Compliance Corner

The Ivy League has launched its website listing nonscholastic boys basketball events that have been approved, sanctioned, sponsored, or conducted by high school, prep school, or JC associations which are scheduled during the April contact period.

ARS has granted a blanket waiver to permit selected men’s and women’s basketball student-athletes to engage in a scrimmage involving Special Olympians at the April 5, 2008, YES Clinics held in conjunction with the NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Final Four.

You can view the full list of ARS blanket waivers. 

You can get the agenda for the April Management Council meeting as well as the report of the February meeting of the Academics/Eligibility/Compliance Cabinet.

LSDBi has the details today covering the rules about student-athletes and/or their parents taking out ads thanking commercial entities. Looks like it might be a problem in equestrian.

Following Division III's lead, the Division I ARS issued a blanket waiver to permit men's and women's swimming student-athletes participating in the 2008 NCAA Men's and Women's Swimming and Diving Championships to swim in the long-course events scheduled the day after the conclusion of the NCAA championships [i.e., March 23, 2008, at Ohio State University (site of the NCAA women's championship) and March 30, 2008, at the University of Washington (site of the NCAA men's championship)]. More details are on the ARS blanket waiver page.

LSDBi has the details about what to do when a grade for an incomplete class is replaced with a letter grade.

With nothing but spare time on our hands, we've lengthened our Manual Updates page to include editorial revisions to the NCAA Manual that occurred beginning July 27, 2007, and didn't make it into the publication of the tome. The revisions are in the online Manual, however.

Remember, thanks to the new-this-year recruiting calendar, there's a dead period for track and field and cross country that occurs on the days of the NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships. We post dead period reminders in the Tools area, but you can get this one directly.

LSDBi has the details about nontraditional classes, transfers, continuing students, and credit hour requirements, and progress toward degree requirements. Whew.

Our fourth quiz is available: New for 2008, covering new NCAA rules adopted in January.

We've finally tracked down weblinks for the January Management Council and Board meeting report, as well as agendas for the February meetings of the Championships/Competition Cabinet and Academics/Eligibility/Compliance Cabinet.

The Convention meetings have ended, the smoke has cleared, and here's what happened. Read more...

LSDBi has an EdCol today about receipt of expenses for outside competition. The EdCol has several examples and makes a point of referencing the sport of golf.

An insignificant number of override requests were received by December 31 for the latest batch of proposals. So Proposals 2007-037*, 2007-090, 2007-097*, 2007-106*, 2007-111*, 2007-112*, 2007-113*, 2007-114*, and 2007-116 have finished their journey through the process and are considered final. (Asterisked proposals are effective immediately; more details are on our Manual Updates page.)

...then there must be a dead period. Our Tools area has reminders about a pair of January dead periods in baseball and football.

LSDBi has the details about potential pitfalls for student-athletes who want to use job placement services.

Staff confirmations are starting to show up on LSDBi. Here are two more:

LSDBi has an EdCol about financial aid from outside sources, with pointers about when to certify such aid especially in cases of nonrecruited students who try out for various teams.

LSDBi has the details on holiday office hours at the NCAA.

LSDBi has a FAQ for legislation that will be considered by the Management Council in January as well as a separate FAQ for Proposal 2007-110, which would preclude financial aid from being increased, decreased or cancelled during the period of its award because of an injury, illness or medical condition.

A football dead period is coming. Get the reminder, courtesy of our Tools area.

A dead period approaches, so it's time for a reminder. The upcoming dead period surrounds the US Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association national convention. 

LSDBi has a new EdCol with frequently asked questions about the baseball academic reform legislation.

We've updated the Pac-10 Handbook to include changes adopted by the CEO Group and Council through November 2007.

If you're coming to Walnut Creek for the Pac-10 Compliance Seminar in early December and you plan to take BART to the meeting, you can find a handy trip planner and a system map at BART's website.

The 2008 Official Notice is in the mail from the mothership. You can pick up a PDF copy now via the webpage the NCAA has set up.

