The Division I Academics/Eligibility/Compliance Cabinet looked at two significant legislative packages at its February 20-22 meeting in Atlanta, one that may be ready for closure and another that is just beginning its trek through the pipeline.

The former is the long-debated amateurism deregulation legislative package, which the AEC Cabinet reviewed and amended, perhaps for the last time. The latter is a package of academic reforms that is designed to improve student-athlete academic performance by modifying both initial- and continuing-eligibility standards.

The amateurism package currently is divided into three "alternative" groupings, all of which include the organized-competition rule. Package A includes proposals that would allow prospects to compete with professionals, sign a professional contract, enter a professional draft and be drafted. Package B is the same as A but adds a proposal that would allow prospects to accept prize money based on place finish. Package C is the same as B but adds a proposal that would allow prospects to receive compensation for athletics participation.

In perhaps its final tweaking of the package, the cabinet suggested amendments to three parts, the most significant of which was to the definition of organized competition itself.

The revised definition would include participation (and practice) on a professional team, and eliminate from the definition individual competition and competition funded by a professional sports organization.

The cabinet believes the change will in effect reduce the pool of prospects who trigger the organized-competition rule and thus catch the real target of amateurism deregulation: those prospects who have gained a competitive advantage.

Thus, participation on a professional team will trigger the organized-competition rule, while lower levels of competition where participants receive only actual and necessary expenses will not.

The cabinet also amended the prize money proposal (No. 99-110) to allow prospects to receive prize money based on place finish only up to actual and necessary expenses. For example, if a prospect's place finish earned him or her a $5,000 prize, but the prospect's actual and necessary expenses amounted to $2,000, the prospect could receive only the latter amount in order to maintain his or her amateur status for intercollegiate participation.

Finally, the cabinet recommended an amendment to Proposal No. 99-111 (compensation for athletics participation) to allow compensation only up to actual and necessary expenses tied to the competition. In other words, it would not be acceptable for the prospect to have received a salary.

Those amendments will be added to the package that the Management Council will consider for final approval in April.

Since the amendments do not significantly change the intent of the original proposals, they would not need to be redistributed for membership comment if the Council approves them.

In a related matter, the AEC Cabinet reviewed two amateurism proposals regarding football student-athletes who enter the professional draft. The proposals (one for student-athletes who are drafted and the other for those who are not drafted) would allow student-athletes the option to resume intercollegiate football participation 30 days after the draft. The cabinet recommended an amendment that changed the window of opportunity to March 1.

Academic reforms

Another package headed for the Council in April involves adjustments to the initial- and continuing-eligibility standards, though in contrast to the amateurism package, these legislative items will be on the Council agenda for initial review.

The package the AEC Cabinet reviewed is similar to what was presented at the Division I forum at the Convention in January.

The proposals, which the cabinet supported enthusiastically, were developed by the Division I Academic Consultants, a group the Division I Board of Directors appointed two years ago and charged with developing concepts that would increase graduation rates while minimizing any disparate impact on minority and low-income prospects.

The plan the consultants developed is designed to increase access to initial eligibility while providing stronger progress-toward-degree standards and to ensure that student-athletes are on track to graduate on time.

As for initial eligibility, the proposal would increase the number of core courses required from 13 to 14, maintain the cutoff on the current sliding scale for grade-point average at 2.000 and move the cutoff on the current sliding scale for test score to 620 SAT/52 ACT. (The cabinet favored this over a proposal that would establish a full sliding scale for both grade-point average and test score, and another that would establish a cutoff only for the grade-point average.) This would eliminate the current partial-qualifier category.

The AEC Cabinet also recommended that the required number of core courses be something that receives continued review. Though the cabinet is comfortable with the requirement of 14, it noted that some in the Division I membership have supported a greater increase.

As for progress-toward-degree (formerly referred to as continuing eligibility), the proposals require student-athletes to complete at least 24 semester/36 quarter hours -- with a grade-point average that is at least 90 percent of that required to graduate -- before the second year of collegiate enrollment, including at least six semester/nine quarter hours each academic term and at least 18 semester/27 quarter hours each academic year. (The current 75/25 summer hour provision would be eliminated.)

Student-athletes also would have to achieve "benchmarks" of 40, 60 and 80 percent (33/50/67 percent in five-year degree programs) of degree requirements in good academic standing before the start of the third, fourth and fifth years, respectively. The percentages are up from the current 25/50/75.

The plan is meant to ensure that student-athletes who meet the annual eligibility requirements will complete at least 120 credit hours after five academic years, with the corresponding grade-point average that satisfies institutional graduation requirements.

Also included in the proposals are provisions to eliminate the two-year college transfer percentage of degree requirement for a partial qualifier/nonqualifier in football and men's basketball, and to reduce the number of countable credits in remedial, tutorial or noncredit course work from 12 semester/18 quarter hours to six semester/nine quarter hours.

Submitting the proposals to the Council in April puts them on an October completion track if approved.

The AEC Cabinet also plans to submit another set of proposals that deals with incentives and penalties specific to academic progress to the Management Council in October.

That package also may include a proposal for a new annual progress rate that would assess the collective academic performance each year of all student-athletes who participate on an intercollegiate athletics team.

In another action, the cabinet sponsored legislation to exempt a student-athlete's on- and off-campus employment earnings from both individual and institutional financial aid limits.

The proposal would in effect lift the current $2,000 student-athlete employment restriction.

The cabinet noted that NCAA Bylaws 12 and 16 would continue to cover the type of student-athlete employment and the earnings from that employment.