florida gulf coast university department of athletics
FLORIDA GULF COAST UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF ATHLETICS COMPLIANCE POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
2017-2018
Table of Contents Introduction: Statement of Compliance Compliance Office Key Constituents ARMS Software Article 10 – Ethical Conduct Article 11 – Athletics Personnel Article 12 – Amateurism and Athletics Eligibility Article 13 – Recruiting Article 14 – Eligibility: Academic and General Requirements Article 15 – Financial Aid Article 16 – Awards, Benefits and Expenses for Enrolled Student-Athletes Article 17 – Playing and Practice Seasons Investigative Procedures FGCU Transfer Policies NCAA Waivers FGCU Compliance Calendar
*For more information on FGCU Compliance, please visit the Compliance section of the FGCU Athletics website: http://fgcuathletics.com/sports/2014/8/17/compliance.aspx **Note that each section on related NCAA bylaws are not exhaustive and any further details on specific bylaw language can be found in the latest version of the NCAA manual, which can be found here: http://www.ncaapublications.com/DownloadPublication.aspx?download=D118.pdf
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Statement of Compliance Florida Gulf Coast University(FGCU) Athletics is committed to maintaining a culture of compliance that represent the institution, The President and Board of Trustees, the students, faculty, university staff, and the Southwest Florida community at the highest level of integrity. The Compliance Office will strive to find the best opportunities for its student-athletes and programs in accordance with FGCU, ASUN, CCSA, and NCAA regulations. This will be accomplished in cohesion with the purpose of the department to foster a positive image for Florida Gulf Coast University and provide a quality and competitive experience for studentathletes whose accomplishments instill pride and help unify the FGCU community.
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Key Constituents • • • • • • • • • • • •
Board of Trustees - https://www2.fgcu.edu/Trustees/index.asp The President - https://www2.fgcu.edu/president/ Athletic Director The President Athletic Director Faculty Athletics Representative (FAR) – Chairs IAC Committee; direct line to The President FGCU Athletics Executive Committee – Sport Supervisors all sit on this committee FGCU Staff – Legal Counsel, Administrative, Support, Across Campus Coaching Staff Student-Athletes Supporters of FGCU Athletics (Boosters) FGCU Local Community
All of these constituents have a stake in the compliance of FGCU Athletics with university, conference and NCAA regulations. Compliance is EVERYONE’S responsibility!
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ARMS Software The FGCU Athletic Department is currently utilizing ARMS Software for a variety of department functions. The site can be accessed here: https://my.armssoftware.com/arms/login All parties will have a login. The list below is not exhaustive but highlights the main functions. •
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Compliance: o Compliance yearly forms and other student-athlete paperwork are completed o Workflows have been created to move processes to an electronic format o Practice and Playing season calendars are tracked and potential violations flagged o Rosters are kept along with eligibility status o PSAs are tagged and tracked o Complimentary ticket lists are generated o Athletic Aid requests, adjustments, and cancellations are submitted o Camps are submitted with accompanying documentation for approval o Official Visits are submitted and approved both prior to and after the visit o Team Travel Rosters o SAF requests Business Office: o Travel Authorization Requests (TARs) for approval for recruiting functions o Team Advances requested o Other Business and Procurement requests Athletic Training: o Required Medical forms for student-athletes to complete o Tracking Rosters Coaches: o View Team Rosters o Submit CARA information o Launch Compliance Workflows (e.g. Aid Requests, Non-institutional Camps) o Track PSAs Student-Athletes: o Launch Compliance Workflows (e.g. Employment, Outside Competition) o Approve CARA hours submitted by their coaches o Complete required Compliance forms/athletic training forms Sports Supervisors: o Approve Workflows related to their sport o View team rosters
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Article 10 – Ethical Conduct Per NCAA Bylaw Article 10, any individual that is employed by or associated with FGCU shall act with honesty and sportsmanship at all times. Unethical Conduct: Unethical conduct by a prospective or enrolled student-athlete or a current or former institutional staff member, which includes any individual who performs work for the institution or the athletics department even if he or she does not receive compensation for such work, may include, but is not limited to, the following: (a) Refusal to furnish information relevant to an investigation of a possible violation of an NCAA regulation when requested to do so by the NCAA or the individual's institution; (b) Knowing involvement in offering or providing a prospective or an enrolled student-athlete an improper inducement or extra benefit or improper financial aid; (c) Knowingly furnishing or knowingly influencing others to furnish the NCAA or the individual's institution false or misleading information concerning an individual's involvement in or knowledge of matters relevant to a possible violation of an NCAA regulation; (d) Receipt of benefits by an institutional staff member for facilitating or arranging a meeting between a student-athlete and an agent, financial advisor or a representative of an agent or advisor (e.g., "runner"); (e) Knowing involvement in providing a banned substance or impermissible supplement to student-athletes, or knowingly providing medications to student-athletes contrary to medical licensure, commonly accepted standards of care in sports medicine practice, or state and federal law. This provision shall not apply to banned substances for which the student-athlete has received a medical exception per Bylaw 31.2.3.2; however, the substance must be provided in accordance with medical licensure, commonly accepted standards of care and state or federal law; (f) Engaging in any athletics competition under an assumed name or with intent to otherwise deceive; or (g) Failure to provide complete and accurate information to the NCAA, the NCAA Eligibility Center or the institution's athletics department regarding an individual's amateur status.
Sports Wagering: Sports wagering includes placing, accepting or soliciting a wager (on a staff member's or student-athlete's own behalf or on the behalf of others) of any type with any individual or organization on any intercollegiate, amateur or professional team or contest. Examples of sports wagering include, but are not limited to, the use of a bookmaker or parlay card; Internet sports wagering; auctions in which bids are placed on teams, individuals or contests; and pools or fantasy leagues in which an entry fee is required and there is an opportunity to win a prize.
10.2 Knowledge of Use of Banned Drugs: A member institution's athletics department staff members or others employed by the intercollegiate athletics program who have knowledge of a student-athlete's use at any time of a substance within the banned-drug classes, as set forth in Bylaw 31.2.3.1, shall follow institutional procedures dealing with drug abuse or shall be subject to disciplinary or corrective action as set forth in Bylaw 19.9.
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Article 11 – Conduct and Employment of Athletics Personnel The Compliance Office will monitor all Athletics Personnel positions and changes to those positions throughout the academic year. All personnel that are associated with the department affirm that they will report any knowledge of NCAA violations to the Compliance Office. Head Coach Responsibility Per Bylaw 11.1.1.1, an institution's head coach is presumed to be responsible for the actions of all institutional staff members who report, directly or indirectly, to the head coach. An institution's head coach shall promote an atmosphere of compliance within his or her program and shall monitor the activities of all institutional staff members involved with the program who report, directly or indirectly, to the coach. Prior to each academic year, the Head Coach for each FGCU sport will sign an affirmation of their responsibility over their staff. Declaration Prior to the beginning of each academic year (August 1 – July 31), each sport will submit a Staff Declaration Form in which they will identify all personnel that will be involved in a sport specific capacity with their team. This includes: o Countable Coaches that may recruit off-campus in their sport (see Bylaw 11.7.6) o Other coaching personnel, such as Volunteer Coaches (Bylaw 11.01.6), Student Assistant Coaches (Bylaw 11.01.5) o Managers (Bylaw 11.01.7) o Non-coaching Staff Members with Sport-Specific Responsibility (e.g. Director of Operations) (Bylaw 11.7.3) If at any time a change in staff occurs or a temporary change needs to be made due to extreme circumstances, the Compliance Office must be notified.
Certification of Off-Campus Recruiters Only coaches that have passed the Coaches Certification of Recruiting Test may recruit offcampus (this includes any personnel that are temporarily replacing countable coaches). The test is administered by the FAR or the Compliance Office. If a coach fails the test, he/she must wait one month to re-take it. The test covers off-campus recruiting through July 31 of the academic year.
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Scouting Per Bylaw 11.6, off-campus, in-person counting of future oopnents in the same season is prohibited unless the team being scouted at an event that occurs at the same site or during a conference or NCAA Championship.
*Please refer to Figure 11-1 and 11-2 in the NCAA manual for information on permissible compensation and benefits as well as reimbursable expenses
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Article 12 – Amateurism and Athletics Eligibility Only an amateur student-athlete is eligible for intercollegiate athletics participation in their sport. Prospective Student-Athletes’(PSA) amateur status will be determined by the NCAA Eligibility Center. Any PSA must register with the NCAA prior to enrollment and be placed on FGCU’s Institutional Request List (IRL) to be tracked by the Compliance Office. Following enrollment, it is the responsibility of the FGCU for certifying amateur status from that point to the completion of intercollegiate competition. An individual loses Amateur Status if any of the following occur: (a) Uses his or her athletics skill (directly or indirectly) for pay in any form in that sport; (b) Accepts a promise of pay even if such pay is to be received following completion of intercollegiate athletics participation; (c) Signs a contract or commitment of any kind to play professional athletics, regardless of its legal enforceability or any consideration received, except as permitted in Bylaw 12.2.5.1; (d) Receives, directly or indirectly, a salary, reimbursement of expenses or any other form of financial assistance from a professional sports organization based on athletics skill or participation, except as permitted by NCAA rules and regulations; (e) Competes on any professional athletics team per Bylaw 12.02.11, even if no pay or remuneration for expenses was received, except as permitted in Bylaw 12.2.3.2.1; (f) After initial full-time collegiate enrollment, enters into a professional draft (see Bylaw 12.2.4); or (g) Enters into an agreement with an agent.
Certain exceptions exists for both PSAs and current student-athletes, including receiving expenses that cover actual and necessary expenses (Bylaw 12.02.2). These exceptions are provided in further detail in Article 12 of the NCAA manual. Agents If a student-athlete agrees (verbally or in writing) to be represented by an agent or accepts any benefits offered by an agent, that student-athlete will be permanently ineligible in any sport. In Baseball, an individual may be represented by an agent or attorney during contract negotiation prior to full-time collegiate enrollment, but representation must end prior to full-time enrollment. Any agent that is seeking to contact a FGCU student-athlete should complete the Agent Form and return it to the FGCU Compliance Office. It is Florida law that any agent seeking to contact a student-athlete in Florida is registered with the State of Florida.
