NCAA DIVISION III FINANCIAL AID AND AWARDS COMMITTEE

Summary of Recommendations

ITEMS OF INFORMATION

1.	ISSUE:	Financial Audit Task Force Proposed Methodology.
Committee Action:
	The committee reviewed a working draft of the financial aid audit methodology developed by the Division III Financial Aid Audit Task Force. The committee was supportive of the work of the task force and its proposed audit methodology. It offered the following feedback for the task force: (1) In the section devoted to financial need cells, a category entitled “no application for aid” should be added to reflect students who simply do not apply for institutional financial aid. (2) For purposes of establishing in which financial need cell a student is placed, all financial need data should be calculated using federal (rather than institutional) methodology. (3) The task force may need to confirm the application of the audit requirements to provisional members. (4) It would be prudent to note that all financial aid information collected through the audit will remain confidential.
Management Council Action:
Accepted the information.
2.	ISSUE:	Financial Aid Audit Reporting Technology.
Committee Action:
	The committee concurred with the task force that the development of the technology tool to provide for the seamless transfer of financial aid data from institutions to the national office is critical to the success of the audit. Such technology will impact the scope of the audit in terms of how much information is collected and how efficiently and effectively the committee can review it.
Management Council Action:
Accepted the information.

3.	ISSUE:		Timeline.
Committee Action:
		Given the importance of developing such critical technology, the committee agreed that it may be necessary to delay proposing legislation until the 2004 NCAA Convention, adhering to the following time line: Fall 2002 Begin developing audit-reporting technology (i.e., NCAA Compliance Assistant software or other tool). January 2003 NCAA Convention -- task force update. Summer 2003 Task force report to NCAA Division III Management Council and Presidents Council including sponsorship of legislation for January 2004 Convention. Fall 2003 Preliminary test of audit process (sampling of institutions represented on the Task Force). January 2004 NCAA Convention discussion session and legislative vote. Audit legislation requiring institutions to perform annual audits of financial aid, beginning with the 2004-05 academic year (2003-04 financial aid data). However, the audit performed in the 2004-05 academic year (2003-04 data) will be conducted as a pilot for the entire division. Fall 2005 First year of “official” institutional audit results and committee review process.
Management Council Action:
Accepted the information. [See Supplement No. 7.]
4.	ISSUE:		Pilot.
Committee Action:
	The committee agreed that conducting the financial aid audit performed in the 2004-05 academic year (2003-04 data) as a pilot will allow itself as well as the membership to become more familiar with the audit process. The committee agreed that audit elements such as the percent of institutions that the committee will randomly review, the committee’s review and response time line and the acceptable variance (if any) would be solidified through the pilot process. The committee will provide a full report to the Management Council in April 2005 identifying recommendations for minor adjustments to the audit requirements and process.
Management Council Action:
Accepted the information.
5.	ISSUE:		Division III Guide to Financial Aid.
Committee Action:
	The committee reviewed the Division III Guide to Financial Aid and agreed that inasmuch as a significant portion of the information in the guide must be deleted because of the deregulation of NCAA Bylaw 15 and the continuing developments of the financial aid audit process, it would make all necessary changes to the guide and reflect those changes on the NCAA Web site but refrain from producing a publication. Instead, the committee agreed to notify athletics directors and financial aid administrators via memorandum that the updated guide may be accessed on the NCAA Web site.
Management Council Action:
Accepted the information.
6.	ISSUE:		Joint Subcommittee on the Future of Division III.
Committee Action:
	The committee received a report from NCAA staff on the financial aid-related work of the joint subcommittee on the future of Division III. The committee agreed to maintain communication with NCAA staff and the joint subcommittee.
Management Council Action:
Accepted the information.