Boston College Athletics Department Compliance Office Beginning of the Year Eligibility Meeting 2009-2010 Academic Year.

Boston College Athletics Department

Compliance Office

Beginning of the YearEligibility Meeting

2009-2010 Academic Year

Mission of the Compliance OfficeOur mission is to provide guidance to the entire Boston College community with regard to the rules, regulations and standards which mandate integrity and fair play in all our affairs. Above all else, we exist to promote and protect the health and well-being of our student-athletes, our Department of Athletics and the Institution.

Who are we?

• Jerome P. Rodgers, Associate AD for Compliance– 617-552-8570 – [email protected]

• Carly Pariseau, Assistant AD – Recruiting/Financial Aid

– 617-552-6210 – [email protected]

• Aaron Aaker, Assistant AD – Eligibility/Practice

– 617-552-1916 – [email protected]

• Yadira Reyes, Compliance Assistant– 617-552-4518 – [email protected]

Where is the Compliance Office located?

• Conte Forum, Room 308– Take the elevator by the Equipment Room

up to the 3rd Floor and make a left – we are the first office on the left.

SPORTS MEDICINE• All incoming freshmen and new transfers:

– Pre-Entrance Physical– Sports Medicine Initial Health History Form

• Everybody:– Insurance Information Letter– Intercollegiate Insurance Form

+ = Sports

Medicine

Purpose of the Compliance Office

• Mission Statement

• Make Sure You are Eligible to Compete

Purpose of Meeting

• Provide a basic understanding of the rules that affect you as a student-athlete;

• Provide you enough knowledge to know when to raise a red flag;

- and -

• Remind you to be accountable for your actions – BE SMART.

What happened in the last year?

• Florida State University (academic fraud)

• University of Alabama (textbook fraud)

Eligibility – The Clock

• 4 years of eligibility within the span of a 5-year clock.

• Without injury or another specific extenuating circumstance, you use up one year of eligibility even if you only compete for one second of one contest or just a single play the entire year.

Eligibility – Redshirts and Medical Hardships

• Redshirts– If you do not compete for a single second or play the entire year, you

will preserve one of your 4 years of eligibility.

• Medical Hardships– If you compete, but suffer a SEASON-ENDING INJURY OR

ILLNESS, it may be possible to apply to the ACC to regain that year of eligibility, but you must talk to your coach and the Compliance Office.

• NCAA hardship requirements:– All of your competition must be during the first half of season; AND– You can play in only 30% of scheduled or completed contests.

Academic Eligibility• Freshmen, Sophomores, Juniors, Seniors

– NCAA says:• Enroll full-time (if not, then no practice or

competition);• Pass 6 or more credits each semester;• Pass 18 or more credits each academic year;• Pass 24 or more credits fall/spring/summer of

freshman year;• Choose major by start of junior year;• Meet GPA requirement by school;• If there is postseason competition taking place in

between semesters, you MUST pass at least 6 credits in order to participate in that competition.

Academic Eligibility• 5th Years

– NCAA says:• Enroll full-time (if not, then no practice or competition);

• Pass at least 6 credits each semester;

• If there is postseason competition taking place in between semesters, you MUST pass at least 6 credits in order to participate in that competition.

Academic Eligibility• Everybody

– In addition to what the NCAA says, Boston College says:

• You must remain in good academic standing– Generally speaking, take 5 courses each semester and don’t

accumulate deficiencies

• If you remain on target to graduate with your class at BC within 4 years, you should not have any problems with NCAA eligibility requirements.

Academic Eligibility

• NCAA Eligibility Center– In order to compete, you must be certified as an academic

qualifier and as an amateur.

– In order to practice, you must be certified as an academic qualifier and an amateur by the 14th day of practice (if recruited) or the 45th day of practice (if not recruited).

Academic Eligibility

• Where to Go for Answers– Learning Resources for Student-Athletes

(LRSA), Student Services (Academic Services) and Academic Advisors can help you with graduation requirements;

– Compliance Office can help you with academic eligibility for competition.

Financial Aid• NCAA limits what you may receive to attend

college– Limit is generally the value of a full scholarship.– Track what you receive (anything that is not

provided by your family).– Compliance will review athletic scholarships,

institutional grants, federal grants, outside aid to ensure that you never exceed your maximum financial aid limit.

Financial Aid

• General exceptions to the individual financial aid limit:– Employment– Pell Grants– NCAA Special Assistance Fund– NCAA Student-Athlete Opportunity Fund

Financial Aid – Exception #1

• Employment– Student-athletes may work during the academic year.– If you work, you must make sure you are paid the going

rate and only for work actually performed.– Permission Required:

• If you work at a non-work study job during the academic year, you must come to the Compliance Office to fill out paperwork BEFORE you start working (does not apply to official vacation periods).

• NCAA does review schools and that is why we need to make sure that we have documentation regarding that employment to prove everything was done within the NCAA’s rules.

Financial Aid – Exception #2

• Pell Grants and student loans from the federal government– If you feel that you and your family have a high degree of

financial need, you may want to apply for a Pell Grant.

– If you complete the entire BC financial aid application, you will find out if you qualify for a Pell Grant.

– Pell Grants do not need to be paid back (range from approximately $400 to $4,310 in one academic year).

Financial Aid – Exception #3

• NCAA Special Assistance Fund– If you receive a Pell Grant for the current

academic year, you are eligible to apply to use the NCAA Special Assistance Fund.

– The Fund can be used to pay for either BC health insurance if that is the only health insurance you have, or for up to $500.00 in clothing and other essential expenses.

