Proposed Legislation for the 2026 Divison III Annual Convention, Jan 13-16, 2026

[Ron Boerger]

Quite a few legislative proposals for the upcoming 2026 convention:

• No. 1-1 RECRUITING -- UNOFFICIAL VISIT -- MEALS FOR PROSPECTIVE STUDENT-ATHLETES AND THEIR GUESTS
  Intent: Amend the current legislation to allow institutions to provide meals in an on-campus dining facility for a prospective student-athlete and those individuals accompanying the prospective student-athlete.
  Source: College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin and Little East Conference.
  
  Bylaws: Amend 13, as follows:
  13.7.2.1.1 Meals. An institution may provide a prospective student-athlete and the individuals accompanying the prospective student-athlete with a meal in the institution's on-campus dining facility during an unofficial visit. An institution may provide a meal in an off-campus dining facility when all on-campus dining facilities are closed, provided the institution can certify that it is the institution's normal policy to provide such a meal under similar circumstances to all prospective students (including nonathletes) visiting the campus.
  
  
• No. 1-2 RECRUITING - CONTACTS AND EVALUATIONS - FOUR-YEAR COLLEGE PROSPECTIVE STUDENTATHLETES - REQUIRE USE OF THE NCAA TRANSFER PORTAL
  Intent: To (1) replace the current "permission to contact" legislation related to NCAA four-year college transfer student-athletes with a "notification of transfer" model; (2) specify that an institution must place a studentathlete's written request for transfer into the NCAA Transfer Portal within seven-consecutive calendar days; (3) specify that a student-athlete must successfully complete an educational module before they are entered into the NCAA Transfer Portal; and (4) maintain the existing processes for the Division III self-release, for student-athletes interested in transferring to another Division III institution.
  Source: NCAA Division III Management Council (Interpretations and Legislation Committee)
  
  
• No. 1-3 ELIGIBILITY -- CRITERIA FOR DETERMINING A SEASON OF ELIGIBILITY -- MINIMUM AMOUNT OF PARTICIPATION -- ONLY COMPETITION TRIGGERING USE OF A SEASON
  Intent: To specify that a student-athlete would be charged with a season of eligibility if the student-athlete competes at any point during the traditional season.
  Source: Atlantic East Conference, Empire 8 and Little East Conference.
  
  
• No. 1-4 AWARDS, BENEFITS AND EXPENSES FOR ENROLLED STUDENT-ATHLETES -- TYPES OF AWARDS, AWARDING AGENCIES, MAXIMUM VALUE AND NUMBERS OF AWARDS -- REMOVE EXACT DOLLAR AMOUNTS AND REFERENCES TO AWARD VALUES
  Intent: To remove the exact dollar amounts and references to the value of awards from the awards legislation.
  Source: NCAA Division III Management Council (Interpretations and Legislation Committee)
  Rationale: Current legislation limits awards to a specific dollar amount and restricts the manner these awards may be purchased. The specific dollar amounts have not been adjusted in nearly 15 years and have not been regularly monitored. Due to the rising costs, it is becoming increasingly difficult to purchase the same or similar types of awards from year to year. Removing the exact dollar amounts would eliminate the need to monitor and modify award limitations moving forward. This awards legislation remains permissive legislation; thus, it is left to the institution and/or conference policies to determine the amount which can be spent on awards to student-athletes and provides flexibility in spending on awards.
  
  
• No. 1-5 AWARDS, BENEFITS AND EXPENSES FOR ENROLLED STUDENT-ATHLETES -- PERMIT ACTUAL AND NECESSARY EXPENSES FOR ONE ALL-STAR CONTEST OR OTHER POST-ELIGIBILITY EVENT
  
  Intent: To permit institutions to provide actual and necessary expenses for student-athletes to participate in one collegiate all-star contest or similar post-eligibility competitive event.
  Source: NCAA Division III Management Council (Interpretations and Legislation Committee)
  
  
• No. 1-6 AWARDS, BENEFITS AND EXPENSES FOR ENROLLED STUDENT-ATHLETES -- TEAM ENTERTAINMENT -- PROFESSIONAL SPORTS TICKETS
  Intent: To clarify that institutions may provide reasonable entertainment during the playing season; further that reasonable entertainment could include providing professional sports tickets.
  Source: NCAA Division III Management Council (Interpretations and Legislation Committee)
  Rationale: While current legislation permits an institution to provide reasonable entertainment to student-athletes in conjunction with practice or competition, there is a specific prohibition against providing professional sports tickets as such entertainment, unless it is in conjunction with an away from home contest. Regulating certain types of entertainment expenses is overly burdensome and institutions should have discretion to determine when to provide entertainment expenses to student-athletes during the team's declared playing season. This proposal would provide flexibility for entertainment while also maintaining the prohibition of providing cash for such entertainment.
  
  
• No. 1-7 AWARDS, BENEFITS AND EXPENSES FOR ENROLLED STUDENT-ATHLETES -- EXPENSES PROVIDED BY THE INSTITUTION FOR PRACTICE -- ELIMINATE DISTANCE AND LOCATION RESTRICTIONS
  
  Intent: To permit institutions to provide expenses for practice sessions at any location, provided the student-athlete is eligible and no class is missed.
  Source: NCAA Division III Management Council (Interpretations and Legislation Committee)
  Rationale: Currently, an institution may pay for expenses for a practice trip anywhere within the state or if outside the state then no more than 100 miles. This has vastly different applications depending on the state and where within the state, a Division III institution is located. Removing the location and mileage restrictions will acknowledge these differences and permit institutions to provide practice expenses absent an arbitrary limitation. Further, the condition that class time may not be missed for practice activities maintains the philosophical tenet of Division III athletics existing as part of the academic experience.
  
