MINUTES OF THE
NATIONAL COLLEGIATE ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION
DIVISION III MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE
Hyatt
Participants:
Tim Downes, California Institute of Technology, chair
Kristen
Hall,
Del Malloy,
Bill
Mandel,
Chris
Martin, College Conference of
Mark
Molesworth,
Richard
Strockbine,
Dan Dutcher, NCAA
Ellen Ferris, NCAA
Leah Nilsson, NCAA, recording secretary
Anne
Steele,
Carolyn
Hunter,
[Note: These minutes contain only actions taken (formal votes or stated "sense of the meeting") in accordance with NCAA policy regarding minutes of all Association entities. While certain items on the committee's agenda were acted on at various times throughout the meeting, all final actions within a given topic are combined in these minutes for convenience of reference.]
Thursday, January
29
The NCAA Division III Membership
Committee meeting was called to order at
1. Review of Minutes. The committee reviewed minutes from its October 23, 2003, teleconference.
It was VOTED
"That the minutes of the
2. Discussion of 2004 NCAA Convention Proposal No. 66. Mr. Dutcher discussed the NCAA Division III resolution on strategic planning and membership growth. In light of the growth and diversity of the division, Mr. Dutcher explained the governance structure's plan to implement the resolution. By considering the most successful components of the study on the future of Division III, a plan will be developed to address diversity and growth issues through the existing committee structure. The plan will include a continued emphasis on engaging presidents in the legislative process and a continued focus on membership feedback and dialogue. The structure will address increased conference and institutional autonomy, while maintaining a focus on the entire division for any new legislation. There will be an emphasis on helping institutions and conferences engage in a dialog about potential policies that could be adopted at the institutional or conference level. Further, Mr. Dutcher explained that there is desire to better research the issues the governance structure is addressing. There will be an oversight group of NCAA Division III Management Council and NCAA Division III Presidents Council members to establish the particular format to implement this resolution and the Membership Committee will be working on issues as assigned by the oversight group.
3. Discussion of NCAA Draft Strategic Plan. Ms. Fishback presented the NCAA draft strategic plan to the committee, highlighting the three to five year goals that will include committee involvement. Mr. Dutcher discussed the plan to examine the Division III strategic plan (which is more like an operations plan) and compare it with the NCAA plan to identify shared principles and identify potential gaps between the Association-wide plan and the Division III plan. Plans will be made to establish new initiatives where gaps in the two plans occur, subject to budgetary approval. It is likely there will be Association-wide money available to fund some of these initiatives. Each committee should look at the three to five year goals and establish strategies to meet the goals, and also develop standards to measure these goals. The committee will target the following objectives from the Association-wide strategic plan:
a. Objective 3.1 - Focus on the inclusion of chief executive officers (CEOs) in the Association's decision making processes;
b. Objective 3.2 - Consider overlap with the Division III resolution on strategic planning and membership growth;
c. Objective 3.3 - Identify areas that need research;
d. Objective 3.4 - Find new ways to reach all of our constituents;
e. Objective 4.1 - Define increased partnerships with the membership;
f. Objectives 4.3 and 4.4 - Focus on membership education programs; and
g. Objective 5.2 - Consider increased focus on Division III identity at the local level.
Mr. Dutcher also reviewed all Division III initiatives and the budget for each of those programs. In light of this discussion, the committee should carefully examine its own operations plan to ensure it accomplishes the objectives of both the Division III strategic plan and the NCAA strategic plan. In light of objective 3.4, it was suggested that a video teaching the Division III governance process be administered when student-athletes sign their annual forms, so that coaches and student-athletes are aware of what the NCAA is and how the governance process functions. This video could also be used to educate other campus constituencies (e.g., faculty, admissions, etc.) about the NCAA and Division III.
4. Review Roster of Current Provisional and Exploratory Members. The roster of current provisional and exploratory members was circulated to the committee for informational purposes.
5. Review Status of Exploratory Members. The committee discussed the status of exploratory members, and the payment for NCAA corresponding membership. The committee determined that the payment of a publications fee during the years the institution is waiting to begin provisional membership shows a commitment on the part of the institution to fully engage in the provisional program. The committee also recognized that the $12,000 fee due during the provisional membership period should cover this expense; thus, it is reasonable to deduct the monies paid for these publications from the provisional education fee.
