REPORT OF THE NCAA DIVISION
III
STUDENT-ATHLETE
REINSTATEMENT COMMITTEE
INFORMATIONAL
ITEMS.
a. Recruiting Violations Where the Institution Gained a Significant Advantage. The committees approved a shift in the analysis of recruiting violations from a subjective standard to an objective standard, or “reasonable person” standard. The “reasonable person” standard will ensure that prospective student-athletes who receive similar benefits will be treated the same. These changes will shift the focus from the impact that a recruiting violation has on a specific prospective student-athlete’s decision (deciding factor) to focusing on whether the recruiting violation would have impacted a “reasonable person’s” decision to attend the institution. As a result, the staff will focus on the level and type of benefits received by the prospective student-athlete and the significance of any impermissible activity conducted by the institution during the recruitment process.
b. Repayment Issues – Defaulted Repayment
Plans. The committee affirmed that if a
student-athlete competed and then defaulted on a repayment plan that had been
established as part of a reinstatement program, an institutional penalty would
be imposed resulting in the institution being unable to enter into a repayment
plan with the reinstatement program for a four-year period. By defaulting, the student-athlete did
not complete the repayment plan within the agreed upon time period; however,
the student-athlete benefited from the plan by participating when full
repayment had not occurred.
An institution may appeal the institutional penalty to the
committee.
Background Information:
The committee instituted the use of repayment plans to address instances
where the student-athletes and/or his or her parents do not have the financial
resources to fully repay the impermissible benefit prior to the next
contest. In order to remove
financial barriers and to ensure equity between indigent and affluent
student-athletes, the committees have permitted institutions to enter into a
good-faith agreement (repayment plan).
In order for the staff to approve the repayment plan on behalf of the
committee, an institutional representative and the student-athlete must sign
the plan. The plan must also
outline the specific dates on which payments will be made. In addition, the institution must
verify that full repayment will be made prior to the student-athlete exhausting
his or her intercollegiate athletics eligibility. The staff has given deference to institutions in establishing
the dates and amounts of each payment, since institutions are in the best
position to determine when a student-athlete can make the payments and the
specific amount that a student-athlete can afford. If a student-athlete misses one of the payment dates
outlined in the repayment plan, he or she is ineligible to compete until the
repayment is current. The committee’s
policy regarding defaulting student-athletes will be instituted in those rare
cases where the student-athlete agrees to a plan, competes and then decides not
to fulfill the plan. It should be
noted that the staff has entered into approximately 90 repayment plans, and
none have defaulted as of August 1, 2002.
The
National Collegiate Athletic Association
September 29, 2002 JAR:tlc/jw