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Promotional Activities Per NCAA Bylaw 12.5.1.1, a student-athlete may take part in promotions of Institutional, Charitable, Educational, and other Nonprofit entities. At the beginning of each academic year, student-athletes will complete a form that affirms they will follow the guidelines of this bylaw as they engage in promotional activity during the academic year. Seasons of Competition Each student-athlete has four seasons of competition in their sport that must be completed in a five-year period. The five-year “clock” begins when a student-athlete enrolls full-time at any collegiate institution and it does not stop except for military service, peace corps participation, conscientious objector service or religious missions. In certain instances, there are exceptions to the five-year rule, in which the Compliance Office will file a waiver on a student-athlete’s behalf. These waivers require documented hardship that is beyond the control of the student-athlete. Competition in any capacity while representation a collegiate entity will count as a season of competition. Once a season is used, it cannot be recovered except for extreme circumstances. Delayed Enrollment (Bylaw 12.8.3.2) into college may cause a penalty for the student-athlete if they participate in their sport after a grace period (typically a year following high school graduation) without entering college full-time. Hardship Waivers (Bylaw 12.8.4) may be granted to student-athletes that participate in a season of competition for a minimal amount of time (typically 30%) and then are injured to the point where they can no longer participate for the remainder of the season. The injury must occur in the first half of the season. Total competitions are determined based on competitions actually participated in and that were originally scheduled. The Compliance Office will secure all contemporaneous medical documentation, a statement from the attending athletic trainer about participation, and a letter from a physician that states the date of the injury and the incapacitation from competition it caused. The information will be submitted to the Conference Office for review. Outside Competition Any student-athlete that does not represent FGCU in outside competition is permitted to do so if they do not receive any expenses from the athletic department. Student-athletes must complete the Outside Competition workflow in ARMS. The student-athlete must complete the form prior to the competition. For the sports of Golf and Tennis, the student-athletes must complete the workflow prior to and following to report any prize money earned.
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Squad Lists Each year, the Compliance Office will compile a squad list per Bylaw 12.10.2. Currently, the Compliance Assistant application is used to generate these lists. An initial list is generated for each sport at the beginning of the academic year, prior to their first competition. It is signed by the Compliance Office, Athletic Director, Head Coach, FAR, and Director of Financial Aid. An updated lists is generated between the Fall and Spring semesters and at the conclusion of participation of all sports for the given academic year.
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Article 13 – Recruiting Recruitment of PSAs to FGCU should only be performed by countable coaching staff in the given sport. Each sport must adhere to their stated recruiting calendar which determines at which times it is permissible to contact and evaluate PSAs. Please refer to Article 13 in the NCAA manual for specific dates of initial contact (telephone, electronic or other) for PSAs for specific sports. Transfer PSAs Potential transfer student-athletes (both two-year and four-year students) are considered PSAs. A four-year college PSA or their respective institution must provide permission to contact to FGCU prior to any recruitment of the PSA may take place. If a coach receives the permission to contact initially, they must share it with the Compliance Office; this can be accomplished via email or by uploading the permission to the PSA form on ARMS if the physical copy is not provided. Representatives of Athletic Interests Per Bylaw 13.02.15, a Representative of Athletic Interests (known as a “booster”) is an individual, independent agency, corporate entity (e.g., apparel or equipment manufacturer) or other organization who is known (or who should have been known) by a member of the institution's executive or athletics administration to: (a) Have participated in or to be a member of an agency or organization promoting the institution's intercollegiate athletics program; (b) Have made financial contributions to the athletics department or to an athletics booster organization of that institution; (c) Be assisting or to have been requested (by the athletics department staff) to assist in the recruitment of prospective student-athletes; (d) Be assisting or to have assisted in providing benefits to enrolled student-athletes or their families; or (e) Have been involved otherwise in promoting the institution's athletics program.
This status is retained for a permanent amount of time. Off-campus Recruiting Any coach that will be off-campus for FGCU, must complete a TAR on ARMS prior to leaving on the trip. All off-campus activity must be recorded in ARMS, utilizing the “Recruiting Calendar” feature as well as entering contact and evaluations in for specific PSAs. At the conclusion of each month, the sport will receive a “Recruiting Activity Log” to review and approve in ARMS.
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Recruiting Materials and Social Media Each sport has a specific date in which printed and electronic recruiting materials may be sent to a PSA. Regulations for these dates and the content of the materials are located in Bylaw 13.4.1. Coaches are advised to adhere to social media policies as set forth by the NCAA. The overall guideline being “click, don’t type” when dealing with PSAs on social media. A coaching staff member may add, follow, friend, etc. a PSA on social media and send direct messages (not viewable by the public) on the platform under the same restrictions as email. They may also “like, favorite, etc.” posts by the PSA on social media, but may not reply or comment, nor “tag” PSAs in any post that they make. Coaches should also not mention any athletic facilities used by PSAs, or endorse any recruiting/scouting service, coach of PSAs, or team comprised of PSAs on social media. Official Visits FGCU may provide a PSA with an Official Visit in which certain expenses are provided by the institution per Bylaw 13.5.2 and 13.6. A PSA gets only one visit to FGCU prior to high school graduation and one following October 15 post-graduation. The FGCU Official Visit policy is located on the PRAD share folder under “Compliance Documents”. The following should be noted regarding Official Visits: o Any PSA that a sport would like to bring in should be PSA’d in ARMS o The 48-hour period for visits must be tracked by the coach and reported in ARMS for the pre-visit approval (with itinerary submitted) and in the post-visit summary in case the time period changed o The Official Visit ARMS workflow should be submitted for pre-approval no later than a week prior to the visit o Baseball and Basketball have limits each year to how many visits they may grant, that number is tracked by the Compliance Office o Student Host money should be provided to the student host prior to the visit, with any receipts, remaining money returned to the coach that provided the host money. o The ARMS workflow must be completed and signed by the Compliance Office and the Business Office before reimbursement can be distributed o Hard copy receipts are provided to the business office, but they must all be scanned into ARMS along with all of the other required Official Visit paperwork (Student Host Form, Prospect Guideline Form) Unofficial Visits A PSA may visit FGCU at their own expense an unlimited number of times. Any unofficial visit should be recorded by the sport’s coaching staff in ARMS under the PSA’s profile.
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Complimentary Tickets for Prospective Student-Athletes The complimentary ticket process for PSAs shall consist of the applicable forms completed by the respective coach from their sport. The forms are available in the PRAD folder in Compliance Forms under the “Pass Lists” subfolder. On unofficial visits, a PSA is allowed three complimentary tickets submitted on the pass list form to home contests within a 30-mile radius of campus. On Official Visits, a maximum of six complimentary admissions are available to PSAs and their family with the same home contest and 30-mile restriction. The FGCU Ticket Office has established procedures and locations for the administration of the Pass Lists. Hard Tickets will not be issued, nor left at Will Call to be picked up. Coaches are encouraged to submit pass lists forms before noon on the day of the contest, or if the contest is before noon, the night before. Unofficial pass lists for large groups (teams, clubs, etc.) should all be submitted on the group pass list form. Coaches should get a list of the names for all members of the group, including parents and coaches accompanying PSAs. All individuals who receive a complimentary admission MUST show a picture ID in order to receive their admission. Athletic Aid Agreements and National Letter of Intent Per NCAA regulations, a written offer of aid may not be made to a PSA before August 1 of their senior year of high school. FGCU utilizes the National Letter of Intent program. While an NLI may be issued at any time as long as it accompanies an Athletic Aid Agreement, the NLI can only be signed during the designated signing periods. If signed on the first day of the signing period, the time of signature must be indicated by the PSA and their parent. PSAs 21 and over do not require a parent signature. The NLI may only be issued to a high school PSA or a two-year college PSA that will be graduating before enrolling at FGCU. The NLI will be issued electronically along with the Aid Agreement through the Adobe Sign program. PSAs and their parents if applicable will receive an email with the documents to review and sign electronically. The signed copy is time and date stamped and sent back to the Compliance Office. The Compliance Office will verify the validity of the NLI and then upload to the NLI database for the Conference Office to review. For publicity of the PSA signing, the Compliance Office will notify the Athletics Communication office contact and the head coach about the signing. For PSAs that only sign an Athletic Aid Agreement, once they sign the agreement, the Compliance Office will also make the notification. For PSAs that do not sign an NLI or Athletic Aid Agreement, they must accept an offer of admission in order for publicity to be open on their commitment. This is accomplished, as set by the Admissions Office of FGCU, by paying the orientation fee following their notice of admission. For PSAs that wish to commit before orientation registration opens, they can complete a form from the orientation office that will charge their account the deposit for orientation. Once payment is confirmed by the Compliance Office on the Banner system account screen of the PSA, the Compliance Office will then notify Athletic Communications and the coaching staff.
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Once a PSA is confirmed as signing, all publicity restrictions are lifted for FGCU staff, including social media. PSA Tryouts The general rule is that an institution may not conduct tryouts of PSAs. One exception is an oncampus evaluation in the sport of basketball per Bylaw 13.11.2.1. Basketball coaches must complete the Evaluation Form, located in PRAD, Compliance Forms, in the “Tryouts” folder. The form must be completed by the coach and signed by the Compliance Office and the Athletic Training staff affirming that the conditions of the bylaw and applicable medical clearance are met. In sports other than basketball, a sport’s coach may be involved with local sports clubs. There is a 50-mile restriction for participants in the club unless there is no other opportunity closer for a PSA to participate. Any FGCU coach participating with a local club should complete the Participation with Club Teams workflow for approval on ARMS. Camps and Clinics Coaches that are operating FGCU camps and clinics must adhere to Bylaw 13.12. The CampClinic Form on ARMS must be completed in full, with Athletic Director approval, prior to the start of the camp. All other university guidelines involving camp and clinic operations must be followed. Camps and clinics will not be advertised by the Athletic Department until the Facilities staff has confirmed they have reserved the facility for usage on the given dates. Coaches should also complete the Student-Athlete and PSA Camp/Clinic Employment for any student-athlete working the camp. A PSA is permitted to work a camp if they have signed an NLI, aid agreement, or accepted an offer of admission. Any changes made to the Camp-Clinic workflow after final approval should be submitted through an additional workflow noting the changes. For any coach working a non-institutional camp or clinic, that camp or clinic must adhere to the 13.12 rules, or the coach cannot work the camp or clinic. The Noninstitutional Camp/Clinic Approval Form workflow should be completed in advance of the event so that the Compliance Office can review. Donations to Groups That Involve PSAs Per Bylaw 13.15, FGCU cannot donate money, equipment or items to raise money for high school athletic programs, or groups that are primarily established for the athletic pursuits of PSAs. Any outside group wishing to request a donation from FGCU, should complete the Donation Request Form, which is available in the PRAD, Compliance Forms folder. The form will be emailed to the Compliance Office and after review, the Compliance Office will reply with approval or non-approval.
