REPORT OF THE
NCAA DIVISION III CHAMPIONSHIPS COMMITTEE (ADDENDUM)
1. ACTION ITEMS.
a.
Sports
Committee Appointments.
(1) Recommendation. Approve the following sports committee
appointments.
(a) Women’s Basketball – Amy
Buxbaum, senior woman administrator/coach at Juniata College, Middle Atlantic
region;
(b) Field Hockey – Penny Kempf,
senior woman administrator/coach at Rowan University, South Atlantic region;
(c) Women’s
Soccer – Jen Scanlon, coach at Kenyon College, Great Lakes region;
(d) Women’s Volleyball – Jennifer
McDowell, associate director of athletics/coach at Emory University, South
region; and
(e) Men’s and Women’s Ice Hockey
Rules – John Harrington, coach at Saint John’s University, representing
Division III men’s interest.
(2) Rationale. The committee ratified recommendations
forwarded by the Nominating Committee.
(3) Budget Impact. None.
b. Secretary
Rules Editor Term Limits.
(1) Recommendation. Sponsor legislation for the 2003 NCAA
Convention to establish a term limit of eight years for secretary-rules editors
serving on sports rules committees.
Further, to establish a waiver that, under extenuating circumstances,
would allow a secretary-rules editor’s eight-year term limit to be extended by
a maximum of four additional years.
The term limit of eight years would begin when the current secretary
rules editor terms are completed.
(2) Rationale. The committee approved the
recommendation in that it does provide term limits where none currently exist,
and is a compromise position in which all three Divisions may agree.
(3) Budget
Impact. None.
c. Soccer
Rules Committee.
(1) Recommendation.
Approve the soccer overtime procedures, which provide that two
45-minutes halves will be played, followed by two 10-minute sudden victory
overtimes during the regular season.
In all postseason games, including play-ins, conference tournaments and
NCAA championships, penalty kicks will follow the overtimes. The team that scores the most penalty
kicks will be considered the winner for all purposes, including the team
record.
(2) Rationale.
The committee agreed with the Soccer Rules Committee’s rationale, which
included physical and mental welfare of student-athletes when considering the
number of overtimes.
(3) Budget Impact.
None.
d.
Executive
Committee-Appointed Playing Rules Group.
(1) Recommendation. Approve the creation of an
Association-wide playing rules oversight panel appointed by the Executive
Committee to resolve proposals involving player safety, financial impact or
image of the game that do not have unanimous Division I, II or III support and
to provide counsel to the staff about playing-rules issues. The committee further recommends:
(a) Term limits.
(b) Composition requirements
consistent with other Association-wide groups.
(c) Expanded role to include
discussion about rules implementation and process.
(2)
Rationale.
Until 1997, an Executive Committee consisting of athletics
administrators approved playing-rules proposals involving the areas contained
in the recommendation statement.
When the NCAA restructured, the Executive Committee became a
presidential body that no longer was well grounded in playing rules changes
because (a) Dissension from one division can result in implementation being
delayed in the other two divisions; and (b) Rules changes traditionally have
been regarded as the province of specialists. An Executive Committee-appointed group of administrators
from all three divisions that is authorized to act on playing rules changes and
recommend action when dissension exists would aid the process and properly
place the advisory role with the membership. The committee agreed with the rationale that was provided
with the recommendation.
(3)
Budget
Impact. Minimal in that the majority of the
group’s work would be conducted via teleconference.
e.
Establish
Women’s Bowling Championship and Committee.
(1) Recommendation.
Sponsor legislation for the 2003 Convention to establish an eight-team
(nine members each) National Collegiate Women’s Bowling Championship to
commence with the 2003-04 academic year.
Additionally, to create a six-member National Collegiate Women’s Bowling
Committee.
(2) Rationale.
Thirty-nine institutions (DI – 15; DII – 23 and DIII – 1) currently
sponsor women’s bowling. One more
Division I institution has indicated that it intends to sponsor the sport
effective with the 2002-03 academic year.
The sport will meet the current legislative requirements to establish a
national collegiate championship (per NCAA Bylaw 18.2.4.1).
(3) Budget Impact.
$200,000 (championship) and $6,000 (committee) (Association-wide
funding).
f.
Committee
on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sport (CSMAS) – Medical
Consultant Extension of Term.
(1) Recommendation.
Approve that Bryan Smith be retained as the NCAA CSMAS medical
consultant to the Football Study Oversight Committee and NCAA Football Rules Committee
for one year following his committee term completion.
(2) Rationale.
The committee supported the CSMAS’s rationale for the recommendation.
(3) Budget Impact.
