REPORT OF THE
NCAA DIVISION III FINANCIAL AID AND AWARDS COMMITTEE
1. ACTION ITEMS.
a. NCAA Bylaw 15.4.3
– Written Offers of Financial Aid.
(1) Recommendation. Sponsor legislation for the 2005 NCAA Convention to amend NCAA Bylaw 15.4.3 to preclude institutions from providing verbal offers of financial aid to a prospective student-athlete prior to the prospective student-athlete being accepted for admission to the institution.
(2) Rationale. The intent of Bylaw 15.4.3 was to permit only financial aid directors (or comparable campus officials) to offer financial aid to prospective student-athletes and that verbal offers of financial aid prior to the prospect being admitted to the institution are not permissible.
(3) Budget Impact. None.
b. Modification
of Wording – Grant-in-Aid.
(1) Recommendation. Modify all references to the term "grant-in-aid" as it appears in all bylaws and replace with the term "gift aid."
(2) Rationale. The term grant-in-aid does not accurately reflect the terminology used by financial aid administrators when referring to grants and scholarships. To be consistent with financial aid terminology, the committee recommends that all references to grant-in aid be modified to gift aid.
(3) Budget Impact. None.
c. Financial Aid and Awards Committee Member – Term Extension.
(1) Recommendation. Grant a one-year term extension for Laurie Coulter.
(2) Rationale. As the NCAA Division III Financial Aid and Awards Committee begins its work implementing the financial aid reporting process, Ms. Coulter would be a valuable resource during 2005 due to her committee tenure.
(3) Budget Impact. None.
d. Financial Aid Reporting Process Financial Support – NCAA Resources.
(1) Recommendation. Provide each institution participating in the 2004 division-wide pilot with $1,000 upon request, once the school's financial aid data are submitted.
(2) Rationale. This will be a one-time monetary grant to encourage schools to submit data that will support the pilot and further refine the reporting process, as well as to better prepare schools for the full implementation of the reporting process in 2005. The funds may be used at the institution's discretion to support the division-wide pilot data collection and submission process (e.g., personnel time, computer needs).
(3) Budget Impact. $1,000 per institution participating in the 2004 division-wide pilot ($420,000 for 420 active members or $430,000 to include 10 provisional members). It is hoped, but not expected, that all schools will participate in the pilot. Funding will come from unspent funds earmarked for this project from the 2003-04 budget.
2. INFORMATIONAL
ITEMS.
a. Review of Financial Aid Pre-Pilot
Results. The committee reviewed the results from the
pre-pilot conducted between
(1) Content of report. The report compared financial aid of student-athletes who entered during the 2002-03 academic year with the aid packages of other freshman and transfers.
(2) Format of report. The report consisted of five sections:
(a) Summary of institutional financial aid components;
(b) Summary of grant-in-aid versus financial need;
(c) Proportionality of institutional grant awards;
(d) Percent variance: financial need brackets; and
(e) Proportion of financial need met by grant-in-aid: sport by sport.
(3) Reporting procedures. The report was developed at the institutional level and submitted to the NCAA national office by electronic means.
b. 2004 Division-wide Pilot Procedures. Based on the pre-pilot results, the committee established the following objectives for the 2004 division-wide pilot:
(1) Pilot objectives:
(a) Assess relevance and availability of data elements.
(b) Assess institutional burden.
(c) Use findings to establish consistent procedures.
(d) Determine existence of any consent and/or confidentiality issues.
(e) Examine complexities in packaging methodologies.
(f) Assess timing of the data capture.
(2) Financial Aid Management System. The committee determined the Web-based financial aid management system would be password protected with three primary functions.
(a) Data file upload.
(b) Report generation and delivery.
(c) Request and submission of justification.
(3) Report Submission Dates. The committee determined a timeframe starting approximately mid-June and ending November 1 for institutions to submit their financial aid report. This timeframe will allow institutional personnel to view a Web cast tutorial starting approximately mid-June. Institutions will then have the autonomy to submit their data during a five month window.
(4) Institutional Receipt of the Financial Aid Report.
(1) Preliminary Report. The committee determined that the preliminary report should be sent electronically to the financial aid director with an e-mail communication sent to the institution's chief executive officer (CEO) confirming the receipt of the preliminary report.
(2) Final Report. The committee determined that a final detailed report should be distributed to the institution's CEO and financial aid director and an aggregated report distributed to the director of athletics and faculty athletics representative. The committee determined that the distribution of the final report should be communicated to the aforementioned recipients through a traditional mail format. Further, conferences may want to consider whether institutions should share the report with the conference commissioner and other conference members. The committee agreed to discuss the conference office involvement at its next in-person meeting.
(5) Justification. The committee began preliminary discussions on the process for institutional submission of justifications for the financial aid reporting process. The committee will determine justification criteria through the analysis of the division-wide pilot data; however, institutions will not be held to justification for the pilot data. The division-wide pilot data will allow for complete assessment of validation levels. The committee will determine guiding principles to include application of validation filters and levels, egregious cases and aggregation of data.
(6) Variance. The committee began preliminary discussions on setting acceptable levels of variance for the financial aid reporting process. The committee agreed that it is necessary to have a full body of pilot data available to properly establish a variance. The committee determined that the definition of the variance would be the difference between the total gift aid of student-athletes and other students in terms of dollar amount and the proportion accounting for financial need. The committee will determine guiding principles to include the institution's analysis, control for financial need amount and methodology, aggregation of data points over time and assessment of trends over time.
(7) Review Process. The committee determined that it will decide on the specific type of review and establish criteria for the review process following the division-wide pilot. The committee discussed a process that could include a level one review by NCAA staff, a level two review by the NCAA staff and representatives from the committee and a level three review by the full NCAA Division III Financial Aid and Awards Review Subcommittee.
(8) Random
Selection Process. The committee
began preliminary discussions on establishing a random selection process. The committee discussed random selection
criteria that could include not only random selection but also
selective random criteria for conference and independent institutions and championship participants.
(9) Report Type. The committee discussed the various types of reports for distribution to institutions. The type of reports discussed included:
(a) A preliminary report at the institutional level which would be distributed shortly following the initial data upload.
(b) A final detailed report at the institutional level compiled following the review process.
(c) A final report compiled for conference office review.
(d) A membership-wide report which would include aggregated data.
c. Educational Methods – Web Cast. The committee directed staff to develop a
Web cast tutorial to be available to institution's starting mid-June. The Web cast would include a brief
introduction from Phil Creighton [chair of the Financial Aid and Awards
Committee and president of
d. Financial Aid Review Timeline. The committee reviewed the financial aid review timeline, which outlined the work of the committee and communication with the membership through fall 2005. [Attachment]
e. Enforcement Procedures. The committee began preliminary discussions regarding the enforcement process when a sport-by-sport trend analysis is visible over a designated number of years. The committee agreed that if there is an egregious case at an institution, the institution will be immediately referred to the NCAA enforcement staff. The committee noted that the division-wide pilot results would assist with the determination of an egregious case. The committee agreed to review this issue at its next in-person meeting.
f. Athletics Endowments. The committee reviewed and discussed 2004 NCAA Convention Proposal No. 55. The committee directed the staff to draft a memorandum to financial aid administrators and development administrators (copying directors of athletics), as a reminder of the adopted legislation and to inquire which institutions have endowments. Further, the committee directed the staff to provide a copy of the memorandum to the National Association of Athletic Development Directors and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. The committee directed staff to include this memorandum in the June membership update.
Committee Chair: Phil Creighton, Pacific University (Oregon)
Staff Liaisons: Susan Peal, membership services, Stephanie Quigg, membership services