It was VOTED
"Exploratory members be required to pay a $225 corresponding membership fee for each year spent as a corresponding member beyond the first exploratory year. These payments shall be deducted from the provisional education payment due at the start of provisional year one."
The committee also discussed the format of the exploratory member session, and determined that exploratory members get more benefit from a session conducted at the national office without the distractions that accompany the NCAA Convention. Therefore, the exploratory session will be offered one time per year (in the fall) at the NCAA national office. Further, exploratory members waiting to begin the provisional membership process may attend the exploratory session again. A memorandum will be circulated to all exploratory members indicating new institutional staff may be sent to the exploratory session, or staff members who would like to see the session for a second time may also attend the exploratory session. Staff will explore videotaping the session so that it can be distributed to individuals not able to attend the session.
6. Discussion of Reclassifying Membership. The committee discussed the status of the reclassification program, and how the University of Minnesota, Morris, should be educated in this program. The committee confirmed that all reclassifying institutions shall complete a four-year reclassification period, and also modified the provisional member education program to meet the needs of a reclassifying member. The program shall be conducted as follows:
a. Year 1: Attend reclassification orientation, Convention and regional seminar; submit annual report and Institutional Self-Study Guide (ISSG).
b. Year 2: Receive campus visit from staff and committee member (the session will focus on adapting existing compliance systems to meet Division III requirements); administer rules test; complete compliance assessment; attend Convention and the regional seminar; and submit annual report.
c. Year 3: Visit the NCAA national office in August, subject to a review by the Membership Committee; complete key components document; attend Convention; and submit annual report.
d. Year 4: Attend Convention and regional seminar; and submit annual report.
Minnesota-Morris
will be given additional educational materials at the 2004 NCAA Regional Seminar
to make up for the year one orientation.
7. Review Provisional Activities to Date. The committee reviewed the activities conducted during fall 2003 and at the 2004 NCAA Convention and made several recommendations. The exploratory session should be conducted at the national office in the fall, separate from the other distractions presented at the Convention. If staff is going to teach playing and practice seasons and the counting method, football and nonfootball schools should be separated. It was suggested that the provisional directors of athletics session should include more information sharing and discussion, and less rules presentations. Also, a formal mentoring program between committee members and provisional members should be established.
The Convention CEO session should include less philosophy and more interaction between the CEOs. Discussion of the Division III philosophy should explain how it is applied on campus. It would be helpful if the provisional CEOs could present information to each other about athletics issues that have arisen on their campus, and how they handled that situation. It might be helpful to arrange meeting time for the provisional CEOs without senior staff or committee members in attendance so those CEOs can discuss issues without the feeling of external monitoring, and it would also be helpful to invite CEOs who recently completed the provisional membership program to share experiences. Finally, other CEO discussion topics could include how to prepare a voting delegate, athletics reporting lines, role of the senior woman administrator and the purpose of Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.
8. Review Compliance Form Expectations. Provisional institutions should be given a preview of the compliance forms at the year one orientation. For 2003-04, staff will teach forms to the year one provisional members at the regional seminars and will make a video about administration of forms. A suggested format for teaching the compliance forms is to conduct the session with directors of athletics as if they were student-athletes.
9. Format and Content of Year Two Rules-Compliance Awareness Campus Visit. The year two visit will include the teaching of compliance systems and several rules presentations (topics to be selected by the provisional institution). The committee expressed concern that the presentation make clear that the procedures presented in this session are suggestions to run an effective compliance program, and are not NCAA requirements per se. At the end of the campus visit, staff will give the compliance assessment preliminary report to the provisional institution's director of athletics. This document shall be submitted with the second annual report and will provide the basis of the year three provisional meeting. The committee will discuss components of this presentation throughout the spring conference calls.
10. Format and Reporting of Year Two Rules Awareness Self-Evaluation. The rules awareness self-evaluation will consist of taking the rules test and of completing the compliance assessment preliminary report.
11. Format and Content of Year Three Rules Orientation Meeting. The year three rules orientation meeting will include direct feedback from the responses to the compliance assessment preliminary report. This meeting shall be conducted in August prior to the start of year three of the provisional membership process.
