UAPB Athletics

Volume 2, Issue 2

December-January Compliance Newsletter

RECRUITING

CALENDAR

Cross Country/ Track & Field: Quiet Period-

Dec.14-Jan. 2

Dead Period-

Dec.15-18

Men’s Basketball:

Recruiting Period-

Nov. 13- Mar. 30

Dead Period- Dec.

24-26

Women’s Basket-

ball: Evaluation

Period- Sep 30-

Feb. 29

Dead Period- Dec.

24-26

Football: Contact

Period- Nov. 29-

Jan. 30. Quiet Peri-

od- Dec. 13 & 18-

20, Jan. 4-10

Dead Period- Dec.

14-17, Dec.21-Jan.

3, Jan. 11-14

Softball: Quiet

Period- Nov. 26-

Jan. 1

Dead Period- Dec.

2-5

Volleyball: Quiet

Period- Dec. 7-15

Dead Period-

Dec.16-31

NCAA Bylaw: 14.2.2.1.2- Eligibility Between Terms.

To be eligible for competition that takes place between terms, the student athlete

shall: (Revised: 1/11/89)

Have been registered for the required minimum full-time load (see Bylaw 14.2.2) at the

conclusion of the term immediately preceding the date of competition, if the student is

continuing enrollment; or

Be accepted for enrollment as a regular full-time student for the regular term immedi-

ately following if the student is either continuing enrollment or beginning enrollment

(see Bylaw 14.4.3.4).

Extra Benefits: Tis the Season Tis the season of giving, but be careful not to provide student-athletes or their family members with any extra benefits during the holiday season. Extra benefits can include anything from providing transportation, loaning money, or any type of special arrange-ment given because of a person’s status as a student-athlete or family member of a stu-dent-athlete. Here are just a few reminders of holiday do’s and don’ts. Athletics staff members cannot participate in any type of gift exchange with a stu-

dent-athlete (e.g., secret Santa, white elephant, etc.). Over the winter break and during the academic year any athletics staff member may

employ a student-athlete, but they must complete the Student-Athlete Employment form. The student-athlete must be paid for work that is actually being performed and must also get paid the going rate for the type of work they are doing.

Athletics staff members are permitted to provide student-athletes with occasional meals over the holiday break as long as it is held at the athletics staff members home. (Cookies are not considered to be an occasional meal).

Page 2 Compliance Newsletter

Upcoming Test Dates

ACT

Dec. 12, 2016

Feb. 6, 2016

Apr. 9, 2016 & June 11, 2016

SAT

Jan. 23, 2016

Mar. 5, 2016

December 20th, 2015

Women's Basketball at Texas Tech University- 3 p.m.

December 29th, 2015

Women’s Basketball at University of Toledo- 7 p.m.

January 4th, 2016

Women’s Basketball at MVSU- 5:30 p.m.

January 8th, 2016

Women's Track & Field at Kansas State University TBA

January 16th, 2016

Women’s Tennis vs. Oral Roberts University– 6 p.m.

December 19th, 2015

Men's Basketball at Texas Tech University 4 p.m.

December 21st, 2015

Men's Basketball at Ohio University 7 p.m.

December 29th, 2015

Men’s Basketball at University of Missouri 8 p.m.

January 8th, 2016

Men's Track & Field at Kansas State University TBA

January 16th, 2016

Men’s Tennis vs. Oral Roberts University– 6 p.m.

Up-Coming Competitions

Football (Midyear JC Transfer) December 16,2015 January 15, 2016

Football (Regular) February 3, 2016 April 1, 2016

Soccer and Men’s Water Polo February 3, 2016 August 1, 2016

All Other Sports (Regular Period) April 13, 2016 August 1, 2016

NLI Signing Dates for Prospective Student-Athletes/Signing 2015-16 and Enrolling 2016-17

Certify Academic Eligibility Prior to Start of Spring Academic Term

All student-athletes must meet the following academic eligibility requirements based on the fall term: SA must have

earned a minimum of 6 (six) credit hours from the fall term*. For SA’s that are in their third year and beyond, the 6

(six) credit hours must be degree applicable. *(For Men’s Football, SA must have earned 9 (nine) credit hours from

the fall term in order to be eligible for competition next fall, 2016). SA must have a minimum cumulative grade-point

average (GPA) based on their academic term:

Second year of enrollment: GPA requirement = 1.80

Third year of enrollment: GPA requirement = 1.90

Fourth year of enrollment: GPA requirement = 2.00

Fifth year of enrollment: GPA requirement = 2.00

Progress towards degree requirement if at the conclusion of the fall term the SA has completed:

4 (four) full time academic terms = 40% PTD requirement

6 (six) full time academic terms = 60% PTD requirement

8 (eight) full time academic terms = 80% PTD requirement

Certification: All student-athletes must be certified as academically eligible prior to beginning of the spring term.

Compliance Trivia– Test your Knowledge: Answers are on page 4

Question 1: Ocean State University (OSU) compliance office is prepar ing for the upcoming National Letter

of Intent (NLI) early signing period. Each packet sent to prospects will include the NLI, NLI instructions and the

OSU financial grant-in-aid. The coaches will send this priority overnight using an express mailing service. Trying

to get a jump start on information for these potential signees, the Sports Information Director asks if he can in-

clude a questionnaire in the packet. Is it permissible to include a questionnaire in the packet?

