REPORT OF THE
DIVISION III
STUDENT-ATHLETE ADVISORY COMMITTEE
INFORMATIONAL ITEMS.
a. New
Member Orientation. The
committee welcomed five new members:
Josh Centor, Brandeis College; Kelly Cyr, St. Joseph’s College;
Heather Mathis, Maryville College (Tennessee); Tanya Nesbitt, Smith College;
and Mitch Redig, Marian College (Wisconsin). New members participated in an
orientation session with the SAAC chair, vice-chair and NCAA staff.
b. SAAC
Nomination Process. The
committee reviewed the Division III Nominating Committee’s summary of
recommendations regarding SAAC nominations. The Nominating Committee noted the
difficulty in obtaining SAAC nominations.
The Conference SAAC Project Team discussed the Nominating
Committee’s concerns on a recent conference call. As a result of the concerns, the project
team developed a survey that would be e-mailed to each conference to determine
the effectiveness of the conference SAACs.
In addition, the committee agreed to strengthen the SAAC nominations as
follows:
(1) Educate
student-athletes about the National SAAC, nomination process and the SAAC
vacancies at the Student-Athlete Regional Leadership Conferences and the NCAA
Leadership Conference.
(2) Educate
the administrators (e.g., director of athletics, senior woman administrators)
about the National SAAC, nomination process and the SAAC vacancies at the NCAA
Convention conference meetings.
(3) Educate
the commissioners about the National SAAC, nomination process and the SAAC
vacancies at the conference commissioner’s meetings.
(4) Include
information about the National SAAC, nomination process and the SAAC vacancies
in the nominating committee’s report at the NCAA Convention.
(5) Develop
a proactive education effort with the current SAAC members notifying their
partner conference about the conference’s upcoming SAAC vacancy.
(6) Explore
a student-athlete self-nominating process with the nominating committee.
c. Division
III Championships Issues and Updates. Tina
Krah, associate director of championships, discussed the championships
selection process, the automatic qualifier (AQ) process and the overall
championship experience for a Division III student-athlete.
d. Student-Athlete
Reinstatement – Educational Poster. Kelly Groddy, assistant director of student-athlete
reinstatement, discussed the action by the committee in support of a poster to
educate student-athletes about common Division III violations and reinstatement. The committee provided suggestions to
Ms. Groddy that included bullet points of the most common violations,
captivating slogans and photos and a web address.
e. SAAC
Project Teams. The committee received oral
reports from project team chairs.
The following actions were taken based on these reports:
(1) The
committee voted to eliminate the AQ project team. The committee noted that information
regarding AQ is always provided to the committee by the SAAC representative to
the Championships Committee.
(2) Mr.
Coffey was added to the Legislation Project Team.
(3) Ms.
Fluker was added to The NCAA News and Division III Newsletter Project Team.
(4) The
Web Site Project Team suggested there might be potential to add a link from www.ncaasports.com to the Division III
SAAC Web page.
f. Conference,
Partner Conference and Independents Reports. The committee received oral reports from
each committee member regarding communication with their conference, partner
conference and independent institutions.
The majority of the committee members gained student-athlete feedback
regarding the 2004 legislative proposals while attending in-person meetings or
via conference calls.
g. 2004
Legislative Proposals. The
committee discussed proposed legislation for the 2004 Convention and prepared
the committee’s position papers.
The committee will continue discussions on proposed legislation and will
revisit each proposal at its January 2004 meeting. The committee’s preliminary
proposal positions are as follows:
(1) Proposal
No. 55 – Financial Aid – Athletics Endowments. The committee supports the proposal.
(2) Proposal
No. 56 – Financial Aid – Annual Electronic Reporting Process. The committee supports the proposal.
(3) Proposal
No. 57 as amended by 57 – 1 – Eligibility – Determining
Season of Eligibility – Minimum Amount of Participation. The committee opposes the proposal.
(4) Proposal
No. 58 – Philosophy Statement – Recruiting. The committee took
no position on the proposal.
(5) Proposal
No. 59 – Recruiting – Permission to Contact – Self-Release. The committee supports the proposal.
(6) Proposal
No. 60 – Playing and Practice Seasons – Length of Seasons and
Contest Limits. The committee opposes
the proposal.
(7) Proposal
No. 61 –Playing and Practice Seasons – Length of Playing Season. The committee supports the proposal.
(8) Proposal
No. 62 as amended by 62-1 – Playing and Practice Seasons - Nontraditional
Segment – Elimination of Contests. The committee opposes the proposal.
(9) Proposal
No. 63 – Playing and Practice Seasons – Nontraditional Segment –
Practice and Contest Limitations.
The committee opposes the proposal.
(10) Proposal No.
64 – Playing and Practice Seasons – Elimination of Out-of-Season
Exception. The committee supports
the proposal.(11) Proposal
No. 65 as amended by 65-1 – Multidivision Classification – Awarding
of Athletics Aid. The committee
supports the proposal with the amendment.
(12) Proposal
No. 66 – Division III Strategic Planning and Membership Growth. The committee took no position.
(13) Proposal
No. 67 – Executive Regulations – Selection of Teams and Individuals
for Championships Participation – Automatic Qualification. The committee will address this proposal
in January.
(14) Proposal
No. 68 as amended by 68-1 – Membership – Conditions and Obligations
of Active Membership – Certification of Insurance Coverage. The committee supports the proposal with
the amendment.
(15) Proposal
No. 69 – Playing and Practice Seasons – Annual Exemptions. The committee supports the proposal.
(16) Proposal
No. 70 – Playing and Practice Seasons – Coaching Activities Outside
the Playing Season. The
committee supports the proposal.
(17) Proposal
No. 71 – Playing and Practice Seasons – Exception to First Contest
Date – Exhibition Contests – Basketball. The committee supports the proposal.
(18) Proposal
No. 72 – Playing and Practice Seasons – Track and Field –
Maximum Contest Limitations – Multi-Day Events. The committee supports the proposal.
h. Book
Review – “Reclaiming the Game: College Sports and Educational
Values.” Committee
members were selected to read the book titled, “Reclaiming the Game: College
Sports and Educational Values.”
The selected committee members will provide reviews on the committee’s
listserve.
i. Banned
Drugs in Intercollegiate Athletics. Mary
Wilfert, assistant director of educational outreach, provided valuable
information regarding the use of banned drugs and nutritional supplements in
intercollegiate athletics.
j. 2003
NCAA National Study on Collegiate Sports Wagering. The committee reviewed the survey sent
to each institution for the faculty athletics representative to administer to
selected sports teams. The goal of
the study is to assist in assessing the nature, scope and extent of sports
wagering by student-athletes so the gambling and amateurism activities staff
might better formulate effective educational strategies.
k. Management
Council Appointments. The
committee appointed Sarah Forbus,
Tim Clark, Assistant Director of
Education Outreach
Susan Peal, Assistant Director of
Membership Services