None.
g.
Men’s
Gymnastics Committee Composition.
(1) Recommendation.
Approve the elimination of the divisional and sub-divisional
requirements for the composition of the men’s gymnastics committee.
(2) Rationale.
The legislative requirements of the men’s gymnastics committee state
that the committee shall consist of six members, including at least two representatives
from each of the two men’s gymnastics regions (East and West) and two
representatives selected at large.
Four members shall be from Division I and two members shall be selected
at large. Of the 23 institutions
that currently sponsor men’s gymnastics, 20 are Division I, one is Division II
and two are Division III. Of the
20 Division I institutions, only five institutions are Division I-AA.
(3) Budget Impact.
None.
h.
Skiing
Committee Composition.
(1) Recommendation.
Deferred action, pending committee feedback on composition exception
(Bylaw 21.3.1.2) on the recommendation to sponsor legislation to amend Bylaw
21.3.5 to specify that the composition of the Men’s and Women’s Skiing
Committee shall include two coaches who represent alpine skiing and two coaches
who represent Nordic skiing; further, to specify that the secretary-rules
editor may be counted toward meeting this requirement.
(2) Rationale.
The committee noted its support of the Management Council’s previous
action (April 2001) to not recommend sponsorship of legislation that would
eliminate representation of administrators.
(3) Budget Impact.
None.
i.
Proposed
Change to Bylaw 31.3.4.1 (Automatic Qualification – General Requirements).
(1) Recommendation.
Revise executive regulation Bylaw 31.3.4.1-(a) effective immediately as
follows: “Conference competition
must be conducted in the applicable sport, and the conference champion in that
sport must be determined not later than 6 p.m., local time of the competition
on the date on which participants are selected for the NCAA championship,
either by regular in-season conference competition or a conference meet or
tournament, as indicated at the time of application. If a conference’s competition to determine its automatic
qualifier is unexpectedly terminated (e.g., due to inclement weather), the
conference may designate its qualifier, provided it has established objective
criteria for making that designation and has communicated that information to
the appropriate sports committee by a specified deadline.”
(2) Rationale.
Concerns about the bylaw have been brought to the attention of the
committee by both conferences and sports committees. Conferences have begun to schedule conference championships
to conclude on the day of selections, generally Sunday, to avoid missed class
time. Per the bylaw, sports
committees have always “saved” a berth in the bracket for the conference
champion, as long as they were notified of the champion not later than midnight
of selection day (bylaw requirement).
However, sports committees, although not requiring conferences to finish
earlier, have tried to conclude and announce selections as early as possible on
selection day in order to provide adequate time for participants to prepare for
mid-week competition (whether hosting or competing). Conferences have reported that knowing that sports
committees are trying to accommodate earlier selection announcements has left
them believing that consideration by sports committees of at-large opportunities
for its teams may be compromised.
Further, in order for sports committees
to conclude selections in accordance with selection, seeding and pairing
policies, selected teams must be known (i.e., it is not possible to pair teams
according to geographic proximity if you do not know all teams selected). Sports committees have attempted to map
out "what-if" scenarios when balancing late notification of the
conference champions with the need to complete selections, but the
aforementioned competing interests had made it difficult.
In order to find a solution that allows a
conference to complete competition Sunday in order to avoid missed class time,
and to assist the sports committees and the membership by concluding and
announcing selection in a timely manner, the committee recommends that the 6
p.m. (local time) concluding time be added to the current language.
Note: Conferences
were polled immediately following the Division III Championships Committee’s
June meeting through the president of the Division III Conference Commissioners
Association. With less than one
week to respond, 29 conferences indicated support for the proposal.
(3) Budget Impact.
None.
j.
Allegheny
Mountain Conference Waiver Request
[Bylaw 31.3.4.2-(a)].
(1) Recommendation.
Deny the Allegheny Mountain Conference’s waiver request of Bylaw
31.3.4.2-(a) specifying that a qualifying conference must have: “Been a member conference of the
Association for two consecutive academic years.”
(2) Rationale.
The committee endorsed the two-year waiting period provided in Bylaw
31.3.4.2-(a) and believes that providing a waiver sets an undesirable
precedent. It further noted that
members of the Allegheny Mountain Conference do have access to the
championships via Pool B berths.
(3) Budget Impact.
None
k.
The
Apprentice School, Newport News Shipbuilding.
(1) Recommendation.
Remand to the Membership Committee for research, analysis, and a ruling
the Apprentice School’s status and privileges as a corresponding member. The committee requests specific
direction as it relates to NCAA member institutions scheduling contests against
the Apprentice School and counting those contests for the purposes of
championship selection (see Attachment A).
