BOTTOM UP OR TOP DOWN, Part II: RULEMAKING AND OVERRIDES

Prof. Brian D. ShannonProf. Martha Putallaz

The Legislative Process – As We Knew It

Former Process - Overrides

2011 Legislation

5.3.2.3.1 Call for an Override Vote. In order to call for a vote to override the adoption or defeat of a legislative change, written requests for such a vote from at least 30 75 …. An adopted legislative change shall be suspended upon receipt of 100 125 requests pending the vote by the membership.

2011 Legislation

5.3.2.3.2 Call for an Override Vote -- FBS Football-Only Issues. In order to call for a vote to override the adoption or defeat of a football-only legislative change applicable to the FBS, written requests for such a vote from at least 25 active FBS member institutions with voting privileges must be received …. An adopted legislative change shall be suspended upon receipt of 50 requests for an override vote, pending the vote by the FBS membership.

2011 Legislation 5.3.2.3.3 Legislative Council or Board

of Directors Review.  Once the required number of override requests has been received, the Leg. Council or the Board … will review its legislative decision. If the decision is not changed, a vote by the active members shall take place at the next annual Convention of the Association in accordance with policies and procedures established by the Administration Cabinet.

New Policies Electronic posting of override

requests with comments Other members can view during the

open period (1) who has requested an override, and (2) comments

New Policies If there are enough requests for an

override vote, members vote electronically during a specified window

Members cannot view how others are voting and no comments can be provided during the voting period

2011-12 Application

A different top-down process $2,000/COA legislation Multi-year scholarship legislation

Results

Miscellaneous Expense Allowance (Proposal 2011-96) 160 Override requests Board

suspended and ultimately defeated the proposal. No override vote

Multiyear Scholarships (Proposal 2011-97) 82 Override requests Board put the

proposal up for override vote

The Override Vote was Close

Total members eligible to vote: 367 336 schools and 31 conferences

37 (10%) did not vote 35 did not cast vote and 2 abstained

125 (37.88%) voted to defeat the override 205 (62.12%) voted to support the

override Total S+D = 330 (5/8 = 206.25 members) Override FAILED (62.5% required)

So, the vote was 205-125, meaning if two members had changed their votes (207-123) or if four additional members had voted (209-125) in support of the override, the legislation would have been overridden.

Two groups to consider who affected the outcome: The Conference Offices The Ivy League

Conferences Cast Override Votes Too

3.02.3.2 Member Conference

“…A member conference is entitled to all of the privileges of active members except the right to compete in NCAA championships (see Constitution 3.3.2). Only those conferences that meet specific criteria as competitive and legislative bodies (see Constitution 3.02.1 and 3.02.2) and minimum standards related to size and division status are permitted to vote on legislation or other issues before the Association.”

Conferences Voting Contrary to the Majority of their Member Schools

Conference

Support Override

AgainstOverrid

e

No Vote/Abstain

Conference Vote

Big South 9 0 1 Against

C-USA 8 2 2 Against

West Coast

6 2 1 Against

Summit 6 3 0 Against

MAC 7 5 0 Against

ACC 6 5 1 Against

Southern 9 1 2 No vote

Horizon 7 3 0 No vote

Big Sky 4 2 3 No vote

Missouri Valley

6 4 0 No vote

Big West 5 4 0 Abstain

And, two conferences voted not to support the override even though

the member schools’ vote was evenly split:

The Big East and The Patriot League

The Ivy League Saved the Legislation

Ivy League member schools do not award athletic scholarships to their student-athletes.

Ivy League Override Votes: 1 school did not vote (Columbia) 1 school abstained (Harvard) 1 voted to support the override (Yale) 6 voted to defeat the override (including

the conference)

Differences in Voting Processes

(Ordinary vs. Override) Schools vote as a conference (weighted

vote from 1-3) vs. every member has a vote. Members = schools and conference

offices. Majority of weighted vote needed to

enact vs. 5/8 of those voting required to overturn.

Evaluating is different from overturning. Voting not to enact something is

different from voting to overturn something in place.

Conference vote vs. member vote is public.

The Relative Influence of Conferences Differs in the Legislative Process and the Override

ProcessConf Conf

Vote#

votes

ACC 3 13

Big 12 3 11

Big East

3 17

Big Ten 3 13

C-USA 3 13

Pac-12 3 13

SEC 3 13

MAC 1.5 13

MWC 1.5 9

Sun Belt

1.5 13

WAC 1.5 9

Conf Conf

Vote

# vote

s

America East

1.2 15

A-10 1.2 15

A-Sun 1.2 11

Big Sky 1.2 10

Big South

1.2 11

Big West

1.2 10

CAA 1.2 13

Horizon 1.2 11

Ivy League

1.2 9

MAAC 1.2 11

Conf Conf

Vote

#vote

s

MEAC 1.2 14

MVC 1.2 11

NEC 1.2 13

OVC 1.2 11

Patriot

1.2 9

SoCon 1.2 13

South-land

1.2 13

SWAC 1.2 11

The Sum-mit

1.2 10

WCC 1.2 10

Override Requests (and Comments) and Override Votes are Public

RECRUITS BEWARE. Top schools opposed multi-yr schollys for option 2 fire u 4 any reason i.e. injury. 'Bama, LSU & more http://bit.ly/Ash96U All 48 schools opposing multi-yr schollys & their awful reasons listed below self-serving schools voting against $2k http://bit.ly/sCqZ9h 

Twitter Comments from the National College Players Association

Lessons Learned

Voting matters! Literally every vote counts.

Examine the process by which your conference determines its override vote. In this case, conferences were more supportive

of the legislation than their member schools were.

All of these process issues matter. Committee membership, process changes

important NCAA Governance structure examination

coming Make best friends with your compliance

staff!

!