REPORT OF THE

NCAA DIVISION III CHAMPIONSHIPS COMMITTEE

 

 

1. ACTION ITEMS.

 

a. Committee Chair.

 

(1)                Recommendation. Approve Steve Wallo, director of athletics at Lewis and Clark College, as committee chair, effective immediately.

 

(2) Rationale. The committee believes the experience and leadership qualities Mr. Wallo possesses makes him an excellent choice for the chair position.

 

(3) Budget Impact. None.

 

b. Goucher College Waiver Request.

 

(1)                Recommendation. Approve the Goucher College waiver request to include men?s and women?s indoor track as sponsored sports for the 2002-03 academic year.

 

(2)                Rationale. Men?s and women?s indoor track was inadvertently left off the sponsorship form. The committee recognized this as an honest mistake and allowed for the mistake to be corrected.

 

(3)                Budget Impact. None.

 

c. Amend NCAA Bylaw 31.1.4.1 (Institutional Policy).

(1)       Recommendation. Approve September 1 as the deadline for an institution to notify the national office of its institutional policy against competition on a particular day for religious reasons. As amended, NCAA Bylaw 31.1.4.1 would read as follows: ?If a participating institution has a written policy against competition on a particular day for religious reasons, it shall inform the NCAA national office before September 1 of each academic year to be excused from competing that day. The championship schedule shall be adjusted to accommodate that institution.?

(2)       Rationale. The committee believes the addition of the September 1 deadline would give sports committees enough time to track the institutions under consideration for selection to a championship.

(3)       Budget Impact. None.


d. Women?s Basketball Committee Recommendation.

 

(1) Recommendation. Deny the request to modify Bylaw 31.3.4.1-(a) to require all automatic-qualifying conferences to determine their tournament champions or automatic qualifiers by midnight Saturday before the selection.

 

(2)                Rationale. The committee believes that moving the conference championships to Saturday will increase missed class time.

 

(3)                Budget Impact. None.

 

e.                  Field Hockey Date Formula.

 

(1) Recommendation. Approve changing the dates for the NCAA Division III Field Hockey Championship from Saturday-Sunday to Friday-Saturday for the final site only.

 

(2) Rationale. The committee believes there is an excessive burden on the host at predetermined sites where the religious exception comes into play.

 

(3) Budget Impact. None.

 

f.                    In-Region Game Requirement.

 

(1) Recommendation. Approve the requirement that effective with the 2004-05 academic year, institutions must play at least half of their scheduled competition against in-region Division III institutions to be considered for selection to NCAA championships. Institutions unable to meet this requirement will be allowed an opportunity to request a waiver for selection consideration. All waivers must be submitted directly to the Championships Committee from individual institutions by January of the previous academic year (e.g., January 2004 for the 2004-05 academic year).

 

(2) Rationale. The committee wants to continue to emphasize in-region competition.

 

(3) Budget Impact. None.


g. Bylaw 31.1.12.1.1 (Malt Beverage, Beer and Wine Advertisement).

 

(1) Recommendation. Refer Bylaw 31.1.12.1.1, which permits advertisement of malt beverage, beer and wine products that do not exceed six percent alcohol by volume, to the Interpretations and Legislation Committee for review.

 

(2)                Rationale. The committee believes this bylaw is in conflict with the Division III philosophy.

 

(3)                Budget Impact. None.

 

 

2. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS.

 

a. Predetermined Site Selection. The committee approved the following championship sites:

 

(1)                Women?s Basketball ? Virginia Wesleyan College (2004 and 2005).

 

(2)                Men?s and Women?s Swimming and Diving ? Principia College (2004).

 

(3)                Men?s and Women?s Track and Field ? Concordia College, Moorhead (2004).

 

b.                  Sports Committees? Recommendations.

 

(1)                                        Women?s Basketball Committee. Approved that the Skyline Athletic Conference be realigned from the East region to the Atlantic region, effective with the 2003-04 academic year.

 

(2)                                        Men?s Soccer Committee. Denied the request that conference finish be implemented as a primary criterion for the 2003 championship selection and seeding process.

 

(3) Men?s and Women?s Track and Field Committee. Approved that the following institutions serve as hosts of regional competition:

 

(a)             2003 Regional Sites - Dickinson College (Mideast), Hanover College (Great Lakes), Emory University (South/Southeast), Grinnell College (Central) and University of Southern Maine (New England).

 

(b)             2004 Regional Sites - Wartburg College (Central) and University of Southern Maine (New England).

 

(c)             2005 Regional Sites - Wartburg College (Central).

 

c. Sports Committee Terms. The committee requested that NCAA staff work with Sharon Tufano, NCAA committee coordinator, to propose a schedule for committee members? start and end dates for championship seasons.

 

d. Predetermined Sites. The committee requested the following sports committees submit a plan for moving their championships to predetermined sites: men?s ice hockey; women?s ice hockey; men?s soccer; women?s soccer; and women?s volleyball. It was also recommended that these championships change their date formulas to a Friday-Saturday format.

 

e. NCAA Division III Championships Host Manual. The manual is available on the NCAA Web site.

