ILC GLOSSARY OF TERMS

NOTE: These definitions are provided as an editorial enhancement or supplement to the applicable legislation and are not intended to substitute for the legislation.

TERM	DEFINITION
Academic year	Time period between the opening day of classes for the fall term to the opening day of classes for the following fall term.
Academic year, regular	Time period beginning with the opening day of classes and concluding with the end of the final exams for a given year.
Agent	An individual who markets or represents a student-athlete’s ability or reputation in a particular sport.
Annual Exemptions	Contests or dates of competition that need not be counted against the maximum number of dates of competition or contests in a particular sport on an annual basis.
Association	Refers to the NCAA as a whole.
Athletically related activities	The following are considered athletically related activities (see Bylaw 17.02.1.1): (a) Practice, which is defined as any meeting, activity or instruction involving sports-related information and having an athletics purpose, held for one or more student-athletes at the direction of, or supervised by, any member or members of an institution’s coaching staff. Practice is considered to have occurred if one or more coaches and one or more student-athletes engage in any of the following activities: (1) Field, floor or on-court activity; (2) setting up offensive or defensive alignment; (3) chalk talk; (4) lecture on or discussion of strategy related to the sport; (5) activities using equipment related to the sport; or (6) discussions or review of game films, motion pictures or videotapes related to the sport, except for the observation of an officiating clinic related to playing rules that is conducted by video conference and does not require student-athletes to miss any class time to observe the clinic. (b) Competition; (c) Required weight-training and conditioning activities held at the direction of or supervised by an institutional staff member; (d) Participation in a physical-fitness class (including a summer class) conducted by a member of the athletics staff, unless such a class is a regular physical education class listed in the institution’s catalog and open to all students. Such a class may not include practice activities conducted under the guise of physical education class work; (e) Required participation in camps, clinics or workshops; (f) Individual workouts required or supervised by a member of the coaching staff, except for those sports subject to the safety exception. A coach may design a voluntary general individual-workout program for a student-athlete (as opposed to a specific workout program for specific days) but cannot conduct the individual’s workout; (g) On-court or on-field activities called by any member(s) of a team and confined primarily to members of that team that are considered as a requisite for participation in that sport (e.g., captain’s practices); (h) Visiting the competition site in the sports of cross country, golf and skiing; (i) Reservation or use of an institution’s athletics facilities when such activities are supervised by or held at the direction of any member of an institution’s coaching staff; and (j) Involvement of an institution’s strength and conditioning staff with enrolled student-athletes in required conditioning programs. Strength and conditioning personnel may monitor voluntary individual workouts for safety purposes.
Athletics consortium	An athletics consortium consists of one member institution and neighboring member or nonmember institutions (but not more than one nonmember institution), recognized and approved by a two-thirds vote of the Management Council. The student-athletes of the combined institutions are permitted to compete on the NCAA member institution’s athletics teams, provided they meet the eligibility requirements of the NCAA and the member institution.
Award, athletics	An award is an item given in recognition of athletics participation or performance. See Bylaw 16.
“Booster”	[See representative of athletics interest definition.]
Branch school	A branch school is an educational institution that usually offers two years of college work, does not award degrees independently, and is wholly controlled and operated by a four-year, degree-granting parent institution.
Camp or clinic	An athletics activity that: (a) Places special emphasis on a particular sport or sports and provides specialized instruction, practice or competition; (b) Involves activities designed to improve overall skills and general knowledge in the sport; or (c) Offers a diversified experience without emphasis on instruction, practice or competition in any particular sport. (See Bylaw 13.13)
Camp or Clinic, institutionally owned	Any camp or clinic owned or operated by a member institution or an employee of the member institution’s athletics department held either on or off its campus.
Camp or clinic, privately owned	Any camp or clinic that is not owned or operated by a member institution or a member of the institution’s athletics department.
Captain’s practice(s)	On-court or on-field activities called by any member(s) of a team and confined primarily to members of that team that are considered as a requisite for participation in that sport absent of coaching staff members. Such activities are considered athletically related activities.
