Division II Legislation To Be Considered At NCAA Convention
The 2016 NCAA Convention takes places this week in San Antonio.
The 2016 NCAA Convention takes places this week in San Antonio.
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Tuesday, January 12, 2016
by Rachel Stark, NCAA

Division II members will vote on eight proposals at their business session Saturday in San Antonio. This year’s business session is the first that will include a Division II student-athlete vote – the result of legislation adopted at last year’s Convention. The Division II Student-Athlete Advisory Committee will cast one vote on each proposal on behalf of their peers.

Included on the legislative slate are proposals addressing strength and conditioning coach certification, automatic qualification for NCAA championships and requirements for student-athletes who may compete “unattached” in sports such as track and field without representing their schools. Learn more:

Proposal Sponsor Division II committee positions What would it change?
2016-1: Nationally recognized certification of strength and conditioning personnel Presidents Council (Management Council; Division II working group) Student-Athlete Advisory Committee : Support
  • Would require any person designated as a school’s strength and conditioning coach to be certified by a nationally recognized strength and conditioning program.
  • If a school doesn’t designate a strength and conditioning coach, any person who conducts strength and conditioning workouts would need certification.
2016-2: Eligibility of student-athletes participating in foreign exchange or study abroad programs Presidents Council (Management Council; Legislation Committee) SAAC: Support
  • Participation in a foreign exchange or study abroad program recognized by the school would not impact a student-athlete’s transfer status or trigger the use of a season of competition for participation that occurs during the non-championship segment.
  • For sports other than basketball, would increase the opportunity to participate in outside amateur competition while studying abroad without triggering eligibility concerns.
2016-3: Fulfillment of credit-hour requirements: Credits earned in a voluntary or optional minor Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and Peach Belt Conference Presidents Council: Support Management Council: Support SAAC: Support Academic Requirements Committee: Support Legislation Committee: Oppose
  • Would permit a student-athlete who is required to have designated a degree program to use up to six credit hours per term earned in a voluntary or optional minor to meet credit-hour requirements under progress-toward-degree rules.
2016-4: Participation of ineligible student-athletes in outside (unattached) competition Presidents Council (Management Council; Legislation Committee) SAAC: Support
  • Would require student-athletes to be academically and athletically eligible to compete unattached – representing only themselves and not their team – during the academic year.
2016-5: Individual skill instruction in football outside the playing season South Atlantic Conference and 19 schools from various conferences Presidents Council: Support Management Council: Support SAAC: Support Legislation Committee: Support Championships Committee: Support Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports: Oppose
  • Would allow students competing in football to participate in up to two hours of individual skill instruction per week outside of the playing season during the academic year. Would allow the athletes to use footballs and field equipment during skill instruction.
2016-6: Conference challenge events in baseball, softball and women’s volleyball Peach Belt Conference and Great Midwest Athletic Conference Presidents Council: Oppose Management Council: Oppose SAAC: Support Championships Committee: Support CSMAS: No position Legislation Committee: Oppose
  • In baseball, softball and women’s volleyball, would permit up to two contests played as part of a “conference challenge” event to be exempted each year from the maximum number of contest limitations.
  • Would require the events to be played during the first full weekend after the first permissible contest date.
2016-7: Start date and frequency of on-court practices during basketball preseason Peach Belt Conference and Great Lakes Valley Conference Presidents Council: Oppose Management Council: Oppose SAAC: Oppose Legislation Committee: Oppose
  • Would allow preseason practice in basketball to begin earlier (Oct. 1 instead of Oct. 15).
  • Would allow teams up to 30 days of countable athletically related activities between Oct. 1 and the school’s first regular-season game.
2016-8: Automatic qualification for championships Presidents Council (Management Council; Championships Committee) SAAC: Support
  • Would eliminate the requirement that a championship bracket have 48 or more teams in order to establish automatic qualification in that sport.
  • Would allow a conference’s affiliate members to count toward sponsorship requirements for automatic qualification in that sport.
  • Would eliminate the requirement that when automatic qualification is offered in a sport, at least 50 percent of the championship field for regional tournaments must be reserved for at-large teams. Instead, each governing sport committee would recommend the appropriate percentage of at-large bids.

 
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