Compliance Tip of the Week

The volleyball coaches at Ocean State University are planning their recruiting trips for this spring.  There are several tournaments they want to attend but have to make sure they do not exceed the total number of evaluation days or the maximum number of evaluations per prospect.

Here is the plan for the next recruiting trip:

Assistant Coach attends a tournament Friday, Saturday and Sunday and watches 8 different teams

Head Coach attends the same tournament Saturday and Sunday and watches 4 teams…the same as the assistant coach

How many evaluation days were utilized?

How many total evaluations were utilized?

A.      5 evaluation days and 1 evaluation

B.      2 evaluation days and 1 evaluation

C.      1 evaluation day and 1 evaluation

D.     5 evaluation days and 2 evaluations

The answer is A.  The assistant coach used 3 evaluation days and the head coach used 2 evaluation days even though they were at the same event at the same time.  NCAA Bylaw 13.02.7.2 states that an evaluation day is defined as one coach engaged in the evaluation of any prospective student-athlete on one day (12:01 a.m. to midnight).  Two coaches making evaluations on the same day shall use two evaluation days. The combined total of such days for all staff members shall not exceed 210 in football (270 for U.S. service academies) [42 during the fall evaluation period (54 for U.S. service academies) and 168 during the spring evaluation period (216 for U.S. academies)], 50 in softball and 80 in women's volleyball. (Adopted: 1/9/96 effective 8/1/96, Revised: 1/12/99 effective 8/1/99, 4/27/00 effective 8/1/01, 4/25/02 effective 8/1/02, 4/28/05 effective 8/1/05, 1/14/08 effective 8/1/08, 4/14/08, 1/16/10 effective 8/1/10)
Because the event was a tournament conducted on consecutive days, the coaches only used one evaluation for the prospects they watched.  NCAA Bylaw 13.1.7.15 state that evaluation during each day of a tournament held during the academic year shall count as a separate evaluation except as follows (see Bylaw 13.1.4.1.4.1):  (Revised:  3/22/06)

(a) Evaluation of multiple contests in a tournament that occurs on consecutive days (and normally at the same site) shall count as a single evaluation.

(b) Evaluation of multiple contests in a single tier of a tournament (e.g., sectional, district, regional) shall count as a single observation.  If a particular tier of a tournament is subdivided into identifiable segments (e.g., conducted on different weekends), evaluation of contests in each identifiable segment counts as a single observation.  (Revised:  1/14/97)

Thanks to Jennifer Conderas at the BigEast Conference for the excellent example on recruiting days.

Compliance Tip of the Week

Strike Zone is a baseball student-athlete at Ocean State College (OSC).  Strike is going to transfer to another institution this fall and has received permission to contact other institutions.  One of the schools that is recruiting Strike is Bay State University (BSU).  The coaches at BSU are hosting a few summer camps in June and July and would like Strike to work the camps.  Is it permissible for Strike to work the camps?

No.  NCAA Staff Interpretation- 5/2/11- Four-Year College Transfer Employed at Institutional Camp (I)- states that a four-year college student-athlete who has received written permission to contact another NCAA institution is considered a senior prospective student-athlete. Therefore, such an individual may not be employed (either on a salaried or volunteer basis) at an institutional football camp. In sports other than football, such an individual may not be employed at an institutional camp (either on a salaried or volunteer basis) if he or she is being recruited by that institution or if he or she was a high school, preparatory-school or two-year college athletics award winner.

NCAA Interpretation: Written Offers of Financial Aid

The following interpretation was just issued regarding written offers of financial aid being given to a prospect:

          March 2, 2011
          Staff Interpretation

The academic and membership affairs staff confirmed that prior to August 1 of a prospective student-athlete's senior year in high school, it is not permissible for an institution to indirectly (e.g., through relatives, friends, high school, preparatory school, two-year college coach or any other individual responsible for teaching or directing an activity in which a prospective student-athlete is involved) provide a written offer of athletically related financial aid or indicate in writing to the prospective student-athlete that an athletically related grant-in aid will be offered by the institution.