Classification, multidivisional	Multidivisional classification is the procedure in which a member institution may petition to have a certain sport or sports classified in a division other than the division in which it holds membership. (See Bylaws 20.4 and 20.7.)
Collegiate institution	A collegiate institution is an institution of higher education that: (a) Is listed as a college and coded with an H in the U.S. Department of Education’s Directory of Postsecondary Institutions; or (b) Conducts an intercollegiate athletics program, even though not listed and/or coded with an H in the Directory of Postsecondary Institutions; or (c) Is located in a foreign country.
Competition, intercollegiate	Intercollegiate competition occurs when a student-athlete in either a two-year or a four-year collegiate institution: (a) Represents the institution in any contest against outside competition, regardless of how the competition is classified (e.g., scrimmage, exhibition or joint practice session with another institution’s team) or whether the student is enrolled in a minimum full-time program of studies; (b) Competes in the uniform of the institution or, during the academic year, uses any apparel (excluding apparel no longer used by the institution) or equipment received from the institution that includes institutional identification. (See Bylaw 16.12.1.9 for regulations governing the use of equipment during the summer); or (c) Competes and receives expenses (e.g., transportation, meals, room or entry fees) from the institution for the competition.
Competition, organized	Athletics competition shall be considered organized if any one of the following conditions exists: (a) Competition is scheduled and publicized in advance; (b) Official score is kept; (c) Individual or team standings are maintained; (d) Official timer or game officials are used; (e) Admission is charged; (f) Teams are regularly formed or team rosters are predetermined; (g) Team uniforms are used; (h) A team is privately or commercially sponsored; or (i) The competition is either directly or indirectly sponsored, promoted or administered by an individual, an organization or any other agency.
Competition, outside	Outside competition is athletics competition against any other athletics team (including an alumni team) that does not represent the intercollegiate athletics program of the same institution
Competition, postseason	Any competition conducted after the conclusion of the regular season. (See Bylaw 14.7.3.4.)
Competition, regular-season	Any competition during the declared playing season excluding conference and/or national championship (e.g., NCAA, NAIA, NGB).
Contest	A contest is any game, match, exhibition, scrimmage or joint practice session with another institution’s team, regardless of its formality, in which competition in a sport occurs between an intercollegiate athletics team or individual representing a member institution and any other team or individual not representing the intercollegiate athletics program of the same member institution.
Contest, countable, institutional	A countable contest for a member institution, in those sports for which the limitations are based on the number of contests, is any contest by the member institution against an outside team in that sport, unless a specific exemption for a particular contest is set forth in this bylaw. Contests, including scrimmages, by separate squads of the same team against different outside teams shall each count as one contest.
Contest, countable, student-athlete	A countable contest for a student-athlete in a sport is any contest in which the student-athlete competes while representing the member institution individually or as a member of the varsity, junior varsity or freshman team of the institution in that sport, unless a specific exemption for a particular contest is set forth in this manual.
Course(s), nontraditional	A course(s) taught via the Internet, distance learning, independent study, individualized instruction, correspondence or similar means.
Date of competition	A date of competition is a single date on which any contest(s), with another institution’s team takes place.
Date of competition, countable, institutional	A countable date of competition for a member institution, in those sports for which the limitations are based on the number of dates of competition, is a single date on which the institution’s team engages in competition against an outside team, unless a specific exemption for a particular date of competition is set forth in this manual.
Date of competition, countable, student-athlete	A countable date of competition for a student-athlete is any date on which a student-athlete competes while representing the institution individually or as a member of the varsity, junior varsity or freshman team, unless a specific exemption for a particular date of competition is set forth in this bylaw.
Eligibility	The term used to determine a student-athlete’s status for practice and competition related to NCAA, conference and institutional regulations.
Emerging sport	A sport that has been designated by the NCAA with special status in order to promote or foster the growth of the particular sport. (See Bylaw 20.02.5.)
Entertainment	A benefit provided by a member institution and/or the institution’s athletics interests. (See Bylaws 13 and 16.)
