How To Get A Waiver From The Ncaa

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1 WAIVER OF PROGRESS-TOWARD-DEGREE REQUIREMENTS PURSUANT TO NCAA BYLAW AND FULL-TIME ENROLLMENT REQUIREMENTS PURSUANT TO BYLAW 14.1 REQUEST/SELF-REPORTS ONLINE SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS Academic Year For Use By NCAA Member Institutions Only I. INTRODUCTION The NCAA membership has authorized the granting of exceptions to the progress- towarddegree (PTD) academic eligibility requirements specified in NCAA Bylaw and full-time enrollment requirements specified in Bylaw Decisions are made under the authority of the NCAA Division I Academic Cabinet and the NCAA Division II Academic Requirements Committee as applicable. The waiver decision is based on objective evidence that demonstrates compelling mitigating circumstances along with a reasonable expectation that the student-athlete will successfully complete graduation requirements within five years of initial collegiate enrollment, as well as guidelines established in the waiver directive. Waiver requests must be submitted through the Request and Self-Reports Online submission process by a member institution, which shall be considered the waiver applicant. All communication will take place between NCAA staff and the applicant institution. NCAA staff will not communicate with third parties (including the studentathlete or the student-athlete s parent/guardian) unless authorized to do so by the applicant institution. Such authorization must include a signed Third Party Buckley statement expressly granting permission for the staff to communicate with the third party. The Third Party Buckley form may be found in the resources section of Request/Self- Reports Online. If any third party attempts to contact the staff about a PTD waiver, the staff will direct that person back to the institutional contact. The Division I Academic Cabinet and the Division II Academic Requirements Committee have authorized the AMA staff to make most initial decisions regarding waivers of PTD legislation. Division I appeals are considered by the PTD Waiver Committee. In Division II, appeals are considered by the Academic Requirements Committee s Subcommittee on PTD Waivers. The staff/committee/subcommittee will not consider waiver requests submitted on behalf of a student-athlete if that student-athlete s eligibility for competition will not be directly

2 NCAA Waiver of Progress-Toward-Degree Requirements Request/Self-Reports Online Submission Instructions Page No. 2 affected by the outcome of the waiver decision (e.g., no remaining eligibility, no longer enrolled). Requests submitted for purposes other than this will not be considered by the staff/committee/subcommittee (e.g., case submitted for the purpose of increasing a team s NCAA Division I Academic Progress Rate). II. WAIVER REQUEST SUBMISSION PROCEDURES A. The institution must submit a complete waiver request through the Request/Self- Reports Online system before the Division I or II staff/committee/ subcommittee s consideration of the request. B. Three signatures are required on all waiver requests; 1. Institutional authority outside the athletics department (e.g., chancellor/ president, faculty athletics representative). 2. Institutional authority with the athletics department (e.g., director of athletics, senior woman administrator, compliance administrator). 3. Student-athlete (via the Buckley statement). The institutional authorities may sign and upload a signature page (located in step four of the Request/Self-Reports Online submission process) or set up e-sign within Request/Self-Reports Online. C. Detailed documentation requirements can be found in Attachment A at the end of these instructions. D. All PTD waiver requests must include an academic recovery plan. A sample academic recovery plan can be found in Attachment B at the end of this document. E. All communication regarding a waiver request must be directed to the AMA staff via Request/Self-Reports Online. III. REVIEW AND DECISION PROCEDURES A. The Division I Academic Cabinet and the Division II Academic Requirements Committee have authorized the AMA staff to make most initial decisions regarding waivers of PTD legislation. Division I appeals are considered by the NCAA Division I PTD Waiver Committee. Division II appeals are considered by

