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Central Michigan University Athletics Department. Compliance Meeting November 5, 2008. Ball State University. Major Infraction – 2007 Impermissible Financial Aid, Playing and Practice Season Violations
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Central Michigan University Athletics Department Compliance Meeting November 5, 2008
Ball State University • Major Infraction – 2007 • Impermissible Financial Aid, Playing and Practice Season Violations • Big Problems!: Impermissible book loans and violation of playing and practice season regulations • Textbooks with a total value of $26,944 were obtained on loan by the student-athletes for classes in which the young men and women were not enrolled or for classes in which student-athletes obtained multiple copies of the same book (sa’s given $1000 balance in account to purchase books) • From 1999 through 2006, the then head softball coach and the institution’s softball program failed to count student-athletes’ work at camps, clinics and program fund-raising events as mandatory athletically related activities and, thus, repeatedly exceeded daily and weekly practice hour limitations, failed to give student-athletes a required weekly off day from athletically related activities and conducted individual skill instruction sessions in violation of NCAA legislation.
Ball State University • Required camps/clinics: Student-athletes were required to work at approximately four camps and/or clinics per year for periods of time ranging from three to 11 hours on a single day. The hours worked by the student-athletes were not reported on daily countable athletically related activity log sheets or factored into weekly practice hour totals and, thus, resulted in student-athletes exceeding their 20-hour weekly limit by one to seven hours. • In 2003 and 2005, the parents of student-athletes sent a letter complaining of mistreatment of their daughters by a coach and including allegations of practice-hour violations to the former director of athletics and SWA with sport administration oversight of softball. • Letter: “There were several times when a day off isn't really a day off due to other responsibilities (weight training, community projects, working at a game, etc.).” We were required to come in early for practice sometimes, but we were required to sign a “voluntary” time sheet? Is that a violation? So we wouldn’t go over hours. When we have a day off, we should have a complete day off, which means we are not required to do anything softball related. But almost every day off that we have, we have to lift as a team or she schedules something like Fit Kids for us to do.
Ball State University • Despite the parents’ allegation of practice hour violations, none of the athletics administrators adequately investigated the matter, thus allowing the violations to continue until 2006 (3-yr. period from initial letter!) ***SWA made notes of violations on exit interview sheet but failed to follow up! 5 out of 10 exit interviews identified violations! • Advice: If you don’t record camp/clinic participation (employment) as a countable activity (mandatory), SA’s must clearly understand that participation in camps/clinics is VOLUNTARY! Clearly communicate this with your student-athletes! • Failure to provide off days: Student-athletes were routinely required to engage in athletically related activities on a designated off day from such activities. The student-athletes were required to weight train, practice, work at camps and clinics and participate in other mandatory activities monitored by the coaching staff and were not provided an off day for several weeks at a time. • Exceeding skill instruction times: Softball coaches routinely required the catchers to work with the pitchers in addition to the two weekly hours of permissible individual skill sessions in which the catchers engaged. These extra sessions resulted in student-athletes exceeding the two-hour weekly limit placed on individual skill sessions as well as the eight-hour weekly limit placed on countable athletically related activities outside the playing season.
Playing and Practice Season • During the playing season: 1 day off per week, outside the playing season, 2 days off per week… • Week = Sunday - Saturday • Practice logs must have record of all required activities (camps / clinics, lifting, team meetings, practice, conditioning, film, individual instruction)***There is no such thing as “voluntary” practice time (e.g., film) where a coach is present!! • CMU: we send out practice log sheets and conduct random interviews with student-athletes periodically throughout the year. If student-athletes feel as though the activity is “mandatory (penalized / punished if they don’t attend) it is countable! • Make sure you communicate with your SA’s on this issue so they understand!
Recent Compliance Questions Q: Can current student-athletes be provided a meal with recruits on an official visit? Can the entire team be a part of the meal as well? A: The student-host can always receive a meal. More than one current student- athlete may attend the meal, however CMU may only pay for one student-athlete’s meal per prospect. We may pay for other current student-athletes’ meals provided the meal is counted as an occasional meal. Occasional means infrequent and not consisting of a pattern.***This means no more than 3-4 meals a semester. Remember, you are required to submit an occasional meal pre-approval form (available on intranet) to compliance with roster of student’s receiving meal PRIOR to the date of the meal! (If you are paying for the meal out of your sport’s budget, the business office will also need to sign off on this form for approval) Q: Is it permissible to have an in-game announcement recognizing recruits visiting CMU and welcoming them to campus? A: No. It is impermissible to publicize a prospect's visit to campus, therefore it would be impermissible to have the in-game announcement or release a statement acknowledging their visit to the University.