Exception	An exception is the granting of relief from the application of a specific regulation (e.g., the residence requirement for a transfer student to become eligible for competition). Formal approval by the Management Council or a NCAA committee is not required. The action granting the exception may be taken solely by the certifying institution, based on evidence that the conditions on which the exception is authorized have been met.
Exhibition contest	A contest that does not count against an institution’s won-lost record. Such a contest may count against the overall number of contests in a particular sport. (See Bylaw 17.)
Extra benefit	An extra benefit is any special arrangement by an institutional employee or a representative of the institution’s athletics interests to provide a student-athlete or the student-athlete’s relative or friend a benefit not expressly authorized by NCAA legislation. Receipt of a benefit by student-athletes or their relatives 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 relatives or friends or to a particular segment of the student body (e.g., foreign students, minority students) determined on a basis unrelated to athletics ability.
Faculty Athletics Representative (FAR)	A member institution shall designate an individual to serve as faculty athletics representative. An individual so designated after January 12, 1989, shall be a member of the institution’s faculty or an administrator who holds faculty rank and shall not hold an administrative or coaching position in the athletics department. Duties of the faculty athletics representative shall be determined by the member institution.
Financial aid	Financial aid is funds provided to student-athletes from various sources to pay or assist in paying their cost of education at the institution. As used in NCAA legislation, "financial aid" includes all institutional financial aid and other permissible financial aid as set forth in Bylaw 15.
Financial aid, institutional	The following sources of financial aid are considered to be institutional financial aid: (a) All funds administered by the institution, which include but are not limited to the following: (1) scholarships, (2) grants, (3) tuition waivers, (4) employee dependent tuition benefits, (5) loans, and (6) employment earnings from federal and state work-study program assistance; (b) Aid from government or private sources for which the institution is responsible for selecting the recipient or determining the amount of aid, or providing matching or supplementary funds for a previously determined recipient; and (c) permissible aid from an outside source(s).
Foreign exchange student	A student from a foreign country enrolled in a member institution for a set period of time as part of a pre-arranged program
Foreign institution	Any collegiate institution located outside of the United States or U.S. territories.
Foreign tour	A foreign tour is: (a) any trip to a foreign country in which competition occurs on behalf of an institution or (b) when the minimum number of student-athletes from one institution participate in international competition.
Good academic standing	To be eligible to represent an institution in intercollegiate athletics competition, a student-athlete shall be in good academic standing as determined by the academic authorities who determine the meaning of such phrases for all students of the institution, subject to controlling legislation of the conference(s) or similar association of which the institution is a member.
Grant-in-aid, full	A full grant-in-aid is financial aid that consists of tuition and fees, room and board, required course-related books, transportation and other expenses incidental to attendance, provided the total value of all financial aid does not exceed the cost of attendance that normally is incurred by students enrolled in a comparable program at that institution.
Hardship waiver, medical	A student-athlete, who incurs an incapacitating injury or illness, may regain a season of competition through this waiver process if the legislative conditions are satisfied.
Individual	An individual, for purposes of Bylaw 12, is any person of any age without reference to enrollment in an educational institution or status as a student-athlete. NCAA rules specify that an "individual" may or may not participate in certain activities. This term refers to a person prior to and subsequent to enrollment in a member institution.
Individual sport(s)	Those sports identified by NCAA legislation as individual sports for sports sponsorship purposes. Those sports are: archery, badminton, bowling, cross country, equestrian, fencing, golf, gymnastics, rifle, skiing, squash, swimming, track and field, and wrestling.
Ineligibility	A student-athlete who does not meet NCAA, conference or institutional standards for practice and/or competition.
In-season	The period of time during an institution’s declared playing season including the traditional and nontraditional segments.
Legislative body	An athletics conference that develops and maintains rules and regulations governing the athletics programs and activities of its member institutions.
Maximum amount of competitions	The highest number of contests/dates of competition that an institution is permitted in each sport on an annual basis.