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Recruiting Calendars Each member of a sport’s staff is responsible for knowledge of their team’s recruiting calendar. The Compliance Office provides electronic and color-coded paper copies of the recruiting calendar to coaching staff members for them to use as a resource. Additionally, ARMS should notify a coach of any impermissible activity that is planned if it is entered into the system beforehand.
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Article 14 – Academic Eligibility It is the responsibility of FGCU Athletics to ensure that all student-athletes participating in intercollegiate competition are eligible under NCAA academic guidelines. The Compliance Office will confirm that each student-athlete meets initial eligibility guidelines through the NCAA Eligibility Center, transfer eligibility from two or four-year institutions if applicable, and continuing eligibility guidelines as certified by the Registrar’s Office. Initial Eligibility The Compliance Office will review the IRL and keep coaches updated as early as the preceding Spring term through to the beginning of the academic year. Each sport should track these updates and maintain communication with their PSAs about their Eligibility Center status. Initial Eligibility evaluations are provided based on high school transcripts in the PRAD-FA folder. It is understood that the evaluations are not official and that the Eligibility Center is the final determination on initial eligibility. Full-Time Enrollment Along with Academic Staff, the Compliance Office will ensure all student-athletes are enrolled in a full-time course load, which is 12 credit hours for undergraduate and 9 hours for graduate students. Any student-athlete that meets an exception for taking less than a full-time course load, must submit a Less Than Full-Time form, which is available in the PRAD folder in Compliance Forms. Certification The Certification process for continuing eligibility has been reviewed and refined by FGCU Athletics. They key components to this process are communication between the Compliance Office, Athletic Academic staff, Campus Advisors, the FAR, and the Registrar’s Office, with the Compliance Coordinator acting as the liaison between all these entities. Each student-athlete has an excel file which contains a Certification Sheet, which is created and maintained by the Compliance Office, and a Degree Worksheet created and maintained by Academics. These sheets are kept in the Cross Department Folder, separated by academic years, by sport and fall and spring terms. At the end of each term, the sheets will be updated with grades and degree applicable credits. A certification sheet will be generated in the Adobe Sign program that accounts for the studentathlete’s academic progress for that term. It is generated by the Compliance Coordinator, and then sent via email workflow to the designated campus advisor. The advisor will review and acknowledge the eligibility of the student-athlete and sign the document. It will then be moved to the Registrar’s Office, who has a designated staff member as the certifying officer for FGCU.
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The Registrar will then sign and certify the document affirming the eligibility of each studentathlete. The final signed sheets will be stored in the shared folder. For certifying eligibility for competition between terms, the Compliance Office will generate a midyear certification checklist for the sports that compete between the Fall and Spring terms (Women’s Swimming and Diving and Basketball). The list will affirm that the student-athletes have passed the credits and maintained the cumulative GPA they require to be eligible. If at anytime the Compliance Office has reasonable determination of an ineligibility for a studentathlete between terms, that student-athlete will be pulled from competition. The Progress Toward Degree requirements to keep in mind are as follows: o
Full-time Rule: 12 hours undergraduate, 9 hours graduate (unless waiver has been approved)
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6-hour Rule: after attempting 1-9 semesters, must pass 6 hours each semester (must be DA after 4th semester)
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18-hour Rule: after attempting 2-9 semesters in preceding 2 semesters
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24-hour Rule: After attempting 1st year, must pass 24 hours prior to the start of the 2 nd year
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GPA Rule: after attempting 2-3 semesters, 1.8 minimum; 4-5 semesters, 1.9; 6-9 semesters, 2.0
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Degree Hour Rule: after attempting 4-5 semesters, minimum 40% toward degree; 6-7 semesters 60%; 8-9 semesters, 80%
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Baseball Rule: must be eligible at the start of the Fall term to be eligible for academic year
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Major Declaration: must declare major prior to the start of the 5 th semester
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5-year Eligibility Rule: max enrolled semester is 10
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Good Academic Standing Rule: all student-athletes must be considered in good academic standing by the Registrar. Until a student-athlete is on “Academic Suspension”, they will not be considered not in good academic standard.
Transfer Certification For incoming transfer PSAs, the Compliance Office will certify their eligibility according to NCAA regulations. The Compliance Office will keep all transfer certification information in the PSA folder within the Cross Department share drive. The process for evaluation will begin with the coach PSA’ing in ARMS, this includes providing permission to contact for four-year prospects. The coach will then need to provide a copy of a transcript or transcripts for all the PSA’s collegiate academic coursework. The Compliance Office or Academic Staff will send the transcript to the contact in Admissions for articulation. Once the articulation is received, the Academic Staff will provide an unofficial Degree Worksheet for the PSA. The Compliance Office will then determine if the PSA meets transfer requirements for credits, GPA, and graduation (if applicable). The transfer certification sheet will be added in the certification file if the PSA attends FGCU.
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APR and Graduation Rates The Compliance Office is responsible for tracking and reporting APR and Graduation Rates. The Academic Portal NCAA Application now provides all the information and pathway to submission. Additional tracking is provided in the PRAD_FA folder, along with past reports. For APR, any student-athlete that receives athletic aid will be in the cohort for that academic year. For Graduation Rates, only a student-athlete that receives aid in their freshman year at FGCU will count in federal graduation rates, while transfers that receive aid in their first term will go into the NCAA GSR cohort.
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Article 15 – Financial Aid The Compliance Office works closely with the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships at FGCU. Utilizing NCAA applications, inter-departmental processes, and university systems, the financial aid profile of each student-athlete is tracked and kept within NCAA, federal and university guidelines. The Compliance Office maintains regular communication with the Director of Financial Aid and Scholarship and the designated Coordinator of Federal Grants and Athletic Aid. In order to better track the student-athlete population, the Compliance Office will ensure that each student-athlete is entered into the Banner screen SGASPRT. Each term, all student-athletes will be entered into the screen. The scholarship information for each team is tracked within the spreadsheet for each academic year. In the PRAD_FA folder the Sport Supervisor subfolder, each academic year’s spreadsheet and all copies of initial and renewal aid agreements are stored and archived. The Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships will enter the financial aid information into the Compliance Assistant NCAA application at the beginning of each academic year and make any necessary adjustments that come during the year. That financial information will be used for reporting and on Squad Lists to confirm equivalency and head count information. Requesting Aid Agreements Coaches may request Aid Agreements for PSAs via the workflow on ARMS. Within the workflow, they will enter all pertinent information for the athletic aid being offered. The workflow will be approved by the Sport Supervisor, the Compliance and Business Office, and the Athletic Director. Once approved, the Compliance Office will generate the aid agreement in Adobe Sign and begin it on the workflow through email. The requesting coach will sign first, followed by the Athletic Director, and then the Director of Financial Aid and Scholarships (or the designee if the Director is not available) as is required by NCAA rules. Once the form has been signed and completed, it will be sent electronically to the Coordinator of Federal Grants and Athletic Aid, who will then apply the aid to the student-athlete’s account. Aid Agreements will be for a one-year renewable period unless the coach specifies. Scholarship Adjustments If a coach wishes to adjust the athletic aid of a student-athlete, they must initiate that change through ARMS via the Scholarship workflows. The adjustment will follow the same approval process as the requests. After the workflow is approved, the Coordinator of Federal Grants and Athletic Aid will receive a notification of the workflow and will make the necessary adjustments to the student-athletes aid. For cancellations, the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships will notify the student-athlete’s right to appeal.
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Renewals and Non-Renewals Coaches will submit renewal or non-renewal workflow’s in ARMS prior to the July 1 deadline per NCAA Bylaw 15.3.7.1. The , the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships will notify the student-athlete’s right to appeal for non-renewals. The notification will come through electronic email as well as hard copy. The renewals will be generated through Adobe Sign and sent through the email workflows to be signed by the student-athletes. Foundation Scholarships Each year, the Office of External Affairs will award Foundation Athletic Scholarships. The Compliance Office will provide eligible student-athletes for the awards, and the coaches and Office of External Affairs will confirm the recipients. There are two different types of Foundation Athletic Scholarships; aid that replaces athletic aid from the department and aid that is addition to aid already awarded. Aid in addition to will be countable athletic aid that will count against team and individual limits. The list of recipients is created and updated by the Office of External Affairs on a share drive. The copy will be saved by the Compliance Office in the PRAD_FA folder. The list will be sent to the Coordinator of Federal Grants and Athletic Aid who will apply the Foundation aid to the student-athlete’s account. In order to receive Foundation Aid, all student-athletes must complete the Foundation Scholarship each year. Summer Aid Summer Athletic Aid is separate from academic year aid. Only student-athletes that were on athletic aid the during the academic year, will be on athletic aid the following year, or are Pell Grant recipients are permitted to receive summer athletic aid. Student-athletes must complete the application for Summer Athletic Aid and submit it to the Academic Office by the deadline in March. A committee led by the Athletic Director will review the applications and determine which student-athletes will receive Summer Athletic Aid. The student-athletes will be informed via email about the decision. The head coaches will have an opportunity to appeal any denial decisions. The coaches may also elect to use their Foundation Gift Accounts to provide summer aid. LAC The Latin American-Caribbean Scholarship program is an established state statute in Florida for all public universities. It allows students from designated countries in Latin America and the Caribbean to attend FGCU and pay in-state tuition. This is open to all students who attend FGCU. Various departments across the campus have the ability to award the LAC to incoming students. The students must complete an application and be approved. The list for all LAC recipients are kept in a folder in the Cross Department share drive. Athletics has a subfolder in which an annual list of recipients is kept. The list is sent to the Registrar, so they may designate them as LAC recipients in Banner and to Financial Aid, so they may apply the in-state tuition and the additional scholarship. Per the NCAA, any student-athlete who receives the LAC but no
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other athletic aid, will be a noncounter and the aid received not be countable. If a student-athlete receives additional athletic aid beyond the LAC, they will be treated as an out-of-state student and the additional aid from the scholarship will be countable. Out-of-State Waivers For out-of-state student-athletes, the Athletic Department has out-of-state waivers to bring tuition to in-state costs. These waivers are countable aid. The Compliance Office tracks the waivers used per sport and provides a report to the Director of Athletics throughout the academic year. Waivers used count as a full waiver for an academic year, half a waiver for one term, and a quarter of a waiver for each summer term. Injury Non-Counters If a student-athlete on aid suffers an injury that prevents him/her from participating in athletics for the remainder of their college career, they may still receive their athletic scholarship without it counting against the team limit for their sport. The form for confirmation by the team physician is located in the PRAD_FA.