[References: NCAA Divisions I Bylaws 13.4.1 (recruiting materials); 13.9 (letter-of-intent programs, financial aid agreements); and 13.9.2.2 (written offer of aid before signing date)]

Please remember that Bylaw 13.9.2.2 became effective on August 1, 2010.  What the bylaw states is that you may not provide a PSA with a written offer (or guarantee) of financial aid prior to August 1st of that students Senior year in high school.  This interpretation now clarifies that you are not allowed to provide a written offer of aid to anyone associated with the PSA in order to circumvent the rules prior to that August 1st date. 

Compliance Tip of the Week #11

As a bonus Tuesday tip of the week this week I would like to cover Bylaw 13.1.6.2, which governs contact at practice and competitions sites.  It is the time of year when a lot of tournament play is going on and I would like to focus on 13.1.6.2 (d) today, which covers contact at a tiered tournament.  The exact wording of the bylaw is as follows:

(d) Contact shall not be made with the prospective student-athlete involved in competition that requires participation on consecutive days (e.g., a tournament) until after his or her final contest is completed and he or she is released by the appropriate institutional authority and leaves the dressing and meeting facility.  Contact shall not be made with a prospective student-athlete involved in a tournament that is not conducted on consecutive days until after his or her final contest is completed on a day before a break in the days of the tournament and he or she is released by the appropriate institutional authority and leaves the dressing and meeting facility; (Revised: 1/11/94, 9/18/07)

What that states is if the tournament has games on consecutive days, you cannot talk to a PSA following their game if they play again the next day.  If their team loses and they are out of the tournament, then you can talk with that team following the loss.  There is also a second part to this bylaw, which states that if there is an off-day following a game, then you can speak with a PSA following their release from team activities for the night.

When considering this legislation, please also remember that 13.1.7.14 covers evaluations of tournament events.  This bylaw will tell you that evaluations of multiple events in a tournament conducted on consecutive days will count as a single evaluation.  And evaluations of a single tier of a tournament also count as a single evaluations, unless the single tier of the tournament takes place over several non-consecutive days.

Please be sure to take both of these bylaws into account as you plan your spring recruiting, especially if you are planning to attend the various state tournaments.

Compliance Tip of the Week #10

Electronic Communications to PSA

For this weeks tip of the week we have another video for you (courtesy of LSU).  This weeks topic is electronic transmissions to PSA.  It is a quick video and has a lot of good information regarding social networking sites and the do's & don'ts of social networking with the students you are recruiting. 

Compliance Tip of the Week #9

Today's tip of the week is regarding the delayed enrollment proposal that was passed around this time last year.  It was called 2009-22 a year ago, and it carries an effective date of August 1, 2011, when it be called Bylaw 14.2.3.2 covering delayed enrollment.  If you are not familiar with the text of the bylaw, here is how it will read in next years NCAA manual:

14.2.3 Criteria for Determining Season of Competition.

[14.2.3.1 unchanged.]
14.2.3.2 Delayed Enrollment -- Seasons of Competition.

14.2.3.2.1 Sports Other Than Men's Ice Hockey, Skiing and Tennis, Swimming and Diving and Women's Volleyball.  A In sports other than men's ice hockey, skiing and tennis, a student-athlete who does not enroll in a collegiate institution as a full-time student in a regular academic term during a one-year time period after his or her high school graduation date or the graduation date of his or her class (as determined by the first year of high school enrollment or the international equivalent as specified in the NCAA Guide to International Academic Standards for Athletics Eligibility and based on the prescribed educational path in the student-athlete's country), whichever occurs earlier, shall be subject to the following:
(a) The student-athlete shall be charged with a season of intercollegiate eligibility for each calendar year after the one-year time period (the next opportunity to enroll after one calendar year has elapsed) and prior to full-time collegiate enrollment during which the student-athlete has participated in organized events competition per Bylaw 14.2.3.5.3 14.02.9.
(b) After the one-year time period, if the student-athlete has engaged in events competition per Bylaw 14.2.3.5.3 14.02.9, on matriculation at the certifying institution, the student-athlete must fulfill an academic year in residence before being eligible to represent the institution in intercollegiate competition.

If you remember our discussions from last spring, it means that students will have a one year window following their high school graduation date to compete in outside competitions.  If they continue to compete in outside competitions beyond that date, they will be subject to the penalties listed in (a) and (b) above.

