INDIANAPOLIS --- The Division III Presidents Council tabled a recommendation to implement a pilot drug-testing program throughout the academic year, giving itself more time to fully understand potential costs of testing as well as to explore options for combating substance abuse and alcohol use through educational programs.
The Council requested at its April 27 meeting the following information for consideration at its August meeting:
- More details about how testing will be funded if the two-year pilot indicates a need to expand testing beyond that currently conducted at Division III championships;
- Descriptions of currently existing educational programs and recommendations about how those options might be more widely available to Division III institutions; and
- Details about a proposed drug-use survey – modeled after a periodically administered Association-wide survey but aimed specifically at Division III student-athletes and institutions – designed to obtain more division-specific data.
In other action, the presidents joined the Division III Management Council in endorsing options recently listed by the Division III Membership Committee for responding to rapid membership growth. The Membership Committee has suggested a variety of alternatives to adopting a cap on the size of Division III. Those alternatives are being submitted to an NCAA Executive Committee working group reviewing current membership issues. They include:
- Further limitation on the provisional class size (one or two per year);
- Tightening the standards applied to exploratory and provisional members to begin the process in lieu of the lottery system;
- Long-term divisional structure in the NCAA;
- Optimal size of Division III based on resource allocation;
- More aggressive screening of active members consistent with the Division III philosophy, membership and legislative requirements;
- Raising membership dues, if necessary, to address additional Division III resources, services and long-term membership options; and
- Changing demographics in the United States in relation to higher education.
The Presidents Council also approved guidelines for selectively considering waivers for student-athletes who graduate and transfer from their undergraduate institution and seek to compete as a graduate student at another institution. Such students must demonstrate, at a minimum, compelling and exemplary academic success by graduating ahead of schedule without any “breaks” in full-time enrollment, and an excellent collegiate academic record.
The Council also agreed to sponsor legislation for the 2007 Convention that would require someone who is certified in first aid, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and automatic external defibrillation (AED) to be present at all practices, competitions, skill instructions and strength and conditioning sessions.
Also, the Council approved the Division III budget for the next two years, as well as policies recommended by the Division III Budget Committee for determining how funds will be allocated in the future. It approved the championship budget requests for the 2006-07 ($593,000) and 2007-08 ($208,000) fiscal years. They also approved non-championship budget requests for 2006-07 ($569,000) and 2007-08 ($400,000).
Two nominees were approved to join the Presidents Council beginning at its August meeting. Marcia Keizs, president of York College (New York) and Vicky Carwein, president of Westfield State College, are the newest members of the Council.
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