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Article 16 – Awards, Benefits and Expenses for Enrolled StudentAthletes The Compliance Office is responsible for educating the key constituents on Extra Benefits. As Bylaw 16.02.3 states, an extra benefit is any special arrangement by an institutional employee or representative of the institution's athletics interests to provide a student-athlete or the studentathlete family member or friend a benefit not expressly authorized by NCAA legislation. Receipt of a benefit by student-athletes or their family members or friends is not a violation of NCAA legislation if it is demonstrated that the same benefit is generally available to the institution's students or their family members or friends or to a particular segment of the student body (e.g., international students, minority students) determined on a basis unrelated to athletics ability. Awards Coaches and other department staff members should submit the Awards Approval workflow in ARMS for any award they will provide to student-athletes. These workflows should be approved prior to purchase of the award. Complimentary Admissions for Student-Athletes Student-athletes may provide complimentary admissions in their respective sport for home and away contests. They may provide a maximum of four for regular season contests and six for postseason. The admissions will be issued through the pass list. The student-athletes will log onto ARMS and complete their requests at least three hours prior to their contest. The list will then be generated and provided to Ticket Office personnel. In ASUN conference basketball play, the Compliance Office will provide copies of opponent pass lists to those institutions. Academic Services Per NCAA Bylaw 16.3.1.1, FGCU may provide counseling, tutoring services, other academic support, career counseling and personal development services. Any student-athlete that has an academic need should meet with their coach, Academic Staff, their Sport Supervisor with their request. Medical Expenses Per NCAA Bylaw 16.4, FGCU may provide medical and related expenses to student-athletes. Any student-athlete with a medical need should meet with their coach and the athletic training staff. Health Insurance for student-athletes can be covered by coaches from their scholarship budget upon request in ARMS. The insurance is not countable athletic aid.
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Meals All applicable meal legislation per Bylaw 16.5.2 will be used to provide guidance to coaches and staff regarding student-athletes and meals. Occasional Meals will be requested through ARMS by coaches or by coaches/staff on behalf of boosters. Requests should be submitted prior to the meal taking place. SAF The Student Assistance Fund is available for all students to request assistance. The requests will be brought to FGCU staff and then submitted via ARMS for approval.
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Article 17 – Playing and Practice Seasons The Compliance Office will utilize Bylaw 17 to keep the programs of FGCU Athletics within regulations for playing and practice seasons. All FGCU sports are required to report their weekly hours for countable activity in ARMS. The CARA hours should be inputted by each sport as the activity takes place. The Compliance Office will review and approve the CARA hours. At the end of each month, hours not entered by a sport will prompt a reminder from the compliance office to the coaching staff. Coaches are encouraged to enter all activity with the team into ARMS and properly identify the activity as countable or noncountable. Declaration Prior to the beginning of each academic year, the head coach of each sport will meet with the Compliance Office and complete the Playing Season Declaration Form. Within the form the coach will indicate the initial date of activity for the academic year, as well has the number of countable contests that will occur in the academic year, both championship segment and nonchampionship segment if applicable. The coach will also declare the week for countable activity. It is also required for the coach to provide a copy of the season schedule for the sport, so that the Compliance Office can confirm that the sport meets the minimum requirements per Bylaw 20 and does not exceed the maximum countable contests per Bylaw 17. If the sport has a limit on the amount of days within the playing season, the Compliance Office will calculate using a calendar the days the sport plans on using for their declared season. Any changes to the season declaration and/or contest schedule must go through the Compliance Office and the Sports Supervisor for approval. Foreign Tours Per Bylaw 17.28, a sports program may participate in a Foreign Tour during a vacation period for the institution, including summer. The sport planning to engage in a tour will submit the Foreign Tour Approval Form to the Compliance Office to confirm the eligibility of the tour as well as the eligibility of the student-athletes taking part.
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Investigative Procedures The FGCU Compliance Office takes all potential NCAA violations seriously. All staff are mandated to report any knowledge of potential or committed violations to the Compliance Office. Additionally, the email address [email protected] has been established as a line for contact to be made for questions, interpretations or notifications to the Compliance Office regarding potential NCAA violations. Once a notification is received, the Compliance Office will conduct an investigation into the potential violation. If the potential violation is secondary in nature, the Compliance Office will gather the involved information, conduct questions and interviews as necessary. Once the investigation is completed, the Compliance Office will notify the Athletic Director of the outcome. If it is determined a violation has occurred, the Compliance Office will report the violation in the NCAA Application RSRO system and notify all involved parties and take the appropriate action. If the potential violation indicates a major level I or level II violation, the Compliance Office will notify the Athletic Director, the FAR, the President, and the institution’s Legal Council. The FAR will form an ad hoc subcommittee from members of the Intercollegiate Athletic Committee (IAC) which the Compliance Office will report to on a consistent basis regarding the progress of the violation. Any interview conducted with FGCU personnel, student-athletes, or any other parties will not be conducted in a one-on-one environment. If a major violation is determined to have occurred, the Compliance Office will notify the parties involved, the Athletic Director, the FAR, the President, and the institution’s Legal Council. The Compliance Office will also notify the NCAA prior to beginning submission in RSRO. If the Compliance Office cannot determine whether a violation has occurred after gathering the evidence, or if it requires confirmation, the FAR will form an ad hoc committee from the IAC. It will be determined by the FAR and this committee if a violation has occurred and requires reporting. It is of utmost importance that the Compliance Office maintains transparency and open communication with the involved constituents. All documentation from the investigations will be kept and stored (electronically or otherwise) for future reference.
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FGCU Transfer and Permission to Contact Policies Student-athletes that are considering transferring from the institution must follow NCAA guidelines for contact from other institutions and for any transfer exceptions that may be available. Communication between all constituents is important throughout this process to ensure fairness to all parties. **for the purposes of this section, email will be considered the equivalent of written correspondence
Permission to Contact Process NCAA Bylaw 13.1.1.3 states that a student-athlete of any NCAA or NAIA four-year collegiate institution must receive written permission from the Director of Athletics (or an athletics administrator designated by the Director of Athletics) before any contact, directly or indirectly, is made with the student-athlete. Any FGCU student-athlete that seeks permission to contact should note the following: • Permission to contact only grants the ability to speak with other institutions about transferring, o it does not grant the release to use the one-time transfer exception. • Permission should be requested in writing to the Compliance Office. • A request for Permission to Contact will be verified with the sport coach and/or Director of o Athletics before the Compliance Office will issue any permission to the studentathlete or an o institution. • If Permission to Contact is granted the lead compliance administrator, acting as the designee, o will issue the form letter to the student-athlete or to an institution that the studentathlete has o requested it be sent to. • If Permission is denied, the student-athlete will be notified by the Compliance Office of the o decision have the opportunity to an appeal hearing per bylaw 13.1.1.3.2. • Permission may be granted but only to certain schools (e.g. non-conference, non-Florida D1 o schools), the student-athlete may appeal the schools that are denied. o Services and Benefits Available After Permission to Contact Request Once a FGCU student-athlete requests Permission to Contact, per NCAA rules, his/her athletic aid may not be cancelled by the department before the end of the term of the award. The availability of the following FGCU Athletics services will be available to the student-athlete on a case by case basis as determined by the Director of Athletics upon a student-athlete making their interest in transferring known or making a request to contact other institutions regarding transferring:
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• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Access to Athletics Facilities Academic Support Services Access to Strength and Conditioning Staff The following FGCU Athletics services will not be available to the student-athlete upon request to contact other institutions regarding transferring: Student Assistant Fund Requests Access to Athletic Training will be available to anyone that encountered an athleticallyrelated injury while participating as a student-athlete at FGCU. Transfer Releases NCAA Bylaw 14.5.5.2.10 and its associated bylaws states that student-athletes may be allowed to be immediately eligible should they transfer to another four-year collegiate institution. In order to meet this exception, the student-athlete must have the institution it is transferring from certify in writing that it has no objection to the student-athlete being granted the exception. The student-athlete must submit the request for the release in writing to the institution (requests should be sent to the Compliance Office). The institution must respond within seven business days or the release shall be automatically granted. Other institutions may request on behalf of the transferring student-athlete FGCU’s waiving of the residence requirement. FGCU may immediately grant the exception to that institution 24 without a written request from the student-athlete, however the request from the institution will not be considered a written request from the student-athlete and therefore is not subject to the seven business day window, nor does the granting of the exception apply to any institution other than the one requesting it. All requests will be verified with the sport coach and/or Director of Athletics before the Compliance Office will grant the exception. If request is denied, the student-athlete will be notified by the Compliance Office of the decision have the opportunity to an appeal hearing per bylaw 14.5.5.2.10.1
Appeals Process 1. The student-athlete must request the appeal hearing in writing in response to the correspondence of denial from the Compliance Office. 2. The Faculty Athletics Representative, acting as chair of the Intercollegiate Athletics Committee
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(IAC), will be notified of the appeal and the date on which a decision must be rendered to the student-athlete (fifteen business days from the receipt of written request) and set forth a date for the hearing to be held. 3. The Faculty Athletics Representative will comprise an Appeals Committee composed of the Faculty Athletics Representative, IAC committee members, and at least one current studentathlete in which the total members of which will be an odd number not to be less than three. 4. All parties involved (student-athlete and an athletics department administrator) must attend the hearing or be present via teleconference. The student-athlete may bring a parent or an advisor to the appeal hearing. If the advisor is legal counsel, a member of FGCU legal counsel must also be present. 5. The IAC Appeals Hearing will proceed as follows: a. The student-athlete will first present to the appeals committee his/her reasoning as to why he/she should be given permission to speak to another institution. The Appeals Committee, if so desired, will then ask any questions of the student-athlete. The athletics administrator may not be present during this segment of the proceedings. b. The athletics administrator will state his/her rationale for denying the request to speak to another institution. Members of the coaching staff may be present and included in the presentation. The Appeals Committee, if so desired, will then ask any questions of the athletics administration or coaching staff. The student-athlete and his/her advisor may not be present during this segment of the proceedings. 6. The Faculty Athletics Representative will communicate the IAC Appeals Committee’s decision in writing to the student-athlete and to the Director of Athletics, within the aforementioned 15 business-day window.
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NCAA Waivers The Compliance Office is determined to assist programs and student-athletes of FGCU in situations were circumstances warrant relief or exemption from NCAA legislation. While the Compliance Office will accommodate and consider every request, the waiver process should be viewed as a final alternative from other avenues of solutions to NCAA legislative complications. The NCAA RSRO system and open dialogue with the NCAA staff are vital to the successful submission and completion of NCAA waivers. FGCU staff and student-athletes are encouraged to provide total and complete information to the Compliance Office in order to submit the waiver. Comprehensive information and understanding of the details of the waiver situation provide for the best opportunity and the most fastidious resolution to the waiver.