Recent Questions / Interps • Q: We are planning an off-campus bonding excursion. While there, we would like to participate in a ropes course to improve the team’s communication and teamwork. Is it permissible for us to pay for the course? • A: It is permissible to organize this off-campus practice activity within the state of Michigan and if you are currently in your playing and practice season. The activity must be a bona-fide practice activity, and not “entertainment” (e.g., sledding). Also, these team building activities cannot constitute more than four hours a day and may not occur on a mandatory day off. You cannot pay for expenses outside the playing season! Sport administrator must approve these expenses! • Official Interpretation – 10/29/08 • It is not permissible for an institution to advertise or promote an institutional camp or clinic in any way that implies a participant should possess a certain level of experience, skill or ability to attend the camp or clinic (e.g., elite camp, all-star camp, varsity camp, five-star camp, blue-chip camp). • Chippewa Elite Camp, Prospect Camp, Chippewa Varsity Skill Camp, etc. • All camp/clinic advertisements / promotions are required to be pre-approved by Compliance!
Recent Questions / Interps Official Visits Q:May a current student-athlete use the $30 per day host money on an official visit to pay for the entertainment of other current student-athletes as well as the entertainment for the official visitor? A:No, the host money may only be used to pay for the entertainment of the host and the prospect (and their parents). For example, if the host and several current teammates want to take a prospect bowling, the host could pay for himself/herself and the visitor out of the entertainment money, but the other current UA student-athletes would have to pay for their own bowling. Can a prospect on an official visit go to a special seating area (e.g., club level, chippewa club tent in basketball) during halftime of a game? 13.6.7.2 Complimentary Admissions. Providing seating during the conduct of the event (including intermission) for the prospective student-athlete or those persons accompanying the prospective student-athlete in the facility's press box, special seating box(es) or bench area is specifically prohibited.
Financial Aid Review Financial Aid Review for Institutional Scholarships
Updated Recruiting Calendar • Men’s Basketball:November 1 – November 9, November 14 – December 23 = EVALUATION PERIOD / EXCEPTNovember 10-13 = DEAD PERIOD • Women’s Basketball:November 1 – November 9, November 14 – December 23 = EVALUATION PERIOD / EXCEPTNovember 10-13 = DEAD PERIOD • Football:42 evaluation days in September, October, November All other days = QUIET PERIOD • Softball: November 3 – November 27 = CONTACT PERIOD (No evaluations)EXCEPTNovember 10-13 = DEAD PERIOD / November 28 – December 8 = QUIET PERIOD / December 9 - 14 = DEAD PERIOD • Baseball: November - November 9 = CONTACT PERIOD / November 10-13 = DEAD PERIOD / November 14 - January 1 = QUIET PERIOD • Track = November 1 – November 23 = CONTACT PERIOD November 24-25 = DEAD PERIOD • Volleyball: November 1 - November 9 / November 14 – December = CONTACT PERIOD November 10 – 13 = DEAD PERIOD • Gymnastics / Wrestling: November 10 – 13 = DEAD PERIOD
Prospect groups using CMU Facilities • Prospect groups using CMU Facilities: Ed. Column (Aug 20, 2007) • The use of CMU institutional facilities for physical activities by a group that includes prospective student-athletes is permissible, provided athletics department staff members (including coaches) or representatives of its athletics interests are not involved in the conduct, promotion or administration of the event. • CMU Athletics department staff or boosters may be involved only in activities that are incidental to supervising the use of the facilities. For example, while it would be permissible for athletics department staff members or representatives of its athletics interests to open and close the facility, prepare the facility for the event, and perform maintenance on the facility, it would not be permissible for athletics department staff members or boosters to sell apparel, concessions or tickets for the event, advertise the event, work at the scorer's table, or set up schedule. ***On campus events = recruiting, if you attend, you must record an evaluation. • All facility requests / arrangements must be handled by Greg! Coaches should not be arranging facility requests or working at these types of events.
