Actively engaging our surrounding communities in campus life is a pillar of the Division II athletics experience.

For Division II, community engagement is about building lasting relationships.

Our unique approach flips the paradigm by encouraging Division II athletics programs (and their schools in general) to become members of their communities rather than merely asking their communities to support athletics.

The payoff is that communities willingly support colleges and universities where effective outreach has occurred because they feel greater ownership. That translates to a stronger “town/gown” relationship, and greater community attendance at your athletics events!

The military is a key partner that often gets overlooked when it comes to community engagement. More than half of Division II colleges and universities are located within 50 miles of a military installation or base. Many others have a connection or partnership with the National Guard or other military branches, or have an active ROTC on campus. And almost all Division II schools have students who are either actively serving or in the reserves. It only makes sense to partner with military constituencies as an extension of Division II’s community engagement philosophy. This resource helps schools either start or enhance those efforts is a product of the Division II Military Pilot Project Team, Augusta University, the Peach Belt Conference, and Fort Gordon in Augusta, Georgia.

This Official Notice contains a schedule of meetings and sessions that are a part of the 2016 Convention. [Please note: The schedule is subject to change. Please refer to your Convention Program for the most upto- date meeting sites and times.] This Official Notice also contains legislation for consideration at the business session of the 2016 Convention, including amendments-to-amendments. It also contains the necessary information concerning the accreditation of delegates, voting procedures and other Convention policies. We encourage each member to review the information related to the activities in which you will be involved before attending the Convention. It is particularly important that each delegate bring a copy of the Official Notice to the Convention. The Official Notice will be the only publication containing all Division II Convention legislation.

In addition to the consideration of legislation, delegates also may participate in educational and discussion sessions about topics of concern within the division.

This Official Notice contains a schedule of meetings and sessions that are a part of the 2016 Convention. [Please note: The schedule is subject to change. Please refer to your Convention Program for the most upto- date meeting sites and times.] This Official Notice also contains legislation for consideration at the business session of the 2016 Convention, including amendments-to-amendments. It also contains the necessary information concerning the accreditation of delegates, voting procedures and other Convention policies. We encourage each member to review the information related to the activities in which you will be involved before attending the Convention. It is particularly important that each delegate bring a copy of the Official Notice to the Convention. The Official Notice will be the only publication containing all Division III Convention legislation.

In addition to the consideration of legislation, delegates also may participate in educational and discussion sessions about topics of concern within the division.

UPDATED October 2015 - The NCAA Guide to International Academic Standards for Athletics Eligibility has been prepared with one purpose in mind: to provide specific criteria to be used as a guide in reviewing the initial eligibility (graduation, core curriculum, grade-point average and ACT/SAT test scores) of students who have completed any portion of their secondary education in a non-United States educational system for intercollegiate athletics participation.

The abridged NCAA Division I Manuals contain key provisions of Division I legislation that are most likely to be accessed by those involved in a particular sport (e.g., coaches) or in particular institutional administrative positions (i.e., chancellors and presidents, athletics directors and senior woman administrators, and faculty athletics representatives). For more information on the format and organization of the Division I Manual, please refer to the User’s Guide in the full NCAA Division I Manual (available for download at NCAAPublications.com) or the printed version of the NCAA Division I Manual (Operating Manual). Please note that as changes occur to Division I legislation throughout the year, updates are made to the legislation on the Legislative Services Database for the Internet (LSDBi) on the NCAA website (NCAA.org).

MEMORANDUM

September 15, 2015

TO: Head Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving Coaches and Conference Commissioners.

FROM: Brian Gordon, secretary-rules editor
NCAA Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving Rules Committee.

SUBJECT: Rules Change Clarification for Diving Degree of Difficulty.

Following the publishing of the new NCAA Swimming & Diving Rules Book this fall, two significant clerical errors were discovered within Rule 6. Through the rules change process these items were not noticed. The following corrections are being issued to the downloadable version of the Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving 2015-16 and 2016-17 Rules Book.

The Swimming and Diving Rules Committee reviewed a proposed change to Rule 6, Section 2, Article 2.b.1.b. to permit, during championship three-meter diving, a competition format that allows divers to complete the five voluntary dives, followed by six optional dives. The committee approved this change with no discussion or consideration of changing the listed degree of difficulty. The wording in the rule change proposal included a degree of difficulty of 9.0. Following approval of the Playing Rules Oversight Panel, the approved change was made on page 61 to Rule 6, Section 2, Article 2.b.1.b, including the incorrect language. The intent of the committee was to provide an additional program format option and not to impact the championship competition.

For the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons, in championship meets without platform as an event, permissible format two (2) should read, “five voluntary dives, including one from each of the five groups, in any order, with a total degree of difficulty not to exceed 9.5, followed by six optional dives including one from each of five groups, plus an additional dive that may be selected from any group.”

The second error is the omission of the word not to Rule 6, Section 5, Article 3.b.1.l. The committee added letter l to Article 3.b.1 to clarify what allows the referee to consider for a dive to be failed. For the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons, Rule 6, Section 5, Article 3.b.1.l should read, “If the diver’s takeoff is not from both feet simultaneously.”

The intent of the committee and the rules staff is to ensure the integrity of the sport and playing rules for swimming and diving. We apologize for this error. These corrections have been made to the downloadable version of the NCAA Swimming and Diving Rules Book on the publications website, at http://www.ncaapublications.com/p-4403-ncaa-mens- and-womens-swimming-and-diving-rules-2015-2016-and-2016-2017.aspx. This clarification will be provided with the printed copy of the rules book distributed. Please feel free to contact me directly at bgordon637@aol.com or 518-944-3941 if there are addition questions regarding this clerical error.

BG:bb
cc: NCAA Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving Rules Committee
Selected NCAA Staff