The Compliance Corner
The Compliance Corner January 2015 | Volume 7, Issue 5
Texas A&M Corpus Christi Compliance Office Monthly Newsletter Recruiting Calender
Reminder #1: Transfer Rules The end of the semester is a time when many transfers occur, and as such, here are some helpful reminders for 2-4, 4-2-4, and 4-4 transfers.
Baseball 1/1: Quiet Period
2-4 TRANSFERS As a Qualifier a PSA must: Attend the two-year college full-time for at least one semester or quarter; achieve a minimum cumulative GPA of at least 2.5; and complete an average of at least 12 transferable credit hours per full-time term at the two-year college. As a Non-Qualifier a PSA must: Attend the two-year college full-time for at least three semesters or four quarters; achieve a cumulative GPA of at least 2.5; graduate from the two-year college; and have at least 48 transferable credit hours at a semester school or 72 transferable credit hours at a quarter school, including six semester hours or eight quarter hours of English and three semester hours or four quarter hours of math.
1/2-1/5: Dead Period 1/6-1/31: Quiet Period ----------------------------------------------------------------------
Men’s Basketball 1/1-1/31: Recruiting Period
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Women’s Basketball 1/1-1/31: Evaluation Period
4-2-4 TRANSFERS
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cross Country & Track/Field 1/1-1/2: Quiet Period 1/3-1/31: Contact Period ------------------------------------------------------------------------
Golf
A 4-2-4 transfer must meet the following standards: Complete an average of 12 hours of transferable degree credit per term of full-time attendance at the junior college; earn at least a 2.5 GPA in those transferrable courses; have at least one calendar year elapse since leaving the original four-year school; and graduate from the junior college. MBA, MBB and WBB midyear transfers may not be eligible to compete in the same academic year as their transfer. 4-4 TRANSFERS A 4-4 transfer will need to request Permission to Contact from the initial institution. After that, ask the compliance office to complete a tracer on the transfer to obtain all necessary information about their potential eligibility. Bylaw 13.6.2.3.1 states that a transfer student that is not a qualifier who is enrolled at a 2-year college may not be provided an expense paid visit until they have completed one academic year at the two-year college. Bylaw 13.6.2.3.2 states that once permission to contact is received for a 4-year transfer, a school may provide for one official visit to campus.
In The News: Lawyer: Twitter figures prominently in Boise State’s latest minor NCAA violations Posted by Chadd Cripe on December 23, 2014 Six of the 31 minor, secondary NCAA violations reported by Boise State in an 11-month period involved improper use of social media — by five different types of university representatives.
1/1-1/31: Contact Period
The Idaho Statesman periodically requests a list of the violations. The report doesn’t include names but gives a general overview of the infractions and the corrective actions taken, most of which involve education and/or reprimands.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The latest report covers violations from Dec. 17, 2013, to Nov. 6, 2014.
Soccer 1/1-1/31: Contact Period ------------------------------------------------------------------------
Softball 1/1: Quiet Period 1/2-1/31: Contact Period ------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tennis 1/1-1/31: Contact Period ------------------------------------------------------------------------
Volleyball 1/1-1/16: Quiet Period
The social media violations — five were on Twitter, one on an unnamed outlet — were committed by a non-athletics university employee operating a university account, a professor, an assistant coach, a sport-specific athletics employee and two studentathletes. For example, the professor mentioned a prospect in a tweet after they met during an official visit. “We obviously need to try to do everything we can on the education side of things because that’s really the only way to prevent it,” said John Cunningham, senior associate athletic director for external operations and former compliance director. “It’s a challenge for every school across the country to follow the rules when it comes to Twitter.” Another trend: four of the violations involved mistakes made by the compliance office, including a student-athlete who participated in an outside competition not approved by the NCAA because the compliance office misplaced paperwork. “We ask everybody to be accountable for mistakes that are made, and that includes us,” Cunningham said. “We deal with interpretations daily. Rules are complicated and we have hallway interpretations in conversations with people. It’s hard to keep track of them all the time. We do almost everything the right way, but when we don’t, we ask coaches, staff and student-athletes to self-report and we do the same.” The two most significant corrective actions: — A student-athlete was withheld from one contest after a parent published a business advertisement using the studentathlete’s name, picture and status as a Boise State team member.
