The NCAA News - News & Features

Council supports out-of-season work legislation

At its August 12-14 meeting, the Council voted to sponsor legislation at the 1997 Convention that would allow Division I student-athletes who are on full grants to work in the off-season during the school year, earning up to the value of the cost of attendance at the institution in which they are enrolled. To be eligible for such employment income, student-athletes would have to have spent one academic year in residence at the institution and would have to be academically eligible to compete.

Based on a directive from the 1996 Convention, the Division I subcommittee of the NCAA Committee on Financial Aid and Amateurism also has reviewed the Association's employment-income rules. That subcommittee concluded that it "believes strongly that NCAA rules in this area should be changed to encourage and provide student-athletes an opportunity to take responsibility for improving their own situations rather than continuing to foster a belief that student-athletes should depend on others for 'handouts.' The subcommittee also takes the view that, even if the adoption of such a rule change results in higher expenses and more administrative work, these costs are outweighed by the benefit of addressing a significant student-athlete welfare issue."

Based on a recommendation from the special agents and amateurism committee, the Council also will sponsor legislation that will allow Divisions I and II student-athletes to participate in activities related to radio, television, film, stage and writing projects. Such student-athletes would be allowed to accept only expenses and to participate in such activities only during the period outside the playing season. They also would be required to be academically eligible to compete.

Other special committee recommendations approved by the Council included:

* An extensive education program aimed at informing student-athletes, coaches and administrators about issues related to sports agents.

* A set of agent-related sanctions and deterrents for institutions and student-athletes.

* Endorsement of efforts to enact uniform state laws governing agent/ runner activities.

The Council, however, declined to support at this time legislation that would enable student-athletes to receive loans based on their future earnings potential as a professional athlete. Members of the Council raised a number of questions about that concept, including concerns about the source of the loans, the availability of such funds and determining which student-athletes would receive them.

The Council also referred back to the special committee a recommendation that would amend NCAA Bylaw 12.5.1.1 to eliminate the practice of institutions selling commercial products bearing the name or image of student-athletes.

Restructuring

The Council reviewed the report of the NCAA Transition Oversight Committee and agreed to support restructuring recommendations relating to Association-wide committees in the new structure (sportsmanship and ethical conduct was added as an Association-wide function), funding and staffing, provisional membership (the provisional-membership period in all divisions would be increased from three to four years), and National Collegiate championships (all National Collegiate championships would be administered by the Division I Championships/Competition Cabinet, except for the Divisions II and III Women's Golf Championships, which would be administered by the championships committees of those divisions).

NBA draft

The Council also agreed to support a significant change in the current professional basketball draft rule. That rule currently permits basketball student-athletes the opportunity to assess their market value through a one-time opportunity to enter the National Basketball Association draft. Such student-athletes are permitted to retain their collegiate eligibility if they choose, even if they are drafted.

The new proposal would allow eligibility to be retained if the student-athlete is not selected in the two-round draft. The Council's support is based on the NBA's creation of an effective undergraduate advisory committee that would allow all student-athletes to receive reliable advice about their draft status and market value. If the NBA does not show good faith in establishing such a panel, the NCAA Professional Sports Liaison Committee, which is recommending the proposed legislation, may withdraw its support of the proposal.

Outreach program

Acting on a recommendation from the NCAA Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee, the Council approved establishment of an outreach program that is aimed at precollege athletes. The program consists of a community-awareness program, a pilot program for academic camps and expanded Association involvement in National Student-Athlete Day.

The community-awareness program will be geared at reaching children in grades five through eight and will encourage coaches, student-athletes and athletics department staff members in reaching students from that age group. The program will provide educational and eligibility information to the community, potential students and parents.

The summer academic camp will be modeled after the existing National Youth Sports Program, which brings underprivileged children to college campuses each summer. The NYSP Academic Camp will feature an academic component including math, science, reading and writing, along with instruction in a variety of sports. Pilot programs will be conducted in cities that have been identified as federal empowerment zones and will be aimed at junior high school students.

Learning disabilities

A pair of recommendations from the NCAA Academic Requirements Committee relating to prospective student-athletes who are learning-disabled also gained Council support.

First, the Council will sponsor Division I legislation to permit students with learning disabilities to use all course work completed before initial full-time enrollment at a collegiate institution to satisfy the core-curriculum requirement. The determination as to whether the course is a core course will be made on the basis of the 48-H confirmation statement issued to the high school where the student takes the class.

Second, the Council will sponsor legislation that would allow students with learning disabilities to submit an initial-eligibility waiver on their own without requiring that a member institution do so on their behalf.

The proposals both are the results of the Association's ongoing discussions with the U.S. Justice Department regarding how learning-disabled students are affected by NCAA initial-eligibility legislation. Earlier, the Council had agreed to sponsor legislation that would eliminate the rule requiring a high-school prospect to have accomplished specific academic achievements before being allowed to take an early official visit.

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS

Council
August 12-14/Hot Springs, Virginia

* Agreed to sponsor legislation recommended by the NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports that would require that the first two days of spring football practice be noncontact, reduce the number of contact days from 10 to five (while maintaining a total of 15 practice days) and eliminate use of shoulder pads in all noncontact practices.

* Approved additional policies recommended by the NCAA Special Events Committee related to the administration of contests that are exempted from an institution's maximum number of contests/dates. The Council also approved a committee recommendation that requests for fall events are to be received not later than December 1 and that requests for winter and spring events are to be received by May 1.

* Agreed to sponsor legislation recommended by the NCAA Recruiting Committee:

For Divisions I and II, to amend Bylaw 13.1.2.3-(b) to allow a coaching staff member who is the parent of a prospect to watch any activity involving the prospect, as opposed to only competition.

For Divisions I and II football, to amend Bylaw 13.1.3.1.1 to permit one telephone call to a prospect during May of the prospect's junior year in high school and eliminate the calls that currently are permissible in August.

For Division I only, to amend Bylaw 11.3.2.7 to preclude coaching staff members from promoting a private camp by allowing his or her pictures or quotations to be used on a camp brochure, unless the coach is employed by the private camp.

The Council chose not to sponsor a Recruiting Committee proposal to amend Bylaw 13.1.3.1 for Divisions I and II men's and women's basketball to allow one telephone call to a prospect or his or her parents during June (only after the completion of the prospect's junior year in high school).

* Agreed to sponsor legislation recommended by the NCAA Professional Sports Liaison Committee to amend Bylaw 10.3 to prohibit athletics administrators, including coaching staff members, from participating in any gambling activities associated with professional sports contests.

* Based on a recommendation from the Special Committee to Oversee Implementation of the NCAA Initial-Eligibility Clearinghouse, the Council reversed an April interpretation that permitted the clearinghouse to use faxed documents for foreign-student certifications (students certified in this manner could receive financial aid and practice; however, they could not compete until the clearinghouse received a hard copy of the transcript). The reversal means that the clearinghouse no longer will accept faxed documents for foreign student-athlete certification.

* Declined to sponsor an NCAA Eligibility Committee proposal that would amend Bylaw 12.1.1.1.5 to permit a student-athlete to accept necessary expenses for a specific event or tournament. The committee believed that the membership's adoption or rejection of the proposal would assist it in the future in its review of performance-based payments.

* Approved changes recommended by the Academic Requirements Committee in the core-course review procedure for Divisions I and II.

* Approved incorporation of sportsmanship and ethical conduct as a specific component in the Division I athletics certification program.