This update is a tool to enhance communication between the NCAA national office and the Division III membership, with distribution to athletics directors, senior woman administrators, faculty athletics representatives, presidents, the Division III Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, conference commissioners and the National Association of Division III Athletic Administrators electronic mailing list. We encourage athletics directors to share this communication with their department members. Contact Louise McCleary at
lmccleary@ncaa.org or Adam Skaggs at askaggs@ncaa.org to include an item or share comments, and remember to check out the Division III governance
homepage for the latest news.
With the importance of officiating at the forefront of securing quality competition and experiences for all involved, the Division III Commissioners Association partnered with The PICTOR Group to conduct a comprehensive assessment of officiating for 13 NCAA Division III sports and subsequently developed a strategic plan to address major concerns. Upon learning of this venture, NCAA representatives requested, and the DIIICA approved, an expansion of the review to include NCAA Divisions I and II and to add two sports for a total of 15. With that, “A Strategic Analysis of the State of Collegiate Officiating” was created and recently released to the membership.
Deadline Approaching: Attestation of Rules Compliance
The attestation of compliance obligations for presidents and chancellors and the attestation of compliance obligations for directors of athletics are due no later than Thursday, Oct. 15. To satisfy this requirement, an online attestation course must be completed by the president/chancellor and the director of athletics. The five- to seven-minute courses will be available via the NCAA Learning Portal (
also known as Division III University). Each year, the institution’s Single Source Sign-On administrator must assign the courses in the Learning Portal. Additional information, including how to assign the courses, is available on the NCAA website in the upper right blue box titled “Attestation of Compliance Obligations.”
Third Annual Diversity and Inclusion Social Media Campaign
Division III is teaming up with the NCAA office of inclusion for its 2020 Diversity and Inclusion Social Media Campaign, which will run Oct. 27-29. This campaign will serve as a platform for student-athletes, administrators, coaches and fans across the country to start the discussion, create dialogue, speak out on and promote diversity and inclusion as key elements of student-athlete success via social media engagement
. This year’s campaign is a prime opportunity for student-athletes, administrators, coaches and fans across the country to use their platform to engage in a discussion about and promote diversity and inclusion. The goal of the campaign is to use social media to create a dialogue surrounding diversity and inclusion and to communicate the need and benefit of creating inclusive environments.
The complete campaign website with a variety of resources and strategies is now available for the membership.Please do not hesitate to reach out to Niya Blair Hackworth, NCAA director of inclusion, with any additional questions.
Financial Reporting System
Institutions now can submit athletics finance information voluntarily to the NCAA via the Financial Reporting System. The submission deadline is Jan. 15. For institutions that have never submitted or have stopped submitting the data, please consider participating this year. This data is important:
It forms the basis for the finance component of an institution’s Division III Institutional Performance Program, the free self-assessment and benchmarking tool. Click here to see the benefits of the IPP.
It forms the basis for the Division III revenues and expenses report, an annual report of Division III athletics departments’ financial information. The latest report can be found here.
The Woman of the Year Selection Committee has announced the Top 30 honorees for the 2020 NCAA Woman of the Year Award. Click here to see the Division III recipients.
NCAA Championship Site Selections
With the bid and site selection process coming to a close for more than 400 host sites for 86 championships from 2022-23 through 2025-26, the national office will make the announcement of the selections Oct. 14. The announcement will be made at 1 p.m. Eastern time via ncaa.com. At this time, conferences and schools will be sent a link to a toolkit, which will include logos, templates for social media graphics and a copy of the news release. If you have any further questions, please contact Russ Yurk.
2020-21 Regional Realignment
A new Division III sport region realignment model will take effect during the 2021-22 academic year. This plan, supported by the Division III Commissioners Association, creates a scale for regional alignment based on sport sponsorship and other key principles, including the following:
Maintaining conference members in the same regions.
Importance of geographic proximity in regional placement.
Balancing the number of schools across all regions.
Competitive balance across the regions.
A copy of the plan is included in the Division III Championships Committee June meeting report, which can be found here.
LGBTQ OneTeam Program
Developed in 2019 and recently modified to better fit the virtual space, the Division III LGBTQ OneTeam Program aims to assist participants in recognizing the importance of LGBTQ inclusion in college athletics and identifying strategies and best practices to ensure a more LGBTQ-inclusive athletics department and conferences. Over 55 trained facilitators from Division III institutions across the country are available to deliver the program virtually, with no cost associated. To learn more details or to request a free session for your student-athletes, coaches and/or administrators, click here.