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2017-2018
Table of Contents Introduction: Statement of Compliance Compliance Office Key Constituents ARMS Software Article 10 – Ethical Conduct Article 11 – Athletics Personnel Article 12 – Amateurism and Athletics Eligibility Article 13 – Recruiting Article 14 – Eligibility: Academic and General Requirements Article 15 – Financial Aid Article 16 – Awards, Benefits and Expenses for Enrolled Student-Athletes Article 17 – Playing and Practice Seasons Investigative Procedures FGCU Transfer Policies NCAA Waivers FGCU Compliance Calendar
*For more information on FGCU Compliance, please visit the Compliance section of the FGCU Athletics website: http://fgcuathletics.com/sports/2014/8/17/compliance.aspx **Note that each section on related NCAA bylaws are not exhaustive and any further details on specific bylaw language can be found in the latest version of the NCAA manual, which can be found here: http://www.ncaapublications.com/DownloadPublication.aspx?download=D118.pdf
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Statement of Compliance Florida Gulf Coast University(FGCU) Athletics is committed to maintaining a culture of compliance that represent the institution, The President and Board of Trustees, the students, faculty, university staff, and the Southwest Florida community at the highest level of integrity. The Compliance Office will strive to find the best opportunities for its student-athletes and programs in accordance with FGCU, ASUN, CCSA, and NCAA regulations. This will be accomplished in cohesion with the purpose of the department to foster a positive image for Florida Gulf Coast University and provide a quality and competitive experience for studentathletes whose accomplishments instill pride and help unify the FGCU community.
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Key Constituents • • • • • • • • • • • •
Board of Trustees - https://www2.fgcu.edu/Trustees/index.asp The President - https://www2.fgcu.edu/president/ Athletic Director The President Athletic Director Faculty Athletics Representative (FAR) – Chairs IAC Committee; direct line to The President FGCU Athletics Executive Committee – Sport Supervisors all sit on this committee FGCU Staff – Legal Counsel, Administrative, Support, Across Campus Coaching Staff Student-Athletes Supporters of FGCU Athletics (Boosters) FGCU Local Community
All of these constituents have a stake in the compliance of FGCU Athletics with university, conference and NCAA regulations. Compliance is EVERYONE’S responsibility!
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ARMS Software The FGCU Athletic Department is currently utilizing ARMS Software for a variety of department functions. The site can be accessed here: https://my.armssoftware.com/arms/login All parties will have a login. The list below is not exhaustive but highlights the main functions. •
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Compliance: o Compliance yearly forms and other student-athlete paperwork are completed o Workflows have been created to move processes to an electronic format o Practice and Playing season calendars are tracked and potential violations flagged o Rosters are kept along with eligibility status o PSAs are tagged and tracked o Complimentary ticket lists are generated o Athletic Aid requests, adjustments, and cancellations are submitted o Camps are submitted with accompanying documentation for approval o Official Visits are submitted and approved both prior to and after the visit o Team Travel Rosters o SAF requests Business Office: o Travel Authorization Requests (TARs) for approval for recruiting functions o Team Advances requested o Other Business and Procurement requests Athletic Training: o Required Medical forms for student-athletes to complete o Tracking Rosters Coaches: o View Team Rosters o Submit CARA information o Launch Compliance Workflows (e.g. Aid Requests, Non-institutional Camps) o Track PSAs Student-Athletes: o Launch Compliance Workflows (e.g. Employment, Outside Competition) o Approve CARA hours submitted by their coaches o Complete required Compliance forms/athletic training forms Sports Supervisors: o Approve Workflows related to their sport o View team rosters
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Article 10 – Ethical Conduct Per NCAA Bylaw Article 10, any individual that is employed by or associated with FGCU shall act with honesty and sportsmanship at all times. Unethical Conduct: Unethical conduct by a prospective or enrolled student-athlete or a current or former institutional staff member, which includes any individual who performs work for the institution or the athletics department even if he or she does not receive compensation for such work, may include, but is not limited to, the following: (a) Refusal to furnish information relevant to an investigation of a possible violation of an NCAA regulation when requested to do so by the NCAA or the individual's institution; (b) Knowing involvement in offering or providing a prospective or an enrolled student-athlete an improper inducement or extra benefit or improper financial aid; (c) Knowingly furnishing or knowingly influencing others to furnish the NCAA or the individual's institution false or misleading information concerning an individual's involvement in or knowledge of matters relevant to a possible violation of an NCAA regulation; (d) Receipt of benefits by an institutional staff member for facilitating or arranging a meeting between a student-athlete and an agent, financial advisor or a representative of an agent or advisor (e.g., "runner"); (e) Knowing involvement in providing a banned substance or impermissible supplement to student-athletes, or knowingly providing medications to student-athletes contrary to medical licensure, commonly accepted standards of care in sports medicine practice, or state and federal law. This provision shall not apply to banned substances for which the student-athlete has received a medical exception per Bylaw 31.2.3.2; however, the substance must be provided in accordance with medical licensure, commonly accepted standards of care and state or federal law; (f) Engaging in any athletics competition under an assumed name or with intent to otherwise deceive; or (g) Failure to provide complete and accurate information to the NCAA, the NCAA Eligibility Center or the institution's athletics department regarding an individual's amateur status.
Sports Wagering: Sports wagering includes placing, accepting or soliciting a wager (on a staff member's or student-athlete's own behalf or on the behalf of others) of any type with any individual or organization on any intercollegiate, amateur or professional team or contest. Examples of sports wagering include, but are not limited to, the use of a bookmaker or parlay card; Internet sports wagering; auctions in which bids are placed on teams, individuals or contests; and pools or fantasy leagues in which an entry fee is required and there is an opportunity to win a prize.
10.2 Knowledge of Use of Banned Drugs: A member institution's athletics department staff members or others employed by the intercollegiate athletics program who have knowledge of a student-athlete's use at any time of a substance within the banned-drug classes, as set forth in Bylaw 31.2.3.1, shall follow institutional procedures dealing with drug abuse or shall be subject to disciplinary or corrective action as set forth in Bylaw 19.9.
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Article 11 – Conduct and Employment of Athletics Personnel The Compliance Office will monitor all Athletics Personnel positions and changes to those positions throughout the academic year. All personnel that are associated with the department affirm that they will report any knowledge of NCAA violations to the Compliance Office. Head Coach Responsibility Per Bylaw 11.1.1.1, an institution's head coach is presumed to be responsible for the actions of all institutional staff members who report, directly or indirectly, to the head coach. An institution's head coach shall promote an atmosphere of compliance within his or her program and shall monitor the activities of all institutional staff members involved with the program who report, directly or indirectly, to the coach. Prior to each academic year, the Head Coach for each FGCU sport will sign an affirmation of their responsibility over their staff. Declaration Prior to the beginning of each academic year (August 1 – July 31), each sport will submit a Staff Declaration Form in which they will identify all personnel that will be involved in a sport specific capacity with their team. This includes: o Countable Coaches that may recruit off-campus in their sport (see Bylaw 11.7.6) o Other coaching personnel, such as Volunteer Coaches (Bylaw 11.01.6), Student Assistant Coaches (Bylaw 11.01.5) o Managers (Bylaw 11.01.7) o Non-coaching Staff Members with Sport-Specific Responsibility (e.g. Director of Operations) (Bylaw 11.7.3) If at any time a change in staff occurs or a temporary change needs to be made due to extreme circumstances, the Compliance Office must be notified.
Certification of Off-Campus Recruiters Only coaches that have passed the Coaches Certification of Recruiting Test may recruit offcampus (this includes any personnel that are temporarily replacing countable coaches). The test is administered by the FAR or the Compliance Office. If a coach fails the test, he/she must wait one month to re-take it. The test covers off-campus recruiting through July 31 of the academic year.
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Scouting Per Bylaw 11.6, off-campus, in-person counting of future oopnents in the same season is prohibited unless the team being scouted at an event that occurs at the same site or during a conference or NCAA Championship.
*Please refer to Figure 11-1 and 11-2 in the NCAA manual for information on permissible compensation and benefits as well as reimbursable expenses
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Article 12 – Amateurism and Athletics Eligibility Only an amateur student-athlete is eligible for intercollegiate athletics participation in their sport. Prospective Student-Athletes’(PSA) amateur status will be determined by the NCAA Eligibility Center. Any PSA must register with the NCAA prior to enrollment and be placed on FGCU’s Institutional Request List (IRL) to be tracked by the Compliance Office. Following enrollment, it is the responsibility of the FGCU for certifying amateur status from that point to the completion of intercollegiate competition. An individual loses Amateur Status if any of the following occur: (a) Uses his or her athletics skill (directly or indirectly) for pay in any form in that sport; (b) Accepts a promise of pay even if such pay is to be received following completion of intercollegiate athletics participation; (c) Signs a contract or commitment of any kind to play professional athletics, regardless of its legal enforceability or any consideration received, except as permitted in Bylaw 12.2.5.1; (d) Receives, directly or indirectly, a salary, reimbursement of expenses or any other form of financial assistance from a professional sports organization based on athletics skill or participation, except as permitted by NCAA rules and regulations; (e) Competes on any professional athletics team per Bylaw 12.02.11, even if no pay or remuneration for expenses was received, except as permitted in Bylaw 12.2.3.2.1; (f) After initial full-time collegiate enrollment, enters into a professional draft (see Bylaw 12.2.4); or (g) Enters into an agreement with an agent.
Certain exceptions exists for both PSAs and current student-athletes, including receiving expenses that cover actual and necessary expenses (Bylaw 12.02.2). These exceptions are provided in further detail in Article 12 of the NCAA manual. Agents If a student-athlete agrees (verbally or in writing) to be represented by an agent or accepts any benefits offered by an agent, that student-athlete will be permanently ineligible in any sport. In Baseball, an individual may be represented by an agent or attorney during contract negotiation prior to full-time collegiate enrollment, but representation must end prior to full-time enrollment. Any agent that is seeking to contact a FGCU student-athlete should complete the Agent Form and return it to the FGCU Compliance Office. It is Florida law that any agent seeking to contact a student-athlete in Florida is registered with the State of Florida.
