Daily Compliance Item- 1.31.17- 13.15.2.1- Expenses for Initial Eligibility Paperwork

The Ocean State University (OSU) academic advisors within the athletic department want to make sure all the new football signees are on track with meeting NCAA initial eligibility standards. They would like to review the signees’ transcripts and test scores, so they ask the guidance counselors at each of the prospects’ high schools for this information. So there is not a delay in receiving these documents, is it permissible for OSU pay for express delivery charges for the high schools?

Yes with conditions. NCAA Bylaw 13.15.2.1 states that an institution may pay fees or provide expenses in the following situations related to a prospective student-athlete’s academic evaluation or test scores: (Adopted: 1/10/90, Revised: 10/20/14)
(a) A fee required by the appropriate testing agency to obtain a prospective student-athlete’s official ACT or SAT scores

(b) Expenses (e.g., document fees, express delivery charges) to obtain information or receive documents that are necessary to certify or evaluate the academic standing of a prospective student-athlete (e.g., transcripts, translation of transcripts); or

(c) Expenses (e.g., transcript fee, express delivery charges) for a prospective student-athlete’s institution to send his or her academic transcript to the Eligibility Center or for his or her ACT or SAT score to be sent from the testing agency to the Eligibility Center, provided the prospective student-athlete has signed a National Letter of Intent or the institution’s written offer of admission and/or financial aid or the institution has received his or her financial deposit in response to its offer of admission.

Jennifer M. Condaras
Deputy Commissioner, NCAA Relations & Administration
Colonial Athletic Association

The opinions expressed in the Daily Compliance Item are the author’s and the author’s alone, and are not endorsed by The COLONIAL ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION or JumpForward. The Daily Compliance Item is not a substitute for a compliance office, case specific research, or the NCAA Bylaws. Do some homework, ask around, and get it right.

Daily Compliance Item- 1.30.17- 10.3, 10.3.1- Superbowl

Lucky Leroy is an athletic department staff member at New England University. Lucky and some of his friends decided to place a small bet for the Super bowl this weekend. Since Lucky’s institution does not sponsor football, he thought it was permissible to place the bet.

 
Is it permissible for Lucky to bet on the Super bowl?

 
No. NCAA Bylaw 10.3.1 states that the prohibition against sports wagering applies to any institutional practice or any competition (intercollegiate, amateur or professional) in a sport in which the Association conducts championship competition, in bowl subdivision football and in emerging sports for women. (Adopted: 4/26/07 effective 8/1/07)

 
NCAA Bylaw 10.3 states that the following individuals shall not knowingly participate in sports wagering activities or provide information to individuals involved in or associated with any type of sports wagering activities concerning intercollegiate, amateur or professional athletics competition: (Adopted: 4/26/07 effective 8/1/07)

 
(a) Staff members of an institution’s athletics department;
(b) Nonathletics department staff members who have responsibilities within or over the athletics department (e.g., chancellor or president, faculty athletics representative, individual to whom athletics reports);
(c) Staff members of a conference office; and
(d) Student-athletes.

 

Jennifer M. Condaras
Deputy Commissioner, NCAA Relations & Administration
Colonial Athletic Association

The opinions expressed in the Daily Compliance Item are the author’s and the author’s alone, and are not endorsed by The COLONIAL ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION or JumpForward. The Daily Compliance Item is not a substitute for a compliance office, case specific research, or the NCAA Bylaws. Do some homework, ask around, and get it right.

Daily Compliance Item- 1.26.17- 13.4.1.8.3- Personalized Videos for Signees

The Video Director at Ocean State University (OSU) has been busy putting together video highlights of all the recruits that are going to sign a National Letter of Intent (NLI) with OSU this week. Once the recruits have signed their NLIs, can the Video Director create a personalized version of these video highlights for the coaches to play for them?

 
Yes. NCAA Staff Interpretation- 2/27/15- Personalized Audio/Video Presentations After Prospective Student-Athlete’s Commitment (I)- states that an institution may produce and arrange personalized audio/video presentations to show to or play for a prospective student-athlete after he or she has signed a National Letter of Intent or the institution’s written offer of admission and/or financial aid or after the institution has received his or her financial deposit in response to its offer of admission. [References: NCAA Division I Bylaws 13.02.12.1 (exception – after commitment), 13.4.1.7.3 (computer-generated recruiting presentations), 13.6.7.9 (activities during official visit), 13.10.2.4 (prospective student-athlete’s visit) and 13.10.3 (publicity after commitment)]

Jennifer M. Condaras
Deputy Commissioner, NCAA Relations & Administration
Colonial Athletic Association

The opinions expressed in the Daily Compliance Item are the author’s and the author’s alone, and are not endorsed by The COLONIAL ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION or JumpForward. The Daily Compliance Item is not a substitute for a compliance office, case specific research, or the NCAA Bylaws. Do some homework, ask around, and get it right.