Outside Income / Texas A&M • Former Texas A&M head football Dennis Franchione produced “VIP Connection” newsletter to high donor boosters (cost: $1200/year) • Franchione’s contract states that the coach must report to the school president "annually in writing" any outside income. The contract, which runs through 2012, specifically mentions income from Web sites. The AP also obtained copies of Franchione's annual outside income reports, and none include income from Web sites • The VIP Connection occasionally contained information about prospective student-athletes. The NCAA prohibits a school from commenting publicly on recruits until they sign letters of intent. • Biggest concern: Exchange of inside information (gambling, privacy issues) • At CMU, your contract requires you to request pre-approval for any outside CMU athletically related income > $1000 per event. All other income (speaking engagements, endorsements, camps, etc.) must be documented at the end of the year.
Supplemental Pay – NO! • Failure to control salary of employee: Kentucky - During a 3-year period, a football booster organization supplemented the salaries of football staff members --- The Wildcat Club, a booster organization of the institution’s football program, agreed to issue monthly checks to assistant strength coaches and student assistants to reimburse them for the amount needed to pay their monthly health insurance premiums at the direction of the head coach. • Violation of supplemental pay:The head football coach arranged for the Wildcat Club to supplement the annual salary of his personal assistant(s) –the head football coach requested the treasurer of the Wildcat Club to deliver monthly checks to his personal assistant in the amount of $700. The supplemental payment continued until the head football coach resigned in February 2001. • 11.3.2.2 Supplemental Pay:An outside source is prohibited from paying or regularly supplementing an athletics department staff member's annual salary and from arranging to supplement that salary for an unspecified achievement. This includes the donation of cash from outside sources to the institution earmarked for the staff member's salary or supplemental income. ($$ first must be distributed to institution, and institution may then channel funds at its discretion)
NLI • Dead Period (November 10-13, 2008 – All sports except fb, fh, soc, track) • - May NOTmake in-person recruitingcontacts or evals on or off theinstitution’s campus or to permitofficial or unofficial visits. • - Coaches may NOT serve as a speaker or attend a banquet where prospects are present or at a prospect’s educational institution- OK to make one call per week, e-mail, or write prospects • Telephone Calls • Unlimited phone calls to prospect on the initial date for signing the NLI and during two days following the initial signing “date” Football: unlimited calls 48 hrs. before and 48 hrs. after 7:00 a.m. on initial signing date- Subsequent to the calendar day on which prospect signs NLI, no limit on the # of telephone calls by the institution with which prospect has signed (record date when prospect signed NLI in your recruiting records!)
NLI Guidelines • 7:00 A.M. on 11/12/08 – first time in which prospects can sign • Prospect and parents must sign NLI to be valid (if not 21) • Prospects can only sign 1 NLI (unless coming from 2-yr. institution) – 4 yr. transfers will sign MAC letter of intent • You are required to send out all grad rates, APR, initial eligibility info prior to a prospect signing an NLI (if the prospect has not taken official visit to CMU).This will be a violation! All documents are under the official visit page on the intranet: http://webs.cmich.edu/athletics/ • Institutional staff members are prohibited from having in-person, off-campus contact with a prospect for the purpose of signing a letter of intent or other commitment to attend the institution or attending other activities related to the signing of a letter of intent or other commitment to attend the institution(e.g., no attendance at prospect’s high school press conference at anytime). • No in-person, off-campus delivery of a letter of intent by an institutional staff member (may only be delivered by regular mail, express mail, or fax)
NLI • After a dead period and during a NLI signing period (11/14/08), prospects can visit campus (i.e., unofficial or official visit) and sign a National Letter of Intent on campus. Any contact by the media with the prospects on campus during the time the prospect signs a NLI is prohibited. ***(CMU mayprovide transportation expenses to a prospect to travel to and from the institution during the dead period (i.e., 11/13/08), provided no part of the official visit occurs during the dead period; however, CMU would not be permitted to provide such transportation to a prospect related to an official visit during a dead period (i.e., no airport pick-up). • After PSA Signs NLI • No limits on contacts – DEAD PERIOD still is in effect!(MFB & MBK – Limited to contact period when at PSA’s educational institution & no more than one visit per week) ***No contact = evaluation!!!! ***(WBK: not limited to one per week) • Contact Before Event/Competitions – Still prohibited • No limit on evaluations – Still limited to evaluation restrictions: Observation of team = evaluation for whole team. If you walk into high school, you use an evaluation for all psa’s!! • No limit on phone calls – (only for those who sign NLI’s – walk-ons, 4 yr. transfers still have restrictions)