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Promotional Activities Per NCAA Bylaw 12.5.1.1, a student-athlete may take part in promotions of Institutional, Charitable, Educational, and other Nonprofit entities. At the beginning of each academic year, student-athletes will complete a form that affirms they will follow the guidelines of this bylaw as they engage in promotional activity during the academic year. Seasons of Competition Each student-athlete has four seasons of competition in their sport that must be completed in a five-year period. The five-year “clock” begins when a student-athlete enrolls full-time at any collegiate institution and it does not stop except for military service, peace corps participation, conscientious objector service or religious missions. In certain instances, there are exceptions to the five-year rule, in which the Compliance Office will file a waiver on a student-athlete’s behalf. These waivers require documented hardship that is beyond the control of the student-athlete. Competition in any capacity while representation a collegiate entity will count as a season of competition. Once a season is used, it cannot be recovered except for extreme circumstances. Delayed Enrollment (Bylaw 12.8.3.2) into college may cause a penalty for the student-athlete if they participate in their sport after a grace period (typically a year following high school graduation) without entering college full-time. Hardship Waivers (Bylaw 12.8.4) may be granted to student-athletes that participate in a season of competition for a minimal amount of time (typically 30%) and then are injured to the point where they can no longer participate for the remainder of the season. The injury must occur in the first half of the season. Total competitions are determined based on competitions actually participated in and that were originally scheduled. The Compliance Office will secure all contemporaneous medical documentation, a statement from the attending athletic trainer about participation, and a letter from a physician that states the date of the injury and the incapacitation from competition it caused. The information will be submitted to the Conference Office for review. Outside Competition Any student-athlete that does not represent FGCU in outside competition is permitted to do so if they do not receive any expenses from the athletic department. Student-athletes must complete the Outside Competition workflow in ARMS. The student-athlete must complete the form prior to the competition. For the sports of Golf and Tennis, the student-athletes must complete the workflow prior to and following to report any prize money earned.
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Squad Lists Each year, the Compliance Office will compile a squad list per Bylaw 12.10.2. Currently, the Compliance Assistant application is used to generate these lists. An initial list is generated for each sport at the beginning of the academic year, prior to their first competition. It is signed by the Compliance Office, Athletic Director, Head Coach, FAR, and Director of Financial Aid. An updated lists is generated between the Fall and Spring semesters and at the conclusion of participation of all sports for the given academic year.
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Article 13 – Recruiting Recruitment of PSAs to FGCU should only be performed by countable coaching staff in the given sport. Each sport must adhere to their stated recruiting calendar which determines at which times it is permissible to contact and evaluate PSAs. Please refer to Article 13 in the NCAA manual for specific dates of initial contact (telephone, electronic or other) for PSAs for specific sports. Transfer PSAs Potential transfer student-athletes (both two-year and four-year students) are considered PSAs. A four-year college PSA or their respective institution must provide permission to contact to FGCU prior to any recruitment of the PSA may take place. If a coach receives the permission to contact initially, they must share it with the Compliance Office; this can be accomplished via email or by uploading the permission to the PSA form on ARMS if the physical copy is not provided. Representatives of Athletic Interests Per Bylaw 13.02.15, a Representative of Athletic Interests (known as a “booster”) is an individual, independent agency, corporate entity (e.g., apparel or equipment manufacturer) or other organization who is known (or who should have been known) by a member of the institution's executive or athletics administration to: (a) Have participated in or to be a member of an agency or organization promoting the institution's intercollegiate athletics program; (b) Have made financial contributions to the athletics department or to an athletics booster organization of that institution; (c) Be assisting or to have been requested (by the athletics department staff) to assist in the recruitment of prospective student-athletes; (d) Be assisting or to have assisted in providing benefits to enrolled student-athletes or their families; or (e) Have been involved otherwise in promoting the institution's athletics program.
This status is retained for a permanent amount of time. Off-campus Recruiting Any coach that will be off-campus for FGCU, must complete a TAR on ARMS prior to leaving on the trip. All off-campus activity must be recorded in ARMS, utilizing the “Recruiting Calendar” feature as well as entering contact and evaluations in for specific PSAs. At the conclusion of each month, the sport will receive a “Recruiting Activity Log” to review and approve in ARMS.
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Recruiting Materials and Social Media Each sport has a specific date in which printed and electronic recruiting materials may be sent to a PSA. Regulations for these dates and the content of the materials are located in Bylaw 13.4.1. Coaches are advised to adhere to social media policies as set forth by the NCAA. The overall guideline being “click, don’t type” when dealing with PSAs on social media. A coaching staff member may add, follow, friend, etc. a PSA on social media and send direct messages (not viewable by the public) on the platform under the same restrictions as email. They may also “like, favorite, etc.” posts by the PSA on social media, but may not reply or comment, nor “tag” PSAs in any post that they make. Coaches should also not mention any athletic facilities used by PSAs, or endorse any recruiting/scouting service, coach of PSAs, or team comprised of PSAs on social media. Official Visits FGCU may provide a PSA with an Official Visit in which certain expenses are provided by the institution per Bylaw 13.5.2 and 13.6. A PSA gets only one visit to FGCU prior to high school graduation and one following October 15 post-graduation. The FGCU Official Visit policy is located on the PRAD share folder under “Compliance Documents”. The following should be noted regarding Official Visits: o Any PSA that a sport would like to bring in should be PSA’d in ARMS o The 48-hour period for visits must be tracked by the coach and reported in ARMS for the pre-visit approval (with itinerary submitted) and in the post-visit summary in case the time period changed o The Official Visit ARMS workflow should be submitted for pre-approval no later than a week prior to the visit o Baseball and Basketball have limits each year to how many visits they may grant, that number is tracked by the Compliance Office o Student Host money should be provided to the student host prior to the visit, with any receipts, remaining money returned to the coach that provided the host money. o The ARMS workflow must be completed and signed by the Compliance Office and the Business Office before reimbursement can be distributed o Hard copy receipts are provided to the business office, but they must all be scanned into ARMS along with all of the other required Official Visit paperwork (Student Host Form, Prospect Guideline Form) Unofficial Visits A PSA may visit FGCU at their own expense an unlimited number of times. Any unofficial visit should be recorded by the sport’s coaching staff in ARMS under the PSA’s profile.
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Complimentary Tickets for Prospective Student-Athletes The complimentary ticket process for PSAs shall consist of the applicable forms completed by the respective coach from their sport. The forms are available in the PRAD folder in Compliance Forms under the “Pass Lists” subfolder. On unofficial visits, a PSA is allowed three complimentary tickets submitted on the pass list form to home contests within a 30-mile radius of campus. On Official Visits, a maximum of six complimentary admissions are available to PSAs and their family with the same home contest and 30-mile restriction. The FGCU Ticket Office has established procedures and locations for the administration of the Pass Lists. Hard Tickets will not be issued, nor left at Will Call to be picked up. Coaches are encouraged to submit pass lists forms before noon on the day of the contest, or if the contest is before noon, the night before. Unofficial pass lists for large groups (teams, clubs, etc.) should all be submitted on the group pass list form. Coaches should get a list of the names for all members of the group, including parents and coaches accompanying PSAs. All individuals who receive a complimentary admission MUST show a picture ID in order to receive their admission. Athletic Aid Agreements and National Letter of Intent Per NCAA regulations, a written offer of aid may not be made to a PSA before August 1 of their senior year of high school. FGCU utilizes the National Letter of Intent program. While an NLI may be issued at any time as long as it accompanies an Athletic Aid Agreement, the NLI can only be signed during the designated signing periods. If signed on the first day of the signing period, the time of signature must be indicated by the PSA and their parent. PSAs 21 and over do not require a parent signature. The NLI may only be issued to a high school PSA or a two-year college PSA that will be graduating before enrolling at FGCU. The NLI will be issued electronically along with the Aid Agreement through the Adobe Sign program. PSAs and their parents if applicable will receive an email with the documents to review and sign electronically. The signed copy is time and date stamped and sent back to the Compliance Office. The Compliance Office will verify the validity of the NLI and then upload to the NLI database for the Conference Office to review. For publicity of the PSA signing, the Compliance Office will notify the Athletics Communication office contact and the head coach about the signing. For PSAs that only sign an Athletic Aid Agreement, once they sign the agreement, the Compliance Office will also make the notification. For PSAs that do not sign an NLI or Athletic Aid Agreement, they must accept an offer of admission in order for publicity to be open on their commitment. This is accomplished, as set by the Admissions Office of FGCU, by paying the orientation fee following their notice of admission. For PSAs that wish to commit before orientation registration opens, they can complete a form from the orientation office that will charge their account the deposit for orientation. Once payment is confirmed by the Compliance Office on the Banner system account screen of the PSA, the Compliance Office will then notify Athletic Communications and the coaching staff.
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Once a PSA is confirmed as signing, all publicity restrictions are lifted for FGCU staff, including social media. PSA Tryouts The general rule is that an institution may not conduct tryouts of PSAs. One exception is an oncampus evaluation in the sport of basketball per Bylaw 13.11.2.1. Basketball coaches must complete the Evaluation Form, located in PRAD, Compliance Forms, in the “Tryouts” folder. The form must be completed by the coach and signed by the Compliance Office and the Athletic Training staff affirming that the conditions of the bylaw and applicable medical clearance are met. In sports other than basketball, a sport’s coach may be involved with local sports clubs. There is a 50-mile restriction for participants in the club unless there is no other opportunity closer for a PSA to participate. Any FGCU coach participating with a local club should complete the Participation with Club Teams workflow for approval on ARMS. Camps and Clinics Coaches that are operating FGCU camps and clinics must adhere to Bylaw 13.12. The CampClinic Form on ARMS must be completed in full, with Athletic Director approval, prior to the start of the camp. All other university guidelines involving camp and clinic operations must be followed. Camps and clinics will not be advertised by the Athletic Department until the Facilities staff has confirmed they have reserved the facility for usage on the given dates. Coaches should also complete the Student-Athlete and PSA Camp/Clinic Employment for any student-athlete working the camp. A PSA is permitted to work a camp if they have signed an NLI, aid agreement, or accepted an offer of admission. Any changes made to the Camp-Clinic workflow after final approval should be submitted through an additional workflow noting the changes. For any coach working a non-institutional camp or clinic, that camp or clinic must adhere to the 13.12 rules, or the coach cannot work the camp or clinic. The Noninstitutional Camp/Clinic Approval Form workflow should be completed in advance of the event so that the Compliance Office can review. Donations to Groups That Involve PSAs Per Bylaw 13.15, FGCU cannot donate money, equipment or items to raise money for high school athletic programs, or groups that are primarily established for the athletic pursuits of PSAs. Any outside group wishing to request a donation from FGCU, should complete the Donation Request Form, which is available in the PRAD, Compliance Forms folder. The form will be emailed to the Compliance Office and after review, the Compliance Office will reply with approval or non-approval.
