REPORT OF THE

NCAA DIVISION III STUDENT-ATHLETE ADVISORY COMMITTEE

INFORMATIONAL ITEMS.

1. 2006 NCAA Convention Proposed Legislation.

a. Proposal No. 1: Ethical Conduct – Sports Wagering Activities. The committee voted to support this proposal. This proposal establishes consistency of expectation and sanction among all involved in the conduct and oversight of athletics administration.

b. Proposal No. 2: Personnel – Conduct of Athletics Personnel – Sports Safety Training. The committee voted to support this proposal. Protecting the health and safety of the student-athlete is the foundation of the establishment of the NCAA. This proposal reinforces the importance of someone being physically present to address emergency medical issues. More importantly, it requires institutions to examine and review emergency protocol to decrease response time.

c. Proposal No. 3: Playing and Practice Seasons – Preseason Practice – Medical Examinations. The committee voted to support this proposal as it supports the annual health and safety of student-athletes.

d. Proposal No. 4: Playing and Practice Seasons – Nontraditional Segment – Limitations on Athletically Related Activity and Competition Activity on the One Date of Competition. The committee voted to support this proposal. By limiting the one date of competition in the nontraditional season to eight hours, this proposal protects the health and safety of student-athletes, offers an adequate window of opportunity to compete as determined by the appropriate sports committees and allows coaches the flexibility to observe players in a variety of game situations.

e. Proposal No. 5: Recruiting – Tryouts – Prohibited Activities – Tryout Camps. The committee voted to support this proposal. The committee believes application of the rule should be consistent. If an institution is not permitted to host a camp, clinic, group workout or combine event, an outside entity should not be permitted to host the same. The committee also noted that this legislation would level revenue opportunities among Division III institutions.

f. Proposal No. 6: Eligibility – General Eligibility Requirements – Male Practice Player – Guidelines (Amendment-to-Amendment). The committee voted to support this proposal. Guidelines offered in this proposal support the committee’s intent to limit the use of male practice players to ensure female student-athletes are provided appropriate practice opportunities.

g. Proposal No. 6-1: Eligibility – General Eligibility Requirements – Male Practice Player – Guidelines (Amendment-to-Amendment). The committee voted to oppose the amendment-to-amendment. In July, the committee recommended legislation be sponsored to limit the use of male practice players. The number of players and frequency of use permitted in this amendment-to-amendment contradicts the intent of the original recommendation.

h. Proposal No. 7: Eligibility – Seasons of Participation – Participation at Any Collegiate Institution. The committee voted to oppose this proposal. Student-athletes wishing to transfer from a Division I or II institution to a Division III institution, should not be penalized a season of participation.

i. Proposal No. 8: Eligibility – Criteria for Determining Season of Participation – Minimum Amount of Participation – Nontraditional Segment. The committee voted to support this proposal. Student-athletes should not be charged a season of participation for practice in the nontraditional segment.

j. Proposal No. 9: Membership – Provisional and Reclassifying Membership – Application Standards and Compliance with Division Regulations. The committee voted to take no position on this proposal. The committee understands the intent of preparing provisional and reclassifying institutions for Division III membership, but does not believe the more stringent regulations would make a significant impact on student-athlete well-being.

k. Proposal No. 10: Membership: Conditions And Obligations Of Membership – Educational Initiatives. The committee voted to support this proposal. Funding resources exist in Division III to aid institutions in compliance with this proposal. Institutions also benefit because there is not an annual requirement for institutions to comply with the Regional Rules Seminar attendance requirement and more informed coaches and administrators can enhance the student-athlete experience.

l. Proposal No. 11: Division III Membership – Maximum Capacity. The committee voted to oppose this proposal. The membership continues the discovery process toward a solution to membership growth. The current moratorium provides more flexibility than a membership cap.

m. Proposal No. 12: Legislative Process – Amendment Process – Sponsorship Requirements. The committee voted to support this proposal. With the growth of the division, this proposal attempts to ensure that legislation is focused on a larger majority of the membership and streamlines the administrative management of legislation.

n. Proposal No. 13: Ethical Conduct – Gambling Activities – Sanctions – Timing Of Reinstatement Request. The committee voted to support this proposal. It not only provides institutions with more flexibility around filing a reinstatement request but also allows student-athletes earlier access to athletically related activities after the one-year penalty.

o. Proposal No. 14: Playing and Practice Seasons – Basketball – Annual Exemptions – Exhibition Contest and Practice Scrimmages. The committee voted to support this proposal. It provides institutions with flexibility around scheduling exhibition contests but does not increase the number of contests or length of season.

2. Convention Panelists. SAAC members will serve as panelists on four Division III and Association-wide 2007 NCAA Convention sessions. Selected individuals and topics are as follows:

a. Division III Issues Forum: Ethical Athletics Administration. Heather Mathis.

b. Division III Issues Forum: Addressing Substance Abuse and Use. Colleen McCullough.

c. Division III Issues Forum: The Changing Fan Culture for Division III. Steven Suggs.

d. Association-Wide Session: Preliminary Findings from the SCORE and GOALS Studies. Meghan Lockard.

