With the start of a new academic year, questions such as "Who is eligible?" or "What can the fund be used for?" will be asked again regarding the special assistance fund for student-athletes.
A September 1, 1997, NCAA News contained an article entitled "Special questions may result from special assistance fund" concerning the rules governing the fund; however, subsequent interpretations have expanded the use of the special assistance fund. Therefore, it is essential that everyone involved in the administration of the fund, especially the Division I financial aid officers and the athletics compliance officers, understand the current rules regarding the use of the fund.
The fund was initially established in 1991 to meet the student-athletes' needs of an emergency or essential nature for which financial assistance is not otherwise available. The responsibility for the oversight and administration of the fund, including interpretations, rests solely with the conference offices. Independent institutions' funds have been assigned to conference offices for administrative purposes based on the same assignments made for administration of the national letter of intent. Conferences annually report to the NCAA national office the number of special assistance fund recipients, purposes for which the funds were used and the specific amount for each purpose.
The special assistance fund also imposes special responsibilities upon Division I financial aid officers and athletics compliance officers. Financial aid officers need to verify that all special assistance fund awards comply with institutional, state and federal financial aid regulations. In addition, financial aid officers should review and approve all special assistance fund awards except those to a student-athlete who receives only a full grant-in-aid and a Pell Grant because such individuals are automatically eligible. Athletics compliance officers should review and approve all special assistance fund awards to be certain they comply with institutional, conference and NCAA rules. Coordinating efforts between the two areas should alleviate confusion regarding the application of regulations and the administration of the fund.
Special assistance funds may be awarded only for the following types of expenditures:
Nonscholarship student-athletes with no Pell Grant and initial financial need may not apply for the cost of clothing or other essential expenses but may apply for expenses included in the other three categories.
To ensure proper administration of the fund and that an institution remains in compliance with federal aid regulations, all administrators should have a clear understanding of the rules regarding the use of the fund. The following are recommended key definitions and points of clarification that all individuals working with the fund should review:
Grant-in-aid
A full athletics grant-in-aid is defined by NCAA rules as an athletically related award that covers the full cost of a student-athlete's tuition, fees, room, board and course-related books. A partial GIA is an athletically related award that is less than the full cost of tuition, fees, room, board and course-related books.
Cost of attendance
The Department of Education defines cost of attendance as the sum of tuition, fees, room, board, books, supplies and personal expenses, including a clothing allowance and transportation.
Financial need
Student-athletes who receive a Pell Grant automatically are determined to have financial need. Other student-athletes must have initial financial need determined by the federal methodology or the needs-analysis methodology used to award institutional need-based funds to all students. Initial financial need is defined as the cost of attendance minus expected family contribution prior to any athletics related aid or other aid being awarded. Foreign student-athletes with financial need also are eligible. Financial need for foreign student-athletes must be determined and certified in writing by the official foreign student advisor at the institution.
Joseph M. Camille is director of the financial aid office at the University of Missouri, Columbia, and a member of the Division I Financial Aid Committee.
Comment -- Going Bowling much more than football
By Charles Bloom
Southeastern Conference
Bowl games following a college football season have been a tradition since 1902, when the Rose Bowl was first held in Pasadena, California.
Let's fast-forward to 1999. This season, there will be 23 postseason bowl games, from the 86th annual Rose Bowl to the first-year Mobile Bowl in Mobile, Alabama.
During those 97 years, millions of fans -- and hundreds of thousands of student-athletes, coaches and staff -- have been a part of the bowl experience. It's an experience that truly is college football.
College football bowl games offer a participating institution -- its student-athletes, coaches, staff and fans -- an unforgettable experience that will produce memories that will last a lifetime.
Kentucky went 7-4 last year and took 28,000 people to Tampa for a bowl game. "It was an amazing atmosphere," said Southeastern Conference Commissioner Roy Kramer. "You couldn't hear yourself think. I don't care if it was important anywhere else, but it was important at that time in Tampa; Lexington; and State College, Pennsylvania."
Bowl games are rallying points for their communities. Every year, communities around the country are in the spotlight when national media, participating institutions and college football fans come to visit.
To the groups of local volunteers hosting these bowl games, it is a chance to let their communities shine like never before. Whether it's the head coach or the reserve lineman or the student athletic trainer, everyone is treated like royalty.
Bowl games are organized and managed by volunteers in communities across America as celebrations of college football. "And like the sport they serve, those communities are unique," said John Junker, executive director of the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. "Bowl games serve as a rallying point for your city -- something everyone can take pride in."
College football fans know the way to celebrate the holidays is a visit to a postseason bowl game.
During last season's bowl games, more than 1.2 million fans attended 22 bowl games, an increase of more than 3 percent over 1997-98. The average capacity of the 22 bowl games was at 88.8 percent. The average capacity of all the New Year's Day bowls, the Orange and Fiesta Bowls was 99.6 percent.
Twelve of the 20 bowls that have been played for at least two years saw an increase in attendance in 1998-99 from the previous year. Twelve bowls also had an increase in television ratings. Since 1980, an average of 55,520 fans have attended 356 bowl games.
Last year, 22 bowl games distributed more than $140 million to 44 participating schools. Based on those numbers alone, more than $700 million will be distributed over the next five years. During the 86 years in which there has been postseason competition, more than $1.2 billion has been distributed to participating institutions and more than 40 percent of that total ($520 million) has been distributed in the last five years.
These bowl games have been lightning rods for their communities. Hosting a bowl game can mean an annual impact between $80 and $150 million into the bowl site's local economy. A significant part of that money goes to local charities.
Former San Antonio Mayor Nelson Wolff said the Alamo Bowl created the greatest economic benefit of any event San Antonio has ever had.
