NCAA: D3 Athletic departments shall NOT be involved in financial aid decisions

[Ron Boerger]

Which only makes sense, but they issued this today:

https://web1.ncaa.org/LSDBi/exec/interpDisplay?interpDisplaySubmit=Display&multiple=20899&division=3

Athletics Department Staff Involvement with Financial Aid Office (III) Date Published: January 7, 2013
Type: Official Interpretation
Item Ref: 2-a

Interpretation:

The Interpretations and Legislation Committee confirmed that institutional athletics staff members (e.g., athletics directors, coaches, senior woman administrators, etc.) are precluded from being involved, in any manner, in the review of the institutional financial aid to be awarded to a student-athlete per NCAA Division III Bylaw 15.4.5 (athletics staff involvement) and Bylaw 15.4.6 (matrix-rating system). Specifically, institutional athletics staff shall not influence a student-athlete's financial aid package (as assembled by the financial aid officer or financial aid committee) directly or indirectly.

Athletics department staff members' involvement in or interaction with its institution's financial aid office should be directed by the following:

1. The athletics department may communicate with the clerical/support staff in the financial aid office in order to determine whether a particular prospective student-athlete's financial aid forms have been submitted;

2. The athletics department may send a list of names of student-athletes to the financial aid office solely for the purpose of facilitating the annual NCAA Division III financial aid reporting process;

3. The initial communication of a student-athlete's financial aid package amount should occur between the student-athlete or his or her parents or guardian and the institution's financial aid office;

4. Athletics staff shall not serve on a member institution's financial aid committee;

5. A faculty member (e.g., chemistry professor) would not be precluded from serving on both an institutional faculty athletics committee (e.g., faculty athletics representative) and institutional financial aid committee as long as they are not a coach or athletics department staff member; and

6. An athletics department staff member who also works in the financial aid office may continue to work in the financial aid office only if the individual clearly is not involved in the financial aid decision-making process or in the packaging of financial aid for students.

Athletics Department Staff Involvement with Admissions Office and Role of Admissions Office with Financial Aid Packaging

The Interpretations and Legislation Committee confirmed that athletics department staff involved in any capacity with the institutional admissions office shall not administer, oversee or otherwise influence any admissions matrix system or other admissions rating formula that directly or indirectly impacts institutional financial aid packaging decisions. For example, an institution that uses an admissions-matrix rating system to evaluate and rank incoming student applicants shall not allow athletics department staff to score, rank or otherwise influence any admissions rating of any student, including student-athletes, if the admissions-matrix rating score is used in any way to determine the financial aid package of any student, including student-athletes.

Permissible involvement of athletics department staff with its institution's admissions office should be directed by the following:

1. Enrollment management personnel, including admissions office staff, are permitted to be employed by the athletics department provided those individuals have no role in the administration of financial aid (e.g., need analysis, aid packaging);

2. It is permissible for an athletics department staff member who is working in the admissions office to be involved in off-campus admissions programs directed at prospective students in general, provided any contact made with prospective student-athletes prior to the completion of the prospective student-athlete's junior year in high school is not for the purpose of athletics recruitment (e.g., athletics recruiting presentation);

3. An athletics department staff member who also serves as an admissions officer is precluded from having any input regarding the recipients of any institutionally administered grants or scholarships (e.g., presidential, merit, academic, leadership, etc.); and

4. Any factors of athletics ability or participation (e.g., high school athletics participation, outside club MVP awards, all-tournament honor, high school letter winner, all-state/all conference selection, athletics ability of any kind, etc.) that are considered in the admissions matrix-rating system shall be removed from the rating system prior to the review of the student-athlete's application by the financial aid office.

[References: Bylaw 13.1.1.1 (high school prospects), Bylaw 15.4.1 (consistent financial aid package), Bylaw 15.4.3 (written offer of aid), Bylaw 15.4.5 (athletics staff involvement), Bylaw 15.4.6 (matrix-rating system)]

[scottiedoug]

What parts of this are new?

[Pat Coleman]

You would be amazed how many schools need this advice.

[Steve Wiitala]

I wasn't always like that.  I recall serving as a faculty member on a financial aid committee in the early 80s.  The athletic director at the time was on the committee and a large number of the adjustments we made in the standard aid package were at the behest of the athletic director.  Things have change dramatically in that regard.

[Pat Coleman]

I wasn't always like that.  I recall serving as a faculty member on a financial aid committee in the early 80s.  The athletic director at the time was on the committee and a large number of the adjustments we made in the standard aid package were at the behest of the athletic director.  Things have change dramatically in that regard.

Oh, no doubt, but at least since the mid-90s, probably sooner, it has been supposed to be hands-off. The amazing thing is how many schools are getting flagged because they say athletic ability is part of their FA process.

[Steve Wiitala]

I wasn't always like that.  I recall serving as a faculty member on a financial aid committee in the early 80s.  The athletic director at the time was on the committee and a large number of the adjustments we made in the standard aid package were at the behest of the athletic director.  Things have change dramatically in that regard.

Oh, no doubt, but at least since the mid-90s, probably sooner, it has been supposed to be hands-off. The amazing thing is how many schools are getting flagged because they say athletic ability is part of their FA process.

I know, it was kind of interesting to see the change in procedures when the rules changed (it think it was actually about '88-'89 when it changed at Norwich.  The whole system changed - we had been using a "point" system, and different constituencies were given differing number of "points" the could be used to bump a package.  What was always funny was when there was a good student who was also an athlete.  The AD and the faculty rep from the students' projected major department would each wait for the other to propose a bump.  I was a new faculty member at the time, and I asked how we could be doing this, and I was told that it was okay as long as the package didn't exceed the need.  Seemed to me that unless everybody got full need, the system involved defacto athletic scholarships.  Somebody finally figured that out.