REPORT OF THE
NCAA DIVISION III INTERPRETATIONS AND
LEGISLATION COMMITTEE
ACTION ITEMS.
1. Legislative Action Items.
a. 2008 NCAA Convention Legislation – NCAA Bylaw 13.12.4 (privately owned camp).
(1) Recommendation. Sponsor
legislation for the 2008 Convention to modify Bylaw 13.12.4 (privately owned
camp) to remove the stipulation that prospective student-athletes who have
started the ninth grade shall not be employed at the camp or clinic.
(2) Effective
Date. Immediate.
(3) Rationale. The condition that an institutional
staff member may not serve in any capacity in a privately owned camp if a
prospective student-athlete is employed at the camp or clinic is overly
restrictive and bureaucratic based on modern structure and logistics of operating
a camp or clinic. However, the
requirements related to the camp or clinic being open to the general public and
the camp or clinic not giving free or reduced admission privileges to any
individual who has started classes for the ninth grade should remain in the
legislation because these stipulations help deter recruiting advantages for
coaches working at elite-level camps.
(4) Estimated
Budget Impact. None.
(5) Student-Athlete
Impact. None.
b. Noncontroversial Legislation – Bylaw 13.4.2.1.3 (interview to recruiting publication).
(1) Recommendation. Adopt
noncontroversial legislation in Bylaw 13.4.2.1.3 (interview to recruiting
publication) to eliminate the restriction that precludes an institutional
coaching staff member from providing an interview for an article that will
appear in a recruiting publication or newsletter.
(2) Effective
Date. Immediate.
(3) Rationale. With advancements in technology and the
availability of information through various media, the restriction precluding
coaches from providing interviews to recruiting or scouting services has become
outdated. The prohibition was
adopted to limit the recruiting advantage of institutions whose coaching-staff
members regularly participated in interviews with publications that report on
the athletics activities of prospective student-athletes. Because of advanced communication
technologies, all coaches have similar opportunities to provide interviews. Further, many recruiting publications
have merged with other media entities, making it increasingly difficult to
discern between media entities and recruiting publications.
(4) Estimated
Budget Impact. None.
(5) Student-Athlete
Impact. None.
c. Noncontroversial Legislation – Bylaw 13 (recruiting).
(1) Recommendation. Adopt
noncontroversial legislation in Bylaw 13 (recruiting) to specify that a
prospective student-athlete who has signed a written offer of admission and/or
financial aid with an institution may use that institution's training-room
facilities.
(2) Effective
Date. Immediate.
(3) Rationale. This proposal would give institutions
flexibility to provide access to training-room facilities to prospective
student-athletes who have signed an institutional written offer of admission
and/or financial aid agreement for the academic year and who may seek to work
out on the institution's campus during the summer prior to enrollment.
(4) Estimated
Budget Impact. None.
(5) Student-Athlete
Impact. None.
d. Noncontroversial Legislation – Bylaw 16.4 (medical expenses).
(1) Recommendation. Adopt noncontroversial
legislation to amend Bylaw 16.4 (medical expenses) to specify that it is
impermissible for an institution to finance "nutritional" supplements
as medical-expense
benefits
incidental to a student-athlete's participation in intercollegiate athletics
and to add language to the legislation that makes it clear what items can be
provided.
(2) Effective
Date. Immediate.
(3) Rationale. The list of prohibited supplements in
Bylaw 16.4 is more accurately captured by the term "nutritional
supplements" than the more narrow "dietary supplements" as the
prohibited list of supplements extends beyond dietary supplements.
(4) Estimated
Budget Impact. None.
(5) Student-Athlete
Impact. None.
e. Interpretation of Full-Time Enrollment for Student-Athlete in Final Semester or Quarter.
(1) Recommendation. Approve the following official interpretation:
"Full-Time Enrollment - Final Semester/Quarter
(III). The committee confirmed that
a student-athlete who is enrolled and seeking a second baccalaureate (or
equivalent) or graduate-level degree at the same institution previously
attended as an undergraduate, may compete while enrolled in less than a
full-time program of studies, provided the student-athlete is enrolled in the
final semester or quarter necessary to obtain his or her second baccalaureate
(or equivalent) or graduate-level degree.
