Division II members will vote on 19 proposals at their business session this week at the NCAA Convention in Washington, D.C. By the time the business session ends on Saturday, the Division II attendees will have discussed food, recruiting, season length, publicity around signings, the start of a new National Collegiate Championship – and more.
Student-athlete voice
Two of the most anticipated proposals would give student-athletes a louder voice in the division’s rulemaking process. Proposal No. 2015-9 would give the Division II Student-Athlete Advisory Committee two seats and one joint vote on the Division II Management Council. If passed, the two student representatives would participate in Saturday’s post-Convention Management Council meeting immediately following the business session. Another proposal goes one step further: Proposal 2015-10 would give the division’s SAAC one vote on each proposal at the annual business session, beginning at the 2016 Convention.
Unlimited meals and snacks
Division II Presidents Council members have called this piece of legislation a “no-brainer,” but that doesn’t mean Proposal 2015-13 will pass quietly. Similar to Division I legislation passed in April, the Division II change would permit schools to provide meals and snacks to all student-athletes – scholarship and non-scholarship – incidental to their athletics participation. The legislation would provide more flexibility for athletes, who may not have time to eat at a dining facility in between practice and class, as well as ease the burden of monitoring on athletics departments. If passed, it would take effect Aug. 1.
Athletics department personnel
Two proposals that would impact a small portion of Division II schools have sparked widespread discussions and passionate responses across the membership over the last year. Proposal 2015-7 would require schools to employ a full-time athletics director without coaching duties beginning Aug. 1, with a grandfather clause exempting those currently holding both positions at the school.
Likewise, Proposal 2015-8 would require schools to have a full-time compliance administrator without coaching duties. Since there is no grandfather clause for compliance administrators, the Management and Presidents Councils delayed the proposal’s effective date until 2018 to give schools enough time to budget and hire.
Both proposals are intended to reduce conflicts of interest and create consistency across the division, as schools entering the membership process are already required to have full-time athletics directors and compliance administrators without coaching duties.
More legislation
Division II members will also vote on proposals that would:
- Give the green light for sand volleyball, currently an NCAA emerging sport for women, to be established as a National Collegiate Championship.
- Permit prospective student-athletes to participate in school fundraisers or promotional activities before college enrollment, as long as the student has graduated from high school and signed a written commitment.
- Categorize recruiting contact and evaluation violations as institutional infractions that would not affect a prospective student-athlete’s eligibility.
- Provide new standards that schools must follow when denying a student-athlete’s transfer-related requests.
- Tweak current legislation limiting prospective student-athletes to one try-out per school per sport in order to allow an athlete who participated in a tryout while in high school to participate in another after Sept. 1 of the year they graduate.
- Modify eligibility requirements for a trip to another country for competition, including allowing incoming athletes to participate.
- Eliminate limitations on publicity surrounding a prospective student-athlete’s signed commitment.
- Allow a coach who also works for a local sports club to engage in recruiting activities while receiving expenses from the school and/or local sports club.
- Permit a school, conference and the NCAA to provide reasonable entertainment to athletes incidental to practice or competition.
- Simplify current legislation related to student-athlete travel expenses by permitting a school, conference and the NCAA to cover necessary expenses for an athlete representing their school.
- Allow strength and conditioning coaches to design and conduct voluntary workouts for fall sports athletes during the period beginning June 1 through the end of summer break.
- In sports other than football, allow athletes to participate in up to two hours of team practice activities a week during the offseason.
- Enable spring sports teams to compete in a season-opening game on the Friday before Feb. 1 when that date falls on a Saturday, Sunday or Monday.
- In baseball, softball, soccer and women’s volleyball, allow two games that are played as conference challenge events to be exempted annually from the maximum number of contests limit.