Updates of National Collegiate Athletic Association News

Division III student-athletes soon may be permitted to be included in the NCAA Transfer Portal, like their peers in Divisions I and II.

At a meeting this week in Indianapolis, the Division III Presidents Council approved a recommendation from the Division III Administrative Committee that the division’s student-athletes be allowed — though not required — to use the portal beginning in the 2019-20 academic year. The Presidents Council is expected to review further details regarding the portal’s use in Division III when it reconvenes this summer.

Division III coaches and administrators now have read-only access to the portal, which includes athletes from only Divisions I and II. It is used as a compliance tool that provides academics and athletics information relevant to the transfer process. The change would allow compliance directors to enter and view information about Division III student-athletes who hope to transfer to a different school. The portal would not supersede the student-athlete self-release form.

“I think the presidents were very interested in supporting this because we’d like our Division III student-athletes to have the same opportunities and services as athletes from other divisions, and this is just an example of that,” said Sue Henderson, Presidents Council chair and New Jersey City president.

Athletics diversity and inclusion designation

The Presidents Council sponsored a legislative proposal recommended by the Division III Management Council that calls for all member schools and conference offices to add an athletics diversity and inclusion designee. The designation would not necessitate a new hire. It could be a title conferred upon a current staff member — inside or outside the athletics department — who would be charged with serving as the primary contact and conduit for diversity and inclusion-related information. The position would be comparable to the function of the athletics health care administrator, but for diversity and inclusion efforts. The proposal will be subject to a membership vote at the 2020 NCAA Convention during the Division III business session.

“Across the country, universities and colleges are having to think about how to be much more inclusive, and I think athletic departments need to take the lead in that,” Henderson said.

The proposal was brought forward by the NCAA Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee and is being considered by all three divisions. Division III delegates will vote on the proposal at the 2020 Division III Business Session.

Conference composition legislation

The Presidents Council endorsed a proposal for the 2020 Convention, sponsored by the Management Council via the Division III Membership Committee, that would permit provisional institutions involved in year three or four of the new member process to count toward the seven institutions needed to form a Division III conference. At least four of those seven members, though, would need to be active Division III colleges or universities.

Graduate student eligibility

The Presidents Council also adjusted waiver criteria relevant to graduate transfers.

Division III members adopted legislation in 2018 that permitted graduate and postbaccalaureate students who graduated from Division III schools and have remaining eligibility to transfer and compete at another Division III school. While that change pertained only to those who graduated from Division III schools, a waiver opportunity exists for student-athletes who demonstrated exemplary academic performance at a school outside Division III.

The previous waiver criteria required that graduate student-athletes hailing from outside Division III had to graduate in less than four academic years, among other conditions. This week the Presidents Council voted to change that rule, per a recommendation from the Management Council Subcommittee on Legislative Relief.

Graduate students from outside Division III will now meet minimum waiver criteria if they graduate within four consecutive academic years with no breaks in enrollment and have at least one season of eligibility remaining with at least a 3.0 GPA. (Their remaining eligibility will be measured by Division III’s parameters — specifically, a redshirt year at a non-Division III institution would count as a season used.) The subcommittee felt the previous standard was no longer an accurate measure of academic success.

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Division II

The Division II Presidents Council opposed a heavily discussed transfer concept that was recently established in Division I, determining that the “notification of transfer” model will not advance through the governance structure as a Division II proposal for the 2020 NCAA Convention.

The proposal would have replaced the Division II permission-to-contact legislation for four-year student-athletes with a notification-based process that would require schools to submit a student-athlete’s written request for transfer in the new transfer portal. Under the concept, a Division II school would no longer be able to refuse permission to contact and prevent a transfer student-athlete from receiving an athletics scholarship at a new school. The concept was recommended by the Division II Legislation Committee and the Management Council.

In a lengthy discussion at its meeting Wednesday in Indianapolis, some members of the Presidents Council voiced concerns about potential consequences such a change to the transfer rules could have on Division II. They pointed to the division’s unique partial scholarship model and expressed worry that disparities among schools could grow under the recommended concept, further separating the “haves” from the “have nots” if schools with more financial aid had easier access to recruit student-athletes away from their current school. Would teams cut one athlete and end their athletics aid to make room for a transfer on the rise? How might competitive equity be impacted in the division? Would transfers increase, and, if so, how might that hinder students’ progress toward their degrees?

After wrestling with these questions, the group decided to support the status quo.

“I think some council members believe that the best way to support students is by not making a change, while a minority of other members felt that students would benefit most if we did make a change,” said Gary Olson, president of Daemen and chair of the Presidents Council. “It was an honest disagreement on how we can best support students. That’s always our major concern in Division II, and it always will be.”

