D3Playbook: Making The Call

written by STEVE ULRICH
your must-read briefing on what's driving the day in NCAA Division III

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TOP STORY

1. Making The Call

5 Elements of Good Officiating

Capping off an extensive process, the Division III Commissioners Association announced its Strategic Plan to address a key component of athletic competition. The DIIICA believes that officiating is at a crisis level due to a shrinking pool of officials and the lack of interest or incentive among current or new officials to enter or remain in the field.

The DIIICA's vision statement centers on the elevation of officiating as a respected and an integral component of the Division III athletics experience through a cross-divisional commitment to broad-based and diverse recruitment and comprehensive education and retention strategies.

The strategic plan focuses on five pillars:

Partnerships that develop NCAA cross-divisional initiatives, including pre-NCAA recruitment, and other collaborations that will advance DIII officiating.
Recruitment to NCAA Division III by targeting officials prepared or preparing for entry to NCAA officiating.
Advancement Pathway whereby that pathway is clarified through onboarding, education, training, evaluation, mentoring, aspects of assigning, review of officials’ costs and fees, and other retention strategies.
Culture and Environment by addressing treatment, sporting behavior, and the bond of the officiating community.
Administration to move toward centralizing leadership and management, and to support conference level engagement.

>> What They're Saying: "The Division III Commissioners Association Officiating Strategic Plan is the culmination of nearly two years of research and work," said Patrick B. Summers, President of the DIIICA. "It is without question an aggressive and detailed plan that outlines a clear path to address the challenges facing officiating in college athletics. I am excited for the DIIICA to continue to move this charge forward on behalf of the NCAA membership."

>> Read More

ACADEMICS

2. Postgraduate Scholarship Recipients

The NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship was created in 1964 to promote and encourage graduate education by rewarding the Association's most accomplished student-athletes through their participation in NCAA championship and/or emerging sports.

Student-athletes at an active NCAA member institution who:

Must be in final season of NCAA athletics eligibility or must have completed athletic eligibility,
Must be in final year of undergraduate academic work or received an undergraduate degree.
Have an overall undergraduate minimum cumulative grade-point average of 3.200 (based on a 4.000 scale) or its equivalent, including all undergraduate hours earned at all undergraduate institutions attended. The grade-point average may not include any graduate-level hours.
Have performed with distinction as a varsity team member in the sport in which the student-athlete is being nominated.

Winter Recipients
Max Brown, Emory, indoor track and field
Erin Chen, Johns Hopkins, fencing
Janean Cuffee, New York U., basketball
Maelyn Elder, Messiah, swimming and diving
Lara Gemar, Emory, swimming and diving
Sydney Grohman, Saint Catherine's, swimming and diving
Niki Kates, Willamette, swimming and diving
Emile-Victoru Kuyl, Johns Hopkins, swimming and diving
Justin Liu, MIT, swimming and diving
Caroline Olson, Emory, swimming and diving
Minhaj Rahman, Middlebury, indoor track and field
Hope Reynolds, Hope, swimming and diving

>> Complete List of Men's Recipients
>> Complete List of Women's Recipients

COVID

3. Vaccine Recap

As colleges look toward the fall-2021 semester, they’re grappling with whether to require — or just strongly encourage — students to be vaccinated against Covid-19. Here’s a list of institutions - including 133 Division III institutions - that have decided to issue blanket vaccination requirements of all students, students living on campus, and/or employees. Bold indicates new.

California (6): Caltech, Chapman, Claremont-M-S, Occidental, Pomona-Pitzer, UC Santa Cruz
Colorado: Colorado College
Connecticut (2): Connecticut College, Wesleyan
DC: Trinity Washington
Georgia (2): Agnes Scott, Emory
Indiana (2): DePauw, Saint Mary's
Iowa: Grinnell
Kentucky: Berea
Massachusetts (29): Amherst, Anna Maria, Brandeis, Bridgewater State, Curry, Emerson, Emmanuel, Fitchburg State, Framingham State, Lasell, Lesley, MCLA, MIT, Massachusetts Maritime, Mount Holyoke, Salem State, Simmons, Smith, Springfield, Suffolk, Tufts, UMass Boston, UMass Dartmouth, Wellesley, Westfield State, Wheaton, Williams, WPI, Worcester State
Maine (3): Bates, Bowdoin, U. of New England
Maryland (2): Johns Hopkins, Salisbury
Michigan: Kalamazoo
Minnesota (2): Carleton, Macalester
Missouri: Washington U.
New Jersey (11): Drew, Fairleigh Dickinson, Kean, Montclair State, New Jersey City, Rutgers-Camden, Rutgers-Newark, Saint Elizabeth, Stevens, Stockton, TCNJ
New York (43): Alfred, Alfred State, Baruch, Brockport, Brooklyn, Buffalo State, Canton, Cazenovia, CCNY, Clarkson, Cobleskill, Cortland, Delhi, Farmingdale State, Fredonia, Geneseo, Hamilton, Hunter, Ithaca, John Jay, Lehman, Manhattanville, Medgar Evers, Morrisville, New Paltz, NYU, Old Westbury, Oneonta, Oswego, Plattsburgh, Potsdam, Pratt Institute, Purchase, Rensselaer, Rochester, RIT, Sarah Lawrence, Skidmore, SUNY Maritime, SUNY Poly, Union, Vassar, Yeshiva, York
North Carolina: Brevard
Ohio (2): Kenyon, Mount St. Joseph
Oregon (2): Lewis & Clark, Willamette
Pennsylvania (6): Bryn Mawr, Carnegie Mellon, Dickinson, Haverford, Muhlenberg, Swarthmore
Rhode Island (2): Johnson and Wales, Roger Williams
Tennessee: Maryville
Vermont: Middlebury
Virginia (6): Bridgewater, Hollins, Mary Baldwin, Marymount, Randolph-Macon, Virginia Wesleyan
Washington (3): Pacific Lutheran, Puget Sound, Whitman
Wisconsin: Lawrence