As a result of the new cross country/track and field recruiting calendar, we have several new dead periods in those sports. The first one is next Monday, the day of the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships. You can pick up a reminder.

The October Board report is out. Highlights:

• Nine proposals were adopted as (many as non-controversial items); asterisked items are effective immediately): 2007-037*, 2007-090, 2007-097*, 2007-106*, 2007-111*, 2007-112*, 2007-113*, 2007-114*, 2007-116. The Override period for these closes on January 1, 2008, unless the NCAA moves it by a day or two to get off New Year's Day.

• The Board did not change its stance on Proposal 2007-009 (which sets a minimum amount of financial aid that must be awarded to baseball S-As). So that item will be added to the list of proposals to be voted upon at the 2008 NCAA Convention via the override process.

• The Board put Proposals 2007-110 and 2007-117 into the current legislative cycle, the former as recommended by the Management Council.

• The Division I restructuring plan was adopted. Changes will go into effect in September 2008; lots of committee staffing and meeting planning will have to be done before then.

LSDBi has the details about a staff confirmation that credit earned only by examination shall not be used to satisfy the requirement of completing the minimum core curriculum for initial-eligibility purposes.

The report of the October 2007 meeting of the Management Council is out. So, too, is the agenda for this week's meeting of the Board of Directors.

A bit more on that ManCo meeting:

Several proposals were sent to the Board for action this week as non-controversial legislation. The asterisked items below, if adopted, would be effective immediately:

• 2007-037*--Collect and toll-free phone calls by women's basketball prospects.

• 2007-090--Changes date of first field hockey contest.

• 2007-097*--Student-athletes who test positive for use of banned drugs are ineligible for 365 days from the date of the test.

• 2007-106*--Deletes evaluation of event held at men's Final Four.

• 2007-111*--Prohibits summer evaluations at non-institutional, non-organized events, such as pick-up games.

• 2007-112*--Adds additional criteria pertaining to agents and medical care for certification of summer men's and women's basketball leagues and events.

• 2007-113*--Increases number of overall members and Division I members on the NCAA Wrestling Committee by two.

• 2007-114*--Increases the Honors Committee from eight to nine members, with one member being a current or former president or chancellor.

Proposal 2007-110 (which specifies that financial aid based in any degree on athletics ability may not be increased, decreased, or cancelled during the period of its award because of an injury, illness, or medical condition) won't be considered as emergency or noncontroversial legislation. Instead, the Management Council has asked the Board to consider placing it into the 2007-08 legislative cycle.

The Management Council issued one modification of wording (M-2007-3) to clarify how institutions shall declare and monitor the 35 baseball student-athletes who will be eligible for varsity play in Spring 2009.

The report from the September meeting of the Championships/Competition Cabinet is out.

LSDBi has the details about the NCAA Initial-Eligibility Clearinghouse/NCAA Eligibility Center transition plan in its October newsletter, along with a timeline.

LSDBi has an EdCol today that covers some of the details pertaining to the 45-day fall period for baseball practice, competition, skill instruction, and conditioning.

With the shift in NLI signing windows in track and field and cross country, the dead periods that surround the old initial signing dates in the fall and spring no longer apply. There will be a track and field dead period (Mon., Feb. 4-Thu., Feb. 7, 2008) surrounding the sole initial NLI signing date (Wed., Feb. 6, 2008). 

Also, the dead period on the day of the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships (Nov. 19, 2007) remains intact.

Proposal 2007-009 will get a third look.

The NCAA has received the 30 necessary override requests to require the Division I Board of Directors to review its August action to amend legislation regarding financial aid packages for baseball student-athletes. The Board next meets November 1 in Indianapolis.

LSDBi has the details.

At its meeting last week, the CCA realigned the NLI signing periods for track and field. The early (November 14-21, 2007) and late (April 9-August 1, 2008) periods have been eliminated in favor of the February 6-August 1, 2008, period that currently applies to football, field hockey, soccer, and men's water polo.