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Compliance

Corner

May 2013

Recruiting Calendar

M & W Cross Country

Contact: 5/1-5/31

Men’s Basketball

Quiet: 5/1-5/15, 5/26-

5/31

Dead: 5/16-5/25 (except

for NBA draft combine)

Women’s Basketball

Quiet: 5/1-5/31

Baseball

Contact: 5/1-5/31

Softball

Contact: 5/1-5/27

Dead: 5/28-5/31

Women’s Volleyball

Quiet: 5/1-5/24

Contact: 5/25-5/31

Men’s Lacrosse

Contact: 5/1-5/23, 5/28

(12:01pm)-5/31

Dead: 5/24-5/28 (noon)

Women’s Lacrosse

Contact: 5/1-5/23, 5/27-

5/31

Dead: 5/24-5/26

Field Hockey

Contact/Evaluation: 5/1-

5/31

M & W Golf

Contact/Evaluation: 5/1-

5/31

M & W Soccer

Contact/Evaluation: 5/1-

5/31

M & W Tennis

Contact/Evaluation: 5/1-

5/31

Women’s Swimming

Contact/Evaluation: 5/1-

5/31

Women’s Water Polo

Contact/Evaluation: 5/1-

5/31

S i e n a C o l l e g e

Joyce Eggleston ∙ Associate Athletic Director for Compliance/SWA

(518) 783-2532 ∙ jeggleston@siena.edu

Melissa Peach ∙ Compliance Coordinator

(518) 782-6965 ∙ mpeach@siena.edu

Compliance Questions of the Month:

Here are just a few of the questions the Compliance Office received this month:

Q: For teams not in season, what is the last permissible date that countable athletically related

activities may occur in the spring term?

A: As per Bylaw17.1.6.2 (a) Weekly Hour Limitations – Outside the Playing Season Sports other

than Football, all countable athletically related activities outside the playing season are

prohibited one week prior to the beginning of the final examination period for the applicable

term through the conclusion of each student-athletes’ final exams.

Q: If a student-athlete drops below 12 credits, is he/she eligible for practice?

A: No. To be eligible to practice, a student-athlete must be enrolled in a minimum of 12 credits

at all times except during the first five days of classes.

Q: Can I speak at a high school banquet?

A: Yes, but stipulations do apply depending on the sport, whether the banquet is at the

prospect’s educational institution or another location, and whether it falls during or outside of a

contact period in accordance with Bylaws 13.1.8.1 and 13.1.8.2.

Q: If I telephone a recruit and do not get a hold of them, does that count as the one call per

week?

A: According to Educational Column Issues Related to Telephone Calls August 5, 2008, if a

coach makes the permissible number of calls to a prospect during a particular time period, the

coach is not permitted to leave a voice message or have direct communication with the

prospect regardless of the length of the message or conversation. If a coach calls a PSA and is

told the PSA is unavailable, the call is not countable provided the coach ends the conversation

without discussion of recruitment. However, if a coach calls a PSA and is told the PSA is

unavailable, but the coach leaves a message regarding the merits of the program, the call is

countable as recruitment occurred regardless of the length of the call. The use of automated or

prerecorded voice messaging services by an institution is considered a countable call. When a

call is dropped (wireless service is lost) a second call initiated to the PSA is presumed to be a

violation unless the institution can provide contemporaneous documentation that the additional

call was a continuation of the original call, the institution would not be required to submit a self-

report violation. Institutions should assess whether the call was dropped inadvertently and/or

for reasons beyond control of the institution and/or PSAs. Videoconference or the use of

videophones are considered telephone calls.

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Publicity Concerning Non-NLI Signees

Publicity for non-NLI signees may occur after the prospect has signed acceptance of

Siena College’s written offer of admission and/or financial aid. Therefore, it is

permissible for an institution to send out a press release regarding prospects who have

not signed an NLI once all of the following conditions have been satisfied:

1. Prospect has been officially accepted at Siena College;

2. Prospect has signed, completed, and returned the required admission forms; AND

3. Prospect has paid the required acceptance fee or deposit.

Remember that NCAA rules limit an institution from publicly commenting on a

prospective student-athlete prior to the prospect signing a written offer of admission.

Until then, comments may not highlight the prospect’s ability, potential contributions

to the team, or probability of joining the institution’s team.