Division III Student Immersion Program
For the sixth year, Division III will hold the Division III Student Immersion Program. This year’s program will be in a virtual format Jan. 13-15, in conjunction with the virtual NCAA Convention on Jan. 11-15. The application, titled “2021 Division III Virtual Student Immersion Program,” is available on Program Hub and is due by 5 p.m. Eastern time Oct. 15. Ethnic minority students, preferably juniors and seniors with a strong interest in a career in Division III athletics (coaching and/or administration), are encouraged to apply. Final selections will be announced in early November. In this year’s virtual format, participants will engage with mentors, participate in a DiSC assessment, learn from professionals and have an opportunity to participate in the virtual NCAA Convention. The program’s goal is to build a pipeline of ethnic minority candidates who have an interest in Division III coaching and/or administration to ultimately help diversify the
division’s athletics administrators.
NADIIIAA Membership for 2020-21
A reminder to school and conference administrators that membership in the National Association of Division III Athletic Administrators is free for the 2020-21 academic year. If you haven’t registered for membership yet, click here. Join the NADIIIAA community and take advantage of the following membership benefits:
Numerous professional development, educational and networking opportunities, including programming at the NCAA Convention, annual National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics summer forum, NADIIIAA monthly webinars, etc.
The opportunity to nominate and receive numerous awardssuch as the Community Service Awards and Richard A. Rasmussen Lifetime Achievement Award.
The NACDA Daily Review, a web clipping service that contains articles on intercollegiate athletics. The Daily Review arrives via email five days a week.
Use of the NADIIIAA Community for the exchange of information, ideas and employment opportunities with peers.
The opportunity to obtain a financial grant to assist in attending the NACDA Convention.
Division III Webinars
Webinars will be from 1 to 2 p.m. Eastern time on the following dates and topics:
Oct. 6 — Return on Inclusion With Nevin Caple.
Nov. 3 — Management and Presidents Council Meeting Updates.
Dec. 1 — 2021 NCAA Convention Legislation.
All past webinar PowerPoints are on the Division III website.
2020-21 Identity Initiative Purchasing Website
Directors of athletics and conference commissioners (as well as athletics administrators who have been designated as institutional representatives) soon will receive from Source One Digital an email invitation to use a new $350
credit for the Division III Identity Initiative Purchasing website during 2020-21. Please be aware, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Division III will not be providing a $500 credit at this time. This year's site continues to include banners, T-shirts and giveaways that can be co-branded.
The link for the purchasing website is ncaadiii.sourceoneordering.com. You also can access the site through MyApps. Access the site by entering the email address of your school’s director of athletics (or for conferences, the commissioner's email address) as the username, and then enter the password you created the first time you logged into the site (those logging in for the first time can create any password). Assistance with logging in, updating records to reflect a new director of athletics' email address, delegating log-in access to another staff member, resetting passwords and placing orders is available from Kristen Zeedyk at Source One Digital.
All 360 Proof users are invited to monthly learning collaborative webinars to network with peer institutions and learn from national experts in the field of high-risk alcohol use prevention. An invitation to register is emailed one week in advance of each webinar. Please hold the time (all webinars are 1 p.m. Eastern) to share and learn with your peers. Webinar recordings are accessible on the 360 Proof portal.Questions about 360 Proof? Email: experthelp@360proof.org.
Oct. 15: Culturally Responsive Harm Reduction for Student-Athletes: Considerations and Strategies. (Nnenna Akotaobi, M.Ed., founder and principal, 122 Consulting Group, and executive director, Black Women in Sport Foundation).
Nov. 18: The Impact of Alcohol on Depression and Suicide in Athletes (Ashwin Rao, M.D., FAMSMM, associate professor in school of medicine and team physician, University of Washington, and team physician, Seattle Seahawks).
Feb. 10: Late Night Programming Ideas (Kari Eckheart, assistant athletics director and senior woman administrator at Gustavus Adolphus, B.S. in health and exercise science from Iowa State and MS in community health from Minnesota State Mankato).
April 14: Beyond Compliance: Honest Conversations with Students About Alcohol and Sex (Jen Jacobsen, MA, MPH, director of sexual assault prevention education, Macalester College, and Amaura Kemmerer, LICSW, associate dean for wellness, Northeastern).
A new concussion fact sheet for educators is now available. This fact sheet provides specific considerations for the return-to-learn process, particularly as it pertains to the role of educators after a student-athlete experiences a sport-related concussion. Click here to access the new fact sheet. Access additional concussion-related resources by clicking here.
2021 New FAR Orientation
The New FAR Orientation is scheduled for Feb. 18-20 in Indianapolis. The event will move to a virtual format if the COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacts travel at that time. Faculty athletics representatives with less than two years of experience will be invited to apply for the program, which focuses on understanding the Division III model of athletics and exploring the role of a Division III FAR. Also, participants will have the opportunity to establish goals for engagement in the role. This program is fully funded by Division III, including participant travel. Applications will be open Oct. 1 to Nov. 15, with selection announcements made by Dec. 1. Contact Leah Kareti with any questions.
