The Division II Management Council this week took formal positions on membership-sponsored proposals for the 2022 NCAA Convention and recommended the Division II Presidents Council sponsor a proposal for the 2023 Convention.
At the 2022 Convention, there will be nine proposals — three membership-sponsored proposals andsix others sponsored by the Presidents Council— voted on via the division's one-school, one-vote legislative process. For a proposal from the Division II membership to be voted on at an NCAA Convention, it must have at least 15 active Division II schools or two Division II conferences on behalf of 15 or more of their member schools as sponsors.
The Management Council supported a membership-sponsored proposal that would allow student-athletes to use a maximum of six credit hours during the summer term toward a voluntary or optional minor to meet progress-toward-degree requirements. Current legislation does not permit student-athletes to use summer credit hours earned in a voluntary or optional minor to meet progress-toward-degree requirements after a student-athlete is required to designate a degree.
Council members voted to oppose a proposal that would allow a football team to scrimmage another four-year school during its spring practice period as one of its permissible 11-on-11 scrimmages outside the playing season. Additionally, the proposal specifies that a student-athlete's participation in such a scrimmage would not trigger use of a season of competition if the student-athlete was academically eligible during the fall term. The Management Council's opposition aligned with the Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports, which noted the proposal does not address the timing of the scrimmage or appropriate physiological preparation for competition against another school.
The Management Council took no position on a proposal that would eliminate the group size restriction in football for individual workouts outside the playing season. Council members noted this change is included in another proposal that will be voted on at the Division II business session of the NCAA Convention on Jan. 22.
2023 proposal to add senior minority administrator
The Division II Management Council recommended the Presidents Council sponsor a proposal for the 2023 Convention to establish a designation of a school and conference senior minority administrator. In the proposal, the school senior minority administrator would be the highest-ranking ethnic minority administrator involved with the conduct of an athletics program. A conference senior minority administrator would be the highest-ranking ethnic minority person involved with the conduct and policy processes of a member conference.
The NCAA Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee recommended the concept for all three divisionsbased on extensive research that shows professional representation of female leadership roles and opportunities in collegiate athletics have improved significantly since adopting the senior woman administrator designation in 1981, while representation of ethnic minority leadership roles and opportunities have remained significantly low without a similar dedicated designation.
The Division II Presidents Council will consider the proposal at its Oct. 27 meeting.
Constitution Committee update
The Division II Management Council met with NCAA President Mark Emmert and the division's representatives on the Constitution Committee to discuss its progress, thetimeline for major milestonesand the process to implement the new constitution.
Division II will begin some of its preparation for this implementation process before the Association-wide vote Jan. 20. A separate group composed of Division II representatives will be formed to help guide the Division II-specific implementation of the new constitution. Any recommendations by this group will follow the current Division II governance structure, legislation and policies.
Membership application waiver
The Management Council approved a waiver to extend the 2022 deadline for application for provisional membership from Feb. 1 to March 1. The waiver was recommended by the Division II Membership Committee, which noted that providing the flexibility will allow schools adequate time to assess the outcome of the vote on any Special Convention proposals, while still providing ample time for the committee to review applications and notify institutions of their acceptance into the provisional membership process before its Sept. 1, 2022, start date.