Daily Compliance Item- 1.25.17- 14.4.3.5.6- Repeating a Course

Mitchell Mitt is a junior baseball student-athlete at Ocean State University. Mitchell completed 16 hours during the fall 2016 semester. Three of those hours, however, were not accepted as degree credit because he did not earn the minimum grade to fulfill graduation requirements for his degree program. Mitchell is re-taking the class during the spring 2017 semester.
Since he was not able to use the class to meet graduation requirements during the fall semester, can he use the credits earned during the spring semester as long as he earns the minimum grade required?

Yes with conditions. NCAA Bylaw 14.4.3.5.6 states that credit for courses that are repeated may be used by a student to satisfy the minimum academic progress requirements only under the following conditions:
(a) A course repeated due to an unsatisfactory initial grade may be used only once, and only after it has been satisfactorily completed;
(b) Credit for a course that may be taken several times (e.g., a physical education activities course) shall be limited by institutional regulations; and (c) Credits earned in courses that may be taken several times may not exceed the maximum institutional limit for credits of that type for any baccalaureate degree program (or for the student’s specific baccalaureate degree program once a program has been designated).

Jennifer M. Condaras
Deputy Commissioner, NCAA Relations & Administration
Colonial Athletic Association

The opinions expressed in the Daily Compliance Item are the author’s and the author’s alone, and are not endorsed by The COLONIAL ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION or JumpForward. The Daily Compliance Item is not a substitute for a compliance office, case specific research, or the NCAA Bylaws. Do some homework, ask around, and get it right.

Daily Compliance Item- 1.23.17- 14.2.1.1.1- Prospects and Practice Activities

A few of the Ocean State University men’s basketball NLI signees live a few miles from campus. They would like to get a jump start on preparations for next year. Which of the following is permissible?

 
A. These signees can review the playbook with coaches.

 
B. These signees can sit in on film review sessions with the team and coaches.

 
C. These signees can attend off-court team meetings.

 
D. None of the above.

 

The answer is D. They can, however, attend on-court practices (including those that are closed to the general public). NCAA Bylaw 14.2.1.1.1 states that a prospective student-athlete shall not engage in any practice activities (e.g., review of playbook, chalk talk, film review) with a coaching staff member prior to his or her enrollment. A prospective student-athlete who has signed a National Letter of Intent or the institution’s written offer of admission and/or financial aid, or has submitted a financial deposit to the institution in response to the institution’s offer of admission shall not observe an institution’s off-field or off-court practice session (e.g., meeting, film review) that is closed to the general public. A prospective student-athlete may observe an institution’s on-field or on-court practice session (including a session that is closed to the general public), regardless of whether he or she has signed a National Letter of Intent or the institution’s written offer of admission and/or financial aid, or has submitted a financial deposit to the institution in response to the institution’s offer of admission. (Adopted: 5/30/13)

Jennifer M. Condaras
Deputy Commissioner, NCAA Relations & Administration
Colonial Athletic Association

The opinions expressed in the Daily Compliance Item are the author’s and the author’s alone, and are not endorsed by The COLONIAL ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION or JumpForward. The Daily Compliance Item is not a substitute for a compliance office, case specific research, or the NCAA Bylaws. Do some homework, ask around, and get it right.

Daily Compliance item- 1.20.17- Current Event

Head of NCAA enforcement sensitive to concerns that cases take too long

USATODAY.com

NASHVILLE — Jon Duncan, who heads the NCAA’s enforcement division, defended the work his staff has done recently to decrease the length of infractions cases in spite of significant public criticism, including recently from ACC commissioner John Swofford over the pending North Carolina case. Also this week, a member of the Mississippi state legislature proposed a bill that would force the NCAA to complete investigations within nine months, a response to the ongoing, years-long inquiry of the Ole Miss football program.

While Duncan declined to respond specifically to the Mississippi legislative proposal and can’t talk about ongoing cases, he said the NCAA is sensitive to concerns about how long cases take from start to finish and that changes he’s helped implement since taking over the department in early 2013 have “moved the needle not by days or weeks but by months,” said Duncan, who spoke to USA TODAY Sports at the NCAA’s annual convention.