Question 2: Men’s Basketball Coach at Ocean State University (OSU) has a daughter that is a senior in high

school and is going to sign a National Letter of Intent (NLI) next month to play basketball at another Division I

institution. There are three other seniors at the daughter’s high school that will be signing NLIs to participate in

various sports at the Division I level. This is the first year ever that this high school has had students sign NLIs, so

the athletic director and principal want to conduct a small event for the families while the students sign their pa-

perwork. Is it permissible for the OSU coach to attend his daughter’s signing event?

Page 3 Volume 2, Issue 2

Bylaw: To be eligible to compete in a postseason event (e.g., conference tournament, bowl game, National

Invitation Tournament, NCAA championship) that occurs between regular terms (including summer) a stu-

dent-athlete shall have satisfactorily completed six semester or six quarter hours of academic credit during

the preceding regular academic term of full-time enrollment.

Interpretation: The committee confirmed that a student-athlete who is certified eligible for a multiday post-

season event (e.g., conference track and field championship) that occurs between regular academic terms

remains eligible for the entire event, provided the event concludes prior to the start of the next regular aca-

demic term. If an insufficient number of grades were posted for a student-athlete to certified eligible based

on the immediately preceding term and he or she will participate in another postseason event (e.g., NCAA

championship) that occurs during the same break between terms, the institution must recertify the student

-athlete with grades available at 5 p.m. local time (where the institution is located) on the day prior to the

start of the additional postseason event.

Question: If a student-athlete who is in his or her final season of competition enrolls in six hours, but only

needs three hours to graduate, is the student-athlete required to pass the six hours or the three hours to

be eligible for competition?

Answer: The student-athlete would only need to satisfactorily complete the three hours of academic credit

required for graduation. Pursuant to Bylaw 14.1.9.3 a student-athlete who is eligible during the term in

which degree work is completed remains eligible for any NCAA championship for any postseason licensed

bowl game or National Invitation Tournament that begins within 60 days after the end of the term in which

the student completes the requirements for the degree.

14.4.3.4.2 - Eligibility for Postseason Competition -- Between Terms.

Mr. Kyle Hartsfield

Compliance Coordinator

(870)575-8658

hartsfieldk@uapb.edu

Remember.... Ask Before Act

Page 4 Compliance Newsletter

ANSWERS TO COMPLIANCE TRIVIA: Answer: No. NCAA Bylaw 13.4.1.3.1 states that an institution is not permitted to use express mail delivery services and may only use first-class mail or a lesser rate of service (e.g., parcel post) with no extra services (e.g., certified mail, delivery confirmation) to provide permissible printed recruiting mate-rials to prospective student-athletes, their parents or legal guardians, their coaches or any other individ-ual responsible for teaching or directing an activity in which a prospective student-athlete is involved, who resides within the 50 United States, other than the National Letter of Intent or other written ad-missions and/or financial aid commitment to attend the institution.

Answer: Yes with conditions. NCAA Staff Interpretation- 2/27/08- Coach Who Is A Prospective Student-Athlete’s Parent or Legal Guardian Attending Letter-of-Intent-Signing (I/II)- states that a coach who is a prospective-student-athlete’s parent or legal guardian may attend and observe a letter-of-intent signing activity that involves the coach’s son or daughter (or individual for which the coach is a legal guardian) in addition to other prospective student-athletes provided the attendance does not in-volve any personal contact with any other prospective-student-athletes.

Compliance Staff

Ms. Yashiva Edwards

Director of Compliance

(870)575-7182

edwardsy@uapb.edu

Did You Know?

NCAA Division I member institutions may use the ACT Aspire test to satisfy the official visit exam requirements through August 1, 2017. In granting this request, the NCAA Division I Committee for Legislative Relief noted:

1. Current official visit legislation specifies a prospective student-athlete must present the institution with a score from the PSAT, SAT, PLAN or ACT taken on a national testing date under national testing conditions;

2. The ACT Aspire test replaced the ACT PLAN test, effective June 13, 2014; and

3. The NCAA Division I Committee on Academics Subcommittee on Student-Athlete Academics and the NCAA Division I Committee on Academics reviewed the official visit legislation related to the ACT Aspire test and recommended that relief should be provided to allow the use of the ACT Aspire test for official visit purposes, expiring August 1, 2017. Reference: NCAA Division I Bylaw 13.6.3

ALSO,

The NCAA is encouraging prospective student-athletes to send all scores to the NCAA Eligibility Center prior to takin the redesigned SAT. The NCAA understands that some prospective student-athletes in the classes of 2016 and beyond will take the current SAT be-fore March 2016 and then take the redesigned SAT later. Because the redesigned SAT varies in design and measures different aca-demic constructs than the current SAT, a numerical score on one test may not be equivalent to the same numerical score on the other. The NCAA Eligibility Center will not combine (“superscore”) section scores across the current and redesigned SAT when deter-mining initial-eligibility. The NCAA Eligibility Center will combine section scores only within the same versions of the test to provide the best result for the student. The NCAA will continue to work closely with the College Board for appropriate guidance. Please ref-erence the College Board website for more information: https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/