12. Updated Provisional Membership Forms. Ms. Fishback presented the updated annual report forms to the committee. Several additional corrections were noted based on program changes made at this meeting.
13. Establishment of a Provisional Member Web Site. The committee discussed the establishment of a provisional member Web site, and saw value in creating a central location for exploratory and provisional members to find information and required forms. In addition to the information items suggested by staff, the committee would like to see:
a. frequently asked questions;
b. Presentations from each of the exploratory and provisional education sessions;
c. A link to the Membership Committee roster;
d. A link to NCAA publications; and
e. A link to all forms and publications directly related to the provisional member education program.
14. Review of Institutions Not Meeting the Sports-Sponsorship Requirements. The committee reviewed the list of institutions not meeting the sports-sponsorship requirements for the 2002-03 academic year. The committee updated the language to be used in the letter sent to these institutions, and also asked that staff make phone contact with each of these institutions prior to sending the letter. Staff will verify that the institutions identified in the meeting materials were not in compliance with the five-sport/three-season requirement for the 2002-03 year and will send the letter explaining the probationary period and other regulations after that verification.
15. Format of the Regional Seminar. The committee considered several alternative formats to deliver rules education to the active membership. The following suggestions were made:
a. Consider pinning the event to the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics conference, student-athlete regional leadership conferences, Convention, Eastern College Athletic Conference fall convention, championships or coaches meetings.
b. Consider a technology based seminar. This could include a once a month electronic delivery of information (e.g., video magazine, video, simulcast).
c. Consider cosponsoring an event with the National Association of Division III Athletic Administrators (NADIIIAA).
d. Consider focusing Division III programming at one site per year and rotating that site around the country.
The committee determined that it will be necessary to survey the membership to determine the best date, location and mode of delivery for this rules information. The committee also determined that the ISSG will be updated to ask if the institution has sent a staff member to the regional seminar within the last five years. This will reinforce the importance of the seminar without actually requiring attendance. The committee also discussed the need for a mentoring program for active Division III members and that the program should be run by directors of athletics as opposed to the NCAA. Mr. Downes will contact the NADIIIAA about this potential program.
16. Video Magazines. The committee received information that NCAA Division I is currently delivering information to the membership using a video magazine. These videos are designed to last about 10 minutes and the magazine articles change monthly. The committee received this information as information related to membership education. The committee expressed interest in this format because of the ability to play these messages at staff meetings, and the convenience of the magazine being delivered to the user. There was concern about the information being constantly downloaded, and that foreign software will be placed on the user’s hard drive. The committee will view this technology at its June in-person meeting.
17. Review Committee Calendar. The committee reviewed the calendar of activities to administer the provisional and reclassification education programs. Staff will be scheduling several fall events during February and committee members will be asked to attend these events.
[Note: The meeting recessed at
The meeting was called to order
at
18.
It was VOTED
"
19. Review of NCAA Bylaw 20.11.3.3 and the Minimum Sports-Sponsorship Requirement in Women's Rowing. The committee reviewed the recommendation coming from members of the NCAA Division III Rowing Committee to set the Division III minimum contests requirement for rowing at five.
It was VOTED
"That the Management Council adopt noncontroversial legislation to establish a minimum contest requirement in women's rowing of five contests."
The committee also considered the inconsistency between the contest minimums for membership requirements and the maximum number of contests for playing and practice season limitations. The committee will solicit feedback from the individual sports committees to determine what the appropriate number of minimum contests should be for membership requirements. The committee would also like to see data on the current number of contests that are being conducted on a sport by sport basis, and the number of contests required for championships selection purposes.
20. Organization of Constitution 3.6. The committee considered the need to examine the organization of Constitution 3.6 in order to make it more user-friendly. Mr. Martin will assist staff in this effort by reviewing a draft of a reordered Constitution 3.6.
21. Request
from
22. Future Teleconferences and In-Person Meetings. The committee agreed to conduct in-person meetings and conference calls on the following dates/times:
a. February
26 teleconference;
b March
25 teleconference;
c. April
22 teleconference;
c. May
27 teleconference;
d. June
28-29 in-person meeting;
e. January 24-35, 2005, in-person meeting; site to be determined.
23. Adjournment. The meeting was adjourned at
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