Some of the difficulty in speeding up cases, Duncan said, is due to safeguards that were legislated into the processing phase, where involved parties are allowed time to respond to allegations against them. But there’s no doubt many of the NCAA’s high-profile cases have taken a long time to resolve, leaving a years-long cloud over programs even before the actual penalties were assessed.

“I’m totally tracking on the concerns that cases take too long,” Duncan said. “I absolutely understand that. We’ve worked very hard over the last several years to prioritize timely disposition of cases. I’m proud of that. There are still some cases, many of them high-profile, that go longer than that and that’s unfortunate. But we are working to reduce the duration and we’re being effective at that, without sacrificing quality, accuracy and the collaboration that we enjoy.”

The NCAA has long wrestled with how to speed up the process for schools that must appear in front of the Committee on Infractions, but the uniqueness of each case and the challenges of investigating without subpoena power makes it difficult to put every situation into the same box. Some cases are, quite simply, bigger than others and take longer to resolve.

Duncan, however, said the perception is sometimes skewed because it doesn’t take into account how many issues his division handles without any publicity.

“What most of the membership doesn’t know about are the cases that we open, investigate, collaborate with the institution and ultimately close down without bringing formal allegations,” Duncan said. “Nobody knows about those cases except for us and the member institution involved and it’s not unusual for those to be opened, investigated, closed down in a matter of days or weeks. Nobody’s tracking on those because the world doesn’t know about them and they’re confidential, so many are judging the timeliness of cases by a very small slice of our overall workload.”

This article was selected for educational purposes only.

Jennifer M. Condaras
Deputy Commissioner, NCAA Relations & Administration
Colonial Athletic Association

The opinions expressed in the Daily Compliance Item are the author’s and the author’s alone, and are not endorsed by The COLONIAL ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION or JumpForward. The Daily Compliance Item is not a substitute for a compliance office, case specific research, or the NCAA Bylaws. Do some homework, ask around, and get it right.

Daily Compliance Item- 1.17.17- 14.2.2.1- Competition Prior to Enrollment

And One is a freshman basketball student-athlete that initially enrolled at Ocean State University (OSU) at the beginning of January. Classes for the 2017 spring term have not yet begun at OSU, but And is registered for 14 hours and has been certified as eligible for competition by the NCAA Eligibility Center.

 
Since classes have not yet begun, is And permitted to participate in competitions prior to the first day of classes?

 

Yes with conditions. NCAA Bylaw 14.2.2.1.1 states that a student-athlete may compete during the official vacation period immediately preceding initial enrollment, provided the student has been accepted by the institution for enrollment in a regular, full-time program of studies at the time of the individual’s initial participation; is no longer enrolled in the previous educational institution; and is eligible under all institutional and NCAA requirements. (See Bylaw 16.8.2.1.)

Jennifer M. Condaras
Deputy Commissioner, NCAA Relations & Administration
Colonial Athletic Association

The opinions expressed in the Daily Compliance Item are the author’s and the author’s alone, and are not endorsed by The COLONIAL ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION or JumpForward. The Daily Compliance Item is not a substitute for a compliance office, case specific research, or the NCAA Bylaws. Do some homework, ask around, and get it right.

Daily Compliance Item- 1.16.17- 11.01.3, 13.5.2.4- GA Providing Transportation on Official Visits

Ocean State University (OSU) football program is hosting several prospects on official visits over the next couple of weeks. Because the prospects are arriving at various times, the OSU coaching staff would like the 2 GA Coaches to assist with transportation from the airport to campus.

Is it permissible for a GA coach to provide transportation from the airport to campus?

Yes. NCAA Staff Interpretation- 12/12/14- Activities Involving a Graduate Assistant Coach, Undergraduate Assistant Coach or Manager During a Prospective Student-Athlete’s Official Visit (I)- states that a graduate assistant coach, undergraduate student assistant coach or student manager may receive a meal with a prospective student-athlete during the prospective student-athlete’s official visit, within a 30-mile radius of the institution’s campus. Further, these individuals may provide ground transportation to a prospective student-athlete and the prospective student-athlete’s parents, relatives or legal guardians between the campus and any bus or train station or airport during an official visit. Finally, they may also provide ground transportation from the nearest bus or train station or major airport to campus on the student-athlete’s initial arrival at the institution to attend classes for a regular term or to participate in preseason practice, or for initial enrollment in the institution’s summer term for a prospective student-athlete who has been awarded athletically related financial aid for his or her initial summer term.