Last season, more than 3,300 student-athletes experienced a postseason bowl game. These student-athletes took time to visit area landmarks and children's hospitals, participate in clinics and speak to youth groups.
Both participating teams in the Alamo Bowl visit both a children's hospital and the Boys and Girls Club of San Antonio. The Florida Citrus Bowl teams participate together in a "Day for the Kids" Barbecue. The Independence Bowl takes teams and selected players to the LSU Medical Center Pediatric Ward and to the Shriners Hospital. Student-athletes who play in the Sun Bowl enjoy a cultural learning experience in the El Paso area, attending events in Mexico and listening to various speakers discuss their experiences in football and other aspects of life.
"There are a lot of benefits to doing this (bowls) that people don't read about in the newspapers and watch on TV," said Kentucky coach Hal Mumme. "There are a lot of things that go on behind the scenes and a lot of educational-type things that are great for kids. The players get to meet some quality people from another community and visit area landmarks."
Between 1990 and 1998, 86 of 112 (76.8 percent) of all NCAA Division I-A football-playing schools have been to bowl games. In the last five years, 75 different schools have participated in at least one bowl game. This year, 46 schools will be a part of the bowl experience.
Bowl games have put together exciting matchups involving teams around the country. Nine of 22 bowl games last season were settled by a touchdown or less. These games have supplied us with some of the greatest moments in college football history and are a major part of the tradition of the game.
Bowl games add to the pageantry, color and excitement of college football. Bowl games bring a measure of importance to the regular season not seen in other sports. Bowl games are fitting conclusions for winning teams to end their season. Bowl games are college football.
Charles Bloom is the assistant commissioner of the Southeastern Conference.
Letter to the Editor -- Better tiebreaker should be goal for soccer
Imagine the title game of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship is tied at the end of regulation, but instead of going into overtime, the game proceeds with a free-throw shooting contest to decide the national champion.
Absurd, you say? Well, that is how the winner is decided in an NCAA men's or women's soccer tournament game that remains tied after regulation and overtime periods. The teams proceed to penalty kicks, as seen this summer in the climax of the Women's World Cup.
Penalty kicks are no more germane to the team aspect of soccer than free throws are to basketball, field goals to football, home runs to baseball or penalty shots to hockey. If Brandi Chastain's shot is a foot farther to the right, does that make the United States a lesser team?
In the penalty-kicks scenario, you could take one of your weaker field players and still have a favorable matchup against the opposition's goalie. Because even the best goalie in the world cannot stop a well-placed penalty kick.
That's not soccer.
What is needed in soccer is a better way to decide who is the better team, a format that acknowledges the reality of the difficulty of scoring goals in championship tournament games and the time constraints that prohibit eternal overtime periods.
I propose that ties be broken using a decreasing lineup format that would come into play if the teams were still tied after regulation play and two 15-minute "Golden Goal" (sudden death) overtime periods.
In the decreasing lineup, one field player is removed at the start of each five-minute overtime period until the teams reach seven per side. The teams each would have 10 players in the third overtime period (after the two 15-minute overtimes), nine apiece in the fourth overtime, eight apiece in the fifth overtime and seven apiece in the sixth overtime. If the teams still were tied after six overtimes, they would proceed to penalty kicks.
By eliminating field players, you create open space, leading to more scoring chances that increase the likelihood of a goal. And the beauty is that goal would be scored within a team framework, rather than a solitary player facing a defenseless goalie.
As you reduce the number of players on the field, the edge switches to the team with offensive skill and top-notch fitness rather than the team relying on a defensive shell.
The notion of playing seven versus seven is an ingrained part of the sport from the youth level up to the national level. Youth teams sometimes start out with as few as five players per side. College teams, missing players due to classes or injuries, often scrimmage seven per side. The elite teams also practice in small groups to maximize intensity and to increase their technical and tactical development.
Those 20 minutes of overtime with decreasing lineups would provide great excitement for the fans, especially compared to the current format in which the third and fourth overtime periods, 30 minutes combined, rarely produce winners. Coaches would have more of an influence in the outcome with strategic lineup moves that decide which players to leave on the field.
This proposal offers a better chance to break ties in an equitable manner consistent with the spirit of the game. As with any change, we must have the courage and foresight to adapt in order to help our game evolve and prosper.
And to know the better team won.
Michael Sabatelle
Women's Soccer Coach
Emory University
Opinions -- Colleges placed in a position of trust when it comes to tutors
Tommy Karam, director of the academic center for athletes
Louisiana State University
Associated Press
"You have to be very careful, obviously. A lot of this revolves around trust and also knowing the tutors who are working for you. If you know them well enough you can sense who's doing it right or who might not be. It's trust, but it's not blind trust."
David Harris, director of academic support
University of Mississippi
Associated Press
"There has to be some trust and screening done on the front end, and you have to feel good about the people you're bringing in (to serve as tutors). If it turns out they're not worthy of that trust you take action. I don't believe it's possible to put a system in place that would prevent any academic fraud from happening."
Football sanctions
Jim Litke, columnist
Associated Press
"Most people assume the NCAA controls the Division I-A football postseason the same way it controls the postseason in every other sport. Never assume. The NCAA sanctions the bowls, but says it has no say when it comes to the hardware or cash handed over in the end ...
"The NCAA has the power to do plenty but only after the fact. And because the (Bowl Championships Series) operates outside its jurisdiction, football is the one sport where the organization can't do anything about the 'before' part."
"Policing the football programs is the NCAA's job. It shouldn't be made any more difficult by the presence of the BCS. The two organizations should straighten out that jurisdictional matter. Considering how lucrative the bowls have become, it's only a matter of time before we're stuck with a champion whose cheating was flagrant enough to warrant being stripped of a title."
By Joseph M. Camille