We are currently checking graduation dates of students who have signed NLI's or who we know will be enrolling in the fall to determine who we may need to follow up with.  If your sport has a PSA in that situation, we will be in touch with you about that.  If there is a student who you feel we should get in touch with, please let us know who they are so that we can follow up as well.

Compliance Tip of the Week #8

Fruits, Nuts & Bagels Video

Please take a minute and watch this video on the Fruits, Nuts & Bagels bylaw, also known as Bylaw 16.5.2 (h).  I will let the video explain the rest, but please remember that providing fruits, nuts or bagels is permissible at any time, however, we are not allowed to provide them with spreads and toppings for the fruits, nuts and bagels.

The video is courtesy of the LSU Compliance office.

Compliance Tip of the Week #7

This weeks Tip of the Week concerns book scholarship and the recent adoption of NCAA proposal 2010-75.  Below is the actual text of how the bylaw will read, but to sum things up, when calculating scholarship values the cost of books will be changing from the current $400 to $800.  Also, once this becomes effective any student recieving any portion of a books scholarship will be counted as $800/$800; in other words, there are no longer any partial books scholarships (for purposes of calculating the equivalency).

Practically, if you are an equivalency sport and you are offering a student a partial scholarship with no books, it will decrease all of the other values in that student's equivalency.  Similarly, if you are offering a student a partial scholarship with books, it will bump that value up a little bit.  And for students on a full scholarship, obviously it will have no effect.
Please note that proposal 2010-75 has an effective date of August 1st, 2013.

Here is the text of the legislation:

Bylaws: Amend 15.5.3.2.1, as follows:

15.5.3.2.1 Additional Requirements. The following additional requirements shall apply to equivalency computations: 
[15.5.3.2.1-(a) through 15.5.3.2.1-(b) unchanged.]
(c) Books shall count for calculation purposes as $400 800 in the denominator.  If a student-athlete receives any portion of a full book allowance for the academic year, the institution must use $400 800 in the denominator and numerator for books, regardless of the actual cost of the books.  If a student-athlete receives less than the full book allowance, the institution must determine the fraction of book aid and must use the appropriate numerator based on the $400 denominator to reflect the fraction of the book allowance actually received.

And here is an interesting link that discusses the impact of 2010-75:

CCACA Discussion of 2010-75

If you are interested in hearing more about Proposals from this years legislative cycle with effective dates of August 1, 2011, please come to the Legislative Review session next Tuesday February 15th at 11:00AM.  The Review will be held in the conference room at the Athletics South facility.

Compliance Tip of the Week #6

For those of you who celebrated National Letter of Intent signing day yesterday, please remember that many of the restrictions that you have relating to the form and frequency of contact with PSA's get lifted the day after a PSA signs a valid NLI with Northern Arizona University.

• Bylaw 13.1.3.3.3 allows you to have unlimited phone contact with a PSA beginning with the day after they sign their NLI.
• Bylaw 13.1.7.17 allows you to have unlimited evaluations of a PSA beginning the day after they have signed an NLI.
• Even though we may have unlimited contacts/evaluations with a PSA, please remember that we must still follow Bylaw 13.1.6.2, which governs contacts at a practice or competition site.  This Bylaw needs to be followed for all PSA's, even those who have signed with us.
• Finally, Bylaw 13.4.1.2.1 states that there are no limits on the forms of electronic communication you may use to contact a student who has signed an NLI with us, beginning the day after they have signed with us.  For students who signed yesterday, this means you may now send them unlimited texts (I hope you don't do that), Facebook them, Tweet with them or have any other kind of electronic communication you can think of with them.

I'm glad yesterday went smoothly and we were able to sign a good group of future Lumberjacks!!

Compliance Tip of the Week #5

The tip of the week this week comes from Chapter 17 on playing and practice seasons.  Please remember that when we have a home contest, student-athletes cannot miss class time for practice activities on that day.

