Every year in early May the NCAA's Rules Committees meets to ponder changes and points of emphasis. The members of the women's rules committee have identified the following adjustments for this season:

Points of Emphasis: Displacement, traveling, unsportsmanlike behavior and legal guarding position.

The women’s committee also approved a recommendation to rewrite its rules that cover technical fouls, and the guideline about the legal guarding position under the basket will be deleted, making the legal guarding position the same for the entire court.

Those changes are then conveyed to all the Conference's Coordinator officials at a pre-season meeting. The Coordinators then communicates them to their officiating pool(s) (Some, for instance, might supervise Division I and II officials). A DVD is made and distributed to all the coaches illustrating the changes and PoE's. Someone on the coaching staff must watch it and sign off on the DVD.

Interestingly enough, the release about the men's rules said the following:

Referees who are consistent in enforcing the rules will be rewarded.

I interpret that as the NCAA strongly encouraging all their officials to visit eofficals.com, the NCAA's officiating site.

As most know, officials are independent contractors hired by the Coordinators (who are often independent contractors, too, answerable to the conference who hired them). As such, any professional development they do is on their own time and dime. Eofficials.com allows easy access to plays and interpretations, as well as a presenting a consistent and unified voice. It helps prevent the degradation of the "message" as it's passed through Coordinators to officials and encourages the elimination of "personal interpretation."

Since many conferences can't afford to pay for full-time game observers (used to assess officials) or refresher sessions for officials during the season, eofficials.com can be a referee's touchstone throughout the season as they move across Conferences and up and down Divisions.

Of course, the trick is getting them to use it. Many do -- but the idea that it's become a "Point of Emphasis" on the evaluation of officials for post-season gigs is a great carrot.

By the way, anyone can register to use the site. Go here.