While not required to use the transfer portal, Division II schools will continue to have access to it. About a third of the student-athletes who are now in the portal are Division II student-athletes.

Legislative concepts advancing

While the council decided not to advance the transfer concept, it did support continued discussion on three other legislative concepts. The following concepts will return to the council in August in legislative form, and the council will make a final decision at that time whether to sponsor them as 2020 Convention proposals.

• First is a proposal that would require every school and conference to establish an athletics diversity and inclusion designee who would be the point person for all diversity-and-inclusion-related information among conference offices, campuses and the NCAA. The proposal was recommended by the NCAA Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee and is being considered in all three divisions. The designation could be given to a staff member who is either internal or external to the athletics department.
• Next, the council advanced a proposal that would permit a student-athlete to accept donations from an institutional staff or faculty member when fundraising to cover expenses for participation in outside competition, such as an international trip for Athletes in Action. The proposal would not permit student-athletes to accept donations from athletics department staff members.
• Finally, a third advancing proposal would specify that a student-athlete transferring from another NCAA division, a two-year college or the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics would be subject to the season-of-competition legislation applicable to the school where the student-athlete competed, rather than Division II legislation. Current Division II legislation requires schools to reassess a transfer student-athlete’s participation history before enrollment at the Division II school to determine how many seasons of competition a student-athlete used before transferring. The recommended change would base this assessment on the legislation of the division or organization where the participation occurred.

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Division I

The Division I Board of Directors heard updates on progress made in several of its strategic areas of emphasis, including health and safety, academic misconduct, diversity and inclusion and enforcement and infractions. The board met Wednesday in Indianapolis.

“Division I is making excellent progress toward the goals we set last year,” said Eric Kaler, board chair and president at Minnesota. “We are pleased to see such important things happening to support student-athletes.”

Dr. Brian Hainline, NCAA chief medical officer and senior vice president, discussed the current health and safety environment with the board members and discussed changes that have been made, are in progress or are planned.

The board referred several items to the Division I Strategic Vision and Planning Committee, including:

• Strategies for ensuring that legislation recently adopted to protect student-athlete health and well-being is being effectively employed.
• Increasing participation in the Injury Surveillance System.
• Staffing levels for athletic trainers.
• Effectiveness of drug testing programming.
• The potential for a national organization for athletics health care administrators.
• The potential development of a self-study instrument to help campuses assess their own programs.

The board urged Division I governance groups and individual campus leaders to be sure that the independent medical care rules are implemented in a way to provide an optimal environment for student-athlete health and safety.

In other health and safety action, board members adopted legislation to require schools outside the autonomy conferences to provide mental health resources and education for student-athletes. In January, the Atlantic Coast, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and Southeastern conferences adopted that same rule.

Board members heard from Frank Gilliam, chair of the Division I Presidential Forum and president at North Carolina-Greensboro, about the forum’s progress on academic misconduct issues and subsequent outreach to Division I member schools. The board will hear an update on membership feedback during its August meeting.

Katrice Albert, NCAA executive vice president of inclusion and human resources, provided the board with information about Division I demographics, both in employment at member schools and service within the governance structure. She also discussed ways the national office could partner with member organizations to support and develop diversity and inclusion programming.

The board endorsed the development of appropriate performance metrics to monitor progress in diversity and inclusion practices, including technology-based tools for members.

Board members also asked the Strategic Vision and Planning Committee to analyze demographics and create aspirational yet realistic goals for diversity within athletics programs. The committee also will examine outcomes of NCAA and conference grant and internship programs designed to support diverse leadership. The committee is expected to have initial feedback in October.

The board also heard from representatives from the NCAA enforcement staff and the offices of the committees on infractions and infractions appeals committees about the current environment and challenges in those areas. The board’s Administrative Committee will study the creation of a more permanent group within the governance structure to provide guidance on policy items in the regulatory area from a strategic perspective. Recommendations will be reviewed in August.

The board approved a $5 million reduction in the annual distribution of revenue to Division I members in order to fund initiatives related to the implementation of the Commission on College Basketball recommendations and sports wagering integrity services.

The reduction, effective in the 2019-20 fiscal year, will be spread evenly through all revenue distribution funds except the academic performance fund, student-athlete opportunity fund and special assistance fund. The decision to keep these distributions whole safeguards funds intended to directly benefit student-athletes as well as the new academic performance fund, which will make its first distributions in the summer of 2020.

The plan was recommended by the board’s Finance Committee after its members consulted all 32 Division I member conferences.

Information courtesy National Collegiate Athletic Association