The NCAA has established a new COVID-19 Medical Advisory Group that brings together professionals from all three NCAA divisions. This group of infectious disease, public health and medical experts includes some members from the original advisory panel, plus representatives from organizations and medical groups that have been working collaboratively with the advisory panel and NCAA schools. The Medical Advisory Group will tap further into the expertise on university campuses across the country and ensure close communication.
As a body reflecting independent experts and the broad membership of the Association, the Medical Advisory Group, to be chaired by Dr. Brian Hainline, the NCAA chief medical officer, will meet weekly and will provide reports to NCAA President Mark Emmert and the NCAA Board of Governors. In addition, the group will provide reports to all the divisional governance bodies and sport oversight committees and conduct biweekly videoconferences in which Hainline and other panel members will update representatives from each of the conferences and engage in question-and-answer discussions.
The COVID-19 Medical Advisory Group is not a policymaking body but rather will provide guidance to the entire NCAA membership. The group will continue to provide protocols for health and safety in a manner consistent with Resocialization of Collegiate Sport documents. It is anticipated that the first report, due in early October, will address men’s and women’s basketball.
Resocialization of Collegiate Basketball
The NCAA Sport Science Institute, in partnership with the NCAA COVID-19 Medical Advisory Group, has released the Core Principles of Resocialization of Collegiate Basketball, its latest set of health and safety guidelines focused on COVID-19 and the first set of guidelines concentrated on basketball. The guidelines include updates on testing, travel considerations, and access to the court and bench areas. The guidelines suggest testing three times per week on nonconsecutive days throughout the competition season, including for officials, as well as the logistics of appropriately distancing Tier 1 individuals (student-athletes and essential personnel who are in regular proximity to them) from other essential personnel during games.
Deadline Approaching: NCAA and D3SIDA Recognition Award
The next submission for the Division III and D3SIDA recognition award runs through Oct. 15. Click here for more details. The award is a partnership between the Division III governance staff and the Division III College Sports Information Directors of America. The recognition program is part of the Division III Identity Initiative. It seeks to honor the best news releases, feature articles, videos, blogs and other materials produced by Division III campus and conference athletics communication offices to portray the Division III identity and student-athlete experience.
Division III Identity Initiative 10-Year Anniversary
Division III’s Identity Initiative was introduced in 2010 to sharpen the division’s identity and to enable schools and conferences to more effectively explain why they prefer to compete in Division III. The initiative has been guided by a strategic-positioning platform, describing Division III as a place where student-athletes can “follow your passions and develop your potential,” within an approach that combines rigorous academics, competitive sports and an opportunity to pursue other interests. The 2020-21 academic year marks the 10-year anniversary of the initiative. The Division III staff intends to recognize the impact of this
initiative with the help of the membership. More updates will come this fall. For more information on the Identity Initiative, click here.
Cedar Crest is the recipient of the September Division III Diversity Spotlight Initiative. The athletics department prepared and established the Falcon Athletics Action Plan for Anti-Racism and Inclusion. The action plan includes a commitment to support all marginalized communities. The department will promote safe spaces for hard conversations and encourage the community to talk and actively listen, learn and take action. Click here for more details.
To submit an initiative for consideration for October, email Louise McCleary, with a brief statement (no more than 500 words) as to why your school or conference office deserves to be the spotlight recipient. Attach a video or photo if applicable. The nomination deadline is Oct. 21.
Diversity Tip of the Month
Click here for five ways to have an LGBTQ-inclusive athletics department. The resources serve as a guide to ensure athletics departments are providing an environment that is inclusive of all student-athletes, especially those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and/or questioning. Included in this resource are samples of policies and codes of conduct; additional resources for coaches, players and staff; and LGBTQ inclusion training best practices.
2019-20 Division III Participation and Contributions
Three conference offices and 34 schools reported Division III Special Olympics activities during the 2019-20 year involving approximately 4,600 Division III student-athletes and 4,200 Special Olympics athletes. The division dedicated just over 10,438 volunteer hours and raised a total of $14,630 because of these activities. The division also donated additional funds to Special Olympics generated from Division III Week initiatives ($2,750). Thank you to all the student-athletes, schools and conference offices that participated in this accomplishment.