(2) Rationale.
While the issue relates specifically to the Apprentice School, it
appears that there is an obvious history of precedent related to this
situation. The committee
recommends that the Membership Committee provide guidance and a recommendation
as it relates to the issue of privileges for corresponding members.
(3) Budget Impact.
None.
l.
NCAA Convention Legislation Regarding Automatic
Qualification (AQ) Principles for Team Sports.
(1)
Recommendation.
Sponsor legislation for the 2003 Convention to amend Bylaw 31.3.4
(automatic qualification) to adopt Model D as outlined in the April 15
membership survey regarding the AQ principles and other championships
initiatives with a 1:6.5 access ratio.
Implementation of the process should be effective as soon as fiscally
and practically possible.
[Attachment C]
(2) Rationale. For ease of reference, the April 15
membership survey and results are attached (see Attachment B). While the committee recognized that 49
percent of the membership supported Model C, it also recognized through
available survey comments and comments received during various presentations
that 51 percent of respondents favored different options, and that one of the
primary reasons Model C was cited as a favorable option was that it provided
larger brackets (i.e., more access).
Note: As a point of information, in all
models outlined in the survey, bracket growth is dependent on membership
composition and size. As more
members add the sport the formulas provide growth at a prescribed rate (ratio);
and, as the composition of the membership changes either by moving in to or out
of conferences or conferences meeting the AQ requirements, the pools change,
which may necessitate bracket pool alterations or growth as the model formula
dictates.
The committee supports Model D with a
1:6.5 ratio goal for the following reasons: (a) A 1:6.5 ratio parallels bracket sizes outlined in other
models that provided bigger field sizes (see Attachment C to view Model D
bracket sizes and cost estimates at a 1:6.5 ratio); (b) It provides equitable access for conference AQ’s (Pool
A), independents/non-AQ conference members (Pool B), and AQ conference members
who are not their conference’s champion and independent/non-AQ conference
members not selected in Pool B (Pool C);
(c) it provides more equitable institutional access whether an
institution is a member of an AQ conference or not; (d) It provides a formula – because the ratio is lower (6.5)
– that reacts more quickly to membership growth; and (e) Given that the formula for establishing bracket sizes
and pool allocations is similar to what’s currently in place (i.e., Pool A is
adjusted upward when new AQ conferences meet the requirements and the other
pools are adjusted accordingly within the established bracket size), the
committee recommends that if there is a time when Pool C access is diminished
that a commitment to minimum access in Pool C be provided (currently a minimum
of two Pool C berths is recommended unless compelling situations mandate
otherwise).
(3) Budget Impact. Estimate $800,000 (update figures may
be available and presented to the Management Council during its meeting).
m.
Selected
Individual-Team Sports (Cross Country, Golf, Tennis) – AQ Principles and
Selection Process.
(1) Recommendation. The Championships Committee recommends
sponsorship of legislation for each of the listed sports, noting that the AQ
principles would be applied consistent with the principles established for the
team sports and would recommend that the individual portion of the championships
in each sport be eliminated.
However, the committee does not recommend sponsorship prior to the 2004
Convention in order to gain additional feedback from the sport communities,
inasmuch as the elimination of the individual championships is significant.
(2)
Rationale.
The committee does not recommend legislation for 2003 Convention for the
following reasons: (a) The
membership, through the survey, seems to be deeply divided about whether the AQ
principles should be applied to the selected individual-team sports. The support expressed tended to favor
application of the principles in tennis primarily (the committee agrees); (b)
Since, budgetarily, it appears that significant enhancements are not likely
before 2006-07, it gives the membership time to provide feedback on the concept
of applying the principles in the same manner as the team sports and
eliminating the individual portion of the championships. The committee recognizes that the
elimination of the individual portion of the championships is a unique change
for the sport and recommends strongly that additional input and feedback be
garnered from the sport communities prior to sponsorship of legislation; (c)
The committee believes that access for student-athletes in individual-team
sports, per athlete, is greater than for those involved in team sports. Therefore, the committee recommends
that if the AQ principles are applied, they should be applied consistently with
a team approach, and that individuals should not be provided a second and
greater opportunity to participate in an NCAA championship; and (d) The committee believes that
applying the AQ principles, or enhancing the field sizes in other ways in all
individual-team sports is important.
The cost to apply the principles to men’s and women’s cross country has
been estimated at $569,010; men’s and women’s golf at $196,116 and men’s and
women’s tennis at approximately $363,220.
The cost to enhance field sizes in all individual-team sports in
accordance with what sports committees have forwarded as reasonable and
manageable increases has been estimated at approximately $360,000.
