National Collegiate Athletic Association

NCAA News Archive - 2010

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Feb 5, 2010 8:41:03 AM

The Division I Academic Cabinet supports a plan to require academic support plans as part of the initial-eligibility waiver process and has directed staff to formulate requirements, standards and a list of people on campus who will be involved in planning.

The cabinet developed the approach at its recent meeting in Indianapolis.

A plan would describe how an institution will work with student-athletes to help them succeed academically once they arrive on campus. This approach is consistent with requirements in other waiver processes, including progress-toward-degree waivers. Requiring a plan in the waiver process is intended to trigger earlier institutional involvement.

The hope is that the plans will create more institutional accountability for the academic success of student-athletes and will improve waiver analysis by the staff charged with reviewing the waivers.

The staff will develop criteria, for approval by the cabinet, that would require an academic support plan to be submitted with the waiver, as well as what plans should include, what an institution must document once the waiver is granted and what the consequences would be for not following the plan.

The cabinet supported the concept and noted that each plan should be specific to the student-athlete involved, the institution and the institution's available support services. Members also wanted the athletics director, head coach, prospective student-athlete and an academic representative to sign off on the plan.

The cabinet will hear further details at its meeting in June.