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Recruiting Calendars Each member of a sport’s staff is responsible for knowledge of their team’s recruiting calendar. The Compliance Office provides electronic and color-coded paper copies of the recruiting calendar to coaching staff members for them to use as a resource. Additionally, ARMS should notify a coach of any impermissible activity that is planned if it is entered into the system beforehand.
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Article 14 – Academic Eligibility It is the responsibility of FGCU Athletics to ensure that all student-athletes participating in intercollegiate competition are eligible under NCAA academic guidelines. The Compliance Office will confirm that each student-athlete meets initial eligibility guidelines through the NCAA Eligibility Center, transfer eligibility from two or four-year institutions if applicable, and continuing eligibility guidelines as certified by the Registrar’s Office. Initial Eligibility The Compliance Office will review the IRL and keep coaches updated as early as the preceding Spring term through to the beginning of the academic year. Each sport should track these updates and maintain communication with their PSAs about their Eligibility Center status. Initial Eligibility evaluations are provided based on high school transcripts in the PRAD-FA folder. It is understood that the evaluations are not official and that the Eligibility Center is the final determination on initial eligibility. Full-Time Enrollment Along with Academic Staff, the Compliance Office will ensure all student-athletes are enrolled in a full-time course load, which is 12 credit hours for undergraduate and 9 hours for graduate students. Any student-athlete that meets an exception for taking less than a full-time course load, must submit a Less Than Full-Time form, which is available in the PRAD folder in Compliance Forms. Certification The Certification process for continuing eligibility has been reviewed and refined by FGCU Athletics. They key components to this process are communication between the Compliance Office, Athletic Academic staff, Campus Advisors, the FAR, and the Registrar’s Office, with the Compliance Coordinator acting as the liaison between all these entities. Each student-athlete has an excel file which contains a Certification Sheet, which is created and maintained by the Compliance Office, and a Degree Worksheet created and maintained by Academics. These sheets are kept in the Cross Department Folder, separated by academic years, by sport and fall and spring terms. At the end of each term, the sheets will be updated with grades and degree applicable credits. A certification sheet will be generated in the Adobe Sign program that accounts for the studentathlete’s academic progress for that term. It is generated by the Compliance Coordinator, and then sent via email workflow to the designated campus advisor. The advisor will review and acknowledge the eligibility of the student-athlete and sign the document. It will then be moved to the Registrar’s Office, who has a designated staff member as the certifying officer for FGCU.
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The Registrar will then sign and certify the document affirming the eligibility of each studentathlete. The final signed sheets will be stored in the shared folder. For certifying eligibility for competition between terms, the Compliance Office will generate a midyear certification checklist for the sports that compete between the Fall and Spring terms (Women’s Swimming and Diving and Basketball). The list will affirm that the student-athletes have passed the credits and maintained the cumulative GPA they require to be eligible. If at anytime the Compliance Office has reasonable determination of an ineligibility for a studentathlete between terms, that student-athlete will be pulled from competition. The Progress Toward Degree requirements to keep in mind are as follows: o
Full-time Rule: 12 hours undergraduate, 9 hours graduate (unless waiver has been approved)
o
6-hour Rule: after attempting 1-9 semesters, must pass 6 hours each semester (must be DA after 4th semester)
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18-hour Rule: after attempting 2-9 semesters in preceding 2 semesters
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24-hour Rule: After attempting 1st year, must pass 24 hours prior to the start of the 2 nd year
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GPA Rule: after attempting 2-3 semesters, 1.8 minimum; 4-5 semesters, 1.9; 6-9 semesters, 2.0
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Degree Hour Rule: after attempting 4-5 semesters, minimum 40% toward degree; 6-7 semesters 60%; 8-9 semesters, 80%
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Baseball Rule: must be eligible at the start of the Fall term to be eligible for academic year
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Major Declaration: must declare major prior to the start of the 5 th semester
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5-year Eligibility Rule: max enrolled semester is 10
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Good Academic Standing Rule: all student-athletes must be considered in good academic standing by the Registrar. Until a student-athlete is on “Academic Suspension”, they will not be considered not in good academic standard.
Transfer Certification For incoming transfer PSAs, the Compliance Office will certify their eligibility according to NCAA regulations. The Compliance Office will keep all transfer certification information in the PSA folder within the Cross Department share drive. The process for evaluation will begin with the coach PSA’ing in ARMS, this includes providing permission to contact for four-year prospects. The coach will then need to provide a copy of a transcript or transcripts for all the PSA’s collegiate academic coursework. The Compliance Office or Academic Staff will send the transcript to the contact in Admissions for articulation. Once the articulation is received, the Academic Staff will provide an unofficial Degree Worksheet for the PSA. The Compliance Office will then determine if the PSA meets transfer requirements for credits, GPA, and graduation (if applicable). The transfer certification sheet will be added in the certification file if the PSA attends FGCU.
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APR and Graduation Rates The Compliance Office is responsible for tracking and reporting APR and Graduation Rates. The Academic Portal NCAA Application now provides all the information and pathway to submission. Additional tracking is provided in the PRAD_FA folder, along with past reports. For APR, any student-athlete that receives athletic aid will be in the cohort for that academic year. For Graduation Rates, only a student-athlete that receives aid in their freshman year at FGCU will count in federal graduation rates, while transfers that receive aid in their first term will go into the NCAA GSR cohort.
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Article 15 – Financial Aid The Compliance Office works closely with the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships at FGCU. Utilizing NCAA applications, inter-departmental processes, and university systems, the financial aid profile of each student-athlete is tracked and kept within NCAA, federal and university guidelines. The Compliance Office maintains regular communication with the Director of Financial Aid and Scholarship and the designated Coordinator of Federal Grants and Athletic Aid. In order to better track the student-athlete population, the Compliance Office will ensure that each student-athlete is entered into the Banner screen SGASPRT. Each term, all student-athletes will be entered into the screen. The scholarship information for each team is tracked within the spreadsheet for each academic year. In the PRAD_FA folder the Sport Supervisor subfolder, each academic year’s spreadsheet and all copies of initial and renewal aid agreements are stored and archived. The Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships will enter the financial aid information into the Compliance Assistant NCAA application at the beginning of each academic year and make any necessary adjustments that come during the year. That financial information will be used for reporting and on Squad Lists to confirm equivalency and head count information. Requesting Aid Agreements Coaches may request Aid Agreements for PSAs via the workflow on ARMS. Within the workflow, they will enter all pertinent information for the athletic aid being offered. The workflow will be approved by the Sport Supervisor, the Compliance and Business Office, and the Athletic Director. Once approved, the Compliance Office will generate the aid agreement in Adobe Sign and begin it on the workflow through email. The requesting coach will sign first, followed by the Athletic Director, and then the Director of Financial Aid and Scholarships (or the designee if the Director is not available) as is required by NCAA rules. Once the form has been signed and completed, it will be sent electronically to the Coordinator of Federal Grants and Athletic Aid, who will then apply the aid to the student-athlete’s account. Aid Agreements will be for a one-year renewable period unless the coach specifies. Scholarship Adjustments If a coach wishes to adjust the athletic aid of a student-athlete, they must initiate that change through ARMS via the Scholarship workflows. The adjustment will follow the same approval process as the requests. After the workflow is approved, the Coordinator of Federal Grants and Athletic Aid will receive a notification of the workflow and will make the necessary adjustments to the student-athletes aid. For cancellations, the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships will notify the student-athlete’s right to appeal.
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Renewals and Non-Renewals Coaches will submit renewal or non-renewal workflow’s in ARMS prior to the July 1 deadline per NCAA Bylaw 15.3.7.1. The , the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships will notify the student-athlete’s right to appeal for non-renewals. The notification will come through electronic email as well as hard copy. The renewals will be generated through Adobe Sign and sent through the email workflows to be signed by the student-athletes. Foundation Scholarships Each year, the Office of External Affairs will award Foundation Athletic Scholarships. The Compliance Office will provide eligible student-athletes for the awards, and the coaches and Office of External Affairs will confirm the recipients. There are two different types of Foundation Athletic Scholarships; aid that replaces athletic aid from the department and aid that is addition to aid already awarded. Aid in addition to will be countable athletic aid that will count against team and individual limits. The list of recipients is created and updated by the Office of External Affairs on a share drive. The copy will be saved by the Compliance Office in the PRAD_FA folder. The list will be sent to the Coordinator of Federal Grants and Athletic Aid who will apply the Foundation aid to the student-athlete’s account. In order to receive Foundation Aid, all student-athletes must complete the Foundation Scholarship each year. Summer Aid Summer Athletic Aid is separate from academic year aid. Only student-athletes that were on athletic aid the during the academic year, will be on athletic aid the following year, or are Pell Grant recipients are permitted to receive summer athletic aid. Student-athletes must complete the application for Summer Athletic Aid and submit it to the Academic Office by the deadline in March. A committee led by the Athletic Director will review the applications and determine which student-athletes will receive Summer Athletic Aid. The student-athletes will be informed via email about the decision. The head coaches will have an opportunity to appeal any denial decisions. The coaches may also elect to use their Foundation Gift Accounts to provide summer aid. LAC The Latin American-Caribbean Scholarship program is an established state statute in Florida for all public universities. It allows students from designated countries in Latin America and the Caribbean to attend FGCU and pay in-state tuition. This is open to all students who attend FGCU. Various departments across the campus have the ability to award the LAC to incoming students. The students must complete an application and be approved. The list for all LAC recipients are kept in a folder in the Cross Department share drive. Athletics has a subfolder in which an annual list of recipients is kept. The list is sent to the Registrar, so they may designate them as LAC recipients in Banner and to Financial Aid, so they may apply the in-state tuition and the additional scholarship. Per the NCAA, any student-athlete who receives the LAC but no
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other athletic aid, will be a noncounter and the aid received not be countable. If a student-athlete receives additional athletic aid beyond the LAC, they will be treated as an out-of-state student and the additional aid from the scholarship will be countable. Out-of-State Waivers For out-of-state student-athletes, the Athletic Department has out-of-state waivers to bring tuition to in-state costs. These waivers are countable aid. The Compliance Office tracks the waivers used per sport and provides a report to the Director of Athletics throughout the academic year. Waivers used count as a full waiver for an academic year, half a waiver for one term, and a quarter of a waiver for each summer term. Injury Non-Counters If a student-athlete on aid suffers an injury that prevents him/her from participating in athletics for the remainder of their college career, they may still receive their athletic scholarship without it counting against the team limit for their sport. The form for confirmation by the team physician is located in the PRAD_FA.