Spotlight Poll
The NCAA Division III Special Olympics Spotlight Poll is a storytelling initiative on ncaa.org/d3specialolympics. It features new stories each month that highlight a Division III and Special Olympics joint activity or event. The story with the highest number of votes on the 25th day of each month is the winner. That school or conference receives $500 to use for its next Special Olympics event. Written and digital submissions both are accepted. Featured stories are selected based on inclusion of the student-athlete perspective and Division III messaging. To submit a story for consideration, email d3specialolympics@ncaa.org.
During the 2020-21 academic year, all full-time enrolled student-athletes who opt out of participating in intercollegiate athletics due to concerns regarding COVID-19 may get up to a two-semester/three-quarter extension, provided they are otherwise eligible for competition. This month, we will take a close look at this “opt-out” option.
Definition: Student-athletes are considered to have opted out if they are enrolled full-time and decide not to participate in athletically related activities on, or after, the first opportunity to compete due to concerns regarding COVID-19.
Number of semesters: To qualify for the opt-out option, student-athletes must be enrolled in at least one full-time term during 2020-21 and elect not to participate due to concerns regarding COVID-19. Student-athletes will receive an extension for each full-time term they are enrolled, and if they are not enrolled at all during 2020-21, they will not receive any extension.
Opting out vs. the proactive waiver: If student-athletes do not participate in athletics during the 2020 fall term but rejoin their team during the 2021 term, they will not qualify for the opt-out relief if that participation happens on or after the team’s first competition. In this case, the student-athletes’ opportunity for extension relief could come from either their team satisfying the proactive (50%) waiver criteria or from an individual waiver request submitted by the institution.
For more information regarding the opt-out option and other eligibility items during the 2020-21 academic year, click on the COVID Question and Answer document available on the Division III compliance
page.
Leadership development educates and empowers student-athletes, coaches and athletics administrators through transformative experiences that develop effective leaders, cultivate an inclusive community and enhance the college sports landscape. To browse the NCAA leadership development full program catalog, click here.
DiSC Assessments
DiSC assessments are an important resource that some schools and conference offices use to help their student-athletes, coaches and administrators learn more about their behavioral styles and how their individual styles come together in a team environment. This assessment provides an overview of individual behavioral styles and preferences, a common language when addressing these topics and methods to better relate to others. It also provides additional strategies to build more effective relationships within the workplace and athletic setting. All DiSC workshops during the 2020-21 academic year will take place via Zoom with an NCAA-trained facilitator.
If you are interested in hosting a DiSC workshop for your department or conference office, please visit ncaa.org/disc-behavioral-assessments for detailed instructions and facilitator information. The process for obtaining assessments and executing a workshop is outlined on this page. Visit the DiSC FAQ page for any questions you may have at this time.
Division III Diversity Grants.
Division III diversity grants provide funding to members committed to enhancing ethnic minority and gender representation in athletics administration and assistant coaching positions. Proposals for all grants must be submitted via NCAA Program Hub by 5 p.m. Eastern time Jan. 29.
Division III offers the Ethnic Minorities and Women’s Internship Grant, the Strategic Alliance Matching Grant and the Coaching Enhancement Grant. To access the guidelines for these three grants, view selection committees, browse scoring rubrics and sample applications, and look up current and past recipients, go here.
The women’s bowling committee has extended the deadline to submit the schedule certification form to November 16, 2020, or 14 days prior to your first competition whichever is first. As a reminder, all schedule certification forms should be submitted to the women’s bowling secretary-rules editor, Mike Fine, at rulesmfine@yahoo.com. A copy of the schedule certification form can be found here.
Softball
The NCAA Softball Rules Committee recently updated the NCAA Softball Bat Testing and Compliance Information, which is available here under NCAA bat information. This information includes complete softball bat compliance and testing details, an explanation of the 1550 psi barrel compression testing standard exceptions, and regular-season barrel compression testing protocol guidelines. As a reminder, regular-season barrel compression testing will be required beginning Jan. 1, 2022. For questions regarding NCAA Softball Bat Testing, please contact Dee Abrahamson, NCAA Softball Equipment Consultant at abrahamson@niu.edu.
Women's Volleyball
The 2020-21 Women’s Volleyball Rules Video is available here
The NCAA Women’s Volleyball Rules Committee is accepting your rules change proposals to be considered for discussion at its annual meeting in January. Please use this linkto record your proposal and rationale. This form must be fully completed in order for the proposal to be accepted. All proposals must be received by October 30, 2020.
This email was sent to NCAA Division III chancellors and presidents serving on committees, directors of athletics, athletics direct reports, faculty athletics representatives, senior woman administrators, sports information directors, compliance directors, commissioners, associate and assistant commissioners, provisional, reclassifying and exploratory members, primary and associate members of National SAAC based on contact information in the
NCAA Directory.
National Collegiate Athletic Association, 700 W. Washington St., Indianapolis, IN 46204 US
