At the Division II business session of the 2023 NCAA Convention this month in San Antonio, 12 proposals — four membership-sponsored proposals and eight sponsored by the Division II Presidents Council — will be voted on via the division's one-school, one-vote legislative process.
For a proposal sponsored by 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 active member schools as sponsors. (Review all the proposals in the Division II Official Notice here.)
Below is a summary of each of the proposals that the Division II membership will vote on at the Convention, including governance body positions on membership-sponsored proposals, as well as additional division-specific information for the Convention:
Football season of competition
This membership-sponsored proposal, if adopted, would permit football players in their initial year of college enrollment at a Division II school to participate in up to three contests without using a season of competition.
Source: Sponsored by the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, Great Lakes Valley Conference, Gulf South Conference, Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association, Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and the South Atlantic Conference.
Governance positions: The Division II Presidents Council, Division II Football Committee and Division II Student-Athlete Advisory Committee formally supported this proposal, while the Division II Legislation Committee opposed it. (See the Official Notice for specific rationale, as well as committees that took no position.)
Football spring scrimmages
This membership-sponsored proposal would permit a football team to scrimmage against a four-year college during its spring practice period as one of its three permissible 11-on-11 scrimmages outside the playing season. The scrimmage would have to occur on or after the 10th day of the spring practice period, allowing time for student-athletes to become acclimated to full contact. 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.
Source: Sponsored by the Great American Conference, Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, Gulf South Conference, Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association and South Atlantic Conference.
Governance positions: The Division II Football Committee and Division II SAAC supported this proposal. (See the Official Notice for specific rationale, as well as committees that took no position.)
Summer access
This membership-sponsored proposal would expand summer access to permit signed prospective student-athletes and student-athletes in team sports to participate in individual workout sessions with a member of the coaching staff. The proposal has an immediate effective date. The proposal specifies that access would be limited to two hours per week for a maximum of three weeks beginning July 5 through the start of the school's fall term. Additionally, the proposal specifies that a signed prospective student-athlete or student-athlete must initiate the request for the workout.
Source: Sponsored by the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association.
Governance positions: Division II's Legislation Committee, SAAC, Management Council and Presidents Council all opposed this proposal. (See the Official Notice for specific rationale, as well as committees that took no position.)
Basketball preseason
This proposal would permit a school to begin on-court preseason basketball practice 35 days before the school's first regular-season game. Additionally, it would limit teams to no more than 25 days of countable athletically related activities during the on-court preseason practice period, providing more rest for student-athletes. Current legislation permits schools to begin preseason practice Oct. 15, while the first permissible date of competition is the second Friday in November.
Source: Sponsored by the Great American Conference, Gulf South Conference and Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.
Governance positions: The Division II Men's and Women's Basketball Committees, as well as Division II SAAC, supported the proposal. The Division II Legislation Committee and Division II Volleyball Committee opposed the proposal. (See the Official Notice for specific rationale, as well as committees that took no position.)
Standardized test score requirement
This proposal would eliminate the standardized test score requirement (SAT or ACT) from the division's initial-eligibility requirements, as well as establish a requirement of high school graduation, 16 core courses and a 2.2 grade-point average to be a qualifier and 14 core courses and a 2.5 grade-point average to be an early academic qualifier for initial eligibility requirements.
Source: Division II Presidents Council, Management Council and Academic Requirements Committee.
Governance structure
This proposal would make changes to the decision-making authority, name and/or composition of the division's Presidents Council, Management Council, Planning and Finance Committee, and Administrative Committee.
The proposal includes the following provisions:
- The Division II Presidents Council would change from 18 members to 13 and be renamed the Division II Executive Board.
- The Management Council would change to 29 voting members (currently 28) and include at least five athletics directors, five senior woman administrators, five faculty athletics representatives and two conference office staff members.
- The Division II Planning and Finance Committee would be renamed the Division II Strategic Planning and Finance Committee. The committee would expand from seven voting members to 11, including at least one member from a minority-serving school and a member of the Division II Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.
- The Division II Administrative Committee would maintain its current size (five members) but include the chair of Division II SAAC, along with the chair and vice chair of the Presidents Council (Executive Board) and Management Council.