Member conference	A member conference is a group of colleges and/or universities that conducts competition among its members and determines a conference champion in one or more sports (in which the NCAA conducts championships or for which it is responsible for providing playing rules for intercollegiate competition), duly elected to conference membership by the Management Council, on recommendation from the Membership Committee. A member conference is entitled to all of the privileges of active members except the right to compete in NCAA championships. Only those conferences that meet specific criteria as competitive and legislative bodies and minimum standards related to size and division status are permitted to vote on legislation or other issues before the Association.
Member, active	A four-year college or university or a two-year upper-level collegiate institution accredited by the appropriate regional accrediting agency and duly elected to active membership. Active members have the right to compete in NCAA championships, to vote on legislation and other issues before the Association, and to enjoy other privileges of membership designated in the constitution and bylaws of the Association. An institution must complete the provisional membership process in order to become an active member.
Member, affiliated	An affiliated member is a nonprofit group or association whose function and purpose are directly related to one or more sports in which the NCAA conducts championships, duly elected to affiliated membership. An affiliated member is entitled to be represented by one nonvoting delegate at any NCAA Convention and enjoys other privileges as designated in the bylaws of the Association. The Association’s president has the authority to approve affiliated membership applications.
Member, corresponding	A corresponding member is an institution, a nonprofit organization or a conference that is not eligible for active, provisional, conference or affiliated membership and desires to receive membership publications and mailings. A corresponding member elected receives all publications and mailings received by the general NCAA membership and is not otherwise entitled to any membership privileges.
Member, provisional	A provisional member is a four-year college or university or a two-year upper-level collegiate institution accredited by the appropriate regional accrediting agency and that has applied for active membership in the Association. Provisional membership is a prerequisite for active membership in the Association. Provisional members shall receive all publications and mailings received by active members in addition to other privileges designated in the constitution and bylaws of the Association. An institution must apply for provisional membership and meet all applicable application standards.
Member, restricted	Restricted membership is a membership classification status assigned to an institution that fails to comply with the minimum requirements of its division (e.g., sports sponsorship, scheduling). The institution placed in such status loses eligibility for a number of membership privileges and has from one year to three years to comply with the requirement involved. Failure to comply reclassifies the institution to corresponding membership.
Nontraditional segment	The portion of the declared playing season that does not end with the NCAA championship.
Official vacation period	Any vacation period published in the institution’s catalog.
Official visit	A visit to a member institution by a prospect and/or a prospect’s parents or legal guardians financed in whole or in part by the member institution, or by a representative of the institution’s athletics interests.
“On the staff”	Those individuals who receive a regular salary from a member institution or organization for the performance of a regular staff function representing at least 50 percent of the normal workload for a staff member at that institution or conference. An individual on sabbatical or other temporary leave for a period not exceeding 12 consecutive months may be considered to be "on the staff" of an institution or organization. An individual on terminal leave or on leave in excess of 12 consecutive months shall not be considered to be "on the staff.’’ An individual must be “on the staff” in order to be eligible for committee service.
Open event	Any athletics event that is open to any and all entrants.
Opening day of classes	The first day of classes for the regular academic year as listed in the member institution’s official catalog. Required freshman orientation is not considered to be the opening day of classes for the academic year.
Out-of-season	The time period outside of the declared playing season excluding the traditional and nontraditional segments.
Outside team	An outside team is any team that does not represent the intercollegiate athletics program of the institution or a team that includes individuals other than eligible student-athletes of the institution (e.g., members of the coaching staff, ineligible student-athletes, members of the faculty).
Participation	Participation in intercollegiate athletics occurs when a student-athlete either practices in a sport or competes in a sport.
Pay	Pay is the receipt of funds, awards or benefits not permitted by the governing legislation of the Association for participation in athletics.
Playing season	The playing (i.e., practice and competition) season for a particular sport is the period of time between the date of an institution’s first officially recognized practice session and the date of the institution’s last practice session or date of competition, whichever occurs later. An institution is permitted to conduct officially recognized practice and competition each academic year only during the playing season as regulated for each sport in accordance with the provisions of Bylaw 17. The institution must declare its 21-week season, including the traditional and nontraditional segments, for each sport on an annual basis.
