With ongoing studies of student-athlete time demands already taking place within the governance structure, the Division I Student-Athlete Advisory Committee has turned its attention to current policies in place for transfers.

Meeting July 17-20 in Huntington Beach, California, the SAAC discussed the one-year sit-out rule still in place for student-athletes in basketball, football and men's ice hockey. Student-athletes in other sports may apply for a one-time transfer exception via Bylaw 14.5.5.2.10 that provides immediate eligibility as long as certain academic conditions are met and the institution the student-athlete transfers from issues a release.

Student-athletes in basketball, football and men's ice hockey, though, have been precluded from taking advantage of the one-time transfer exception because of concerns that it would create a "free agent" environment in those sports. But SAAC members argue that the restriction negatively impacts the welfare of student-athletes in those sports, and that the rule should be applied uniformly across all sports.

Thus, the SAAC supports amending the bylaw to allow all student-athletes the same access to the one-time transfer exception.

"Any student-athlete should have the opportunity to use the one-time transfer exception in order to find the best 'fit' for his or her academic and athletics pursuits," said SAAC Vice-Chair Katie Groke, a soccer student-athlete at the University of Wyoming. "The Division I athletics culture has changed since the adoption of the restriction for those sports, and it no longer serves in protecting student-athletes in those sports from being subjected to a free-agent market."

SAAC members also noted that the same provisions would remain in place for using the one-time exception, including the institution release and requiring student-athletes to meet academic eligibility standards at both the institution they transfer from and at the institution they transfer to. The SAAC further noted that the increased progress-toward-degree requirements, which will make it more difficult for student-athlete transfers to maintain eligibility, would likely serve as a check-and-balance against the free-agent-market concerns.

When the SAAC submitted the idea to the Division I Management Council during the Council's July 21-22 meeting, however, Council members were reluctant to support the idea until it had been further discussed in various membership forums. Council members didn't necessarily think the concept was a bad one, but many were uncomfortable sponsoring the idea as proposed legislation until other groups within the structure supported it.

With that in mind, the Management Council recommended that the idea of the one-time transfer exception in all sports be referred to the Academics/Eligibility/Compliance Cabinet for review in September. Council members also suggested review from an ad hoc committee similar to the group recently created to study the time-demands issue, so that a more representative group could study the matter. The goal would be for those groups to review the issue and make recommendations, perhaps even propose legislation, before the July 15 deadline for proposals in 2004.

Amateurism issue

In addition to the one-time transfer exception, the SAAC also discussed the matter of non-sport-specific amateurism and commercial endorsements. Current legislation prevents a student-athlete from retaining endorsements from sports other than the intercollegiate sport in which the student-athlete participates. Student-athletes may be professional in one sport yet considered an amateur and participate in another Division I sport. Current rules also allow for a student-athlete who is compensated for the use of his or her name or picture to advertise commercial products before enrollment may continue to do so (under the same or similar circumstances) after enrollment without jeopardizing eligibility.

Though the SAAC discussed the issue and generally supported it, it did not take a final position, preferring instead to refer it to the Academics/Eligibility/Compliance Cabinet's agents and amateurism subcommittee for discussion and possible legislative change.

"The SAAC still supports the concept of amateurism as one of the pillars of intercollegiate athletics participation," Groke said, "but this particular area needs further discussion. If a student-athlete becomes involved in endorsements clearly because of his or her athletics ability in the sport in which they professionalize, the committee believes the NCAA's principle of amateurism is not jeopardized.

"We believe that concept is worth discussion in the governance structure."

The Management Council agreed with the SAAC's request to send the issue to the AEC Cabinet and asked the cabinet to include SAAC representatives in the discussion.

In another action, the SAAC reviewed the appointment process by which SAAC members are selected to serve on the committee. The group broached the idea of selecting its own members instead of the current selection process driven by conferences. SAAC members believe the committee is a student-athlete representative group and should be given the authority to select its own members.

The SAAC believes the conference selection process works well for other committees, since athletics administrators essentially are selecting other athletics administrators to serve on committees. SAAC members believe the same peer relationship should be in place for student-athlete committees.

In that vein, the SAAC agreed to continue to discuss the issue via the list serve and make a recommendation, if necessary, at its January meeting.

Other highlights

Division I Student-Athlete Advisory Committee
July 17-20/Huntington Beach, California

Recommended that the Management Council sponsor legislation to eliminate the requirement that one student-athlete from each division (one combined vote) serve as members of the research committee. (The Council subsequently agreed to request that the Board of Directors use its authority to adopt Proposal No. 2003-15 as noncontroversial legislation to accommodate that request.) Further, the committee recommended that the Council amend Bylaw 21.6.6.2.1.1 to add one student-athlete representative to serve as a member of the Academics/Eligibility/Compliance Cabinet in an advisory capacity.

Supported an idea from the Committee on Sportsmanship and Ethical Conduct to apply misconduct regulations currently in place for NCAA championships competition to regular-season competition as well.

Noted that the Championships/Competition Cabinet did not support legislation that would disallow an institution from counting a travel day as the required day off per week during the playing and practice season. The SAAC asked that its representative to the cabinet's playing and practice seasons subcommittee and the two student-athletes appointed to the ad hoc time-demands working group express the SAAC's continued support for the proposal. The SAAC also noted that the Pacific-10 Conference has submitted a similar proposal for the Management Council's initial review in January.

Discussed a referral from the AEC Cabinet's financial aid subcommittee regarding multiyear athletics scholarships. The SAAC agreed that the current legislation specifying that an institution may not award athletically related aid in excess of one academic year is appropriate and should be maintained. The SAAC also recommended that the subcommittee continue to review alternatives to the July 1 date for scholarship notification since that date may not provide adequate time for student-athletes to consider other options in specific situations.

Addressed the matter of student-athlete representation on the SAAC from the five independent institutions in Division I by appointing current SAAC members to serve as liaisons to those institutions rather than adding a SAAC member representing the limited number of schools not affiliated with a conference.