1/17-1/31: Contact Period
— A marketing intern was removed from her position in the athletic department after she allowed her high school-aged brother to watch part of a home football game from the sideline. The brother wasn’t being recruited by Boise State but was of prospect age. “That was secondary minor, but it did involve something that we stressed, which is not having prospects on the field during a game,” Cunningham said.
*Coaches, please refer to the NCAA manual for specific recruiting regulations for your sport.
Of the other violations, most involved some kind of benefit (a coach reimbursed an athlete for a non-food grocery item at an impermissible time), recruiting (impermissible phone calls), coach errors (an assistant coach used chewing tobacco during a competition) or academics (a student manager fell below full-time status and quit his duties). “In the operation of a major Division I program, we feel this is representative of the type of mistakes that are going to occur and the number of mistakes that are going to occur,” Cunningham said.
Ask First! On Compliance Rules & Regulations Jason Hall-Sr. Associate AD for Compliance and Administration/ 361-825-2843/ [email protected] Brian Maxey-Assistant Director for Compliance/ 361-825-2858/ [email protected]
The Compliance Corner | Page 1
Reminder #2: Non-Coaching Staff : What is and Isn’t Permissible
Compliance Tips! • Tip 1: Student-Athletes Performing Field or Facility Preparation or Maintenance: Field or facility preparation or maintenance that is performed by a student-athlete, related to practice or competition and required, supervised or monitored by a coaching staff member is not a countable athletically related activity. ------------------------------------------------------------• Tip 2: Sports Wagering: The NCAA and the federal government takes sports wagering very seriously. All employees and studentathletes at TAMUCC are not permitted to participate in sports wagering in any manner. Sports wagering includes placing, accepting or soliciting a wager (on a staff member’s or student-athlete’s behalf or on behalf of others) of any type with any individual or organization on any intercollegiate, amateur or professional team, or contest in an NCAA sponsored sport. 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 re placed on teams, individuals or contests; Pools or fantasy leagues in which an entry fee is required and there is an opportunity to win a prize. It should be noted that any participation in internet gambling is a federal crime. ------------------------------------------------------------• Tip 3: Cara Reminder: First Day of Spring Classes is January 21st. For out-of-season sports, no countable athletically related activities (i.e., CARA) may take place prior to the start of classes on January 21st. As a reminder student-athletes that are out-of-season may only participate in up to 8 hours of CARA a week (no more than 2 hours are individual skillrelated instruction), and they must have at least 2 days off from required activities per week. ------------------------------------------------------------• Tip 4: Movies in Conjunction with a Home Contest. The institution may rent a film or movie, provide pay-perview movies in the student-athletes’ hotel rooms or take its intercollegiate team to the movies the night before a home contest without the film or movie being considered an extra benefit.
