UMAC COVID-19 Updates and Resource Page

3/13/2020 5:37:19 PM

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| FALL 2020 CAMPUS UPDATES | SPRING 2020 CAMPUS UPDATES |
| UMAC FALL 2020 FAQs | UMAC WINTER/SPRING 2021 FAQs |

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UMAC UPDATES
UPDATE – FEB. 23 – 3:30 p.m.
ST. PAUL, Minn.---The Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) announced finalized plans for the UMAC Indoor Track and Field Championships as well as modifications to the conference tournaments for men’s and women’s basketball, volleyball, baseball, softball and men’s and women’s tennis. Schedules were also adjusted for spring volleyball competition.

Press Release

UPDATE – JAN. 26 – 11:30 a.m.
ST. PAUL, Minn.---The Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Council of Presidents and Chancellors affirmed its decision from December to proceed with winter and spring sports competition as planned and also approved a four-week regular season schedule and conference championship meets for men’s and women’s indoor track and field.

The Council also reviewed and approved a comprehensive set of conference protocols related to COVID-19 procedures and risk mitigation strategies that all institutions will adhere to for conducting safe practice and competition. Approved protocols include institutional autonomy for spectator allowance at indoor events this winter. Fans and spectators should review the UMAC Institutional Spectator Policy Page for institutional policies related to fan allowance at contests.

Press Release

UPDATE – DEC. 22 – 10 a.m.
The UMAC Council of Presidents and Chancellors supported a recommendation from the UMAC Council of Athletics Directors to continue pursuing conference competition in the sports of baseball, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s golf, softball, men’s and women’s tennis, men’s and women’s indoor and outdoor track and field and beginning UMAC competition no earlier than Jan. 30, 2021.

The following items are also of note:

The Council plans to reconvene in mid-January to reassess any changing circumstances that could impact the conference’s ability to move forward as planned.
All UMAC institutions will adhere to the testing guidance and COVID-19 protocols outlined in the NCAA SSI Resocialization of Collegiate Sport: Developing Standards for Practice and Competition, Second Edition.
UMAC institutions may compete against non-conference opponents at the discretion of each institutions, given and opponent is following the same testing and COVID-19 protocols as the UMAC (NCAA SSI recommendations).
Men’s and women’s basketball will compete in a single-round, eight-game regular season schedule with a nine-team conference tournament beginning the week of March 1. Men’s and women’s games will be played at separate sites, not as doubleheaders.
The UMAC intends to move forward pursuing competition in men’s and women’s indoor track and field.
No changes have been made to UMAC spring sports schedules (baseball, softball, men’s and women’s tennis, men’s and women’s outdoor track and field) or previously released schedules and plans for fall sports competition (football, men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s soccer, volleyball). Cross country competition will not be conducted by the UMAC in spring 2021.

Press Release
2021 Winter and Spring Sports FAQ

UPDATE – SEPT. 1, 10 a.m.
The UMAC Council of Presidents and Chancellors supported a recommendation from the UMAC Council of Athletics Directors to suspend conference competition through December 31, 2020, in the sports of men’s and women’s basketball and men’s and women’s indoor track and field.

Conference competition in winter sports will begin in 2021 with modified conference schedules for men’s and women’s basketball. The adjusted conference basketball schedules will be finalized when additional information is available including but not limited to NCAA Sports Science Institute (SSI) requirements for winter sports and confirmed NCAA Division III Championship dates. Engagement in non-conference competition during the fall semester remains at the discretion of UMAC institutions and will not be governed by the UMAC.

Press Release

UPDATE – AUG. 24, 10 a.m.
ST. PAUL, Minn.---Following extensive discussions and planning, the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Council of Presidents/Chancellors supported a recommendation from the UMAC Council of Athletics Directors to suspend conference competition for Fall 2020 in the sports of men’s and women’s cross country and men’s and women’s golf and will pursue opportunities for potential competition for these sports in the spring, including for men’s and women’s golf the conference championships that will determine the automatic qualifiers for the NCAA Division III Championships held in May 2021.
Press Release

UPDATE – JULY 30, 1 p.m.
ST. PAUL, Minn.--- Following extensive deliberations and meetings of various UMAC governance groups throughout the past three months assessing the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Council of Presidents and Chancellors has voted to modify the timing of conference competition and championships for fall sports classified as high-risk by the NCAA Sports Science Institute (SSI) which includes football, men’s and women’s soccer and volleyball. The UMAC will pursue opportunities to provide conference competition in the spring for the fall sports of football, men’s and women’s soccer and volleyball.

Men’s and women’s golf will be permitted to compete this fall, and conference championships will be conducted as planned. Men’s and women’s cross country may engage in regular season competition and conference championships as planned provided accommodations and modifications can be made by UMAC institutions and the conference to move all regular season and conference championship events to low-risk classification per the adjustments outlined by the NCAA SSI. Competition for golf and cross country will be limited to conference members only per previous decisions put in place by the Council of Presidents and Chancellors.

UMAC Press Release
UMAC FAQ Page

UPDATE – JULY 16, 1 p.m.
ST. PAUL, Minn.---The Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) announced Thursday its intention to continue pursuing fall athletics competition under revised scheduling formats and resocialization protocols following a recommendation from the UMAC Athletics Directors Council that was supported by the Council of Presidents and Chancellors on Wednesday, July 15.

