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The NCAA News -- November 22, 1999

Broad changes planned in administrative review

The Divisions I, II and III Administrative Review Subcommittees have agreed on a number of significant changes and clarifications that will affect how cases are considered in the future.

The changes, agreed upon at a joint meeting of the subcommittees October 19-20 in Atlanta, were brought about to achieve greater consistency in the review process and to address the ever-growing number of cases submitted by the membership. The changes will apply to all three divisions.

The first change relates to cases involving misinformation or inaccurate advice provided by institutional staff members. The subcommittees voted that if an institution claims that a student-athlete has compromised his or her eligibility through misinformation provided by an institutional staff member, the following information must be included in the appeal to the Administrative Review Subcommittee:

  • A written statement of explanation summarizing the information given to the student-athlete from the person or persons responsible for or accused of providing erroneous information.

  • If available, contemporaneous documentation (notes, phone logs, etc.) demonstrating the misadvice.

  • A written statement from the student-athlete demonstrating whether the athlete relied in good faith upon the erroneous information to his or her detriment. The statement also should include a chronology of events relating to the case.

  • For Division III institutions, the request must include the student-athlete's transcripts from all institutions he or she has attended.

    The subcommittees also agreed that if the applicant institution would benefit as a result of its own misadvice to a student-athlete (for example, a waiver is granted based on misadvice), that institution's chief executive officer should be informed by a letter that includes a chronology of the actions of the individual who provided the misadvice.

    Hardship

    In addition, the committee directed the staff to request corroborating information in cases involving injury, illness or financial hardship. The subcommittees voted to adopt the following standards in cases involving injury or illness:

  • The institution must submit written documentation from the professional who diagnosed the condition of the student-athlete's family member.

  • Where appropriate, the institution must provide contemporaneous medical documentation from the treating professional.

  • The involved student-athlete must provide a letter explaining the need for relief from the legislation.

    In cases in which the institution's request for relief involves financial hardship, the institution must submit documentation substantiating the financial difficulty (for example, bankruptcy, lay-off, illness) and demonstrate that the financial difficulty has a direct link to warranting relief from the legislation (for example, was the student-athlete forced to transfer to work and support the family?).

    The subcommittees also evaluated cases involving institutional requests to waive Bylaw 16.8.1.2.1, which provides for actual and necessary travel expenses for eligible student-athletes to represent their institution in athletics competition, provided they arrive no more than 48 hours in advance of an event and depart no more than 36 hours after its conclusion. The subcommittees agreed that the applicant institution must document whether either of the following circumstances exists:

  • Extreme cost savings that would result from leaving before the permissible departure or beyond the return time.

  • Limited availability of flights as a result of the institution's location, to the degree that the team is forced to leave before the allotted time.

    The staff will implement the information standards beginning February 1, 2000. During the interim, institutions are encouraged to meet the standards, but compliance is not yet required. As part of the educational process, the staff will send a mailing to all conferences in December that will include a revised application and other materials to assist institutions in satisfying the standards.

    The subcommittees also agreed upon two important changes in policies and procedures, which will be forwarded to each Management Council for approval at the January 2000 meetings.

    First, they agreed that the administrative review process is not appropriate for reviewing hardship waivers under Bylaw 14.2.5. The decision was based on the high rate of denial (45 of 49 cases over the last two years) and because conference offices have jurisdiction for hardship waivers. For independent institutions, the student-athlete reinstatement process is the designated procedure.

    The other change in policies and procedures relates to reconsideration of Administrative Review Subcommittee denials. The standard for reconsideration always has been the availability of "new information" -- that is, information that was not available originally. From now on, however, the director of student-athlete reinstatement will be responsible for making a decision on whether the "new information" standard has been met. If the director determines that the standard has not been met, the institution may appeal the denial to reconsider to the chair of the appropriate subcommittee.

    "In all of these cases, the membership still has full access to the administrative review process," said Julie Roe-Sumner, NCAA director of student-athlete reinstatement. "However, there is a need to monitor how many cases reach these bodies, and we believe that the staff will be able to help in that regard."

    As of October 15, the case load for 1999 already had reached 382.

    Other action

    In other business, the three subcommittees voted to recommend that the title and language contained in Bylaw 5.4.1.7 (Administrative Review Subcommittee Authority) be made the same for all divisions. The proposed language would be as follows:

    "An institution may appeal the application of NCAA legislation to the subcommittee when no other committee, subcommittee or conference has the authority to act. In reaching its decision, the review subcommittee shall review the complete record in order to determine whether there is sufficient basis to grant relief from the application of the legislation. The Management Council shall establish the process for such a review; shall monitor the actions taken under this authorization; and shall report annually to the membership the actions taken, in summary, aggregate form."