 

f.                                   Selection Criteria. The committee finalized team sports selection criteria, which incorporate a consistent strength-of-schedule index, effective with the 2003-04 academic year. The committee will review changes in criteria after the 2003-04 championships season. [Attachment]

 

g.                                 Selected Individual-Team Sports? (Cross Country, Golf, Tennis) Automatic-Qualification Principles and the Individual Portion of the Championship. The committee reviewed the feedback from each of the sports committees and is in the process of looking at different models, which would allow the use of applying the automatic-qualification principles to the individual-team sports mentioned above.

 

h.                                 Regional Rankings. The committee will require sports committees to complete regional rankings the four consecutive weeks before selections, effective with the 2003-04 academic year.

 

i.                                   Non-Division III Competition. The committee will allow the NCAA Division III Rowing Committee to include criteria to evaluate competition versus non-Division III competition. The committee noted that this exception is due to the dynamics of the sport of rowing.

 

j. Financial Analysis of Hub-Airport Usage. The committee reviewed the financial analysis and recognized that implementation of the hub-airport policy (including major airports) has resulted in a savings of approximately $245,000 through two championship seasons (winter and spring 2001-02). The committee will continue to monitor the results from the 2002 championship season.

 

k. Two-Hundred-Mile In-Region Policy. The committee determined that the implementation of the 200-mile in-region policy would begin with the member institutions. The institutions would determine which competition would be considered in region. The NCAA liaisons would develop a consistent score-reporting form to be used by all team sports. Institutions would be required to indicate which competition is out of their defined regions. The sports committees would be responsible for confirming mileage that is listed at 175 and 200 miles. The final determination would be based on the current version of Microsoft Streets & Trips by using the ?shortest route? option. The commissioners on the Championships Committee agreed to encourage all Division III commissioners to purchase the Microsoft Streets & Trips software program to assist in this process.

 

l. Independent Institution Request. The committee denied the request of the Association of Division III Independents for a change in the championships policy for independent institutions, specifically, to allow all competition between independent institutions to count as in-region competition. It was noted that this request has far-reaching effects on the principles of in-region competition, as well as potential financial implications and increased missed class time for institutions. With the recent adoption of Proposal No. 42, championship access for independent institutions has increased (Pool B institutions will be eligible for Pool C berths effective 2005-06).

 

m. American Indian Mascot Usage. The committee recommends written communication to the seven Division III institutions that currently use American Indian mascots. A checklist of self-analysis requirements should be included for completion by each institution.

 

n. Sports Committee Appointments. The committee approved appointments to the following committees:

 

(1) Baseball Committee. Mid-Atlantic region: Gregory Kannerstein, director of athletics, Haverford College.

 

(2) Men?s Basketball Committee. South region: Bob McEvoy, director of athletics, Methodist College. Middle Atlantic region: Richard Ferry, head men?s basketball coach/assistant director of athletics, Albright College.

 

(3) Women?s Basketball Committee. Reappoint James Scheible, coach, University of Rochester. Appoint Great Lakes region: Rosalyn Fornari, head women?s basketball coach, Pennsylvania State University Erie, the Behrend College.

 

(4) Field Hockey Committee. Reappoint Penny Kempf, senior woman administrator, Rowan University; and Sally Scatton, coach, Hobart and William Smith Colleges.

 

(5) Men?s Ice Hockey Committee. East region: Vincent Eruzione, associate director of athletics/compliance coordinator, Curry College.

 

(6) Women?s Ice Hockey Committee. Lori Runksmeier, director of athletics, New England College, and Peter Luguri, director of athletics, Plattsburgh State University of New York.

 

(7) Women?s Lacrosse Committee. South Atlantic region: Dana Hall, senior woman administrator/assistant director of athletics/head lacrosse coach, Mary Washington College.

 

(8) Men?s Soccer Committee. Reappoint Adam Hertz, associate director of athletics, Swarthmore College; and Daniel Kuntz, coach, California Lutheran University.

 

(9) Women?s Soccer Committee. South region (at-large position): Laura LeDuc, assistant director of athletics/compliance coordinator/head soccer coach, Agnes Scott College.

 

(10) Women?s Softball Committee. East region: Kellie Diehl, head volleyball/softball coach, Pennsylvania State University Erie, the Behrend College.

 

(11) Men?s and Women?s Swimming and Diving Committee. Northeast region: Paula Miller, women?s swim coach, Ithaca College (women?s interests). Central region: Robert Pearson, head swimming coach/director of aquatics, Macalester College (men?s interests).

 

(12) Men?s and Women?s Tennis Committee. West region (men?s interests): Robert Hansen, director of racket sports/men?s tennis coach, University of California, Santa Cruz. Atlantic South region (women?s interests): Amy Smith, assistant director of athletics/women?s tennis coach, Emory University.

 

(13) Men?s and Women?s Track and Field Committee. Reappoint Linda Barley, director of athletics, York College (Pennsylvania).

 

(14) Women?s Volleyball Committee. Reappoint Dean Snider, coach, Whitman College.

 


(16) Baseball Rules Committee. Michael Walsh, chair, department of physical education and athletics, Washington and Lee University.

 

(17) Men?s Basketball Rules Committee. Reappoint Charlie Brock, coach, Springfield College.

 

(18) Men?s and Women?s Soccer Rules Committee. Robert Russo, head men?s soccer coach, Denison University.

 

 

 

Committee Chair: Brad Bankston, Old Dominion Athletic Conference

Staff Liaisons: Kerri Fagan, Championships

Tina Krah, Championships

Jonathan Williams, Championships