January 2005 Management Council agenda

REPORT OF THE

NCAA DIVISION III STUDENT-ATHLETE ADVISORY COMMITTEE

1. ACTION ITEM.

· NCAA Division III Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) Composition (NCAA Bylaw 21.8.6.10.1).

(1) Recommendation. Amend NCAA Bylaw 21.8.6.10.1 to eliminate the independent representation language.

(2) Rationale. The SAAC shall still consist of 24 members, including one
student-athlete from each pair of conferences represented in the SAAC partnership program and independent representatives. However, with 23 independent institutions currently in Division III, the committee member ratio representing independents is much greater than the proportionate number of independent institutions. The elimination of this language will allow greater flexibility to the partnership program and will not legislate a quota of independent committee representatives.

(3) Budget Impact. None.

2. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS.

a. Conference SAAC Spotlight. The Conference SAAC Spotlight will feature "best practices" and quality initiatives by conference SAACs. The selection objectives include communication [e.g., engaging chief executive officers (CEOs) and other campus leaders, commitment and communication with the national SAAC, establishment and use of a conference SAAC Web site], community outreach and sportsmanship initiatives, SAAC meeting structure (e.g., in-person meetings, conference calls) and leadership opportunities (e.g., leadership conferences, professional development). The committee voted to highlight the Ohio Athletic Conference in the next Division III Newsletter as the spotlight SAAC. The committee also commended the Empire 8, Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference, Old Dominion Athletic Conference and USA Athletic Conference for all their excellent SAAC initiatives.

b. Partner Conference Student-Athlete Link. The committee recommended the creation of conference listserves instead of e-mail accounts for enhanced communication between national SAAC members and student-athlete constituents. NCAA staff will pursue the feasibility of establishing listserves.

c. SAAC Project Teams. The committee noted the following items:

(1) The NCAA News/Division III Newsletter Project Team will work with the Conference SAAC Project Team to identify and highlight successful conference SAACs for a spotlight in the Division III Newsletter.

(2) The Conference SAAC Project Team discussed distributing a survey to each conference to determine how productive conference SAACs are and how each conference is using the Conference SAAC Grants resources.

(3) The committee will create a project team to assist conferences with
conference-wide community outreach projects. Christina Gipson, Brad Coffey, Laura Barshefsky and Angela Lattanzio volunteered.

(4) The SAAC Web Site Project Team recommended changing the name of the Sample of Conference and Campus SAAC Web link to SAAC Best Practices and updating this information to better reflect the work of SAAC.

d. 2005 NCAA Convention.

(1) Proposed Legislation. The committee discussed proposed legislation for the 2005 Convention. The committee will continue discussions on the proposals and will revisit each at its January 2005 meeting.

(a) Proposal No. 2: Playing and Practice Seasons – Postseason Championships Participation – National Collegiate Gymnastics Association National Championship. The committee voted to support the proposal.

(b) Proposal No. 3: Playing and Practice Seasons – Out-of-Season Exception – Gymnastics. The committee voted to oppose the proposal.

(c) Proposal No. 4: Playing and Practice Seasons – Annual Exemptions – Alumni Contests in Nontraditional Segment. The committee voted to support the proposal.

(d) Proposal No. 5: Playing and Practice Seasons – Out-of-Season Athletically Related Activities – Football. The committee voted to support the proposal.

(e) Proposal No. 6: Executive Regulations – Automatic Qualification – Golf and Tennis. The committee voted to support the proposal.

(f) Proposal No. 7: Eligibility – Hardship Waiver and Season of Competition Waivers – Completed or Scheduled Contests. The committee voted to support the proposal.

(g) Proposal No. 8: Eligibility – Season-of-Participation Waiver – Competition While Eligible – Penalty. The committee voted to support the proposal.

(h) Proposal No. 9: Eligibility – Transfer Regulations – Limited Preseason Participation. The committee voted to support the proposal.

(i) Proposal No. 10: Eligibility for Championships – Duration of Ineligibility for Use of Banned Drugs. The committee voted to support the proposal.

(j) Proposal No. 11: Eligibility for Championships – Positive Drug Test – Non-NCAA Athletics Organization. The committee voted to support the proposal.

(k) Proposal No. 12: Playing and Practice Seasons – General Playing Season Regulations – Skiing. The committee voted to support the proposal.

(2) Convention Schedule. The committee reviewed the January 2005 meeting schedule and Convention activities. The committee noted the new format for the community service project. Due to time constraints, the committee will not engage in an off-site community service project. Rather, the committee will coordinate an on-site project in order to give back to the community. The committee discussed the donation of athletics shoes and inviting the NCAA Division III Management Council to participate. The committee’s recommendation will be discussed with the joint Administrative Team.

(3) Conference and Independents Meeting. The committee reviewed the format and sample agenda for the meetings with conferences and independents during the Convention. Committee members were reminded to contact their conference and partner conference commissioners to verify attendance at the January meetings.

e. Future of Division III – Phase II.

(1) Survey Results. Bridget Belgiovine reviewed the Future of Division III survey results and the timeline for communicating the information to the membership. The committee was directed to provide student-athletes within their conferences and partner conferences with the survey update and to secure student-athlete input prior to the January meeting.

(2) Virtual Focus Group Update. Ms. Belgiovine explained the role of the virtual focus groups. The committee noted that its members should be in contact with student-athletes who serve on the focus groups to ensure representation of the student-athlete voice.

(3) College Sports Project Update. Ms. Belgiovine explained the history and formation of the College Sports Project (CSP). Representatives from the CSP will present information to the Division III commissioners and the CEOs at the 2005 Convention. In addition, CSP plans to send an open invitation to all Division III member institutions inviting them to have the opportunity to decide whether the values and objectives of CSP are ones they wish to pursue. The committee noted its concern that the student-athlete voice is not represented in CSP. The committee recommended that SAAC leadership pursue meeting with CSP representatives at the Convention or at another designated site.

f. Cultural Integration. The committee discussed the September 3, 2004, article, “Coaching the Student in the Student-Athlete,” that appeared in The Chronicle of Higher Education. The committee recommended a response to the article in an attempt to break down barriers of perception and show that student-athletes in Division III are multi-talented and are often involved in a variety of campus activities and cultural experiences.

g. Division III Student-Athlete Regional Leadership Conferences. The committee discussed the October 2004 Regional Leadership Conference (Mid-Atlantic Region) and previewed changes for the upcoming conference (Midwest Region) in Indianapolis January 21-23. The following committee members will participate at the January conference: Kelly Cyr, Angela Lattanzio, Laura Barshefsky, Heather Mathis, Andrew Baldwin, Brady Barke and Christina Gipson.

Committee Chair: Andrew Baldwin

Staff Liaisons: Mark Bedics, Assistant Director of Media Relations for Championships