VOLUME 4, ISSUE 1
AUGUST 1, 2008
COMPLIANCE NEWSLETTER
MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
August Do’s and Don’ts As prospects begin to arrive on‐campus it is important to note the following: • Boosters may NOT provide transportation to a prospect from the prospect’s home, airport, train or bus station to campus for any reason (e.g., report for preseason practice, orientation, classes); • Boosters may NOT provide prospects with free or reduced‐cost housing during the summer; • Boosters may NOT •
•
provide prospects with any financial assistance during the summer; Boosters may NOT provide prospects with extra benefits (e.g., meals, entertainment, transportation); Boosters may NOT contact prospects or their families via telephone or written correspondence (e.g., e‐mail, text message, Facebook, MySpace, message boards, etc.) There is a common misconception that once a prospect signs a financial aid agreement (e.g., National Letter of Intent) with MSU he/
she is no longer considered a prospect. That is not the case. A prospect remains a prospect until he/she reports for preseason practice or starts classes in the fall. MSU is responsible for the actions of its boosters. When a violation occurs it can jeopardize the eligibility of prospects and result in MSU being penalized by the NCAA and Big Ten Conference. APR 101 Each spring the NCAA announces the APR for its member institutions. You may be asking yourself, what exactly is APR? APR stands for Academic Progress Rate. The APR provides a real‐time assessment of a team’s academic performance. The APR measures how scholarship student‐
athletes are doing term by term. Student‐athletes are awarded points each term for eligibility/
graduation and retention. A student‐
athlete is awarded one point for eligibility if he/she meets academic eligibility standards for the next academic term. A retention point is earned if the student‐
athlete is enrolled full‐
time the next semester. For example, a student‐ athlete who was eligible at the conclusion of fall Continued on page 2 About the Big Ten Conference: • Founded in 1896 • Seven original institutions: University of Chicago, University of Illinois, University of Michigan, University of Minnesota, Northwestern University, Purdue University and the University of Wisconsin • MSU joined the Big Ten Conference in 1949. • The Big Ten sponsors 25 championships (12 for men and 13 for women). Inside this issue:
August Do’s and Don’ts
1
APR 101
1
Baseball Academic
Reform
2
Find the Infraction
2
Around the NCAA
3
Compliance A to Z
3
COMPLIANCE NEWSLETTER
Page 2
MSU ACADEMIC NEWS SPRING 2008 2008 Spring All­Big Ten Academic Team Rowing ‐ 23 Women’s Track & Field ‐ 13 Baseball ‐ 9 Men’s Track & Field ‐ 8 Ice Hockey ‐ 6 Women’s Tennis ‐ 5 Men’s Tennis ‐ 5 Men’s Golf ‐ 4 Softball ‐ 4 Women’s Golf ‐ 4 Women’s Golf 2007­08 National Golf Coaches Association All­
American Scholar Team Jordyn Wells Michelle Bowles Ice Hockey CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine First Team Academic All­American Team Jeff Lerg Wrestling National Wrestling Coaches Association Top 30 Team NWCA DI All­
Academic Team Franklin Gomez CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine 2008 Academic All­
District Team Rowing ‐ Kate Burdick Field Hockey ‐ Jeamie Deacon Ice Hockey ‐ Jeff Lerg Ice Hockey ‐ Jeff Dunn Women’s Golf ‐ Sara Brown APR 101 continued from page 1 semester and returned to the institution spring semester would receive 2/2 points for fall semester. A student‐
athlete who was not eligible at the conclusion of fall semester but did return to the institution for spring semester would receive 1/2 points for fall semester. To determine the team’s APR, the total number of points earned for that semester (eligibility plus retention) is divided by the total number of points possible. That number is then multiplied by 1000. The APR is a rolling four‐year average. Teams with a multiyear APR below 925 are subject to a penalty if any student‐athlete departed the institution (0 retention point) and was not eligible the Baseball Academic Reform On August 1, 2008 new legislation goes into effect for baseball student‐
athletes. The new legislation is designed to enhance academic performance in the sport. Some of the changes to the legislation are as follows: • Baseball student‐athletes who transfer from one four‐year institution to a second four‐year institution will not be eligible for competition for one academic year. • Baseball student‐athletes who transfer to a four‐institution midyear are not eligible for competition until the next academic year. • Baseball student‐athletes must be awarded a minimum of 25% of countable financial aid their initial year of full‐time collegiate enrollment. • Baseball student‐athletes must be academically eligible for competition at the beginning of the fall term. An ineligible athlete may not become eligible for competition until the next academic year. following semester (0 eligibility point). If a student‐athlete received 0 APR points (“0/2”) his/
her athletics aid cannot be re‐awarded to another student‐athlete on the team the subsequent academic year. For more information on the APR and to see MSU’s APR information click here.