Board suspends changes to recruiting communications rules

By Michelle Brutlag Hosick, NCAA.org, Publish Date: May 2, 2013

The Division I Board of Directors on Thursday suspended the rule that would have allowed coaches to communicate with

recruits in new ways – including through text messaging – and lifted restrictions on numbers of contacts.

The Board reconsidered its January adoption of the measure after receiving more than 75 override requests.

In suspending the rule, the presidents on the Board endorsed a Rules Working Group recommendation that all the recruiting

concepts under review be examined as a group to develop a model that considers how the changes would work together.

The decision does not affect recruiting rules adopted for men’s and women’s basketball.

“We are supportive of moving as aggressively as possible while still studying the issues with due diligence,” said Board chair

Nathan Hatch, president at Wake Forest University. “It’s important to make sure all the pieces of the recruiting model work

together to make the most effective change in the culture.”

The Board took the advice of the Rules Working Group, which urged a quick legislative review that is mindful of the other

initiatives under consideration by the membership, in recommending an aggressive, thoughtful and thorough review of the

recruiting rules. The recruiting communication and other recruiting rule changes originated with the working group as part of

an effort to make Division I rules more meaningful, enforceable and supportive of student-athlete success.

The Board suspended or tabled three other recruiting-related rules earlier this year:

• Eliminating rules defining recruiting roles

• Permitting earlier contact with recruits

• Eliminating restrictions on printed recruiting materials

The Rules Working Group and other relevant groups such as the Football Recruiting Subcommittee of the Leadership Council

will examine each of the concepts and how they relate to each other, with the added context of possible revisions to recruiting

calendars set to be considered during the next phase of rulebook simplification.

The Board declined to change its position on a proposal prohibiting live scouting of opponents, which also had received more

than 75 override requests. With that action, the measure will go to a full vote of the membership through an online process.

The Board agreed with the Rules Working Group assessment that the measure creates a simpler and more consistent rule

that is easy to follow. The presidents noted that those who oppose the change expressed concern about access to and quality

of video in some of the Olympic sports. As with all rules adopted through the presidential reform agenda, it will undergo a

review and evaluation process after two years if it remains in place after the override vote.

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DI Board retains current initial-eligibility sliding scale

By Michelle Brutlag Hosick, NCAA.org, Publish Date: May 2, 2013

The Division I Board of Directors on Thursday maintained its support for higher grades and a core course progression for

prospective student athletes, but adopted legislation that would keep for the foreseeable future the test score/grade-point

average sliding scale at the current level for student-athlete access to financial aid, practice and competition in the first year.

In October 2011, the presidents on the Board decided that to compete in the first year of enrollment, prospects must 1) meet a

higher sliding scale, 2) achieve an increased grade-point average requirement of 2.3 (from 2.0) and 3) complete a core-course

progression that requires prospects to finish and “lock in” 10 of the 16 required core courses before the beginning of their senior

year.

The Board has determined that requiring prospects to meet a more stringent sliding scale starting in 2016 would have yielded a

number of unintended consequences. Those consequences led the Board to its decision to retain the current sliding scale

standard.

The rationale for Thursday’s action included the following considerations:

Taken as a whole, the academic reform changes already underway or adopted are likely to result in improved graduation

performance of student-athletes.

The increase to a 930 Academic Progress Rate requirement for access to postseason competition, which begins with

this fall’s data collection, is predicted to have a significant impact that will encourage institutions to make admissions

decisions that ensure student-athlete academic success.

The impact of a more stringent scale on access to higher education, especially for certain socio-economic and ethnic

backgrounds, could be significant. The goal of academic reform from the outset has been to improve the academic

performance of student-athletes, including increasing graduation rates, while minimizing disparate impact on ethnic

minorities.

Membership expressed concerns about the sliding-scale increase, including that it might not have the intended impact,

should be implemented on a slower timeline or that coaches would decline to offer scholarships to players who could not

compete in their first year for academic reasons.

Committee on Academic Performance chair Walter Harrison, president of the University of Hartford, said the enormity of the

impact on minorities, the numerous other academic changes set to take place soon and the positive trends in Academic Progress

Rates all were factors in his support of the sliding-scale re-examination.

