March 28, 2000

Acting for the Division II Management Council, the Interpretations Subcommittee of the Division II Legislative Committee issued the following interpretations:

Summer Foreign Tour

1. Student-Athlete Participating in Summer Foreign Tour Subsequent to the First Preseason Practice Date. The subcommittee determined that for purposes of Bylaw 14.2.4.7, the summer period is that period between the end of the institution's final examination period for the regular academic year and the start of classes for the subsequent year. Thus, a student-athlete who participates in intercollegiate competition during a summer foreign tour that occurs after the institution's first permissible date of preseason practice but before the first day of class would not be charged with a season of competition for the subsequent academic year. [References: Bylaws 14.2.4.7 (foreign-tour competition) and 30.7.2 (eligibility of student-athletes) and Proposal No. 97-25.]

Honors or Advanced Courses

2. Use of Weighted Grades in Honors or Advanced Courses. If a prospective student-athlete's educational institution offers multiple levels of honors or advanced courses, a prospect may use such courses to satisfy initial-eligibility core-curriculum grade-point average requirements, provided the educational institution specifically designates such courses as being honors or advanced courses. [Reference: NCAA Bylaw 14.3.1.3.5 (grade value of core courses).]

Pregame Meals

3. Pregame Meal on Evening Before Competition. An institution may provide the institution's pregame meal during the evening before a contest that occurs on the following morning, provided the institution does not provide an additional pregame meal on the day of the contest. [References: Bylaw 16.5.1-(d) (meals incidental to participation) and a previous NCAA Interpretations Committee decision 11/17/93, Item No. 4.]

"4-2-4" College Transfers

4. "4-2-4" College Transfers/One Calendar Year Requirement. The calendar year requirement specified in NCAA Bylaw 14.5.6, which must elapse after a "4-2-4" transfer student-athlete's departure from his or her previous four-year institution, begins on the date that the student-athlete takes formal action with the appropriate institutional authorities (as required for all students) at the previous four-year institution to indicate that he or she is leaving the institution and no longer will be attending classes. [References: Bylaw 14.5.6 ("4-2-4" college transfers) and former Interpretations Committee 11/5/92, Item No. 3.]

Academic Honor Awards

5. Criteria for Exempting Academic Honor Awards from Equivalency Computations. It is permissible for an institution to exempt an academic honor award from its equivalency computation if the student-athlete qualifies for the award under minimum institutional criteria and meets any of the four qualifying criteria set forth in Bylaw 15.5.3.3.1, regardless of whether the institution considered any of the four qualifying criteria in making the award. [References: Bylaws 15.5.3.3 (equivalency computations) and 15.5.3.3.1 (exception).]