As a point of information, the committee
also noted the increases in both team and individual-team sports since the
inception of the AQ principles, and provides that information as background
information (see Attachment D).
(3)
Budget
Impact. TBD.
n.
AQ
Principles – Definition of a Region
a.
Recommendation.
Implement a change in the definition of what constitutes in-region play to
include the current sport regions, plus a 200-mile radius for each institution,
effective with 2003-04 academic year.
b.
Rationale.
Survey results support the proposed change. The change maintains the principle of increased flexibility
in scheduling for institutions within defined regional boundaries (e.g., 200
miles); rationalization allows institutions to schedule opponents close to a
sports regional boundary but well within the 200-mile radius and provides
in-region selection criteria credit for doing so.
c.
Budget
Impact. None.
(3) Budget Impact. Approximately $40,000.
a.
Recommendation.
The committee recommends the following changes in the procedures for
championships travel and per diem reimbursement:
(a)
Letters
will be sent to “outstanding” schools around 45 30 days after the
end of the championship. All forms
are to be returned by the date on the letter or the minimum per diem
will be paid to each institution.
(b)
After the
minimum per diem is paid to the institution, the institution will have an
additional 15 days (up to 45 from the end of the championship) to submit ground
transportation expenses if not already submitted (no per diem will be provided
beyond the minimum at this point).
If the letter is not postmarked within 45 days of the last day of the
championship, no additional reimbursement will be provided.
(c)
Teams that
have received approval to travel by air would continue to be covered in full
since it is directly billed to the NCAA and it has been paid in full by the
time the aforementioned process has occurred.
b.
Rationale.
The date adjustment in the submission process will refine the financial
deadline process, allow the committee to review seasonal reports with more
complete information, and, as a result, provide opportunity for the
committees/staff to make seasonal budget adjustments, when necessary, with more
assuredness that outstanding financial requests and reports have been
finalized.
c.
Budget
Impact. None
q. 400
to 500 Mile and Hub Airport Travel Policies.
(1) Recommendation. Maintain the 400 to 500 mile and hub airport
travel policies for a complete two-year cycle for all championship seasons and
review the policies and feedback received at the committee’s January 2004
meeting in order to have more complete information.
(2) Rationale. The committee reviewed information
received from the NCAA finance staff regarding implementation of the policies
(noted below in Informational Items – h.) and has also received some membership
feedback on the issue. The
feedback from the membership has been somewhat minimal, although missed class
time, and possible competitive inequities have been the two primary concerns
raised. Since the Association has
now initiated a biennial budget process, this timeline better fits with that
procedure. The committee has added
the topic to the chairs’ meeting agenda in September to discuss.
(2) Budget Impact. To be determined.
2. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS.
a.
Sports
Committee Recommendation (Field Hockey Committee).
(1)
Approved
that the NCAA Division III Field Hockey Championship continue
to be held at a predetermined site and asked the committee to provide a report
after the second year of implementation.
(2)
Received the rules modifications agreed upon
by the Divisions I, II and III Field Hockey Committees, but requested that
staff clarify the parameters by which sports committees may modify rules.
b.
Sports
Committee Recommendation (Football Committee).
(1)
Pairing Policies. Clarified that while some
exceptions to pairing policies were provided when the automatic qualification
principles were originally adopted, that all sports committees in the future
will be required to follow established pairing policies outlined by the
committee. The specific
clarification provides that teams may be given byes, or may be paired according
to seed as long as geographic proximity is maintained.
(2)
Ground Transportation. Tabled a recommendation
that the NCAA provide ground transportation reimbursement to institutions that
travel by air to championship sites and will request that the NCAA’s accounting
staff provide information about the cost of such a proposal for all sports.
c.
Sports
Committee Recommendation (Men’s and Women’s Soccer Committees). Approved on a two-year trial
basis, guidelines for institutions advancing both a men’s and women’s team into
the championship beginning with the 2002 championship to eliminate potential
conflicts created by hosting both championship events at the same time. As a point of information, the 2002
championship is the first time both championships will be conducted over the
same dates per the approved format and date change approved in 2001. The guidelines provide an odd-even year
rotation. After the two-year
trial, the soccer committees will report back to the Championships Committee
about the policy’s success and feedback received from the membership.
d.
Sports
Committee Recommendation (Women’s Volleyball Committee). Reaffirmed the current
prioritized site selection criteria and clarified that while quality and
availability of the facility and necessary accommodations are listed first,
that it does not mean that the sites with the best facilities are those that
would necessarily be selected, but rather, that minimum hosting requirements
outlined by the sports committee and approved by the Championships Committee
are appropriate when evaluating the first criteria.
e.
