The NCAA News - News & Features

Presidents support agent-related proposals

The NCAA Presidents Commission has agreed to support three Council-sponsored proposals relating to the Association's review of agents and amateurism.

The Commission, which met September 24-25, will support Proposal Nos. 2-59, 2-85 and 2-103, as they are listed in the Second Publication of Proposed Legislation for the 1997 Convention.

Those proposals, which were developed by the Special Committee on Agents and Amateurism, would permit student-athletes to be involved in additional "media activities," would require the registration of vehicles for Division I grant-in-aid recipients in the sports of football and basketball, and would permit grant-in-aid student-athletes to earn employment compensation during term time under specified conditions.

The Commission, however, declined to support a proposal that would permit loans against a student-athlete's future professional earnings and asked the special committee to continue to develop the concept.

The special committee specifically asked the Commission to address the concept of loans for athletes. Some members expressed concern that such a policy could be contrary to the philosophy of intercollegiate athletics.

The Commission's reluctance to support the loan legislation was consistent with the reaction of the NCAA Council, which also had expressed reservations about timing, source and amount of the loans at its August meeting.

[In a related matter, the financial aid committee also has suggested to the Council possible options for the special committee's employment-earnings proposal (see page 5).]

In other business, the Commission approved the latest report from the Transition Oversight Committee.

The report includes a general meeting and budget schedule for the period from January 1997 to January 1999 that was developed based on the following principles:

* Presidents Council and Board of Directors meetings will follow Management Council meetings.

* All three divisions will have a January, April, July and October governance-meetings schedule and will meet at the same site, if possible.

* The Presidents Council and Board of Directors meetings conducted in January will be used to satisfy the provisions of Constitution 4.1.2-(g), which requires at least one combined meeting per year of the three division presidential governing bodies.

* Each division's preliminary budget will be developed in April, and the Association-wide budget will be approved in July.

* Divisions II and III will review proposed legislation in July.

* It was agreed that if the remainder of the legislation needed to complete the new structure is adopted at the 1997 Convention, the Commission will conclude its business with its June 1997 meeting, which would be coordinated with meetings of the new presidential bodies in each division.

In another matter related to restructuring, the Commission acknowledged the concerns of the NCAA Committee on Review and Planning, which noted that its "planning" function is addressed in the new structure but that its "review" function is not necessarily provided for (see story on page 3). The Commission asked the committee to develop a report on the matter for submission to the new Executive Committee.

Regarding the ongoing discussion of how NCAA eligibility legislation applies to learning-disabled students, the Commission joined the Council in supporting continuing discussions on the topic with the U.S. Department of Justice. However, the Commission stopped short of approving the suggestion of entering into an agreement with the Justice Department at this time.

The Commission also received a report from the NCAA staff on compliance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (more commonly known as the Buckley Amendment). It was noted that a 1994 amendment of the act made it directly applicable to the NCAA and that efforts had been made to make certain that the staff understands the law and complies with it. The sponsors of Proposal No. 2-87, which relates to the Buckley Amendment, have indicated that they are continuing to review whether they believe NCAA legislation on this topic is necessary.