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Article 16 – Awards, Benefits and Expenses for Enrolled StudentAthletes The Compliance Office is responsible for educating the key constituents on Extra Benefits. As Bylaw 16.02.3 states, an extra benefit is any special arrangement by an institutional employee or representative of the institution's athletics interests to provide a student-athlete or the studentathlete family member or friend a benefit not expressly authorized by NCAA legislation. Receipt of a benefit by student-athletes or their family members or friends is not a violation of NCAA legislation if it is demonstrated that the same benefit is generally available to the institution's students or their family members or friends or to a particular segment of the student body (e.g., international students, minority students) determined on a basis unrelated to athletics ability. Awards Coaches and other department staff members should submit the Awards Approval workflow in ARMS for any award they will provide to student-athletes. These workflows should be approved prior to purchase of the award. Complimentary Admissions for Student-Athletes Student-athletes may provide complimentary admissions in their respective sport for home and away contests. They may provide a maximum of four for regular season contests and six for postseason. The admissions will be issued through the pass list. The student-athletes will log onto ARMS and complete their requests at least three hours prior to their contest. The list will then be generated and provided to Ticket Office personnel. In ASUN conference basketball play, the Compliance Office will provide copies of opponent pass lists to those institutions. Academic Services Per NCAA Bylaw 16.3.1.1, FGCU may provide counseling, tutoring services, other academic support, career counseling and personal development services. Any student-athlete that has an academic need should meet with their coach, Academic Staff, their Sport Supervisor with their request. Medical Expenses Per NCAA Bylaw 16.4, FGCU may provide medical and related expenses to student-athletes. Any student-athlete with a medical need should meet with their coach and the athletic training staff. Health Insurance for student-athletes can be covered by coaches from their scholarship budget upon request in ARMS. The insurance is not countable athletic aid.
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Meals All applicable meal legislation per Bylaw 16.5.2 will be used to provide guidance to coaches and staff regarding student-athletes and meals. Occasional Meals will be requested through ARMS by coaches or by coaches/staff on behalf of boosters. Requests should be submitted prior to the meal taking place. SAF The Student Assistance Fund is available for all students to request assistance. The requests will be brought to FGCU staff and then submitted via ARMS for approval.
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Article 17 – Playing and Practice Seasons The Compliance Office will utilize Bylaw 17 to keep the programs of FGCU Athletics within regulations for playing and practice seasons. All FGCU sports are required to report their weekly hours for countable activity in ARMS. The CARA hours should be inputted by each sport as the activity takes place. The Compliance Office will review and approve the CARA hours. At the end of each month, hours not entered by a sport will prompt a reminder from the compliance office to the coaching staff. Coaches are encouraged to enter all activity with the team into ARMS and properly identify the activity as countable or noncountable. Declaration Prior to the beginning of each academic year, the head coach of each sport will meet with the Compliance Office and complete the Playing Season Declaration Form. Within the form the coach will indicate the initial date of activity for the academic year, as well has the number of countable contests that will occur in the academic year, both championship segment and nonchampionship segment if applicable. The coach will also declare the week for countable activity. It is also required for the coach to provide a copy of the season schedule for the sport, so that the Compliance Office can confirm that the sport meets the minimum requirements per Bylaw 20 and does not exceed the maximum countable contests per Bylaw 17. If the sport has a limit on the amount of days within the playing season, the Compliance Office will calculate using a calendar the days the sport plans on using for their declared season. Any changes to the season declaration and/or contest schedule must go through the Compliance Office and the Sports Supervisor for approval. Foreign Tours Per Bylaw 17.28, a sports program may participate in a Foreign Tour during a vacation period for the institution, including summer. The sport planning to engage in a tour will submit the Foreign Tour Approval Form to the Compliance Office to confirm the eligibility of the tour as well as the eligibility of the student-athletes taking part.
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Investigative Procedures The FGCU Compliance Office takes all potential NCAA violations seriously. All staff are mandated to report any knowledge of potential or committed violations to the Compliance Office. Additionally, the email address [email protected] has been established as a line for contact to be made for questions, interpretations or notifications to the Compliance Office regarding potential NCAA violations. Once a notification is received, the Compliance Office will conduct an investigation into the potential violation. If the potential violation is secondary in nature, the Compliance Office will gather the involved information, conduct questions and interviews as necessary. Once the investigation is completed, the Compliance Office will notify the Athletic Director of the outcome. If it is determined a violation has occurred, the Compliance Office will report the violation in the NCAA Application RSRO system and notify all involved parties and take the appropriate action. If the potential violation indicates a major level I or level II violation, the Compliance Office will notify the Athletic Director, the FAR, the President, and the institution’s Legal Council. The FAR will form an ad hoc subcommittee from members of the Intercollegiate Athletic Committee (IAC) which the Compliance Office will report to on a consistent basis regarding the progress of the violation. Any interview conducted with FGCU personnel, student-athletes, or any other parties will not be conducted in a one-on-one environment. If a major violation is determined to have occurred, the Compliance Office will notify the parties involved, the Athletic Director, the FAR, the President, and the institution’s Legal Council. The Compliance Office will also notify the NCAA prior to beginning submission in RSRO. If the Compliance Office cannot determine whether a violation has occurred after gathering the evidence, or if it requires confirmation, the FAR will form an ad hoc committee from the IAC. It will be determined by the FAR and this committee if a violation has occurred and requires reporting. It is of utmost importance that the Compliance Office maintains transparency and open communication with the involved constituents. All documentation from the investigations will be kept and stored (electronically or otherwise) for future reference.
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FGCU Transfer and Permission to Contact Policies Student-athletes that are considering transferring from the institution must follow NCAA guidelines for contact from other institutions and for any transfer exceptions that may be available. Communication between all constituents is important throughout this process to ensure fairness to all parties. **for the purposes of this section, email will be considered the equivalent of written correspondence
Permission to Contact Process NCAA Bylaw 13.1.1.3 states that a student-athlete of any NCAA or NAIA four-year collegiate institution must receive written permission from the Director of Athletics (or an athletics administrator designated by the Director of Athletics) before any contact, directly or indirectly, is made with the student-athlete. Any FGCU student-athlete that seeks permission to contact should note the following: • Permission to contact only grants the ability to speak with other institutions about transferring, o it does not grant the release to use the one-time transfer exception. • Permission should be requested in writing to the Compliance Office. • A request for Permission to Contact will be verified with the sport coach and/or Director of o Athletics before the Compliance Office will issue any permission to the studentathlete or an o institution. • If Permission to Contact is granted the lead compliance administrator, acting as the designee, o will issue the form letter to the student-athlete or to an institution that the studentathlete has o requested it be sent to. • If Permission is denied, the student-athlete will be notified by the Compliance Office of the o decision have the opportunity to an appeal hearing per bylaw 13.1.1.3.2. • Permission may be granted but only to certain schools (e.g. non-conference, non-Florida D1 o schools), the student-athlete may appeal the schools that are denied. o Services and Benefits Available After Permission to Contact Request Once a FGCU student-athlete requests Permission to Contact, per NCAA rules, his/her athletic aid may not be cancelled by the department before the end of the term of the award. The availability of the following FGCU Athletics services will be available to the student-athlete on a case by case basis as determined by the Director of Athletics upon a student-athlete making their interest in transferring known or making a request to contact other institutions regarding transferring:
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• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Access to Athletics Facilities Academic Support Services Access to Strength and Conditioning Staff The following FGCU Athletics services will not be available to the student-athlete upon request to contact other institutions regarding transferring: Student Assistant Fund Requests Access to Athletic Training will be available to anyone that encountered an athleticallyrelated injury while participating as a student-athlete at FGCU. Transfer Releases NCAA Bylaw 14.5.5.2.10 and its associated bylaws states that student-athletes may be allowed to be immediately eligible should they transfer to another four-year collegiate institution. In order to meet this exception, the student-athlete must have the institution it is transferring from certify in writing that it has no objection to the student-athlete being granted the exception. The student-athlete must submit the request for the release in writing to the institution (requests should be sent to the Compliance Office). The institution must respond within seven business days or the release shall be automatically granted. Other institutions may request on behalf of the transferring student-athlete FGCU’s waiving of the residence requirement. FGCU may immediately grant the exception to that institution 24 without a written request from the student-athlete, however the request from the institution will not be considered a written request from the student-athlete and therefore is not subject to the seven business day window, nor does the granting of the exception apply to any institution other than the one requesting it. All requests will be verified with the sport coach and/or Director of Athletics before the Compliance Office will grant the exception. If request is denied, the student-athlete will be notified by the Compliance Office of the decision have the opportunity to an appeal hearing per bylaw 14.5.5.2.10.1
Appeals Process 1. The student-athlete must request the appeal hearing in writing in response to the correspondence of denial from the Compliance Office. 2. The Faculty Athletics Representative, acting as chair of the Intercollegiate Athletics Committee
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(IAC), will be notified of the appeal and the date on which a decision must be rendered to the student-athlete (fifteen business days from the receipt of written request) and set forth a date for the hearing to be held. 3. The Faculty Athletics Representative will comprise an Appeals Committee composed of the Faculty Athletics Representative, IAC committee members, and at least one current studentathlete in which the total members of which will be an odd number not to be less than three. 4. All parties involved (student-athlete and an athletics department administrator) must attend the hearing or be present via teleconference. The student-athlete may bring a parent or an advisor to the appeal hearing. If the advisor is legal counsel, a member of FGCU legal counsel must also be present. 5. The IAC Appeals Hearing will proceed as follows: a. The student-athlete will first present to the appeals committee his/her reasoning as to why he/she should be given permission to speak to another institution. The Appeals Committee, if so desired, will then ask any questions of the student-athlete. The athletics administrator may not be present during this segment of the proceedings. b. The athletics administrator will state his/her rationale for denying the request to speak to another institution. Members of the coaching staff may be present and included in the presentation. The Appeals Committee, if so desired, will then ask any questions of the athletics administration or coaching staff. The student-athlete and his/her advisor may not be present during this segment of the proceedings. 6. The Faculty Athletics Representative will communicate the IAC Appeals Committee’s decision in writing to the student-athlete and to the Director of Athletics, within the aforementioned 15 business-day window.
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NCAA Waivers The Compliance Office is determined to assist programs and student-athletes of FGCU in situations were circumstances warrant relief or exemption from NCAA legislation. While the Compliance Office will accommodate and consider every request, the waiver process should be viewed as a final alternative from other avenues of solutions to NCAA legislative complications. The NCAA RSRO system and open dialogue with the NCAA staff are vital to the successful submission and completion of NCAA waivers. FGCU staff and student-athletes are encouraged to provide total and complete information to the Compliance Office in order to submit the waiver. Comprehensive information and understanding of the details of the waiver situation provide for the best opportunity and the most fastidious resolution to the waiver.
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