– The Compliance Office will contact you in order to let you know if you are eligible to apply.

Financial Aid – Exception #4

• NCAA Student-Athlete Opportunity Fund– The SAOF is open to all student-athletes,

regardless of financial need.– There are many uses for the SAOF, including

supplementing the NCAA Special Assistance Fund.

– The Boston College Athletics Department administration retains sole discretion in determining how the SAOF shall be used.

Eligibility Issues –What Renders You Ineligible?

• Extra Benefits• Gambling• Amateurism• Promotional Activities• Agents• Outside Competition• Hazing• Tobacco Products

Extra Benefits

• A student-athlete, because of his/her status as a student-athlete, may not receive anything that any other member of the student body or any member of the general public would not receive.– Examples

• Use of coach’s PIN code for long distance phone calls;• Using athletic department copy machine for personal use;• Free/discounted food at Roggie’s;• Transportation, meals, lodging or other assistance from a

booster.

Gambling

• No wagers of anything of material value on an NCAA-sponsored sport or the corresponding professional sport– No fantasy sports/leagues– No March Madness pools– No Super Bowl picks– No bets for your entire time at Boston College

Gambling

• Don’t provide any information to any gamblers, whether you know them or not, about injuries, suspensions, or anything else that can impact a game.– That information is private and should stay within

this athletic department.

Amateurism

• Can’t sign professional sports contracts

• Don’t accept pay for competing in your sport

• Don’t compete for a professional team

• Can’t win prize money

You don’t get paid

for playing sports.

Agents

• You cannot enter into any agreement with an agent to have them represent you.– Includes written and verbal contracts.

• You cannot accept anything of value from an agent or anyone employed by an agent.– Extra benefit rule revisited.

• Policies regarding mere discussions with agents vary by team.– Please see your head coach for team rules regarding contact

with agents.

Promotional Activities• You cannot promote any commercial product,

service, or enterprise by lending your name, picture, or appearance (that is, unless the NCAA says it is OK).

• Non-profit/charitable promotions may be OK but you must receive prior written approval from the Compliance Office in order to participate.

Outside Competition• During the academic year, you may only compete for

your team at Boston College.– Exception: Except for basketball, if you are out-of-season,

you may compete for an outside team in a noncollegiate, amateur competition during an official BC vacation period.

• If you are a basketball student-athlete, you MAY NOT ever compete for an outside team during the academic year.

• Individual Sports– You may compete unattached in individual sports.

• Open event, you represent yourself, you pay for all of your own expenses, and you do not wear any BC-issued apparel.

Hazing

• Hazing is any conduct or method of initiation into any student organization which endangers the physical or mental health of any student or other person.

• Illegal in many states, including Massachusetts

• Captains will sign a letter stating that they will not allow any hazing to occur.– This applies to everybody on the team.

Tobacco Products

• No tobacco products may be used during practice or competition.

• If a student-athlete is caught using tobacco products during a practice or competition, he or she shall be disqualified for the remainder of that practice of competition.

Playing and Practice Rules

• Playing & Practice Rules– In-season

• Including pre-season for fall sports

– Out-of-season

• Definition of countable athletically related activities (CARA): any required activity with an athletics purpose involving student-athletes and at the direction of, or supervised by one or more of BC’s coaching staff (including strength coaches).

• CARA does not include travel or time spent in Sports Medicine (This meeting doesn’t count either!).

In-Season Limitations

• When you are in-season, you have practices and competitions, with the following limits:– 4 hours of CARA in a day; – 20 hours of CARA in a week;– 1 day off in every seven-day period;– Days of competition count as 3 hours no matter

how long they actually last;– No classes missed for practice activities.

Pre-Season Fall Sports

• Football– 5-day acclimatization period plus close regulation and

limitation thereafter.

• All Other Pre-Season Fall Sports– No limits until the first regular season contest or the

first day of school, whichever comes first.

Out-of-Season Limitations

• When you are out-of-season, you engage in strength & conditioning and skill instruction, with the following limits:– 8 hours of CARA in a week (combination of

strength & conditioning and skill instruction).• Skill instruction can be up to 2 hours in a week.• No limit on the number of student-athletes taking part at any one

time (September 15 through April 15).

• Football does not get skill instruction, only strength & conditioning, but can have film review for up to 2 of the 8 hours.

Out-of-Season Activities

• All CARA during the 8-hour segment is prohibited one week prior to the beginning of each final examination period through the conclusion of each student-athlete’s final exams (does not include football).

Recruiting

• Generally speaking, student-athletes do not recruit prospects to attend Boston College.– Coaches do the recruiting.– Coach cannot ask a student-athlete to call, write to,

email, or otherwise contact a prospect.– Two exceptions:

• Official Visits• Unofficial Visits

Official Visits• BC pays for the prospect to visit for up to 48 hours

– Student-athlete may be a student host and that is one time to recruit prospects to come to BC.

– May entertain the prospect within 30-mile radius of campus.

– Possibility of $30/day to be used on the prospect (cannot purchase items that the prospect can take home with them).

– Student host can receive a free meal and a complimentary admission, provided the student host accompanies the prospect.

• No impermissible/inappropriate entertainment activities.

Unofficial Visits• Prospect visits BC, but pays for their own

expenses.– Student-athlete may be a student host and that is

one time to recruit prospects to come to BC.– May entertain the prospect only on campus.

• No impermissible/inappropriate entertainment activities.

Questions?

PAPERWORK!!!