(Including Reinstatement
Requests, Waivers and Extension Requests)
The
student-athlete reinstatement process provides for the evaluation of
institutional self-
reports,
submit-ted on behalf of
student-athletes/prospective student-athletes who have been involved in a
violation of NCAA regulations that affect their eligibility, in order to
assess the student-athlete(s)?/prospective
student-athlete(s)' responsibility and
to determine appropriate conditions for reinstatement of eligibility. This proc-ess also provides for a review of
institutional requests for various waivers, for which the
Student-Athlete Reinstatement Committees have the authority to act. Decisions for both reinstatement requests
and other waiver requests are based upon national standards established by the
membership, the Management
Councils and
the Student-Athlete Reinstatement Committees, and are applied by the
student-athlete reinstatement staff.
Initial Staff Decision ?- Reinstatement
Requests
1. When a member institution determines that a prospective or
enrolled student-athlete has been in-volved in a violation of NCAA rules, it is
obligated under NCAA Bylaw 14.11.1 to declare the individual ineligible and
withhold the student-athlete from all intercollegiate competition. The Student-Athlete Reinstatement Committees
process reinstatement requests for violations of: ethical conduct (Bylaw . 10 (Ethical Conduct), B.ylaw 12 ),(A ama-teurism (B. 12),
B.ylaw 13 (rRecruiting (B. 13),
B.ylaw 14 (eEligibility) (B. 14), B.ylaw 15 (fFinancial aAid) (B. 15),
B.ylaw 16 ((eExtra bBenefits) (B. 16)
and B.ylaw 18 (dDrug tTesting (B. 18). If nec-essary, an institution should contact
the NCAA membership services staff to obtain an interpretation concerning the
2. If
an individual is ineligible under NCAA legislation and the institution believes
the circumstances warrant re-questing reinstatement of eligibil-ity, it may
submit a request for reinstatement to the NCAA direc-tor of student-athlete
reinstatement. If the institution
requires an immediate decision (e.g., because of pending competi-tion), it
should be noted in that fact in its
request. The request for rein-statement
shall include: a statement that a violation has taken place; a
statement indicating that the institution has declared the involved prospectprospective
student-athlete or student-athlete ineligible and is requesting
reinstatement of eligibility; a description of the violation, including the
rule citation and amount or value of any benefit received; the identity of all
coaches, prospectprospective student-athletes or
student-athletes, and other individuals involved in
the violation; the means by which the institution became aware of the viola-tion;
the reason(s) the violation occurred; the involved prospectprospective
student-athlete's or student-athlete's knowledge of the rule in question;
a list of corrective or disciplinary actions taken by the institution or
conference; a statement describing factors, if any, whichthat might mitigate the
violation; and support-ing documentation.
The institution is responsible for developing complete, accurate and
thorough information prior to submitting an appeal to the sStudent-aAthlete rReinstatement cCommittee.
3.
3. After a request for
reinstatement is received by the national office, it is assigned to a
student-athlete reinstatement staff member, who reviews the re-quest and may
obtain additional information prior to reaching a decision. While the student-athlete reinstatement
staff may gather additional informa-tion relevant to the reinstatement
request, its
primary purpose is to ensure that the facts are developed . and
iIts primary function is not to act as is
not
If the reinstatement request involves an agents or gambling violation, the reinstatement staff will provide a copy of the
institution?s report to the agents,
gambling, agents and amateurism (GAGA) staff of enforcement services. If
the GAAAGA staff agrees that the report appears complete, the reinstatement
staff will continue with
its process. If the GAAAGA staff determines that the report appears incomplete, the GAAAGA staff may conduct additional follow-upfollow
up with the institution to ensure that all relevant facts
are included in the request before the reinstatement staff issues a decision.
If the reinstatement request
involves an amateurism violation self-reported by the institution, the reinstatement staff may
provide a copy of the institution?s report to the GAAAGA staff to ensure accuracy and a
complete representation of
the facts. Also, if the staffs determines that in-depth follow
-up is warranted, the
reinstatement staff will notify the institution of the concerns related to the
facts as reported and indicate that additional follow
-up appears to be needed. The GAAAGA staff and the reinstatement
staff will work jointly to conduct the needed follow
-up to develop the set of facts.
If the reinstatement request
involves an amateurism case that was initiated by the GAAAGA staff through investigative
efforts, the reinstatement
staff will provide a copy of the institution?s report to the GAAAGA staff to ensure accuracy and a
complete representation of the relevant facts.
If the GAAAGA staff determines that relevant
facts need to be added to the institution?s
report, the GAAAGA staff will contact the
institution to discuss the report and establish a set of agreed- upon facts upon which the reinstatement staff
will base its decision.
If the reinstatement staff notifies the institution that the report appears to be incomplete,, but the institution determines that
the facts are complete as reported, then the reinstatement staff will make a
decision based on the
reported
facts. If
the concerns are substantiated with facts, then the institution could be subject to the enforcement process, and the reinstatement decision could be voided.
If the reinstatement request involves
a violation connected to a major infractions case, the reinstatement staff will
provide a copy of the report to the major enforcement staff members
involved in the case. If the
enforcement staff determines that the report appears complete, then the reinstatement staff will process
the case. If the enforcement staff
determines that the report appears incomplete, the reinstatement staff and major enforcement staff may conduct a follow -up with the institution specific to the concerns
related to the facts. If
the institution agrees that the report needs to be
developed, the major enforcement
and/or reinstatement staff will assist
with that investigative process.