“APRs are improving, and I believe they will continue to improve,” Harrison said. “I’m concerned about minority students who

would be affected by the dramatic change to the sliding scale. The new 930 APR benchmark required for postseason competition

is impacting coaches’ recruiting decisions. These changes and the action the Board took today to strengthen the high school

core GPA calculation will make the positive effects even more dramatic.”

The Board committed to examining the impact of the GPA floor and core-course progression requirements soon after the

changes are implemented in 2016. After that review, the presidents will determine whether the changes have had the intended

impact or if a sliding scale increase is warranted.

At the recommendation of the Committee on Academic Performance, Board members also adopted a change to the way the

core-course GPA is calculated, allowing only the 16 best grades meeting the required distribution of math, science, English and

other courses, to count toward the final GPA. Current practice allows as many core courses as a prospective student-athlete takes

within the time limitation to count toward the final GPA. This change, which also is expected to improve college preparedness,

will be effective Aug. 1, 2016.

Even without changing the sliding scale, the academic requirement enhancements are expected to have the most impact in the

sports of football and men’s basketball, the two sports that consistently lag behind others in academic performance. Harrison ,

who discussed initial eligibility with Board members, said that while those sports have improved as the Academic Performance

Program was implemented, a “measurable gap” still exists between those and other sports in both the Academic Progress Rate

and the Graduation Success Rate.

Changing the minimum GPA for competition, the core-course progression and core-course GPA calculation is expected to enhance graduation rates in those sports while still providing access to college.

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Siena Compliance Updates and Reminders

Your NCAA Coaches Exam Certification is valid until July 31st. Melissa will be setting up dates in May and June for the

2013-2014 certification once that exam is released. The NCAA staff anticipates that the exam will be released the week

of May 6-10, following the Board of Directors meeting. In the meantime, we have provided a link to the 2013-2014

Practice Exam if you wish to take it. You do not need a log-in to do the practice exam.

http://web1.ncaa.org/coachesTest/exec/practiceexam?division=1.

Coaches, you are receiving weekly Eligibility Center reports concerning the status of prospects on your IRL. Continue to

encourage your prospects to complete any assigned tasks. If they have questions regarding the process they can contact

the Eligibility Center hotline Toll-Free 877-262-1492, International Callers 317-223-0700, or Melissa.

2013 Final Academic Certification season begins June 10th! As a reminder, an official final transcript, including proof of

graduation, must be submitted for each student. Also, faxed transcripts are not acceptable. The earlier the official final

high school transcript is received at the NCAA Eligibility Center, the quicker the final academic certification will be

evaluated. For any International prospective student-athletes, please remember that the timing of getting a case “Ready

to Process” is critical for final academic certification. Contact Melissa with any questions.

Another reminder that all Scholarship Renewals and Non-Renewals must be completed on sienaathletics.org by May

15th. If you have a student-athlete who you would like to recommend an increase in athletic aid or returning student-

athlete who will receive athletic aid for the first time, make sure you refer to Section 14 in the Siena College Athletics

Policy Manual for procedures.

Final Rules Education Session is Tuesday, May 21st in the Turchi Room! Details to come.

Coaches, please encourage your student-athletes to attend the All-Sports Picnic May 7th at noon. Outside in front of the

MAC/Inside MAC if inclement weather. Come support our Saints!

Coaches, if you have any student-athletes that may be competing in outside competition this summer, please encourage

your student-athletes to complete the form that was sent out as soon as possible!

Men’s and Women’s Basketball: Please make sure that any student-athletes who will be participating in a summer

league fill out the Summer League Form before they leave to go home for the summer. This form needs to be signed by

the head coach and delivered to the Compliance Office for approval before they may participate. If you need the form

again please email Melissa.

Ask Before You Act!

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Institutional Request List (IRL)

In order for a prospective student-athlete to be certified by the NCAA Eligibility Center, he or she must be listed on the appropriate

institutional request list (IRL). Names are added to the sport-specific IRLs throughout the year, but there is no way to verify the

accuracy of these lists without confirmation from the appropriate coaches. The Compliance Office has been reaching out to all

coaches to verify IRLs. We know your list of incoming prospects is constantly changing, so any updates you can provide are helpful

and critical to ensuring your incomers will be certified. Our coaches have been doing an excellent job with providing additions and

deletions to their IRLs. Remember, the IRL applies to scholarship and walk-on PSAs alike!