3 NCAA Waiver of Progress-Toward-Degree Requirements Request/Self-Reports Online Submission Instructions Page No. 3 the NCAA Division II Academic Requirements Committee s Subcommittee on PTD Waivers. The appellate decision of the committee/subcommittee is considered final. In some cases the initial decision is made by the appropriate committee or subcommittee. In those cases, there is no appeal and the decision of the committee/subcommittee is considered final. B. The committee/subcommittee shall conduct its meetings and deliberations by teleconference. C. Only AMA staff members and committee/subcommittee members as appropriate are involved in the deliberation of a waiver request. D. AMA staff members shall notify applicants by phone regarding the staff/committee/subcommittee s decision. Institutions will also receive a notice from Request/Self-Reports Online stating A decision has been reached in Case No.. Log into Request/Self-Reports Online for further information. Once logged into Request/Self-Reports Online, the institution can find the decision in the decision screen of the specific case. E. The institution has 30 days to accept the decision in Request/Self-Reports Online. If the decision is accepted, the institution waives its right to appeal the decision. F. Pending the staff/committee/subcommittee s approval of a PTD waiver request, student-athletes remain ineligible for competition. IV. RECONSIDERATION POLICY The staff/committee/subcommittee will review the same case more than once only if the institution submits new information related to the student-athlete s academic and/or institutional records via Request/Self-Reports Online. New information is limited to information that was unknown at the time the original request was filed. V. APPEALS A. Division I appeals are considered by the PTD Waiver Committee. Division II appeals are considered by the Academic Requirements Committee s Subcommittee on PTD Waivers. The appellate decision of the committee/ subcommittee is considered final. B. In order to appeal a staff decision, the applicant institution must do so through Request/Self-Reports Online. The institution has 30 days from the time the decision is released to appeal a decision via Request/Self-Reports Online. After 30 days the case is automatically closed.

4 NCAA Waiver of Progress-Toward-Degree Requirements Request/Self-Reports Online Submission Instructions Page No. 4 C. Any request for appeal submitted after 30 days must include an explanation of why the appeal was not submitted within the prescribed time limit. The chair of the appropriate committee/subcommittee shall determine whether any appeal submitted beyond 30 days shall be heard. D. In each appealed case, the NCAA staff shall provide the appellate committee/subcommittee with a written report setting forth the basis for its decision. The report shall identify the relevant NCAA rules and interpretations and shall specify the information relied on by the staff in reaching its decision. E. The committee/subcommittee shall expeditiously reach a decision. The AMA staff shall notify the applicant institution by phone. Institutions will also receive a notice from Request/Self-Reports Online stating A decision has been reached in Case No.. Log into Request/Self-Reports Online for further information. Once logged into Request/Self-Reports Online, the institution can find the decision in the decision screen of the specific case. F. If, in reviewing the appeal request, the committee/subcommittee concludes that new information that was not made available to the staff at the time of its initial decision has been submitted, and that the information is of such importance in the judgment of the appropriate committee/subcommittee to make a different result reasonably probable, the case shall be remanded to the staff for further review. G. If the AMA staff partially/conditionally approved a waiver request that is then appealed to the committee/subcommittee, the committee/subcommittee may not overturn the staff s partial/conditional approval. H. All communication regarding an appealed waiver submission must be directed to the AMA staff through Request/Self-Reports Online. Please do not contact committee/subcommittee members regarding appeals. VI. WAIVERS INVOLVING MULTIPLE STUDENT-ATHLETES Institutions seeking relief from PTD requirements for multiple student-athletes involved in analogous scenarios (e.g., study-abroad programs, misadvisement, unforeseen mitigating circumstances) must submit a waiver request via Request/Self-Reports Online for each student-athlete involved using the copy function. Please see the Resources page of Request/Self-Reports Online for further guidance. VII. STAFF ANALYSIS All Division I PTD waiver decisions will be made pursuant to a directive approved by the Division I Academic Cabinet. The directive is available on the NCAA website.

5 NCAA Waiver of Progress-Toward-Degree Requirements Request/Self-Reports Online Submission Instructions Page No. 5 As referenced in the waiver directive, the staff is directed to calculate a quality-point analysis when reviewing all Division I PTD waiver requests. This is one tool the staff uses in its review, and does not predict the likelihood of a waiver request being approved.

6 ATTACHMENT A PTD WAIVER DOCUMENTATION Institutions should (and in some cases, may be required to) provide the following supporting documentation with progress-toward-degree (PTD) waiver requests: 1. Required documentation (to be uploaded or faxed via Request/Self-Reports Online): a. An accurately completed progress-toward-degree waiver application submitted via Request/Self-Reports Online. b. Letters or statements from the institution and student-athlete explaining the reasons for the deficiency. c. Evidence (e.g., medical documentation, contemporaneous correspondence) of the compelling mitigating circumstance(s) supporting the waiver request; d. For Division I: A copy of the student-athlete s current official transcript and official transcripts from all previous institutions attended (print-screen transcripts will not be accepted). e. For Division II: A copy of the student-athlete s current transcript and transcripts from all previous institutions attended (print-screen transcripts will not be accepted). Transcripts may be official or unofficial. f. An academic-recovery plan, designed by the institution, that demonstrates how the student-athlete s individual efforts, course-schedule planning (including consideration of academic- and athletics-related time demands) and use of academic resources (including the use of support services and any accommodations for educationimpacting disabilities) will correct the student-athlete s academic-eligibility deficiencies. An acceptable academic-recovery plan should demonstrate that the student-athlete is able to graduate within five years (Division I) or 10 full-time semesters (Division II) of full-time enrollment. Both the student-athlete and an institutional representative with academic oversight must sign the student-athlete s academic recovery plan. (See Attachment B for a sample academic-recovery plan.) 2. To be provided if requested by NCAA staff to support waiver request: a. Description of the designated degree as found in the academic catalog; b. Degree audit indicating degree applicable courses; and c. Current course-enrollment list or schedule. 3. Additional documentation to be provided when evaluating waiver requests submitted by member institutions on behalf of student-athletes with education-impacting disabilities.