Additionally, the proposal would enhance the duties of the Management Council to have final authority to adopt noncontroversial and intent-based amendments, administrative bylaws and regulations to govern Division II. Among other changes to its duties, the proposal would also provide the Management Council the authority to sponsor legislative proposals for a vote at the Convention, which currently only the Presidents Council has the authority to do. Enhancing the duties of the Management Council helps mitigate concerns about a reduced Presidents Council (Executive Board) in that all conferences would continue to be represented on the body that has decision-making authority on the day-to-day responsibilities and operations for the division.
Source: Division II Presidents Council, Management Council and Implementation Committee.
Definition of agent, use of agents
This proposal would redefine the term "agent" and would expand a student-athlete's ability to seek and receive advice from individuals for the purposes of making well-informed decisions prior to entering into contractual agreements. The proposal would establish that it is permissible for a student-athlete to work with professional service providers, such as tax consultants, attorneys and marketing agents, which would allow for student-athletes to obtain advice related to the student-athlete's name, image and likeness and the accompanying activities. It will still be impermissible for student-athletes (or their relatives) to receive tangible or intangible benefits from an agent or individual for professional sports opportunities or to enter into an agreement with an agent for or receive compensation or incentives related to enrollment-based decisions.
Source: Division II Presidents Council, Management Council and Implementation Committee.
Stunt
This proposal would add stunt to the emerging sports for women program in Division II and establish legislation related to membership, financial aid and playing and practice seasons. The sponsorship minimums for stunt would be eight contests with at least 16 participants, which schools would have to meet to count toward the 40-school threshold needed before it can be legislatively considered for an NCAA Championship. Learn more about the emerging sports for women program here.
In December, the NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics recommended that the divisional governance bodies refer their proposals to add stunt as an emerging sport for women back to the Committee on Women's Athletics. The latest recommendation is based on a review of new information regarding stunt, which the Committee on Women's Athletics would review and discuss further if the proposal is referred to it. The Management Council and Presidents Council will consider this recommendation during their meetings next week, and additional information will be shared with the Division II membership prior to the business session on Jan. 14.
Source: Division II Presidents Council, Management Council and NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics.
Financial data requirement
This proposal would establish a penalty for any active member school that fails to submit its financial data by the applicable deadline. The proposed penalty requires a school that misses the deadline to forfeit Division II institutional equal distribution funds (formerly known as enhancement funds) in the following academic year. The proposed effective date is Aug. 1, 2025, to allow schools time to adjust to the new legislation.
Source: Division II Presidents Council, Management Council and Membership Committee.
DII legislative process
This proposal would amend the timing of the Division II legislative process as follows:
- July 15: Deadline for submission of proposals by the membership.
- Sept. 1: Deadline for the Division II Presidents Council (Executive Board) to sponsor legislation.
- Sept. 15: Modification period ends for membership-sponsored proposals.
- Oct. 7: Deadline for committee review of membership-sponsored proposals.
- By Dec. 10: Publication of the Official Notice.
Source: Division II Presidents Council, Management Council and Implementation Committee.
Elimination of Institutional Self-Study Guide
If adopted, this proposal would eliminate the requirement that active Division II schools must complete the Institutional Self-Study Guide. Additionally, the Division II Membership Committee will consider the development of a new evaluation tool/process that aligns more closely with the division's revamped bylaws and policies.
Source: Division II Presidents Council, Management Council and Implementation Committee.
Alcohol at DII championships
This proposal would eliminate legislated restrictions on the availability of alcohol at Division II championships. Venues selling alcohol would have to meet specified NCAA requirements, including having a written policy in place for and be actively engaged in the sale of alcohol, being properly licensed by local and state authorities, and signing indemnity and insurance agreements prior to the event. Hard liquor would continue to be permitted only in designated suites and hospitality areas.
Source: Division II Presidents Council, Management Council and Implementation Committee.
Division II awards and additional Convention-week information
- The Division II Award of Excellence winner will be announced during the 2023 Convention. Twenty-two schools were named finalists for the award, which recognizes initiatives in the past year that exemplify the Division II philosophy, community engagement and student-athlete leadership.
- The 2022 Division II Faculty Mentor Award winner will be recognized during the 2023 Convention.
- The Division II keynote speaker on Friday, Jan. 13, at 10 a.m. will be Kevin Carroll, a former athletic trainer who's now a professional speaker, trainer and facilitator. His works centers on inspiring organizations and leaders to maximize their potential.
- View the Division II-specific Convention schedule here.