Below are a few examples of actives that are and are not permissible (NCAA Bylaw 11.7.1.1.1.1). Permissible: -Observing practice -Running the practice clock -Sitting on the bench/deck/sideline/dugout -Keeping play chart and chart statistics -Splicing game film and coordinating filming and exchange -Assigning equipment -Tracking compliance information -Making or receiving phone calls from NLI signees NON- Permissible: -Observing practice for evaluation purposes -Running or participating in drills -Coaching on or off field/court -Providing an analysis of practice -Analyzing or evaluating game film -Scouting opponents -Making or receiving phone calls from prospective student athletes , their parents, or high school/junior college coaches -Observing voluntary workouts -Attending local high school games
Reminder #3: Administering Complimentary Tickets To Home And Away Contests Under NCAA Bylaw 16.2.1.1, an institution may provide four (4) complimentary admissions per intercollegiate contest (home/away) to a student-athlete in the sport in which he or she participates. Participation includes practice or competition in a sport and student managers qualify for four complimentary tickets as well. Student-athletes or family members of student-athletes who need additional tickets must purchase such tickets in the same manner as the general public. It would not be permissible to provide a student-athlete or a student-athlete’s friend or family member any special purchasing benefits, including but not limited to early ticket sales (pre-sale) [NCAA Bylaws 16.02.3, 16.2.2.3] Under the TAMUCC Complimentary Ticket Policy, tickets should be provided to a studentathlete’s family members or friends. The following groups of people may not receive complimentary admissions from a student-athlete: • Agents • Representatives of Athletics Interests • Prospects/Recruits • Members of the Media • Public Officials • Athletics Department Staff Members • Professors • High School Coaches
Q and A: Institutional Publications Q: An institution posts its media guide on its Web site. In addition, the institution creates a multimedia presentation to provide general information regarding its athletics program (or specific sport), and posts the presentation to its Web site. The multimedia presentation is available on the main page of the athletics portion of the institutional Web site (or specific sport subpage) and is accessible to any viewer of the site. May an institution’s head coach send a hyperlink of the media guide and the multimedia presentation to a prospective student-athlete? A: If the multimedia presentation was not created for a recruiting purpose, then the coach may send a hyperlink of each to the prospective student-athlete. If created to be used in the recruiting process, however, then the multimedia presentation would be an impermissible second athletics recruiting publication and could not be provided to the prospective student-athlete. Creation for use in the recruiting process may be evidenced by institutional labeling of the program, regardless of its access to the general public, or by placement on a separate recruiting page of the institution’s Web site, regardless of how the program is labeled.
Rules Education Calender Men’s Basketball
Women’s Basketball
Date: 1/TBD Time: TBD Location: IH 172
Date: 1/TBD Time: TBD Location: IH 172
Olympic Sports
Date: 1/TBD; 1/TBD Time: 11:00am Location: IH 172 The Compliance Corner | Page 2
Texas A&M Corpus Christi Compliance Office Monthly Newsletter Recruiting Calender
Reminder #1: Transfer Rules The end of the semester is a time when many transfers occur, and as such, here are some helpful reminders for 2-4, 4-2-4, and 4-4 transfers.
Baseball 1/1: Quiet Period
2-4 TRANSFERS As a Qualifier a PSA must: Attend the two-year college full-time for at least one semester or quarter; achieve a minimum cumulative GPA of at least 2.5; and complete an average of at least 12 transferable credit hours per full-time term at the two-year college. As a Non-Qualifier a PSA must: Attend the two-year college full-time for at least three semesters or four quarters; achieve a cumulative GPA of at least 2.5; graduate from the two-year college; and have at least 48 transferable credit hours at a semester school or 72 transferable credit hours at a quarter school, including six semester hours or eight quarter hours of English and three semester hours or four quarter hours of math.
1/2-1/5: Dead Period 1/6-1/31: Quiet Period ----------------------------------------------------------------------
Men’s Basketball 1/1-1/31: Recruiting Period
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Women’s Basketball 1/1-1/31: Evaluation Period
4-2-4 TRANSFERS
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cross Country & Track/Field 1/1-1/2: Quiet Period 1/3-1/31: Contact Period ------------------------------------------------------------------------
Golf
A 4-2-4 transfer must meet the following standards: Complete an average of 12 hours of transferable degree credit per term of full-time attendance at the junior college; earn at least a 2.5 GPA in those transferrable courses; have at least one calendar year elapse since leaving the original four-year school; and graduate from the junior college. MBA, MBB and WBB midyear transfers may not be eligible to compete in the same academic year as their transfer. 4-4 TRANSFERS A 4-4 transfer will need to request Permission to Contact from the initial institution. After that, ask the compliance office to complete a tracer on the transfer to obtain all necessary information about their potential eligibility. Bylaw 13.6.2.3.1 states that a transfer student that is not a qualifier who is enrolled at a 2-year college may not be provided an expense paid visit until they have completed one academic year at the two-year college. Bylaw 13.6.2.3.2 states that once permission to contact is received for a 4-year transfer, a school may provide for one official visit to campus.