Practice	[See athletically related activities definition.] (See Bylaw 17.02.1.1.)
Practice opportunities	Formula by which an institution would calculate its first permissible practice date for fall sports.
Preseason practice	Any practice activities conducted prior to the first contest or date competition.
Professional athlete	A professional athlete is one who receives any kind of payment, directly or indirectly, for athletics participation except as permitted by the governing legislation of the Association.
Professional team	A professional team is any organized team that (a) is a member of a recognized professional sports organization; (b) is directly supported or sponsored by a professional team or professional sports organization, except as permitted in 12.6.1.8; (c) is a member of a playing league that is directly supported or sponsored by a professional team or professional sports organization; or (d) has an athlete receiving for his or her participation any kind of payment, directly or indirectly, from a professional team or professional sports organization.
Prospect, recruited (see student-athlete, prospective)	Actions by staff members or athletics representatives that cause a prospect to become a recruited prospect at that institution: (a) Providing the prospect with an official visit; (b) Having an arranged, in-person, off-campus encounter with the prospect or the prospect’s parent(s), relatives or legal guardian(s); or (c) Initiating or arranging a telephone contact with the prospect, the prospect’s relatives or legal guardian(s) on more than one occasion for the purpose of recruitment.
Recruiting	Any solicitation of a prospect or a prospect’s relatives [or legal guardian(s)] by an institutional staff member or by a representative of the institution’s athletics interests for the purpose of securing the prospect’s enrollment and ultimate participation in the institution’s intercollegiate athletics program.
Recruiting/scouting service	An outside entity that assists prospects and/or coaches related to recruiting process. (See Bylaw 12.)
“Redshirt”	An informal term not used in the NCAA Manual. Most frequently used to describe a situation in which a student-athlete does not compete in any regular or postseason competition during an academic year. This term does not refer to an injury or hardship case.
Regular playing season	The period of time during the 21-week season including the traditional and nontraditional segments.
Representative of athletics interest	A "representative of the institution’s athletics interests" is an individual 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 prospects; (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. Once an individual is identified as such a representative, the person retains that identity indefinitely.
Residence, transfer	To satisfy an academic year of residence, a student shall: (a) Be enrolled in and complete a minimum full-time program of studies for two full semesters or three full quarters, or (b) Be enrolled in a minimum full-time program of studies for two full semesters or three full quarters and pass a number of hours that is at least equal to the sum total of the minimum load of each of the required terms.
Safety exception	A coach may be present during voluntary workouts in the sports of fencing, rifle, rowing, skiing, and swimming and diving without such activity being considered athletically related activity.
Satisfactory progress	Minimum academic progress as defined by the appropriate institution academic officials applicable to all students. Conferences may have additional minimum academic progress requirements.
Scrimmage	An informal contest with outside competition that does not count in an institution’s won-lost record. Certain restrictions may apply to particular sports. (See Bylaw 17.)
Senior Woman Administrator	The highest-ranking female administrator involved with the conduct of a member institution’s intercollegiate athletics program.
Student host	A student-athlete who helps to entertain a prospect during a prospect’s visit to the institution’s campus.
Student-athlete	An individual becomes a student-athlete when either of the following conditions are satisfied: (a) The individual's enrollment was enlisted by a member of the athletics staff or other representative of the institution's athletics interests that are viewed towards the student's ultimate participation in the intercollegiate athletics program, and the student-athlete attends the first day of class while enrolled in at least a minimum full-time program of studies; or (b) The individual participates in an intercollegiate squad practice or contest that is under the jurisdiction of the athletics department.
Student-athlete, enrolled	A student-athlete is considered to be enrolled if the he or she officially registers and enrolls in a full-time program of studies and attends any classes in any term of a four-year collegiate institution’s regular academic year (excluding summer) or if he or she participates in a regular squad practice or competition at a four-year collegiate institution.