However, if the institution determines that the report is complete,
then the reinstatement staff will make a decision based on the institution?s set of facts.
If the staff?s concerns are substantiated, then the
institution could be subject to the enforcement process, and the
reinstatement decision could be voided.
4. 4. Bylaws 21.6.6.2.2.1-a
(Division I),; 21.7.6.4.2.2 21.6.6.4.2.2
(Division II), and; 21.8.6.3.3.1.3 21.8.6.3.4 (Division
III) authorizes the NCAA director of student-athlete reinstatement to act on
behalf of the three Sstudent-atAthlete rReinstatement cCommittees to apply the
eligibility rules of the Association.
The director of student-athlete reinstatement has dele-gated the
authority to process reinstatement requests and make de-cisions to the
student-athlete reinstatement staff, after consultation with the di-rector,
when necessary.
4.
5.5. 5. After the student-athlete
reinstatement staff has reviewed the institution's request and has com-pleted
its research, the staff may reinstate eligibility immediately, may impose
appropriate conditions for reinstatement of eligi-bility or may conclude that
eligibility should not be reinstated. If the reinstatement
condition requires repayment and the institution and student-athlete choose to
enter into a repayment plan, failure to satisfy that repayment plan by the
student-athlete after competing under the plan may result in the
staff not entering into repayment plans with that institution for a four-year
period. Repayment of an impermissible benefit must be
made to the source or a charity of the student-athlete?s choice. The institution may be notified
verbally of the result, if necessary, and all decisions shall be con-firmed in
writing. The following individuals will
re-ceive copies of the decision: the director of athletics,, the faculty athletics
representative,, the senior woman administra-tor, and the
conference commissioner,,
if applicable,, and the institutional staff member who
submitted the request, if not one of the aforementioned persons. The division commit-tee(sub) committees also shall be apprised in
writing of all staff decisions that deviate from case precedent within its divi-sion,
regardless of whether the deci-sion is appealed to the division committee(sub) committee.
6.
5. 6. An
institution mamay ask the staff to reconsider its decision if the institution obtains new information related to the to the
original case (e.g., same transaction, occurrence or series of events). that
existed at the time of the original request
but was not available to the student-athlete and the institution when the case
was submitted. If the new information
standard is met, tThe
staff shall review the information submitted by the institution and make a
decision based on the new set of facts.
If an institution receives information that
did not exist when the case was originally submitted, but the information is
clearly related to the original case,tThe institution shall submit the information to the
NCAA staff who will re-open the case and make
a decision based on the new set of facts. decision,
prior to an appeal to the reinstatement committee(sub)
committee,
if it obtains new informa-tion
that the institution reasonably believes could cause the staff to modify its
initial decision. The staff shall review the
information submitted by the institu-tion
and make a determination whether its decision should be altered.
7. For decisions that
involve competition as a condition, the student-athlete must fulfill the
reinstatement condition when he/ or she is otherwise eligible and during one of his/ or her four seasons of competition . a season in which
he/she competes
The
competitions used to fulfill a reinstatement condition must be applied as
follows:
v
Team
sports ? Tthe
contests must be among
those considered for team selection to the NCAA championship;
v
Individual
sports with separate team championship ? Tthe
dates of competition must be among those considered for team selection to the
NCAA championship;
v
Individual
sports without a separate
team championship ? Tthe
date of competition must be among those used to qualify for the NCAA
championship.
v
Sports
without an NCAA championship ? Tthe
date must be regularly scheduled.
(Please
note scrimmage or exhibition contests may not be utilized to fulfill a reinstatement condition. In addition, if the next contest in the
institution?s schedule is part of the NCAA championship or
other post-season
competition,
then the student-athlete must be withheld from those
the NCAA
championship contests.).
(Please note that this does not include scrimmages,
exhibition contests or individual contests that are not counted toward team
standings.) The competition must be regular
season competition (i.e., used to calculate the ratings percentage index for
post-season competition in the sport) which does not include scrimmages or
exhibitions. In the sport of tennis,
which has individual and team competition, only championship season team
competition can be used to fulfill a condition. Also, a student-athlete must fulfill a
reinstatement condition when he/ or she is medically cleared to play by the institution.
8. The director of
student-athlete reinstatement and the vice-president for enforcement services
have the authority to stay
a decision if the following
conditions are met: (1) 1) Tthe institution and
student-athlete first become aware of the violation within 48 hours of the
competition., (2) and 2)
Ccase precedent is
unclear whether competition as a condition for reinstatement is warranted. If the staff does grant a
stay, the student-athlete will be eligible for competition until the (sub)committee committee?s
first available opportunity for an appeal call.
IInitial Staff Decision ?- Other Waivers/Extension Requests
1. The sStudent-aAthlete rReinstatement committee(sub) Ccommittees have the authority to process
six types of waivers: -
Bylaws 14.2.1, 14.2.2
and 30.6.1 (5Five- year/10- semester waiver (B.
14.2.1, 14.2.2 and 30.6.1), Bylaw 14.2.1.5 (AAthletics AActivity Wwaiver) (B. 14.2.1.5);, Bylaw 14.2.4 ? Division I, Bylaw 14.2.5 - Division II and III, (dis-continued
academic program waiver (B. 14.5.5.3.4), Hhardship wWaiver) (independent institutions
only) (independent institutions only); (B. 14.2.5- Divisions II and III), (B.
14.2.4- Division I), satisfactory progress waiver
(independent institutions only) [B.
14.4.3.6-(a)-(b)] Bylaws and season of competition waiver (14.2.65 14.2.6 ? Division I and Bylaw