The NCAA News - News and Features

January 13, 1997

Process for identifying core courses refined

BY SALLY HUGGINS
STAFF WRITER

Hoping to avoid some of the furor of last August and September when student-athletes were seeking certification by the NCAA Initial-Eligibility Clearinghouse, the NCAA Academic Requirements Committee has fine-tuned the process for determining what high-school courses qualify as core courses.

The NCAA Council has established a timetable so that all course decisions are made before initial-eligibility certifications take place. As for the Academic Requirements Committee, it wants course determinations removed from consideration of individual student-athletes.

High schools now have 90 days in which to amend the list of courses in their curricula that are considered core courses for NCAA initial-eligibility purposes. Worksheets have been designed to allow input from high schools regarding why a course should qualify as a core course.

"This process will produce more timely review of core courses, greater communication back with the high school as to the status of the review, and it will help the NCAA stay current with changes taking place in high-school curriculum," said Kevin C. Lennon, NCAA director of compliance and staff liaison to the Academic Requirements Committee.

"This also is intended to remove the individual student-athlete from the equation. The worksheet comes back with no student attached -- without a specific student's eligibility in question."

Later this month, information will be sent to high schools throughout the country advising administrators that the NCAA's Form 48H renewal is coming. The 48H form lists the courses submitted by each high school that have been approved as core courses by the Initial-Eligibility Clearinghouse.

Upon receipt of the 48H form renewal in February, high-school administrators should examine courses listed on the form and submit any additions or, where they consider it appropriate, challenge any course that the clearinghouse has not approved as a core course.

Accompanying the renewal form will be a one-page worksheet for each core-course discipline -- English, math, natural or physical science, social sciences, and additional academic courses. A form on courses offered for students with learning disabilities also will be provided. The high-school administrator should complete the worksheets for any courses the school believes satisfy the core-course requirement but that have not been accepted as core courses by the clearinghouse.

The Academic Requirements Committee has a subcommittee for each core-course discipline that prepares the guidelines the clearinghouse uses to approve core courses. Joining each subcommittee this year will be two secondary school representatives from national councils in the various disciplines. For example, the National Council of Teachers of English will have two representatives on the English subcommittee helping to create the guidelines.

In all, the subcommittees are composed of six members: four NCAA members and the two representatives of councils in each of the disciplines. The makeup is designed to give the educators a voice in the final review process, Lennon said.

From the time the 48H renewal forms leave the clearinghouse, each high school has 90 days to amend its form and return it to the clearinghouse. When the clearinghouse receives a form back from a high school, it will notify the school that the form has been received and give an estimate of when the high school can expect a response from the clearinghouse regarding whether courses have been approved as core courses.

The Academic Requirements Committee hopes the increased communication will smooth the process.

Also in that regard, the new worksheets will give the clearinghouse staff more information with which to make its core-course determinations.

The worksheets ask for information about course content, curriculum and instructional level and require the signature of the high-school principal and guidance counselor.

When the clearinghouse has determined which courses are acceptable as core courses according to the Academic Requirements Committee guidelines, the high school will be notified and the its 48H form will be updated.

If a course is denied, the course information immediately will be sent to the appropriate Academic Requirements Committee subcommittee for review. Simultaneously, notice will be sent to the high school that the course has been denied core-course status and is being reviewed.

Once the subcommittee makes a decision on whether a course qualifies as a core course, there is no other appeal, Lennon said. If an NCAA school seeks an initial-eligibility waiver later for a specific student, the request cannot be based on whether a course should have been considered a core course, he said.

A video conference has been scheduled February 17 to explain the changes in the core-course review process to high-school principals and guidance counselors and to allow them to ask questions.

This year's 48H renewal process is intended for the 1998 graduating class. The hope is that the core-course determinations will be made far enough in advance so that high-school students will be able to make up any shortcomings through summer school and their senior year.

However, if a course is accepted as a core course this year, it will be acceptable for students graduating in 1997, Lennon said.

For 1996 graduating seniors, the clearinghouse had 19,000 48H forms on file, representing about three-fourths of the high schools in the United States.

Changes in process