From Bylaw 17.1.6.6.1 on practice activities:

Missed Class Time for Practice Activities (I)
Date Published: June 11, 2010
Item Ref: 1
Interpretation:
The committee determined that a student-athlete may not miss class at any time (e.g., regular academic term, mini term, summer term) for practice activities, except when a team is traveling to an away-from-home contest and the practice is in conjunction with the contest.
[References: NCAA Bylaw 17.1.6.6.1 (no class time missed for practice activities) and a staff interpretation (8/20/97, Item No. a), which has been archived]

Compliance Tip of the Week #4

NCAA Bylaw 13.4.1 Recruiting Materials & 13.4.1.1.1 Express Mail Services

Please remember that printed recruting materials cannot be sent to Prospective Student-Athletes prior to September 1st of their junior years of High School.  Though anything that you send to a prospective student-athlete must comply with the regulations of Bylaw 13.4.  Non-athletics institutional publications, such as admissions packets and information may be sent at any time.

Also remember when you are preparing a mailing, it must be sent via first class mail (or a lesser level) and we cannot add tracking or delivery confirmaiton.  The one exception for this is NLI documents, these can be overnighted or sent via FedEx.

Compliance Tip of the Week #3

Coaches, we have two bonus tips of the weeks for you today.  These are both relating to school starting back up on Tuesday.

#1: With school starting again on Tuesday, please remember that we will need to start keeping track of all CARA activities again on your weekly logs.  Logs for the first week of second semester will be due to the compliance office no later than Noon on Thursday January 27th.

#2:  Requirements for Practice:  Please remind all of your student-athletes that to be eligible to participate in practice activities they need to be enrolled in a full-time course load of 12 units or more, per Bylaw 14.1.8.1.  Compliance and academics will be checking this all week to keep you updated.  As you know, there is an exception to this Bylaw for the first week of class, the exception is Bylaw 14.1.8.1.5.  We will be checking enrollment status in the afternoon next Friday January 21st, anyone not enrolled FT by then will be changed to a NO for practice on the ESR starting Saturday January 22nd.  Please encourage your kids to get in a full-time course load now before classes fill up.

We will be generating ESR's for all teams on Tuesday afternoon, expect to see those in your email then.  Hard copies will also be placed in your mailboxes.

Best of luck this semester, let's make it a good one for Lumberjack Athletics!!!

Compliance Tip of the Week #2

Coaches & staff, please remember that school starts back up again next week.  Many of you, especially fall sports coaches, will have student-athletes returning to campus who exhausted their eligibility this past fall.  Please remember that these student's are still considered student-athletes until the day that they walk across the stage this May. 

Therefore, all of the same rules that apply to other student-athletes regarding extra benefits still apply to these students, even though they do not have any remaining eligibility.  That means no taking them out for lunch or dinner, no giving them rides across town, home, to the airport or to where ever.  They need to be treated the same way as any other student-athlete on campus.

Compliance Tip of the Week #1

Jav A. Lynn is a student at College USA.  Jav decided to try out for the women's track at the beginning of the spring 2011 term.  Jav has been practicing for five days and will compete in College USA's home meet this weekend.  Which statement is true?

A.  Jav does not have to complete the NCAA Drug-Testing Consent form until she has participated in countable athletically related activities for 14 days.

B.  Jav must complete the NCAA Drug-Testing Consent form prior to competing in the meet this weekend.

C.  Jav must complete the Student-Athlete Statement prior to competing in the meet this weekend.

D.  Both B & C are true

The answer is D.  NCAA Bylaw 14.1.3.1 states that prior to participation in intercollegiate competition each academic year, a student-athlete shall sign a statement in a form prescribed by the Legislative Council in which the student athlete submits information related to eligibility, recruitment, financial aid, amateur status, previous positive-drug tests administered by any other athletics organization and involvement in organized gambling activities related to intercollegiate or professional athletics competition under the Association's governing legislation. Failure to complete and sign the statement shall result in the student-athlete's ineligibility for participation in all intercollegiate competition. Violations of this bylaw do not affect a student-athlete's eligibility if the violation occurred due to an institutional administrative error or oversight, and the student-athlete subsequently signs the form; however, the violation shall be considered an institutional violation per Constitution 2.8.1.

Please keep this tip in mind if you have any new student-athletes on campus for the spring semester.
Thank you to Jennifer Conderas of the BigEast Conference for providing this tip of the week.