Student-athlete, prospective (“Prospect”)	A prospective student-athlete ("prospect") is a student who has started classes for the ninth grade. In addition, a student who has not started classes for the ninth grade becomes a prospective student-athlete if the institution provides such an individual (or the individual’s relatives or friends) any financial assistance or other benefits that the institution does not provide to prospective students generally. An individual remains a prospective student-athlete until one of the following occurs (whichever occurs earlier): (a) the individual officially registers and enrolls in a minimum, full-time program of studies and attends classes in any term of a four-year collegiate institution’s regular academic year (excluding summer); or (b) the individual participates in a regular squad practice or competition at a four-year collegiate institution.
Team member	A student-athlete who is a participant on an institution’s intercollegiate athletics team.
Team sport(s)	Those sports identified by NCAA legislation as team sports for sports sponsorship purposes.
Traditional segment	The portion of the declared playing season that concludes with the NCAA championship. Those sports are: baseball, basketball, field hockey, football, ice hockey, lacrosse, rowing, soccer, softball, synchronized swimming, team handball, volleyball and water polo.
Transfer student	A transfer student is an individual who transfers from a collegiate institution after having met any one of the following conditions at that institution: (a) The student was officially registered and enrolled in a minimum, full-time program of studies in any quarter or semester of an academic year, as certified by the registrar or admissions office, provided the student was present at the institution on the opening day of classes; (b) The student attended a class or classes in any quarter or semester in which the student was enrolled in a minimum, full-time program of studies, even if the enrollment was on a provisional basis and the student was later determined by the institution not to be admissible; (c) The student is or was enrolled in an institution in a minimum full-time program of studies in a night school that is considered to have regular terms (semesters or quarters) the same as the institution’s day school, and the student is or was considered by the institution to be a regularly matriculated student; (d) The student attended a branch school that does not conduct an intercollegiate athletics program, but the student had been enrolled in another collegiate institution before attendance at the branch school; (e) The student attended a branch school that conducted an intercollegiate athletics program and transfers to an institution other than the parent institution; (f) The student reported for a regular squad practice (including practice or conditioning activities that occur prior to certification per Bylaws 14.3.5.1 and 14.5.4.4.6), announced by the institution through any member of its athletics department staff, before the beginning of any quarter or semester, as certified by the athletics director. Participation only in picture-day activities would not constitute "regular practice"; (g) The student participated in practice or competed in a given sport even though the student was enrolled in less than a minimum, full-time program of studies; or (h) The student received institutional financial aid while attending a summer term, summer school or summer-orientation program.
Tryout	Any physical activity (e.g., practice session or test/tryout) at which one or more prospects (as defined in Bylaw 13.12.1.1) reveal, demonstrate or display their athletics abilities in any sport except as provided by NCAA legislation.
Unofficial visit	An unofficial visit to a member institution by a prospect is a visit made at the prospect’s own expense. The provision of any expenses or entertainment by the institution or representatives of its athletics interests shall require the visit to become an official visit, except as provided in Bylaw 13.
Varsity sport	A varsity sport is a sport that has been accorded that status by the institution’s chief executive officer or committee responsible for intercollegiate athletics policy and that satisfies the following conditions: (a) It is a sport that is administered by the department of intercollegiate athletics; (b) It is a sport for which the eligibility of the student-athletes is reviewed and certified by a staff member designated by the institution’s chief executive officer or committee responsible for intercollegiate athletics policy; and (c) It is a sport in which qualified participants receive the institution’s official varsity awards;
Violation, major	All violations other than secondary violations are major violations, specifically including those that provide an extensive recruiting or competitive advantage.
Violation, secondary	A secondary violation is one that provides only a limited recruiting or competitive advantage and that is isolated or inadvertent in nature.
Waiver	An action exempting an individual or institution from the application of a specific regulation. A waiver requires formal approval (e.g., by the Management Council, a NCAA committee or a conference, as specified in the legislation) based on evidence of compliance with the specified conditions or criteria under which the waiver is authorized.
Week	The "week" of the first scheduled intercollegiate contest is defined as the six days, excluding Sunday, before the date of competition (even if one or more of the days fall into different traditional calendar weeks).