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The NCAA News -- July 5, 1999

Academic requirements group develops eligibility options

When it comes to initial eligibility, the Division II Academic Requirements Committee finds itself in the same place as other Division II entities: It supports the existing Division II standards, but it feels compelled to explore alternatives in the wake of a federal court decision that struck down Division I initial-eligibility legislation.

The committee approached its work at a June 17-18 meeting with the understanding that Division II generally appears comfortable with its initial-eligibility standards. Only 1.5 percent of prospective student-athletes who appear on a Division II Institutional Request List are nonqualifiers, which means that the remaining 98.5 percent are either partial or full qualifiers and thus immediately eligible for athletically related financial aid.

In addition, Division II partial qualifiers who meet satisfactory-progress standards are eligible for four years of competition. That differs from Division I, where partial qualifiers are eligible for only three years of competition unless they complete their bachelor's requirements within four years of enrollment.

Still, Division II uses standardized tests as part of its initial-eligibility determination, and there is a cutoff number (820 SAT/68 ACT) that a prospect must score to be a qualifier.

In the wake of the Cureton v. NCAA ruling (in which Division I initial-eligibility standards were invalidated), the Academic Requirements Committee developed four general initial-eligibility options for Division II, which it will forward to the Division II Management Council for consideration at its July meeting.

Option 1: Leave Division II initial-eligibility standards as they are.

Option 2: Eliminate the standardized-test requirement, leaving only the grade-point and core-course requirements.

Option 3: Implement a sliding scale using grade-point averages and test scores similar to new sliding scales being considered in Division I.

Option 4: Set the standard deviation for test scores two units below the mean (rather than one, as is currently the case). That would match the deviation for grade-point averages and would result in an SAT cutoff of about 725.

Some concern was expressed that if Division I changes its standards in ways that are being considered and Division II leaves its standards the same, a future Division II partial qualifier might be a full qualifier in Division I, which would be a departure from the historic norm. The issue could merit further examination to determine if switching the degree of restrictiveness between divisions might have unintended consequences.

Although the Academic Requirements Committee stressed the need for the division to consider initial eligibility in a controlled manner -- specifically taking time to develop adequate research on the matter since most examination to date has focused on Division I -- it also noted that the topic is sufficiently important that the division may wish to empower the Division II Presidents Council to act in an emergency capacity if necessary.

After a discussion that included Presidents Council member Jessica S. Kozloff of Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania, Management Council Chair Clint Bryant of Augusta State University and NCAA Assistant General Counsel Scott Bearby, the committee forwarded to the Management Council and Presidents Council a proposal that would allow the Presidents Council the authority to enact emergency legislation in reaction to a court order or filed litigation. The legislation that would provide the authority to enact emergency legislation would have to be approved by the Division II membership at the January Convention.

In a related matter, the committee also reviewed recommendations from its core-course subcommittee, which is recommending new criteria for nontraditional courses, such as Internet or correspondence courses or independent study. Those criteria would stipulate that nontraditional courses could be designated as core courses if:

They meet the other definitions of a core course.

They provide for the instructor and student to have access to one another.

Evaluation is done by the proper authorities in accordance with high-school policies.

The program is available to all students.

Two-year transfers

The Academic Requirements Committee also discussed matters pertaining to transfers from two-year colleges.

It noted that research on the academic performance of two-year college transfers that had been requested at the committee's February meeting had been delayed as a result of the activity surrounding the Cureton decision. However, the committee expects that research to be completed by next spring and distributed to the membership by next summer.

The Academic Requirements Committee also indicated an interest in involving the National Junior College Athletic Association in discussions about Division II transfer regulations.

It also talked about checking eligibility every term, a practice already employed by some Division II institutions and by the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. The benefit would be that institutions would be less inclined to recruit academic risks if they could be declared ineligible after one term of attendance.