NLI Publicity • MEDIA:After a prospect has signed a NLI (or paid their orientation/housing fee), the institution may release publicity concerning the prospect’s commitment to attend the institution to those media outlets normally used by the institution and by the educational institutions currently and formerly attended by the prospect. (May put updates of stories on signed prospects on our web site). * We can release as much information about the signed prospect as we want after we sign NLI (all-state stories, player of the year, etc.) • VIDEO: May show video clips of a prospect through normal media outlets (e.g., television, Web sites) during its announcement of the prospect’s signing. Other prospects may appear in the video clips, provided the focus of the clips is related to the prospect that has committed to the institution. (Bylaw 13.11.8.1.1) • ANNOUNCEMENT: An institution may conduct one formal press conference on the institution's campus for the purpose of presenting the names of all prospective student-athletes in a sport who have signed a National Letter of Intent or accepted written offers of admission and/or financial aid from the institution, with the understanding that no prospective student-athletes (or their friends or relatives) may be in attendance at such an announcement (13.10.9.2)
Violations associated with the NLI • PUBLICITY: The director of football operations sent an alumni group an e-mail containing a link to a newspaper article, which reported a prospect’s interest in the institution prior to the prospect signing a NLI with the institution. • NLI SIGNING ATTENDANCE: An assistant track coach attended two independent announcements of a National Letter of Intent signing that was arranged by a prospective student-athlete. The assistant track coach was not aware that it was impermissible for him to attend the announcements even though they were arranged without any involvement of the athletics department. • RECRUITING: Head softball coach evaluated (PSA’s) at a high-school softball playoff game during a dead period. Head coach did not have direct contact with any PSA’s at the game. Head coach attended the game to support a PSA that had already signed a National Letter of Intent with the institution. • SPORTS INFO: SID staff issued a press release announcing a recruiting class. Two prospects listed in the release had not signed a NLI, an institutional offer of financial aid or been admitted to the institution. Head Coach worked with Sports Information Intern to prepare the release and put it on the website but failed to remember the requirements of Bylaw 13.10.8 and failed to confirm with compliance office.
Recruiting – High School Coaches • High School/ Club/ AAU or Two-Year College Coaches • Anybody that “coaches” or is involved in “teaching” or “directing” an activity in which a prospect is involved is limited to only receiving two complimentary admissions to home athletics events at any facility within a 30-mile radius of campus (This includes h.s. AD’s) • Tickets must be issued on an individual game basis – not permissible to provide coaches with a season pass! • May not reimburse a coach for providing a prospect transportation to campus for official or unofficial visit. • May not spend funds to entertain a prospect's coach on or off the member institutions campus. • No special seating arrangements (sideline pass, suites, etc.) • No comp. admissions for MAC tournament or post-season games for coaches or prospects!
Amateurism – Promotional Activities • 12.5.2.1 Advertisements and Promotions Subsequent to Enrollment: Subsequent to becoming a student-athlete, an individual shall not be eligible for participation in intercollegiate athletics if the individual: • (a) Accepts any remuneration for or permits the use of his or her name or picture to advertise, recommend or promote directly the sale or use of a commercial product or service of any kind, or • (b) Receives remuneration for endorsing a commercial product or service through the individual's use of such product or service. • If a student-athlete's name or picture appears on commercial items (e.g., T-shirts, sweatshirts, serving trays, playing cards, posters) or is used to promote a commercial product sold by an individual or agency without the student-athlete's knowledge or permission, the student-athlete (or the institution acting on behalf of the student-athlete) is required to take steps to stop such an activity in order to retain his or her eligibility for intercollegiate athletics (i.e., cease and desist letter) • CMU (recording artist, Yo-Yo master)
Commercial Promotions • Case Study: On an institutional football poster, student-athlete (SA) signed his name and was quoted promoting the food that was displayed in a public area of a local restaurant. SA asserts he regularly eats at the involved restaurant. SA was unaware it was against NCAA rules to allow the restaurant to use his name and quote since the poster was not tied to any type of media activities. SA did not receive any kind of remuneration for the use of his name and quote. • Hometown Case Study: Men's soccer student-athlete (SA) permitted his name and picture to be used in a print advertisement for his elementary school. Specifically, SA's mother was asked by the owner of a local newspaper for her son's photograph and a quote about his experience at his elementary school. SA's mother did not know about the NCAA's regulations, therefore, she furnished the information for the advertisement. • CMU Case Study: CMU Student created a promotional flyer that was posted in the SAC for personal training service. Used name/picture of current CMU student-athlete to promote service. Listed in “clients” section along with athletic accolades.