3. Recruiting Practices Ad Hoc Committee. The committee met with Leah Nilsson to review the virtual focus group data on recruiting practices. It voted to form an Ad Hoc Committee to develop potential legislative models for Division III recruiting practices. Heather Mathis, Kayla Hinkley, Chris Wolf, Jessica Huntley, Emily Pankow and Kate Schneider will serve on the Ad Hoc Committee. They plan to present potential models to the SAAC in January and will provide final drafts for the Management Council’s consideration in the committee’s January 2007 report.

4. NCAA Executive Committee Working Group to Study Membership Issues. The committee met with Ms. Nilsson to review the Executive Committee Working Group’s potential recommendations designed to address Division III membership issues. The committee will gather feedback on the recommendations and provide a committee position in its January 2007 report to the Management Council.

5. NCAA Division III SAAC Habitat for Humanity Campaign. The committee reviewed the completed tool kit designed to aide Division III institutions in organizing a Habitat for Humanity effort at their institution. The tool kit is a product of the committee’s division-wide community outreach initiative with Habitat. The committee’s goal is to engage 60 percent of the Division III membership in at least one Habitat service project in the next three semesters (September 2006 through December 2007) in any of the following areas: building, fundraising, advocacy and education. The tool kit is available on the NCAA Division III SAAC Web page.

6. Conference and Campus SAAC Spotlight. The committee selected the Old Dominion Athletic Conference and the University of Texas at Tyler to be featured in the December Division III newsletter.

The Old Dominion Athletic Conference SAAC was honored for recently completing its conference-wide community service project, working together with its campus SAACs to collect canned goods during the third annual ODAC Food Drive. The conference SAAC accumulated nearly 13,270 items to distribute to food banks, easily surpassing last year’s 9,215 items. Washington and Lee won the contest, collecting 4,002 total items while Randolph-Macon Woman’s College accumulated 2,540 items.

The University of Texas at Tyler, along with other stakeholders in the community, is part of a federal initiative called the “Gear up Grant.” As part of the grant, members of the institution’s SAAC have volunteered to be E-buddies with students at three middle schools in Tyler. Through the program, SAAC members will speak to the middle school students, most of who would be first generation college students, and encourage them to

pursue higher education. UT-Tyler has also invited the middle school students to attend volleyball and basketball games on campus, free of charge. The grant will follow the students through their senior year of high school and track the number that attend college

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

a. Conference SAAC/Independents. The committee is compiling a list of each Division IIII conference’s commissioner, SAAC advisor and SAAC chair in an effort to improve communication between the national and conference SAACs. The committee plans to complete the list by January and periodically update it as needed.

b. SAAC Nominations. The project team announced the Nominating Committee’s approval for SAAC to conduct telephone interviews with future Division III SAAC candidates. It also presented an interview outline and questions. The template will be forwarded to the NCAA human resources department for approval and used to conduct the interviews.

8. Joint SAAC meeting. Divisions I, II and III met jointly November 18. Prior to the meeting, the committees participated in a professional development session on diversity and inclusion with Wendy Walters, NCAA membership services staff.

During the meeting, committees shared divisional updates and Association-wide committee reports. A significant discussion centered on student-athlete time demands. SAAC liaisons clarified each division’s bylaws regarding countable athletically-related activities. The committees participated in an exercise which explored how to count athletically-related activities in each division by counting the hours spent on athletically-related activities on a sample student-athlete schedule. The goal of the discussion was to educate on current rules and empower them to share this information with their peers. Todd Petr and Ann Kearns of the NCAA research staff presented preliminary data from the Study of College Outcomes and Recent Experiences (SCORE) and the Growth, Opportunities, Aspirations, and Learning of Students in College (GOALS) reports. The data was an introduction to the research staff’s efforts to monitor student-athlete time demands. Finally, NCAA SAAC liaisons facilitated a discussion among the committees on how to initiate discussion about time demands issues on campus and future steps to prepare for the 2008 Convention.

The committees also received a report from Corey Steven, who attended the National Center for Lesbian Rights Sports Project Think Tank in October. Ms. Steven reviewed the Think Tank discussions surrounding negative recruiting practices and potential future

educational initiatives. The Think Tank hopes to include the committees in future developments regarding the elimination of gender and sexual orientation bias.

9. Committee Appointments. The committee selected new representatives for the following committee vacancies:

a. Management Council Representative. Steven Suggs and Kayla Hinkley.

b. Interpretations and Legislation Committee. Ashley Snell.

c. Championships Committee. Emily Pankow.

d. Olympic Sports Liaison Committee. Christopher Wolf.

Committee Chair: Sameer Khan, Middle Atlantic States Conference and Old Dominion Athletic Conference

Staff Liaison(s): Josh Centor, NCAA Branding and Communications

Shana Levine, NCAA Membership Services

Sarah MacInnis, NCAA Education Services