  
• No. 1-8 PLAYING SEASONS -- ADD A MANDATORY WINTER BREAK
  Intent: To establish a seven-consecutive-calendar-day-period between December 15th and December 28th, in which student-athletes may not participate in any athletically related activities.
  Source: Collegiate Conference of the South and Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference.
  
  
• No. 1-9 CHAMPIONSHIPS -- ESTABLISH A DIVISION III WOMEN'S WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIP
  Intent: To establish a Division III women's wrestling championship starting in 2027-28 academic year and a Division III Women's Wrestling Committee as specified.
  Source: American Rivers Conference, College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin and Middle Atlantic Conferences.
  
  
• No. 1-10 NATIONAL COLLEGIATE CHAMPIONSHIP -- ACROBATICS AND TUMBLING
  Intent: In women's acrobatics and tumbling, to establish a National Collegiate Championship and to establish a women's acrobatics and tumbling committee.
  Source: NCAA Division III Management Council (Committee on Women's Athletics).
  
  
• No. 1-11 NATIONAL COLLEGIATE CHAMPIONSHIP -- STUNT
  Intent: In women's stunt, to establish a National Collegiate Championship and to establish a women's stunt committee.
  Source: NCAA Division III Management Council (Committee on Women's Athletics).
  
  
• No. 1-12 DIVISION MEMBERSHIP, PLAYING AND PRACTICE SEASONS -- EMERGING SPORTS FOR WOMEN -- WOMEN'S FLAG FOOTBALL
  Intent: To add women's flag football as an emerging sport for women and establish legislation related to playing and practice seasons and membership.
  Source: NCAA Division III Management Council (Committee on Women's Athletics).
  
  
• No. 1-13 CHAMPIONSHIPS -- AUTOMATIC QUALIFICATION -- REQUIRED PARTICIPATION BY CONFERENCE CORE MEMBERS.
  Intent: To require an institution that is a core member of a conference to participate in the conference's automatic qualification (AQ) process for the sport(s) in which the institution sponsors. Failure to participate in the conference's defined AQ process (including declining participation in the conference's postseason tournament) in a particular sport will render that institution ineligible for NCAA championship selection (i.e. at-large selection).
  Source: Landmark Conference, North Coast Athletic Conference and Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conf.
  
  
• No. 1-14 CHAMPIONSHIPS -- AUTOMATIC QUALIFICATION -- MULTIPLE AUTOMATIC QUALIFIER MODEL
  Intent: To develop a formula to provide multiple automatic qualifiers to multisport conferences that have 12 or more core members that sponsor a sport. Specifically: (1) Once a conference reaches 12 or more core members sponsoring a sport, the conference will immediately receive a second automatic qualifier in that sport; (2) If a conference falls below 12 core members sponsoring a sport, the conference will immediately lose their secondautomatic qualifier in the sport; and (3) The method by which the conference determines its conference representatives is the responsibility of the conference and shall be declared and outlined at the time of the automatic-qualifier declaration.
  Source: Presidents' Athletic Conference and United East Conference.
  
  
• No. 1-15 CHAMPIONSHIPS -- AMEND IN-REGION COMPETITION REQUIREMENT
  Intent: To reduce the required minimum percentage of in-region competition for championships eligibility from 70% to 50% for all sports except golf, which would stay at 25%, and tennis, which would maintain its 50% requirement; Further, to expand the official break exception to apply to any official institutional break and allow institutions hosting contests during another institution's break to also exempt the out-of-region contest even if that hosting institution is not in an institutional vacation period.
  Source: Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference; Collegiate Conference of the South; and Southern Athletic Association
  
  
• No. 1-16 CHAMPIONSHIPS -- AUTOMATIC QUALIFICATION -- WAITING PERIOD -- MULTISPORT CONFERENCE --ADJUST FROM TWO YEARS TO ONE
  Intent: To reduce the wait time for a multisport conference to receive an automatic qualification from two years to one year.
  Source: Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference, Conference of New England and Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference.
  
  
  

[ziggy]

I imagine No. 1-14 that would allow larger conferences to gain a second automatic qualifier could garner a lot of discussion here and elsewhere. It should be noted that the Championships Committee has recommended that the Management Council NOT support this proposal.
https://ncaaorg.s3.amazonaws.com/committees/d3/champs/Sep2025D3CC_Report.pdf

[Ron Boerger]

I imagine No. 1-14 that would allow larger conferences to gain a second automatic qualifier could garner a lot of discussion here and elsewhere. It should be noted that the Championships Committee has recommended that the Management Council NOT support this proposal.
https://ncaaorg.s3.amazonaws.com/committees/d3/champs/Sep2025D3CC_Report.pdf

I can't see schools in the smaller conferences (which are most of them) having any desire to restrict their at-large access to the playoffs by supporting this measure. 

[Hawks88]

A simple solution is to do what the USA South did and split into two conferences, creating the CCS for the sports with enough for two bids while having the CCS schools remain as affiliates to the USA South in the sports that don't.

[Pat Coleman]

A simple solution is to do what the USA South did and split into two conferences, creating the CCS for the sports with enough for two bids while having the CCS schools remain as affiliates to the USA South in the sports that don't.

And the USA South did this after trying to propose similar legislation about a decade ago and not getting any traction with it. I don't believe it even came to a vote.

[jknezek]

I hate that the ODAC has so many members in some sports you can't even do a traditional home and home for the conference schedule. Soccer is a big culprit, with the unbalanced schedule every year seemingly given some team a huge advantage as they avoid the bigger names and get a solid seed for the tournament, then can't progress. But with 14 core members, and three of those single-sex schools, Hampden-Sydney, Hollins, and Sweet Briar, you just can't quite get the split.