Sports
Committee Recommendation (Wrestling Committee).
(1)
Random Draw. Approved the elimination
of a random draw to determine which weight class wrestles first during the
championships. In 2001, the Wrestling
Committee recommended that the random draw be conducted, but subsequent to its
approval learned from coaches that this mechanism was not in the best interest
of the sport. Additionally, the
Wrestling Committee informed the Championships Committee that the Committee on
Competitive Safeguards supports the new recommendation.
(2)
Regular Season Penalty Structure. Denied the recommendation
that a list of penalties, outlined in the committee’s recommendation, be
imposed for any regular-season rules violation that does not already have a
specific penalty imposed in the penalty table of the NCAA Wrestling Rules and
Interpretations book. The
Championships Committee recommended that the Wrestling Committee consider
stating that competition not conducted in accordance with the rules may not be
used for the purposes of selection to the championships. The committee further expressed concern
with the implications of such a structure for sports committee and championships
staff, in that those bodies were not designed to be an enforcement arm; and,
the implications for staff if other rules bodies were to adopt a similar
process. Finally, the committee
recommended that legal counsel and the Committee on Competitive Safeguards be
consulted about such a recommendation in that they are two bodies integrally
involved in the oversight of matters of litigation and health and safety
issues.
(a) Review of selection criteria
and the application of the criteria (a draft of revisions to the current
criteria and procedures will be provided by the committee for discussion);
(b) Impact of odd-size brackets –
consequences of increased and odd size brackets on the championship, missed
class time with additional mid-week games, pairing issues when applying
geographic proximity guidelines, etc.;
g. Selection
criteria and application review. As a
result of feedback received from the AQ survey, accompanying presentations and
sports committees, the committee has tabled all current sport committee recommendations
regarding changes to current selection criteria, and has begun the process of
reviewing and revising general language related to selection, seeding and
pairing criteria, as well as specific criteria approved by sports committees
for that particular sport in order to better ensure the consistent and
appropriate application of the criteria.
The committee intends to share the identified sport specific
similarities and differences as well as concerns that have been identified,
with the sports chairs at the September meeting. The committee will also provide a draft document of
selection criteria revisions for review and discussion with the chairs for
possible implementation as early as the 2003-04 academic year.
h.
2002 Winter Championship Financial Analysis. The committee reviewed information relative to the financial
analysis of the 2002 Division III winter championships by the NCAA finance and
information services staff (see Attachment E). The committee noted that, while all financial information
was not complete due to outstanding information, the majority of the
information is complete and the winter championships appear to be under budget
by approximately $450,000 (see Attachment D). It should be noted that the savings include the following: (1) Approximately $125,000 with the
implementation of the 400 to 500-mile policy for the threshold in determining
air travel; (2) Approximately
$119,000 with the implementation of the hub airport policy; and (3) Additional savings as a result of
reduced airline ticket and fuel from 2001-02.
i.
Bylaws 31.1.4.1 (Institutional Policy Regarding Religious Exemption)
and 31.1.4.5 (Commencement Exemption). The
committee discussed the issues associated with the implementation of the two
policies that provide or require adjustments to the championships schedule in
prescribed situations. The topic
will be included as a discussion item with the chairs of sports committees in
September. As a point of
information, the committee and staff continue to work through numerous issues
and potential adjustments.
The committee is
very appreciative of providing flexibility to championships schedules in order
to accommodate the religious exemption and commencement policies, and would
also appreciate further guidance in defining best effort, noting the
following situations that occurred in the 2001-02 academic year:
(1)
Bylaw
31.1.4.1 (religious exemption) - adjusted the championship final schedule to
conclude Monday rather than Sunday as regularly scheduled. Concerns expressed as a result
included: (a) The predetermined
finals site host had planned, marketed and promoted one year in advance with
the dates provided, and at the relative last minute (less than one week in
advance of the championship) had to adjust the championship and other events
(banquet, hospitality, press conferences, etc.) surrounding the championship
including the facility and staff.
Additionally, despite there being an overall increase in attendance due
to the site being predetermined for the first time, the host believes that
attendance for the championship as a result of the date change was negatively
impacted, including parents and friends not being able to attend as a result of
not being able to make the adjustment to Monday; (b) Many adjusted for one team; and (c) The NCAA paid one additional day of
per diem for two teams as a result of the accommodation.
(2)
Bylaw
31.1.4.5 (commencement exemption).
At several spring championships selections, staff worked with sports
committees to determine what is “best effort” in order to comply with Bylaw
31.1.4.5.