In The News: Lawyer: Twitter figures prominently in Boise State’s latest minor NCAA violations Posted by Chadd Cripe on December 23, 2014 Six of the 31 minor, secondary NCAA violations reported by Boise State in an 11-month period involved improper use of social media — by five different types of university representatives.
1/1-1/31: Contact Period
The Idaho Statesman periodically requests a list of the violations. The report doesn’t include names but gives a general overview of the infractions and the corrective actions taken, most of which involve education and/or reprimands.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The latest report covers violations from Dec. 17, 2013, to Nov. 6, 2014.
Soccer 1/1-1/31: Contact Period ------------------------------------------------------------------------
Softball 1/1: Quiet Period 1/2-1/31: Contact Period ------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tennis 1/1-1/31: Contact Period ------------------------------------------------------------------------
Volleyball 1/1-1/16: Quiet Period
The social media violations — five were on Twitter, one on an unnamed outlet — were committed by a non-athletics university employee operating a university account, a professor, an assistant coach, a sport-specific athletics employee and two studentathletes. For example, the professor mentioned a prospect in a tweet after they met during an official visit. “We obviously need to try to do everything we can on the education side of things because that’s really the only way to prevent it,” said John Cunningham, senior associate athletic director for external operations and former compliance director. “It’s a challenge for every school across the country to follow the rules when it comes to Twitter.” Another trend: four of the violations involved mistakes made by the compliance office, including a student-athlete who participated in an outside competition not approved by the NCAA because the compliance office misplaced paperwork. “We ask everybody to be accountable for mistakes that are made, and that includes us,” Cunningham said. “We deal with interpretations daily. Rules are complicated and we have hallway interpretations in conversations with people. It’s hard to keep track of them all the time. We do almost everything the right way, but when we don’t, we ask coaches, staff and student-athletes to self-report and we do the same.” The two most significant corrective actions: — A student-athlete was withheld from one contest after a parent published a business advertisement using the studentathlete’s name, picture and status as a Boise State team member.
1/17-1/31: Contact Period
— A marketing intern was removed from her position in the athletic department after she allowed her high school-aged brother to watch part of a home football game from the sideline. The brother wasn’t being recruited by Boise State but was of prospect age. “That was secondary minor, but it did involve something that we stressed, which is not having prospects on the field during a game,” Cunningham said.
*Coaches, please refer to the NCAA manual for specific recruiting regulations for your sport.
Of the other violations, most involved some kind of benefit (a coach reimbursed an athlete for a non-food grocery item at an impermissible time), recruiting (impermissible phone calls), coach errors (an assistant coach used chewing tobacco during a competition) or academics (a student manager fell below full-time status and quit his duties). “In the operation of a major Division I program, we feel this is representative of the type of mistakes that are going to occur and the number of mistakes that are going to occur,” Cunningham said.
