Term-in-ology. College athletics is not immune to industry acronyms or opaque concepts that can throw off the scent. With that in mind, Term-in-ology seeks each week to educate our readers on key NCAA definitions, terms of art, and policies and procedures encapsulating modern-day college athletics. If you are connected in any way to higher education, the business of education, or simply a college sports fan---this weekly morsel can help you decode college sports.
Division I Council
The Division I Council meets this week to discuss and act on a variety of key topics impacting Division I. The Council normally reviews reports from various committees and working groups that report up to it. From a scope-of-responsibility perspective, the Division I Council’s purview includes the following functions:
Serve as the division's primary legislative authority, subject to review by the Board of Directors;
Recommend nonacademic policies to the Board of Directors;
Coordinate strategic planning activities;
Identify and examine trends and issues of intercollegiate athletics;
Take final action on matters delegated to it by the Board of Directors;
Make interpretations of the bylaws;
Review the recommendations of the substructure;
Supervise qualification and/or selection procedures for National Collegiate Championships and Division I championships;
Review recommendations from sports committees regarding the administration of championships;
Act as the final authority regarding championships matters in Division I or in a National Collegiate Championship that is subject to appeal to the Council;
Oversee the appointment of the members of the substructure (e.g., subcommittees and committees);
Oversee Division I membership requirements and processes;
In conjunction with the Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee, review issues related to the interests of ethnic minority student-athletes, NCAA minority programs and NCAA policies that affect ethnic minorities; and
In conjunction with the Committee on Women's Athletics, study and make policy recommendations concerning opportunities for women in athletics at the institutional, conference and national levels, and other issues directly affecting women's athletics.
The Council has a cross-section of representation from a wide variety of Division I conferences. When it comes to voting on football-specific issues or football-specific legislative proposals, there is weighted voting that grants the Power 5 conferences (i.e., ACC, Big 10, Big 12, Pac 12, and SEC) four votes each compared to other Division I conferences that have either two votes or one vote, respectively.
The Division I Council meets this week and its April 2020 agenda features the following notable topics:
Update on student-athlete name-image-likeness (NIL) matters from the legislative solutions working group charged with developing concepts that foster more permissive NIL usage by student-athletes;
Division I legislative proposals that would adjust enrollment requirements for “graduate transfers” as well as modify the men’s and women’s basketball contest limitations; and
Consideration of revised transfer waiver criteria for granting immediate eligibility to transfer student-athletes in sports like men’s basketball, women’s basketball, and football where immediate competition eligibility upon transfer is generally unavailable, amongst others.
The Division I Council plays an important role within the broader Division I governance structure, particularly given the slew of Division I committees that report up to it. There is faculty and student-athlete representation on the Division I Council in addition to athletics administrators from Division I institutions and conferences.
Athletics Veritas is presented for information purposes only and should not be considered advice or counsel on NCAA compliance matters. For guidance on NCAA rules and processes, always consult your university’s athletics compliance office, conference office, and/or the NCAA.
