The NCAA News - News & Features

Compliance Assistant users group started on Internet

To determine interest in the users group, Shults sent a letter in February to more than 550 individuals who receive the Compliance Assistant from the national office. His goal for the group is for users of the Compliance Assistant software to have the ability to share information regarding the program and ask questions of each other.

One example of information that can be shared is sample ad hoc reports so individuals do not have to "reinvent the wheel" on their individual campuses. The users group, however, is not limited to individuals who use the ad hoc reporting feature of the software. Other possible areas for sharing information could include questions regarding running the Compliance Assistant on a network, and downloading information from a mainframe computer into the Compliance Assistant.

About 70 individuals are currently in the users group. Shults administers the the Internet mailing list, which is a central location where each member of the group can send information or make inquiries regarding the software program. When a message is sent, each member of the list will receive that e-mail message.

If an individual chooses to reply to the message, his or her response will be forwarded to the e-mail addresses of all members of the list.

Individuals must subscribe to receive the information, but they are free to discontinue the subscription at any time.

The list name is: ncaa_caug (which stands for NCAA Compliance Assistant Users Group) and the address is ncaa_caug@mailer.fsu.edu.

Individuals interested in subscribing should e-mail listproc@mailer.fsu.edu and type the following in the body of the message: subscribe ncaa_caug <your first name> <your last name>.

[Note: The "_" is an underline (not a space), and "<your first name>" and "<your last name>" should not be in brackets. The list processor automatically records your e-mail address.]

Once an individual is a member of the list, he or she can send a message to individuals on the list using the following e-mail address: ncaa_caug@mailer.fsu.edu.

Also, the subscriber may e-mail the listproc address (listproc@mailer.fsu.edu) for the following information:

* To receive a list of other members on the list, type: recipients ncaa_caug

* To receive a help message that explains the previous commands and others, type: help

* To retrieve specific help regarding what a list processor is, type: help listproc

To discontinue the service, a subscriber can e-mail the listproc address and type: unsubscribe ncaa_caug .

The account is designed to handle Compliance Assistant software business only, not legislative interpretations or other general compliance issues, and it is monitored daily.

Questions regarding the users group or mailing list may be directed to Shults at the following e-mail address: bshults@mailer.fsu.edu.

Tracy Cumming, associate director of athletics for compliance at Clarion University of Pennsylvania, proposed the list-processor idea.