The UTD Athletic Department will soon be changing some of its rules to comply with the newly approved proposals of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III membership committee.

The NCAA rule changes were approved at the NCAA’s annual legislative conference Jan. 12 in Nashville, Tenn. Seven of the nine proposals UTD voted against were adopted, according to the NCAA website.

UTD athletic director Chris Gage specified three recent rules changes that will have the greatest impact on UTD.

The NCAA voted to shorten both fall and spring playing seasons from 21 weeks to 18 and 19 respectively through Proposal 61.

“[Proposal 61] was partly due to funding, but was mostly for the purpose of focusing on academics,” Gage said. “But, the student athletes at UTD already have great supervision and perform better in their courses.”

Additionally, the committee voted to limit practice and petition to 16 days during off-season timeframes and to set restrictions on voluntary out-of-season workouts.

“I would call (these) votes on academic reform in Division III a significant success,” said NCAA President Myles Brand in a Jan. 12 news release.

Other policy changes included an annual electronic reporting process and a provision that permits Division III schools to schedule exhibition contests against Division I or II schools within a specified timeframe.