The Division III Presidents Council hosted its annual meeting with the Presidents Advisory Group, where nearly 80% of the conferences were represented.
During the joint meeting, the Presidents Council and the Presidents Advisory Group engaged in two roundtable discussions on eligibility and the need to conduct a division analysis on key issues, and they reviewed 16 legislative proposals and one resolution.
These discussions informed the Presidents Council’s position on five of the legislative proposals and the resolution.
The five proposals and one resolution are as follows:
- Establish a Division III women’s wrestling championship: This proposal would establish a women’s wrestling championship in Division III starting in the 2027-28 academic year and a Division III women’s wrestling committee. The council supports the proposal.
- Criteria for eligibility: This proposal would change how a student-athlete is charged with a season of eligibility from a participation standard to a competition standard. The council opposes the proposal.
- Multiple automatic qualifier model: The proposal would establish multiple automatic qualifiers to multisport conferences that have 12 or more core members that sponsor a sport. The council opposes the proposal.
- Automatic qualification — core member: This proposal would require an institution that is a core member of a conference to participate in the conference’s automatic qualification process for the sport(s) that the institution sponsors. The council supports the proposal.
- Amend in-region competition requirements: This proposal would reduce the required minimum percentage of in-region competition for championships eligibility from 70% to 50% for all sports except golf and tennis. The council supports the proposal.
Resolution: Name, Image and Likeness
The Division III Presidents Council supports a resolution submitted by the membership that charges the governance structure with monitoring the changing landscape around name, image and likeness and its impact on Division III.
The council also discussed several additional topics that were informed by the Presidents Advisory Group roundtable discussions:
Eligibility
The discussion covered recent lawsuits, Division III eligibility rules and the Division II convention proposal regarding eligibility that would allow five years of competition.
The council discussed the current Division III eligibility standards regarding the use of a season for Division III and those entering Division III (as undergraduate or postbaccalaureate students) from another division or association that has different standards for measuring the use of a season.
The council recognized the complexity of the issues and reinforced that any approach should focus on the primary goal of graduation for student-athletes.
Analysis of Division III
The council, along with the Presidents Advisory Group, spent time on an open discussion of core tenets of the division’s structure. The council approved an analysis of key issues to be conducted starting with the 2026 Convention, in particular, at the Division III Chancellors and Presidents Forum and the Division III Issues Forum.
“As the Association and Division III continue to navigate the evolving landscape of higher education and athletics, the council has endorsed a focused review of key issues — including championship access, eligibility standards and membership criteria,” said Jim Troha, chair of the Presidents Council and president of Juniata. “This effort builds on recent evaluations by Deloitte (finances), Lewis Rice (Enrichment Fund) and the Division III Philosophy Working Group. The council urges Division III presidents and chancellors to attend this year’s Convention and actively engage in these critical discussions.”