Ask First! On Compliance Rules & Regulations Jason Hall-Sr. Associate AD for Compliance and Administration/ 361-825-2843/ [email protected] Brian Maxey-Assistant Director for Compliance/ 361-825-2858/ [email protected]
The Compliance Corner | Page 1
Reminder #2: Non-Coaching Staff : What is and Isn’t Permissible
Compliance Tips! • Tip 1: Student-Athletes Performing Field or Facility Preparation or Maintenance: Field or facility preparation or maintenance that is performed by a student-athlete, related to practice or competition and required, supervised or monitored by a coaching staff member is not a countable athletically related activity. ------------------------------------------------------------• Tip 2: Sports Wagering: The NCAA and the federal government takes sports wagering very seriously. All employees and studentathletes at TAMUCC are not permitted to participate in sports wagering in any manner. Sports wagering includes placing, accepting or soliciting a wager (on a staff member’s or student-athlete’s behalf or on behalf of others) of any type with any individual or organization on any intercollegiate, amateur or professional team, or contest in an NCAA sponsored sport. 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 re placed on teams, individuals or contests; Pools or fantasy leagues in which an entry fee is required and there is an opportunity to win a prize. It should be noted that any participation in internet gambling is a federal crime. ------------------------------------------------------------• Tip 3: Cara Reminder: First Day of Spring Classes is January 21st. For out-of-season sports, no countable athletically related activities (i.e., CARA) may take place prior to the start of classes on January 21st. As a reminder student-athletes that are out-of-season may only participate in up to 8 hours of CARA a week (no more than 2 hours are individual skillrelated instruction), and they must have at least 2 days off from required activities per week. ------------------------------------------------------------• Tip 4: Movies in Conjunction with a Home Contest. The institution may rent a film or movie, provide pay-perview movies in the student-athletes’ hotel rooms or take its intercollegiate team to the movies the night before a home contest without the film or movie being considered an extra benefit.
Below are a few examples of actives that are and are not permissible (NCAA Bylaw 11.7.1.1.1.1). Permissible: -Observing practice -Running the practice clock -Sitting on the bench/deck/sideline/dugout -Keeping play chart and chart statistics -Splicing game film and coordinating filming and exchange -Assigning equipment -Tracking compliance information -Making or receiving phone calls from NLI signees NON- Permissible: -Observing practice for evaluation purposes -Running or participating in drills -Coaching on or off field/court -Providing an analysis of practice -Analyzing or evaluating game film -Scouting opponents -Making or receiving phone calls from prospective student athletes , their parents, or high school/junior college coaches -Observing voluntary workouts -Attending local high school games
Reminder #3: Administering Complimentary Tickets To Home And Away Contests Under NCAA Bylaw 16.2.1.1, an institution may provide four (4) complimentary admissions per intercollegiate contest (home/away) to a student-athlete in the sport in which he or she participates. Participation includes practice or competition in a sport and student managers qualify for four complimentary tickets as well. Student-athletes or family members of student-athletes who need additional tickets must purchase such tickets in the same manner as the general public. It would not be permissible to provide a student-athlete or a student-athlete’s friend or family member any special purchasing benefits, including but not limited to early ticket sales (pre-sale) [NCAA Bylaws 16.02.3, 16.2.2.3] Under the TAMUCC Complimentary Ticket Policy, tickets should be provided to a studentathlete’s family members or friends. The following groups of people may not receive complimentary admissions from a student-athlete: • Agents • Representatives of Athletics Interests • Prospects/Recruits • Members of the Media • Public Officials • Athletics Department Staff Members • Professors • High School Coaches
Q and A: Institutional Publications Q: An institution posts its media guide on its Web site. In addition, the institution creates a multimedia presentation to provide general information regarding its athletics program (or specific sport), and posts the presentation to its Web site. The multimedia presentation is available on the main page of the athletics portion of the institutional Web site (or specific sport subpage) and is accessible to any viewer of the site. May an institution’s head coach send a hyperlink of the media guide and the multimedia presentation to a prospective student-athlete? A: If the multimedia presentation was not created for a recruiting purpose, then the coach may send a hyperlink of each to the prospective student-athlete. If created to be used in the recruiting process, however, then the multimedia presentation would be an impermissible second athletics recruiting publication and could not be provided to the prospective student-athlete. Creation for use in the recruiting process may be evidenced by institutional labeling of the program, regardless of its access to the general public, or by placement on a separate recruiting page of the institution’s Web site, regardless of how the program is labeled.
Rules Education Calender Men’s Basketball
Women’s Basketball
Date: 1/TBD Time: TBD Location: IH 172
Date: 1/TBD Time: TBD Location: IH 172
Olympic Sports
Date: 1/TBD; 1/TBD Time: 11:00am Location: IH 172 The Compliance Corner | Page 2