Following its regularly-scheduled bi-weekly COVID-19 contingency planning meeting Friday, July 10, the UMAC Council of Athletics Directors proposed schedule modifications in order to prioritize the safety and well-being of UMAC student-athletes, coaches, staff and its campus communities. The conference governance groups took into consideration the revised NCAA Division III sports sponsorship minimum requirements and the revised NCAA Division III championships eligibility requirements. Further, the schedule adjustments provide flexibility and position the conference to pivot and potentially offer an expanded spring segment and competitive opportunities for fall sports in the spring if Division III institutions are permitted to do so and the conference membership would ultimately support.

UMAC Press Release

UPDATE - June 15, 12:23 p.m.
The UMAC annouced planning efforts for the 2020-2021 academic year are underway related to COVID-19 impacts with an intention to return to play for the specifically COVID-19 related impacts. The UMAC Council of Presidents/Chancellors and Administrative Council (Athletics Directors & Senior Woman Administrators) remain focused on conducting fall athletic competition. The Administrative Council meets on a bi-weekly basis with the intention to provide additional sport-by-sport guidance for both returning to play and in-season protocols. Updates will be provided as necessary following planning meetings.
UMAC Press Release

UPDATE - March 18, 12:21 p.m.
The UMAC has created a landing page as a resource for conference administrators and coaches navigating this unprecedented time due to COVID-19. The page (linked below) will be updated regularly with new resources. If you have resources you'd like to contribute to the page, please send them to Sara Quinnell (smquinnell@umacathletics.com).

UMAC COVID-19 Resources for Coaches and Administrators

UPDATE - March 16, 4:30 p.m.
The UMAC formally announced the cancellation of all conference regular season spring sports contests as well as conference tournaments and championships for the remainder of the 2019-20 academic year. This was adopted unanimously by the UMAC Council of Presidents.
UMAC Press Release
UMAC COVID-19 Response FAQs

UPDATE - March 13, 5:37 p.m.
ST. PAUL, Minn---The UMAC Council of Athletics Directors convened on Friday, March 13, to continue discussions of the conference’s contingency planning efforts in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In regards to UMAC regular season schedules and post-season tournaments and championships currently scheduled for spring sports, the Council of Athletics Directors has presented a formal recommendation to the UMAC Council of Presidents/Chancellors for their formal review and to take further action on. Following the Council of Presidents review and completion of any formal decisions, another update will be provided articulating further detail regarding future plans and approach for the UMAC spring sports offerings.

UPDATE - March 12, 4:30 p.m.
ST. PAUL, Minn.---The Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) is aware of the announcement made Thursday, March 12, by NCAA President Dr. Mark Emmert indicating that all NCAA winter and spring sports championships for all divisions have been cancelled due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Given this development, the UMAC governance councils will convene in a timely manner and discuss how the conference will approach the remainder of the 2020 spring sports season. The UMAC Council of Presidents/Chancellors will make any formal, final decisions related to UMAC schedules, UMAC tournaments and championships and other conference operations. In the interim, member institutions of the UMAC will continue to make campus decisions that are in the best interests of their athletics departments and other constituents.

Additional updates will be provided when any formal decisions are made regarding how the UMAC will approach the 2020 spring sports season.

UPDATE - March 12, 3 p.m. CST
ST. PAUL, Minn.---As part of continued efforts to monitor and respond to developments of the COVID-19 outbreak impacting operations at member institutions, the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Council of Athletics Directors convened on Thursday afternoon – prior to the NCAA announcement regarding the cancellation of winter and spring championships – to review the latest insitutional and national updates and discuss potential conference operational changes. The meeting resulted in no formal decisions or recommendations to be made at this time impacting conference operations or spring sports.

The UMAC Council of Athletics Directors will continue to meet via conference call on a weekly basis to continue to assess the conference's desire to alter operations as the situatoin regarding COVID-19 is ever-evolving on member campuses.

This page will continue to be updated when new information is available.

Initial Release - March 12, 7:30 a.m. CST
ST. PAUL, Minn.---The Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) is closely monitoring the outbreak of COVID-19 and its impact on member institution campus operations in the states of Minnesota and Wisconsin. Several UMAC institutions have proceeded with changes to alternative learning settings, extended spring break periods and instituted travel bans for students, faculty and staff. To date, the UMAC has not made any decisions to alter spring sports schedules and is operating in a normal capacity. UMAC presidents/chancellors, administrators and staff continue to follow the rapidly evolving situation and will make decisions based on developing facts, guidance from state and federal health and government authorities and issues related to specific campus decisions.

NCAA RESOURCES

NCAA Sports Science Institute (SSI) COVID-19 Resource Page
NCAA SSI Resocialization of Collegiate Sport, Second Edition (most recent release, past editions located on resource page)
NCAA SSI Resocialization of College Basketball and Testing Considerations for All Sports FAQ
NCAA Division III 2020-21 COVID-19 Compliance Q & A Guide
NCAA Division III COVID-19 Seasons of Participation Waiver Guide

LOCAL HEALTH RESOURCES

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UMAC COVID-19 Updates and Resource Page