NCAA Division III Management Council Adopts New Policies in Playing Rules Process

In an announcement posted on October 24, the NCAA Division III Management Council outlined a meeting in which they adopted two changes to the federation’s playing rules process. 

The council initiated this change following a review of the playing rules process in which they examined the process for three primary points within the process: 

• The process should include more Division III input.
• The process should encourage common rules.
• To the extent possible, the process should work within the current rules-making framework

Following their review, the council issued a statement outlining the two changes to the process that they will be adopting, which includes a standard orientation for the Division III committee members involved in the process and the creation of a resource outlining policies and procedures.

The council also acknowledged the need for additional voices within Division III governance, beyond the Division III members of the sport rule committees and sport championships committees. Thus, they moved to create a new subcommittee, which will oversee matters in which a rule has a “financial impact or impacts a fundamental Division III principle.”

Speaking on the council’s behalf, chair Jason Verdugo stated, “Last year, the Division III Management Council created a federated playing rules process to increase the Division III voices in the process. The additional changes to the process will allow for meaningful and representative Division III input on playing rules changes. It is through these collaborative efforts that we can continue to support the growth and success of our division.” 

The NCAA Division III governance structure currently differs from that of Division I, with only one primary Management Council leading the governance, overseeing multiple committees. That council is composed of presidents, athletics direct reports, athletics administrators and staff, coaches, faculty representatives, conference personnel and student-athletes at the Division III level. Under this system, the committees and the council develop proposals over the course of the year, which are then voted on by all Division III institutions at the National Conference each January. Division II also follows this structure.

That differs from the Division I governance, which uses a two-faceted governance structure, known as “autonomy and Council governance”. While the council system closely resembles that of Divisions II and III, the autonomy principle differs as it occurs at the conference level, allowing conferences to adopt their own legislation for certain situations, which can be implemented on a more individualized scale.