The institution must certify that the student-athlete is carrying (for
credit) the courses necessary to complete degree requirements. A
student-athlete seeking a second major within the same degree program may
not compete while enrolled in less than a full-time program of studies, unless
the student-athlete is enrolled in the final semester or quarter necessary to
obtain his or her baccalaureate (or equivalent) or graduate-level degree." [References: Bylaws 14.1.8.3 (exception - final
semester/quarter); 14.1.8.2.1.3 (final semester/quarter); and 14.1.9 (graduate
student/postbaccalaureate participation) and a staff interpretation (11/15/06, item
1-a), which has been archived for Division III]
(2) Effective
Date. Immediate.
(3) Rationale.
Student-athletes enrolled in final
semester or quarter while seeking a second baccalaureate or graduate degree,
should be provided similar flexibility as undergraduate student-athletes who
may enroll part time if they are carrying for credit the courses needed to
complete their degree.
(4) Estimated
Budget Impact. None.
(5) Student-Athlete
Impact. Student-athletes will
save on tuition and related course fees by not having to enroll in courses not
necessary for their degree program.
f. Interpretation of Official National Team Tryouts and the National Team Exception to the Outside Competition Regulation.
(1) Recommendation. Approve the following official interpretation:
"Official National Team Tryouts and the
National Team Exception to the Outside Competition Regulation (III). The committee determined that in order
for a student-athlete to use the U.S. national team exception to the outside
competition regulations to participate as a member of an outside team in an
official national team or junior national team tryout, the official tryout must
be one in which athletes are directly selected to a national team or are required
to participate in order to qualify for a subsequent event from which
participants will be named to a national team or junior national team that will
represent their nation in international competition. The exception is applicable to an
official tryout that is structured as a series of events in which athletes must
participate in each event (or at least one event in each level) of the series
in order to be selected to the national team. The exception does not apply to events in
which athletes are only identified for further evaluation at unrelated events
for a future national team. For
example, the exception applies to an official tryout in which athletes must
participate in Event A in order to participate in Event B (or in one of several
events at the Event A level in order to participate at the Event B level), and
participants in Event B are selected to the national team that will participate
in international competition; however, the exception does not apply to
participation in Event A if athletes are not selected to the national team or
if participation in Event A (or other events on the same level) is not required
for participation in Event B." [References:
Bylaws
14.7.3.1-(d) (exceptions to outside-competition regulations – national
teams) and 30.8.1 (national-team criteria)]
(2) Effective
Date. Immediate.
(3) Rationale.
The national team exception to the
outside competition regulation should encompass any ancillary tryouts or
competition that individuals are required to participate in as part of a series
of tryout events to be considered for selection to the national team.
(4) Estimated
Budget Impact. None.
(5) Student-Athlete
Impact. More flexibility for
student-athletes to participate in outside competition or tryouts directly
connected to national team selection.
g. Interpretation of a Student-Athlete Establishing His or Her Own Business.
(1) Recommendation. Approve the following official interpretation:
(2) Effective
Date. Immediate.
(3) Rationale.
It is more prevalent for college
students to start their own business as a business-class requirement or as a
side-entrepreneurial project. Student-athletes
should be afforded this opportunity, provided his or her athletics reputation
is not used to promote his or her business.
(4) Estimated
Budget Impact. None.
(5) Student-Athlete
Impact. More flexibility for
student-athletes to start his or her own business without impacting his or her
amateurism status.
h. Interpretation of Division III Institutions that Sponsor Division I Sports Using the Division I Sport for Division III Sports Sponsorship Purposes.
(1) Recommendation. Approve the following official interpretation:
"Use of Division I Sport to Satisfy Division
III Sports Sponsorship Requirement. (III) A Division III institution that
sponsors a sport in Division I may not use that sport in satisfying the minimum
sports sponsorship requirement in Division III." [References: Bylaws 20.11.3 (sport sponsorship) and
20.4.1.1 (classification of a sport in Division I)]
(2) Effective
Date. Immediate.
(3) Rationale.
