National Collegiate Athletic Association

The NCAA News - News and Features

July 7, 1997

Academic committee addresses transition issues

The NCAA Academic Requirements Committee reviewed its transition plan and agreed upon recommendations to be considered by other subgroups within the Association's new governance structure during its final meeting June 22-23 in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.

Issues previously under the Academic Requirements Committee's jurisdiction will be absorbed by the Division I Academic/Eligibility/Compliance Cabinet and the Division II Academic Requirements Committee beginning August 1. Within the Division I Academic/Eligibility/Compliance Cabinet specifically, subcommittees on initial and continuing eligibility will assume many of the Academic Requirements Committee's previous duties.

In that regard, the committee heard a report from its two student-athlete representatives, who emphasized the need for strong student-athlete involvement on the new academic bodies. The committee agreed to forward this recommendation to the Division I Academic/Eligibility/Compliance Cabinet and the Division II Academic Requirements Committee.

The committee also discussed the need for involvement from representatives of other professional organizations within the new structure.

Several items were referred to the new governance structure for further review, including a formal recognition of courses that use vocational or applied approaches to academic disciplines and possibly permitting eighth-grade courses to be used on a limited basis. The committee also referred a review of NCAA Bylaw 14.3.5.3.5 in regard to permitting learning-disabled student-athletes to repeat courses after graduation.

The committee also reviewed a number of individualized learning centers and acknowledged that there are instances in which courses taken by students at these centers should qualify as core courses. It noted that legislation precludes the use of independent-study courses for the purpose of meeting the core-course requirements.

In other actions, the committee reviewed NCAA research regarding characteristics of Division I recruits, including ethnic and income-level groups from the NCAA Initial-Eligibility Clearinghouse, and will encourage the appropriate committees within the new structure to consider the impact of initial-eligibility standards on prospective student-athletes from ethnic-minority groups and lower income levels.

Other highlights

Academic Requirements Committee
June 22-23/Coeur d'Alene, Idaho

  • Reviewed satisfactory-progress standards and acknowledged that they are having their intended effect. Thus, the committee did not see the need to recommend major revisions to the legislation, but encouraged the new governance structure to continue to monitor the impact of the standards on degree selection and graduation rates.

  • Continued to express support for approving interdisciplinary courses at the high-school level that satisfy the core-course requirement.

  • Noted that the "obvious waiver candidate" designation appears to be having its intended effect. More than 100 students have received the distinction without being notified that they were ever ineligible or without them having to submit a waiver application.