NCAA Division III
PRESIDENTS QUARTERLY UPDATE AUGUST 2017

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MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR


A new academic year has arrived! Good luck to everyone for academic and athletics success in 2017-2018. 


This message highlights the August 2017 Division III Presidents Advisory Group (PAG) and Division III Presidents Council meetings. I encourage you to review and discuss relevant issues with your presidential colleagues at your next conference meeting. 

 

 


DIVISION III INSTITUTIONAL PERFORMANCE PROGRAM (IPP)

The IPP is a free institutional assessment and benchmarking tool developed by the NCAA for member institutions and conferences. The IPP uses data from already established sources - sports sponsorship and demographics, graduation rates, athletics finance - and puts it into a highly useful and engaging platform. It is a powerful tool that allows you to benchmark and assess key institutional conference and national metrics. I believe it can become an integral part of your strategic planning and assessment efforts.

Approximately 40 percent of Division III schools submit student-athlete graduation data and 55 percent submit athletics finance data. While these samples are adequate for benchmarking, larger samples will only increase the validity of the IPP. If you're not already doing so, I encourage you to consider participating in these annual data collections.

For more information, please contact Eric Hartung.


PATHWAY TO OPPORTUNITY

Since 2015, the NCAA Board of Governors has led a charge to bring clarity and focus to the priorities of our Association; the Pathway to Opportunity initiative is the result. The origins of the effort are grounded in our governance structure. Pathway to Opportunity, and specifically its three pillars: academics, well-being and fairness, is the lens through which the Association makes decisions.  Every institution and conference office has received the Pathway to Opportunity leader's guide to spark conversations with athletics directors and faculty athletics reps.  I encourage you to frequently engage faculty and staff to deepen their understanding of the many benefits of college sports and dispel negative perceptions.

BOARD OF GOVERNORS UPDATES

At the request of the NCAA Board of Governors (BOG), the PAG and Presidents Council reviewed a draft of a social issues "decision tree." The decision tree will assist the Board of Governors when determining if and when the association should act regarding national social issues and their impact on athletics.

The BOG also adopted a policy requiring each member school's president/chancellor, athletics director and Title IX Coordinator to annually attest that coaches, student-athletes and athletics administrators are receiving education on sexual violence prevention.

Click here for more information on the policy. 
 


2018 NCAA CONVENTION: PRESIDENTIAL LEGISLATION

The Presidents Council formally voiced its support for four significant pieces of legislation, which will be subject to a membership vote at the 2018 NCAA Convention.

The governance proposals the Presidents Council voted to sponsor include:
  • Graduate eligibility.  Permit students who graduate from a Division III college or university and are enrolled in a graduate or second baccalaureate degree program to compete at another Division III school provided they have athletics eligibility remaining.
  • Football preseason.  Allow 25 practice days before the first permissible Saturday contest date (regardless of an institution's actual first contest date).  The proposal also calls for a day off during the first six days of preseason. On-field activity would be limited to four hours a day and schools would be capped at three hours of on-field practice per day.
  • Sports wagering.  Permit the Student-Athlete Reinstatement Committee to conduct a case-by-case evaluation of such violations and provide student-athletes the opportunity to appeal the committee's decisions.
  • Academic misconduct.  Recognize academic misconduct and impermissible academic assistance as violations separate from rules pertaining to extra benefits or unethical conduct.

CONVENTION SCHEDULE

The 2018 NCAA Convention will take place in Indianapolis from Jan. 17-20.  Click here for a presidential NCAA delegates schedule. 


CONCLUSION

It is my intent that the quarterly update provides the necessary and critical information you need to assist you in the oversight of Division III athletics on your campus. You can find a full recap of the August Presidents Council meeting here in addition to the Summary of Actions that highlights all recent Council actions. As always, I welcome any comments or questions.
 




DIVISION III GOVERNANCE STAFF

Dan Dutcher

Vice President for Division III

Louise McCleary

Director of Division III

Jay Jones

Associate Director of Division III

 Adam Skaggs

Assistant Director of Division III Governance Communications

Debbie Kresge

Executive Assistant for Division III

Debbie Brown

Administrative Assistant for Division III

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