Division III member institutions
should only be permitted to count Division III sports toward Division III
minimum sports sponsorship standards since counting a Division I sport for
Division III membership purposes does not reflect genuine Division III sport
sponsorship.
(4) Estimated
Budget Impact. Institutions
that were using a Division I sport to meet sports sponsorship minimums will be
required to offer an additional Division III sport. [Currently one Division III institution
is impacted.]
(5) Student-Athlete
Impact. None.
i. Interpretation of Playing-Season Limits to Institution with Varsity and Club Team in the Same Sport.
(1) Recommendation. Approve the following official interpretation:
"The committee confirmed that if an institution
sponsors a varsity team in a sport and also sponsors a ‘club’ team in the same sport, the institution must apply
the playing and practice seasons regulations to the ‘club’ team if
any student-athletes participating on the varsity team in the sport also are
participants on the institution's ‘club’
team in the same sport."
[References: Bylaw 17
(playing and practice seasons) and an official interpretation (12/12/94, Item
No. 14), which has been archived for Division III]
(2) Effective
Date. Immediate.
(3) Rationale.
Regulating a club team's playing
and practice season for institutions that sponsor the same sport at the varsity
level prevents an extension of the playing and practice season and related
abuses of playing-season regulations.
(4) Estimated
Budget Impact. None.
(5) Student-Athlete
Impact. None.
j. Incorporation of Official Interpretation of Full-Time Enrollment for Student-Athlete in Final Semester or Quarter.
(1) Recommendation. Approve the following incorporation of an official interpretation:
(2) Effective
Date. Immediate.
(3) Rationale.
This exception to the list of
athletically related activities warrants inclusion in the Manual.
(4) Estimated
Budget Impact. None.
(5) Student-Athlete
Impact. None.
k. Modification of Wording – Bylaw 13.4.1 (recruiting materials – general regulations).
(1) Recommendation. Sponsor a modification of wording to
amend Bylaw 13.4.1 (recruiting materials – general regulations) to change
the language within the legislation from "high school and two-year college
coaches" to "coaches of prospective student-athletes."
(2) Effective
Date. Immediate.
(3) Rationale.
Regulations on disseminating
recruiting materials were intended to apply to any coach of a prospective
student-athlete, including club coaches. This modification of wording aligns the
actual legislation with its original intent.
(4) Estimated
Budget Impact. None.
(5) Student-Athlete
Impact. None.
2. Nonlegislative Items.
·
NCAA Division III Management Council Administrative
Review Subcommittee Blanket Waiver – Employment at Privately Owned Camps
or Clinics.
(1) Recommendation. That the NCAA Division III Management Council Administrative Review Subcommittee issue a blanket waiver for the 2007-08 academic year allowing institutional staff members to be employed at privately owned camps or clinics that employ prospective student-athletes, provided the camp or clinic is open to the general public and the camp or clinic does not give free or reduced admission privileges to any individual who has started classes for the ninth grade.
(2) Effective
Date. 2007-08 academic year.
(3) Rationale.
There appears to be considerable
confusion in Division III regarding the existing camp employment legislation
and it was apparent from the paddle vote on 2007 NCAA Convention Division III Proposal
No. I-2 that the membership was not supportive of the current legislation. The committee agreed that a change in the
legislation cannot be accomplished through an immediately effective
noncontroversial proposal and felt instead, that the Administrative Review Subcommittee
process and a proposal for the 2008 NCAA Convention was the more appropriate
means to address the issue.
(4) Estimated
Budget Impact. None.
(5) Student-Athlete
Impact. None.
INFORMATIONAL ITEMS.
1. Editorial
Revisions – Bylaw 13 (recruiting).
The committee agreed that it would be
helpful for the Division III membership to reference a chart within the NCAA
Division III Manual that would specify what activities and what level of
activity is permissible for both official and unofficial visits. This chart will be added to Bylaw 13
(recruiting) for the 2007-08 Division III Manual.
2. Referral to NCAA Staff Liaisons to Sport Committees. Staff liaisons to sport committees are asked to communicate the results of NCAA Division I Proposal No. 2006-97 to impacted individuals that sponsor Division I sports on their campus, noting that institutional staff members from Division II or III institutions that sponsor a Division I sport may serve on that sport's playing-rules committee as a Division I representative, provided at least 25 percent of the institutions that sponsor the sport are Division II or III institutions.
