The NCAA News - News and Features

February 17, 1997

Packet offers help with core-course process

"A New Game Plan" packet containing information about the NCAA core-course approval process will be mailed to high schools within the next two weeks.

All high schools in the country will receive a packet by March 1, when the 90-day window begins for adding new courses for approval as core courses for initial-eligibility certification purposes.

A high school will have until May 31 to return its 48H form -- the form that lists the courses currently approved as core courses -- to the NCAA Initial-Eligibility Clearinghouse with any course title changes. If the school has no form on file, it is to submit a form listing what it considers its core courses.

For schools wanting to add courses to their 48H form, worksheets for each subject area are included in the packet for ease in making additions. The worksheets -- new this year -- are designed to allow more consistent input from the high schools regarding why a course should qualify as a core course.

There is a 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 is provided.

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

A brightly colored card already has been sent to 24,000 high schools across the country introducing "A New Game Plan" and announcing a February 17 videoconference for high-school administrators to introduce changes in the core-course review process, clearinghouse procedures and accommodations for students with learning disabilities. The videoconference is from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. (Central time). A rebroadcast of the videoconference is scheduled for April 1.

The 48H renewal packet comes with a cover letter from Cedric W. Dempsey, NCAA executive director, thanking the schools for their partnership in the NCAA's effort to improve the initial-eligibility core-course review process.

"First, let me say thank you for your efforts in preparing young people for the challenge of combining successful academics and competitive athletics at the university level during their first year of college," Dempsey writes. "We recognize the critical role you play, especially in helping student-athletes meet the academic standards of the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

"The NCAA also is grateful to you and your colleagues around the country for calling our attention to the challenges of the initial-eligibility core-course review process as it previously existed. We heard what you had to say. We have invested countless hours in reviewing and streamlining the process from top to bottom."

Among the changes for this year's round of core-course reviews are worksheets to help high schools prepare the 48H forms, better communication to apprise the schools of where their forms are in the review process, and an automatic appeal process for any course that the clearinghouse does not approve. A course not approved by the clearinghouse automatically is referred to the NCAA Academic Requirements Committee for additional review and final evaluation.

A step-by-step guide for completing the 48H renewal form is included in the packet. The materials stress the need for high schools to fill out the forms completely because incomplete forms will slow review of a school's form. A postcard to be self-addressed by the high school and returned to the clearinghouse with the 48H form is included. The postcard will be mailed to the institution as soon as the 48H form (and worksheets, if applicable) is received to confirm for the high school that the form has been received at the clearinghouse.

Within 60 days of receipt of a high school's form, the clearinghouse staff will review it and a revised 48H form will be sent to the high school listing all courses that meet the standards established by the Academic Requirements Committee for core courses.

If a course is not approved, notification will be sent by the clearinghouse that the course has been forwarded to the committee for further review. An Academic Requirements Committee subcommittee will review all supporting materials before rendering a final decision.

Once the subcommittee makes a decision on whether a course qualifies as a core course, there is no other appeal. If an NCAA school later seeks an initial-eligibility waiver for a specific student, the request cannot be based on whether a course should have been considered a core course. The intention is to remove the individual student-athlete from the approval process so that a course determination is made without a specific student's eligibility in question.

While the packets are being prepared, the clearinghouse staff is hiring staff and gearing up for the onslaught of 48H forms from the nation's high schools, said Kevin C. Lennon, NCAA director of compliance and staff liaison to the Academic Requirements Committee.

"We are working with the National Association of Collegiate Admission Counselors to pilot the form and give the clearinghouse a sense of how many forms they can anticipate," Lennon said.

If a high school has no changes or additions to the core courses listed on its renewal form, then the high school should indicate this on the return postcard, Lennon said. But schools that want to add courses should return the appropriate forms, and the sooner the better, he said, so that the courses can be reviewed in as timely a manner as possible.

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 that high-school students will be able to make up shortcomings through summer school and their senior year.

Lennon said if a high school returns its amended form quickly, its form will be approved earlier. Then the high school will have that information available when planning curriculum and advising students for the 1997-98 academic year, he said.