The NCAA News - News & Features

Council to sponsor learning-disability legislation

The NCAA Council has agreed to support a change in the way the Association accommodates learning-disabled students attempting to meet the academic standards required to play sports their freshman year.

The Council, which met April 15-17, agreed to sponsor two pieces of legislation recommended by the NCAA Academic Requirements Committee. One would eliminate the rule requiring certification that a high-school prospect have specific academic achievements in order to take an early official visit, and the other would allow learning-disabled students to count high-school courses taken in the summer after they graduate toward their core-course requirements.

The legislation that would eliminate the requirement for certification of academic achievements before early official visits will cover all prospective student-athletes, not just those with learning disabilities as requested by the Academic Requirements Committee.

The Council also directed the NCAA Administrative Review Panel to issue a blanket waiver for all prospective student-athletes taking early official visits in the fall of 1996. The effect of the action will be to remove the early official visit certification workload from the NCAA Initial-Eligibility Clearinghouse at a time of the year when the clearinghouse is also completing certifications for entering freshmen.

The recommendations for legislation were part of an Academic Requirements Committee report concerning discussions and correspondence with the U.S. Department of Justice. In a February 27 letter, the Justice Department, after meeting with the NCAA, suggested changes in the NCAA's current accommodations for learning-disabled students in the area of initial eligibility. That letter provided the basis for the committee's recommendations. The Justice Department followed up with an April 15 letter to the Council, which was forwarded to the Academic Requirements Committee.

The Academic Requirements Committee encouraged the Council Subcommittee on Initial-Eligibility Waivers to consider five factors when determining whether prospective student-athletes with learning disabilities have met initial-eligibility standards. Those factors, which were suggested by the Justice Department, are:

* The extent to which a failure to meet any criterion is attributable to a student-athlete's disability.

* Whether noncore courses that a student with a learning disability has taken have been specified in an Individual Education Plan and/or have been approved by a state or local government as satisfying graduation requirements for students with learning disabilities.

* The likelihood that noncore courses that a student with a learning disability has taken will prepare the student to complete successfully a planned course of study at a particular institution.

* The assessments of a high-school principal, guidance counselor or teacher as to whether a student with a learning disability who does not meet all additional eligibility criteria is likely to succeed academically in college while participating in an athletics program.

* Written or oral comments by the student that may reflect the level of knowledge that the student actually has acquired in high school and may be helpful in predicting the student's ability to succeed in college.

The Academic Requirements Committee also reported that it will work with the Special Committee to Oversee Implementation of the NCAA Initial-Eligibility Clearinghouse to develop procedures to inform students with learning disabilities about courses they would be required to complete to meet initial-eligibility standards. Those committees also will work with the Council Subcommittee on Initial-Eligibility Waivers to develop additional procedures or criteria for processing initial-eligibility cases.

Other committee reports

The Council heard reports from most of the Association's general committees and from several special committees.

Among them was a report from the NCAA Eligibility Committee, which raised the possibility of creating a special committee to study amateurism issues. To aid in its decision, the Council requested a clarification on whether the Special Committee to Study Agents and Amateurism is planning to undertake a comprehensive examination of amateurism as part of its work.

If so, the Divisions II and III Steering Committees noted that because the question of amateurism transcends all three divisions, representatives from those divisions should be added to that committee, which currently is made up exclusively of Division I representatives.

A request for the Council to sponsor legislation permitting employment income for student-athletes during the school year was referred back to the NCAA Committee on Financial Aid and Amateurism. The committee was asked to identify why similar legislation has been defeated at the last two NCAA Conventions and to report back to the Council for its August meeting.

In another matter pertaining to financial aid, the Council approved a recommendation that will require each Division I institution to submit annually as part of the sports-sponsorship form a statement that the institution is complying with Division I financial aid minimums.

Clearinghouse issues

The Council also supported a proposal from the Special Committee to Oversee Implementation of the NCAA Initial-Eligibility Clearinghouse that is designed to enhance service for member institutions and for prospective student-athletes and their families.

The plan would establish a year-round telephone number to be used by member institutions; would train more evaluators to answer calls from member institutions; and would increase the capacity for handling calls from the membership and the public during peak periods.

The Council also accepted a special committee recommendation that the NCAA Research Committee study what types of courses are being disputed when high schools and the clearinghouse disagree over what constitutes a core course.

In a related matter, the clearinghouse committee noted that the number of prospective student-athletes registering with the clearinghouse exceeds by far the number of individuals who appear on an institutional request list.

Last year, more than 100,000 individuals registered with the clearinghouse, but only 60,000 appeared on an institutional request list.

Other actions

The Council endorsed an NCAA Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee recommendation to develop outreach programs that will be geared for students in grades five through eight, but asked the committee for feedback on potential recruiting problems associated with extending and enhancing the program in grades nine through 12.

In the proposed program, coaches and student-athletes would interact with students in inner-city schools through such means as speakers bureaus, boys and girls clubs, community meetings and one-on-one activities.

The Council also received a report from the NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship Committee recommending that the value of each scholarship be increased from $5,000 to $7,500.

The Council noted the number of quality applicants who are turned down annually and recommended to the NCAA Executive Committee -- which must approve funding for the scholarships -- that it increase the number of scholarships rather than increase the value of each grant.

Minutes of the Council's April meeting will be published in The NCAA Register.