An NCAA student-athlete pregnancy handbook is now available online.

The handbook is among resources the NCAA developed after concerns were raised within the governance structure regarding policies and procedures to follow in cases when student-athletes become pregnant. The handbook assists athletics department personnel in establishing policy and also outlines the legal issues that affect treatment of pregnant and parenting student-athletes.

The handbook also suggests model athletics department policies, a model student-athlete handbook statement and certified athletic trainer best practices.  The final chapter shares stories of successful male and female student-athletes who competed while parents.

The new resources will be e-mailed to all faculty athletics representatives, senior woman administrators, athletics directors, head athletic trainers, student-athlete advisory committee campus contacts, women’s team head coaches, CHAMPS/Life Skills coordinators, athletics compliance officers and Title IX coordinators, along with a revised NCAA Gender Equity Manual.

Hard copies of the Pregnant and Parenting Student-Athlete handbook will be sent to every senior woman administrator and conference commissioner. The handbook includes a CD with a PowerPoint and video from a panel session on this topic at the 2008 NCAA Convention.

Nancy Hogshead-Makar, a professor at Florida Coastal School of Law and one of the leading advocates of Title IX, and Elizabeth Sorensen, an assistant professor at the College of Nursing and Health at Wright State, authored the publication.

In June 2007, NCAA President Myles Brand asked the NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics to review the Association’s guidelines and polices related to pregnant student-athletes.

Conferences and institutions can also expect to receive other publications related to gender equity and Title IX, including a new Teaching Title IX resource also available at www.ncaa.org/titleix .