[References: NCAA Division I Bylaws 11.01.3 (coach, graduate assistant — bowl subdivision football and women’s rowing); 11.01.4 (coach, undergraduate student assistant); 11.01.6 (manager); 13.5.2.4 (from airport or bus or train station); 13.5.4 (transportation prior to initial enrollment); 13.6.7.5 (student host); 13.6.7.5.1 (multiple hosts); 13.6.7.7 (meals on official visit); staff interpretations (10/14/98, Item No. 19) and (12/20/12, Item No. c) which have been archived]

Jennifer M. Condaras
Deputy Commissioner, NCAA Relations & Administration
Colonial Athletic Association

The opinions expressed in the Daily Compliance Item are the author’s and the author’s alone, and are not endorsed by The COLONIAL ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION or JumpForward. The Daily Compliance Item is not a substitute for a compliance office, case specific research, or the NCAA Bylaws. Do some homework, ask around, and get it right.

Daily Compliance Item- 1.13.17- Current Event

Texas track coach Mario Sategna reinstated after investigation

ESPN.com

AUSTIN, Texas — Texas has reinstated track coach Mario Sategna, who had taken a personal leave of absence in September 2016 and was the subject of a school ethics and misconduct investigation.

A joint statement from men’s athletic director Mike Perrin and women’s athletic director Chris Plonsky said all the school’s concerns had been addressed and that Sategna must meet “appropriate responsive measures” in the future. No details were provided.

The school had previously said the investigation did not involve NCAA violations or gender discrimination issues.

Sategna took over the men’s and women’s programs in 2013, and his teams won Big 12 titles in 2015.

In a statement, Sategna said he had to address personal issues and was grateful to be allowed to return to coaching.

This article was selected for educational purposes only.

Jennifer M. Condaras
Deputy Commissioner, NCAA Relations & Administration
Colonial Athletic Association

The opinions expressed in the Daily Compliance Item are the author’s and the author’s alone, and are not endorsed by The COLONIAL ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION or JumpForward. The Daily Compliance Item is not a substitute for a compliance office, case specific research, or the NCAA Bylaws. Do some homework, ask around, and get it right.

Daily Compliance Item- 1.11.17- 11.7.6.2.3- Alternating Volunteer Coaches

The Ocean State University (OSU) women’s tennis team utilizes a volunteer coach throughout the spring championship season. This year, however, the volunteer coach is unable to give as much time to the program as he has in past years. The head coach would like to use a second volunteer coach to work with the student-athletes when the first volunteer coach is not available.

Is this permissible as long as the 2 volunteer coaches are not performing coaching duties at the same time?

No. NCAA Staff Interpretation- 5/13/92- Alternating different individuals during academic year as volunteer coach- indicates that in situations where an institution wishes to utilize more than one individual in the capacity of volunteer coach during the academic year, noting that at no time will more than one individual be serving as volunteer coach; confirmed that this arrangement would not be permissible, inasmuch as an individual designated in a coaching category would assume that position for the duration of the academic year unless the coach was temporarily replaced due to extenuating circumstances per NCAA Bylaw 11.7.1.1.1.2 or through normal attrition. [References: Bylaws 11.7.1.1 (designation of coaching category); 11.7.1.1.1.2 (replacement due to extenuating circumstances); 11.7.4.1.3 (volunteer coach)] NCAA Bylaw 11.7.6.2.3 states that in sports other than football, basketball, women’s equestrian, women’s rowing and women’s triathlon, a member institution may use the services of one volunteer coach (per Bylaw 11.01.6). Indoor track and field, outdoor track and field, and cross country are separate sports for purposes of this provision. In sports in which the NCAA conducts separate men’s and women’s championships, a combined men’s and women’s program may use two volunteer coaches. (Adopted: 1/19/92 effective 8/1/92, Revised: 4/26/01 effective 8/1/01, 1/8/07 effective 8/1/07, 1/18/14 effective 8/1/14)

Jennifer M. Condaras
Deputy Commissioner, NCAA Relations & Administration
Colonial Athletic Association

The opinions expressed in the Daily Compliance Item are the author’s and the author’s alone, and are not endorsed by The COLONIAL ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION or JumpForward. The Daily Compliance Item is not a substitute for a compliance office, case specific research, or the NCAA Bylaws. Do some homework, ask around, and get it right.