National Collegiate Athletic Association

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The NCAA News -- September 27, 1999

Cabinet sets amateurism legislation wheels in motion

The NCAA Division I Academics/Eligibility/Compliance Cabinet agreed at its September 8-9 meeting in Atlanta to forward a list of six proposals that would amend the Association's amateurism rules for pre-enrolled prospective student-athletes.

The proposals will be considered by the Division I Management Council at its October meeting. If given preliminary approval, they will be circulated to the membership for comment. Based on the revised legislative calendar for Division I, the proposals could be considered by the Management Council and the Board of Directors again in April.

The proposed changes were recommended by the cabinet's subcommittee on agents and amateurism and were developed after a two-year study of amateurism legislation affecting pre-enrolled prospects. The subcommittee noted that it is beginning a review of amateurism legislation for enrolled student-athletes.

The cabinet also approved a recommendation from its subcommittee on initial eligibility that Proposal Nos. 99-46 (use of nontraditional courses for initial eligibility), 99-47 (elimination of level I/level II distinction in mathematics requirement) and 99-48 (new definition of NCAA core-course) should be considered noncontroversial/emergency legislation if they are approved by the Division I Management Council. The Board of Directors would act on the legislation at its January 2000 meeting.

The cabinet also approved recommendations from the subcommittee that would:

  • Direct the NCAA Initial-Eligibility Clearinghouse to evaluate a student's transcript in a manner that is most beneficial to the student when it receives a preliminary high-school transcript that differs in format from the final transcript.

  • Grant the NCAA staff authority to have a student's final certification revised on a case-by-case basis as appropriate.

  • Allow Division I institutions or learning-disabled individuals to utilize a Web-formatted final certification report when submitting an initial-eligibility waiver.

  • Make permanent an interpretation to permit a student who has a pending initial-eligibility waiver request to continue to practice until the request has been acted upon.

    The cabinet agreed to support a proposed recruiting calendar from the Division I Football Issues Committee with the amendment that only one of the two spring evaluations may be held at the prospective student-athlete's high school. The proposal would reduce the number of contacts and increase the number of evaluations.

    In other action, the cabinet approved recommendations from its subcommittees to support various legislative proposals. Included among the proposals that received support are:

  • No. 99-66, which would permit an institution to provide day planners to student-athletes.

  • No. 99-9, which would permit a nonqualifier to earn a fourth season of competition provided the student-athlete has received a baccalaureate degree prior to the beginning of the fifth academic year following the student-athlete's initial full-time collegiate enrollment.

  • No. 98-107(1), which would permit institutional coaching staff to place one telephone call to a prospect between April 24 and May 15 of the prospect's junior year with three calls permitted between June 21 and July 31.