The Division II Presidents Council on Wednesday formally supported two membership-sponsored proposals and opposed one for the 2022 NCAA Convention. The council also approved in concept a proposal for the 2023 Convention.
Additionally, members elected Minot State President Steven Shirley as its new chair effective immediately. Shirley, who has served as the Presidents Council's vice chair since July 1, replaces Emporia State President Allison Garrett as chair. Shirley's term runs through the 2023 Convention.
"I'm honored and excited to serve Division II in this capacity, especially during such a transformational time in college athletics," Shirley said. "I have enjoyed the past two years serving on the Presidents Council and look forward to contributing to the important work that lies ahead in Division II and across the Association."
Membership-sponsored proposals
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 Presidents Council formally supported a membership-sponsored proposal that would allow student-athletes to use a maximum of six credit hours earned during a 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.
The Presidents Council also supported a proposal that would eliminate the group size restriction in football for individual skill instruction outside the playing season. The council aligned its support with that of the Division II Legislation Committee, which noted that this proposal is beneficial to schools that sponsor football, as it may ease some of the burden on facilities on Division II campuses. This change is also included in another proposal that will be voted on at the Division II business session of the NCAA Convention on Jan. 22.
Council members voted to oppose a proposal that would allow a football team to scrimmage against 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 the use of a season of competition if the student-athlete was academically eligible during the fall term. Its opposition aligned with the Management Council and 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.
2023 proposal to add senior minority administrator
The Division II Presidents Council approved in concept a proposal for the 2023 Convention to establish a designation of a school and conference senior minority administrator. In the concept, 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.
Elections
In addition to Shirley being named chair, Chico State President Gayle Hutchinson was elected vice chair of the Presidents Council. Her term as vice chair runs through Aug. 31, 2022, and is renewable. As part of their roles on the Presidents Council, Hutchinson and Shirley will both serve on the NCAA Board of Governors, the Association's highest governing body. Shirley was electedvice chair of the board during its meeting Tuesday.
The Presidents Council also elected four new members to fill vacancies: Frank Wu, president at Queens (New York); Dwaun Warmack, president at Claflin; Richard Pappas, president at Davenport; and Roslyn Artis, president at Benedict. Artis and Pappas will begin their terms immediately, while the other two will start after the 2022 NCAA Convention. All four will serve through January 2028.
Additionally, the Presidents Council approved the re-election of Pittsburg State director of athletics Jim Johnson as chair of the Division II Management Council. The presidents also approved eight appointments to the Management Council, five to begin immediately and three effective in January 2023.
The immediate appointments to the Management Council are Shawn Chin-Farrell, director of athletics at Cal State San Bernardino; Bo Pagliasotti, faculty athletics representative at Southwestern Oklahoma State; Cam Trudell, administrator at the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference; Christina Whetsel, senior woman administrator at Augusta University; and David Hansburg, director of athletics at Colorado School of Mines.
The appointments to begin in January 2023 are Theresa Hanson, director ofathletics at Simon Fraser; Amanda Knight, senior woman administrator at Barry; and Vaughn Williams, director of athletics at Bentley.
Gender equity report
The Presidents Council met with representatives of Kaplan, Hecker & Fink LLP to discuss thesecond phase of the gender equity reportthe firm released Tuesday. The second phase of the report focused on all championships other than men's and women's basketball.
The report noted Division II showed strong overall equity among its championships, as well as positive communication and coordination efforts among its sport committees, the Division II Championships Committee and NCAA staff. It did recommend increased communication between the sport committees, including an awareness of championship site venues. The report also recommended the zero-based budgeting model that thenational office implemented for the Division I men's and women's basketball championships.
Constitution Committee update
The Presidents Council met with 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 members from the Division II National Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and representatives from every Division II conference 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.