Find the Infraction Facts: A local business owner and basketball season ticket holder would like to have the men’s and women’s basketball teams over to his house during the summer for a cookout. The business owner sends a bus to campus to take the student‐
athletes to his house, which is located approximately five miles from campus on Lake Lansing. While at the booster’s house the student‐athletes use his boat to go water skiing and ride on his jet skis. At the end of the day the bus takes the student‐athletes back to campus. Infraction: It is permissible for a booster to provide an occasional meal to student‐athletes provided the meal is at the booster’s home and is located within 30‐miles of campus. A booster may provide reasonable local transportation to student‐athletes to attend the meal if the meal is at the booster’s home. It is NOT permissible for student‐athletes to use recreational equipment free of charge as that would be an impermissible extra benefit. Please note that boosters must receive approval from MSU PRIOR to providing student‐athletes with a meal. VOLUME 4, ISSUE 1
Page 3
Around the NCAA IN THE
Infraction Committee Puts Southeast Missouri on Probation. The NEWS…
NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions penalized Southeast Missouri • Division I APR
State University for major and secondary violations in its women’s and Data Continue
men’s basketball programs that took place from 2002‐2006. to Reveal
Academic
Improvement,
In women’s basketball, several prospects and one parent received impermissible Some
automobile transportation to campus the summer prior to their first full‐time Concerns..NCAA
enrollment from women’s basketball managers, student‐athletes and other News 5/6/08
prospects. The women’s basketball coaching staff arranged for the impermissible • AEC Cabinet
transportation. In addition, the coaching staff also provided impermissible Advocates
transportation for several prospects from their campus residence to local venues. Change for
Learning
Over the course of four summers, several prospects lived cost‐free in an off‐campus Disabilities..
apartment rented by current student‐athletes. In this case, the women’s basketball NCAA News
coaching staff knew that on some occasions prospects lived in the house but made 6/18/08
no effort to assure that the prospects paid their share of the rent. The women’s • Division I
basketball staff allowed two prospects to volunteer at women’s basketball summer Committee on
Infractions
camps and receive cost‐free housing and/or meals during this time. In addition, the Penalizes
coaching staff allowed several prospects to engage in voluntary summer workouts Florida
conducted by the strength and conditioning staff even though the prospects were International
University...
not eligible to participate in such workouts. In men’s basketball, three transfer NCAA News
student‐athletes were allowed to receive travel expenses even though they were not 5/7/08
eligible to compete. The violation occurred over two academic years and resulted in extra benefits totaling between $1,700 and $2,800 for each of the student‐athletes. The Committee on Infractions determined that the institution demonstrated a lack of institutional control over its athletics program and that the former women’s head basketball coach failed to monitor the basketball program to assure compliance with NCAA legislation. The penalties, some of which were self‐imposed by the institution, are as follows: public reprimand and censure; two years of probation ending June 17, 2010; reduction of women’s basketball scholarships in the 2006‐07 academic year by three, reduction of women’s basketball recruiting days by five between September 2006 and August 2007: prohibition on off‐campus recruiting by the former women’s head coach during the July 2006 evaluation period; financial penalty of $12,600 upon the men’s Inside
Story Headline
basketball program in the 2006‐07 fiscal year; reduction in the number of recruiting days in men’s basketball by five between September 2006 and August 2007; and vacation of all wins in which ineligible student‐athlete’s competed during the 2004‐05 and 2005‐06 women’s basketball season. [NCAA News 6/18/08] Compliance A to Z A ­ Agents A student‐athlete becomes ineligi‐
ble if he/she agrees (orally or in writing) to be represented by an agent even if the agreement does not got into effect until after the athlete exhausts his/her eligibility. B ­ Boosters A booster is any individual who has promoted MSU athletics. Sea‐
son ticket holders, booster group members and individuals who have donated to the Spartan Fund are examples of boosters. C ­ Contacts Only MSU coaches may have re‐
cruiting contacts with prospects. Boosters may not have contact with a prospect at any location (e.g., on‐campus, at the prospect’s school or competition site).