3. Referral
to NCAA Division III Championships Committee. The
Championships Committee is asked to consider the concept in 2007 NCAA Convention
Division II Proposal No. NC-27, which specifies that for purposes of applying
the hardship waiver, the NCAA regional cross country meet may be counted as one
date of competition in determining the institution's scheduled or completed
dates of competition, provided no qualifying standards exist for participation
in the meet. The committee generally
supports the concept within the legislation; however, it would like the
Championships Committee to determine whether there are any other Division III
sports that have postseason events leading to the championship in which the
format of the event is an "all-comers" or "open" format.
4. Division III Usage of "Noncontroversial" Nomenclature for Legislation. The committee reviewed the use of the nomenclature of "noncontroversial" for legislation that has an immediate effective date and appears in the blue pages of the NCAA Convention Official Notice. The committee noted that it was only necessary for one individual to speak in order for legislation to be pulled out for separate consideration and because this rarely occurs, the committee felt that the nomenclature being used to be appropriate. The committee recommended to the staff to include noncontroversial legislation within the NCAA Division III Monthly Update e-mail throughout the year as these proposals become effective.
5. Management Council's Recommendation to Archive Staff Interpretation [Reference: 7/17/92, item b]. The committee reviewed the outcome of a discussion and subsequent action taken by the Management Council at its January meeting to archive a staff interpretation [Reference: 7/17/92, item b] related to institutional staff members making recruiting presentations at camps or clinics. The committee accepted the information as provided. Because of what appears to be multiple issues in the area of camps and clinics and various thoughts as to how these issues should be treated, the committee recommended that the issue of camps and clinics be discussed by the NCAA Division III Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and also be considered by a virtual focus group in a future discussion.
6. 2007 NCAA Convention Division III Proposal No. 3. The Interpretations and Legislation Committee discussed 2007 Proposal No. 3 and issues related to the six-month requirement for physical examinations for schools that do not conduct nontraditional-segment activities during the fall but require that their general entering freshmen students receive a medical examination prior to enrollment. The Membership Committee had requested an interpretation from the Interpretations and Legislation Committee regarding whether a student-athlete could satisfy the new legislative provisions by having an updated medical history completed prior to his or her spring traditional-segment activities if he or she was required to receive a medical examination in the summer prior to enrollment. Based on the language of the legislation, the committee did not feel that this was an interpretive issue. The Interpretations and Legislation Committee recommended that the NCAA Committee on Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports review this issue to determine if a modification to the current legislation was necessary.
7. The Addition of the NCAA Division III Philosophy Statement to Legislative Proposals. The committee recommended to the NCAA membership services staff to include any connections to the Philosophy Statement in the rationale area within the form used for legislative proposals and make it clear that sponsors of legislation should include information relating to how the proposal relates to the Division III philosophy within the rationale of the proposed legislation.
8. Career-Opportunity
Programs for Student-Athletes. The committee reviewed career counseling and similar
programs that are currently being offered to student-athletes and discussed
whether funding for these programs is permissible under Bylaw 16.3 (academic
and other services) if the programs are not available to students in
general. The committee noted that the legislation
is clear that funding is only permissible for programs and services that are
available for students in general and took no further action.
9.
Out-of-Season Activity Scenarios. The committee reviewed
various out-of-season activity scenarios to discuss the permissibility of the
activities. The committee
recommended that the membership services staff issue an educational column
detailing the permissibility of the various scenarios. The committee will review the educational-column
draft before it is released to Division III membership.
10. Definition
of Sports Wagering. The committee discussed the definition of "sports
wagering" in light of a proliferation of no entry-fee bracket contests
linked to the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. The committee requested NCAA staff to
present to the committee on a future teleconference the legislative history and
policy via the NCAA's agents, gambling and amateurism department on sports
wagering.
Committee Chair: Robert
Coleman,
Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
Staff Liaisons: Matt Banker, Membership Services
Jay
Jones, Membership Services