The NCAA News - News & Features

Legislative assistanceÑ1996 Column No. 30

Amendment to Student-Athlete Statement
NCAA Divisions I and III

Divisions I and III institutions should note that wording should be changed in part II (Buckley Amendment Consent) of the Student-Athlete Statement. For Division I, the student's signature should indicate his or her agreement to disclose documents related to the NCAA's institutional athletics certification program, as well as for the other purposes indicated on page 2 of that form. Accordingly, the last sentence of the Buckley Amendment consent form should read, "You agree to disclose these records only to determine your eligibility for intercollegiate athletics, your eligibility for athletically related financial aid, for purposes of inclusion in summary institutional information reported to the NCAA (and which may be publicly released for it), for NCAA longitudinal research studies, for activities related to the NCAA's institutional athletics certification program and NCAA compliance reviews."

Part II of the Division III Student-Athlete Statement contains unnecessary language related to the NCAA's athletics certification program. Since Division III does not sponsor an institutional athletics certification program, the reference to this program should be removed from this form. Accordingly, the last sentence of the Buckley Amendment consent form should read, "You agree to disclose these records only to determine your eligibility for intercollegiate athletics, for eligibility related to financial aid, for purposes of inclusion in summary institutional information reported to the NCAA (and which may be publicly released by it), for NCAA longitudinal research studies and activities related to NCAA compliance reviews."

NCAA Bylaw 13.7.1.2.3ÑAcademic credentials for official visit

NCAA Division I institutions should note that the provisions of Bylaw 13.7.1.2.4 (academic credentials for official visit prior to early signing period) as listed on Pages 128-129 in the 1996-97 NCAA Manual no longer are in effect. During its April 15-17, 1996, meeting, the NCAA Council approved a recommendation directing the NCAA Administrative Review Panel to grant a blanket waiver to permit an institution to provide to a prospect an official visit prior to the early signing period for the National Letter of Intent in the applicable sport. Please note that it is not necessary for an institution to submit a waiver request to the panel for this purpose.

Accordingly, a Division I institution (as well as a Division II institution) that wishes to offer an official visit to a prospective student-athlete in any sport (including those that have an early signing period for the National Letter of Intent) need only to meet the requirements of Bylaw 13.7.1.2.3. This regulation permits an institution to provide an official visit to a prospect only if the prospect has presented the institution with a score from a PSAT, SAT, PLAN (or PACT Plus) or ACT taken on a national testing date under national testing conditions. The score must be presented in writing through an official high-school or testing agency document but does not have to be received directly from the testing agency. Further, the prospect must provide the member institution with the high-school (or college) academic transcript. The academic transcript may be an unofficial photocopy of an official document from the prospect's high school (or collegiate institution). A Division I or II institution may use the NCAA Initial-Eligibility Clearinghouse to certify these requirements, but it is not required to do so.

This material was provided by the legislative services staff as an aid to member institutions. If an institution has a question or comment regarding this column, such correspondence should be directed to Richard C. Perko, legislative assistant, at the NCAA national office. This information is available on the Collegiate Sports Network.