conference are already going to the NCAA Convention on institutional
funds; may I use that allotment elsewhere in Tier One? How about Tiers Two or Three?
A: If all remaining vice presidents from your conference were solicited
about the opportunity to access resources to attend the Convention, you are
clearly following the Strategic Plan.
Feel free to use the money in a justifiable way to support other
individuals in Tier One.
Unused resources under $1,000 can carry over within Tier One, with a
justification submitted on the Impact Form. You may not use the unused funds from
Tier One in Tiers Two or Three.
This example could also apply to other constituent groups.
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Q: If a meeting is held in the hometown
of our attendee and we don’t need to pay
A: If you have a member attending a
meeting as planned, you are clearly following the Strategic Plan. Feel free to use the money in a
justifiable way to support other constituents in Tier One. Unused resources under $1,000 can carry
over in Tier One with a justification submitted on the Impact Form.
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Q: If chief academic/chief student
affairs officers are not involved in our conference governance structure, are
we required to allocate the resources or do we have flexibility to reallocate
to a different constituent group?
A: Flexibility for reallocation could
occur in either of two ways, consistent with other constituent groups:
1. If
all directors of athletics report directly to chancellors/presidents,
the conference would note that on the Requisition Form and utilize the chief
academic/student affairs resources for another constituent group in Tier One.
2. If
some of the directors of athletics report to chief academic/student
affairs officers then those individuals should be encouraged to engage in NCAA
affairs and afforded an opportunity to access grant funds to attend the NCAA
Convention.
If
campuses are already financially supporting the chief academic/student affairs individuals
to attend the NCAA Convention and the remaining chief academic/student affairs
individuals were solicited about the grant opportunity, you are clearly
following the plan and the resources can be used to support other individuals
in Tier One.
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Q: I tried to get an SWA to attend the
NACWAA Convention, but no luck. Do
I need to give that portion of the money back? Should I not have applied for it? Can I spend it elsewhere?
A: It is important that you exhaust
every avenue of encouragement that you can. Have you discussed the issue with your
presidential group and asked for support?
Beyond that, have you thought about other ways to enhance the SWA
stature within your conference?
What else can you do besides the Convention if all your SWAs are
coaching in the fall?
What
other meetings would they like to attend?
Have you checked with other conferences to learn of other ideas? SWA enhancement is an important part of
the Strategic Plan and it is hoped that every effort to rectify this situation
will be made. If you cannot, then
you will be asked to return those particular funds (because they exceed $1,000)
and cease to request them in the future, until the problem is solved. This example could also apply to other
constituent groups.
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Q: Since there are currently 113
Division III institutions (approximately 25%) participating in the CHAMPS/Life
Skills program, is it possible to consider Tier One funding to support
CHAMPS/Life Skills administrators to attend the orientation and/or continuing
education conferences?
A: Conferences/Association of Division
III Independents could choose to allocate resources from Tiers Two or
Three. It should be noted that
current support to attend the orientation program only is an expectation for
institutional participation in the program.
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Q: If I have five faculty reps who want
to go to FARA, what are my options?
A: First, make sure that if you have
that much demand for faculty rep attendance at FARA that you spend at least the
entire Tier One allotment (and perhaps fund more from Tier Three). The best option is to give each of the
five a share of the money with the idea that their institutions will fund the
remaining cost. This maximizes FARA
attendance and promotes institutional commitment to the program. If this doesn’t work in your
league, you can rotate two or three faculty reps to attend this year and two or
three next year. You can rotate by
alphabet, picking out of a hat, sending the newest members first, etc.
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Tier Two - Social Responsibility and Integration - Four-Year
Rotation:
Q: Could you explain more about Tier
Two? What happens in the fourth
year if I spend the allotment in each of the first three years in all three
areas? Do I have to designate a
single year for each of the three areas?
A: The program calls for each of the
three areas (Student-Athlete Well Being /Community Service, Sportsmanship, and
Diversity and Gender Equity) to be addressed at the amount your conference
receives. You could spend the
entire Tier Two allocation on sportsmanship in one year, or spend one-third of
it on sportsmanship every single year, or any other variation thereof. Once that goal has been met, you may
spend remaining funds for a worthy project consistent with the general theme of
social responsibility and integration.
For example, if you spend your entire Tier Two allocation on
Student-Athlete Well Being/Community Service in year one, the same amount on
Sportsmanship in year two and again the same amount on Diversity and Gender
Equity in year three, then you would have the fourth year to use that amount
for any worthy effort that meets your particular needs and falls within the Tier
Two focus of social responsibility and integration.
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Q: What if I have a great idea for a
Sportsmanship program, but it only costs $10,000 instead of the $13,000 we are
allotted in Tier Two? Can I use the
remaining funds elsewhere in any Tier?
Must I use the remaining funds in a more specific way?
A: The Conference Grant Program will
encourage creative thinking. It is
unreasonable to expect that every program will cost the exact amount that has
been allocated. However, the main
purpose of the Grant Program is to closely align with the Strategic Plan. Conferences are asked to do the best
they can to ensure that they make a significant effort in each of the three
areas over the four-year period. In
doing so, you may certainly use excess funds of less than $1,000 from Tier
Three to support Tier Two and vice-versa.
Tier One funds must remain in that area.
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Q: If my institution is awarded
the conference resources for an educational program to support diversity, can
the funds be used to partner with a campus-wide student affairs program and still
classify as Tier Two programming?
A: Yes.
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Q: Since approximately 25% (113
institutions) of Division III currently participate as part of the NCAA
CHAMPS/Life Skills program, can conferences/Association of Division III
Independents involved use Tier Two funds to support its Life/Skills
initiatives?
A: Tier Two is exactly the place for
these kinds of initiatives.
CHAMPS/Life Skills administrators may also be involved in decision-making
processes if permitted by the applicable conference/Association of
Independents.
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Q: Our conference has established a
Weekend/Coaching Symposium for Women to encourage more young women to enter
coaching and create leadership and role modeling opportunities. If we wish to continue the initiative,
does it fit within Tier Two or Three?
A: This is an example of an initiative
that clearly meets the goals of the Conference Grant, specifically Tier Two
– Diversity and Gender Equity initiative. It is likely that given the policy for
Tier Two funding, it will not be considered for annual allocation; however,
Tier Three, optional strategic enhancements, funds are also available for
use. Funds potentially are
available through both Tiers Two (at least once every four years and as often
as twice every four years) and Tier Three (every year). Given the successful history and data of
currently sponsored weekend symposia, the NCAA Committee on Women’s
Athletics and/or Minority Opportunities and Interest Committee (MOIC) will
commit to put forth a Association-wide proposal to establish a pool of
resources to support such conference programs in a matching grant format for its
next biennial budget cycle (08-10).
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