7 Attachment A Page No. 2 a. Full and complete documentation of the student-athlete s current impairment that has a substantial educational impact on a student s academic performance including: (1) A current (new or updated within the past three years) diagnosis of the disability, including the results of specific measures or tests, which formed the basis of the diagnosis. If specific circumstances of the case indicate that this requirement is unnecessary, a prior diagnosis may be acceptable. (Note: The staff/committee/subcommittee reserves the right to request a second opinion or diagnosis.) (2) A copy of the student-athlete s last individual education plan (IEP), if applicable; and (3) Contemporaneous medical documentation provided by an individual who is qualified and licensed to diagnose and treat the particular illness (e.g., psychiatrist, psychologist) must be submitted on behalf of student-athletes with psychological or mental health issues (e.g., depression, bipolar disorder). b. Documentation that the disability is recognized by the institution s office of disability. If requesting a less than full-time enrollment waiver, written documentation from an appropriate institutional academic authority (e.g., registrar) that the institution has defined the student-athlete s full-time enrollment to be less than 12 hours to compensate for the student-athlete s disability. c. A written copy of the institution s policies and curriculum guidelines applicable to all students with education-impacting disabilities. d. Documentation of the specific accommodations the student-athlete is eligible to receive through the office of disability services as directed by that office. This summary must include accommodations provided by the institution with respect to the student-athlete s disability, as well as academic and other support services provided and any institutional accommodations related to adjustments of minimum performance requirements. If the institution offers any accommodations with respect to the student-athlete s athletics responsibilities, those should be indicated as well. e. A statement on the use of said accommodations in the student-athlete s academic recovery plan.

8 Attachment A Page No. 3 f. An institution submitting a progress-toward-degree waiver request for a studentathlete with an education-impacting disability must identify if it previously filed a education-impacting disability initial-eligibility waiver request for the same student-athlete. If the institution previously submitted an education-impacting disability initialeligibility waiver request for the student-athlete, the institution must provide a summary of the support services and/or accommodations for which the studentathlete was approved. The institution should also indicate which accommodations the student-athlete has used at the institution. If the support services and/or accommodations provided differ from the support services and/or accommodations that were described in the student- athlete s initial-eligibility waiver request, the institution must provide a written statement explaining why the support services and/or accommodations changed. If the student-athlete did not use any support services and/or accommodations, the institution must provide a statement explaining why the student-athlete did not use available support services and/or accommodations. g. Evidence that demonstrates that it is reasonable to believe the impact of the disability was such that the student-athlete would have otherwise been academically eligible. 4. Additional documentation must be uploaded or faxed via Request/Self-Reports Online when a PTD waiver request submitted by a member institution cites misadvisement, lack of advisement and/or misapplication of the progress-toward-degree regulations as a mitigating circumstance. a. Misadvisement or lack of advisement. (1) Documented misadvisement, typically a written statement of explanation from the person or persons responsible for providing erroneous information or the individual s supervisor. This statement must summarize the information given to the student-athlete. In the event the responsible individual is unavailable to submit a statement, the institution must submit statement from the individual s supervisor including an explanation as to the reason(s) the individual is not available (e.g., no longer employed, etc.). If available, contemporaneous documentation demonstrating misadvice (e.g., notes, phone logs); (2) A statement from the student-athlete in question demonstrating whether the student-athlete, in good faith, relied on the erroneous information to his or her detriment. The statement should include a chronology of events; (3) Clear evidence that the student-athlete s deficiency was the result of his or her reliance on the misadvisement or the lack of advisement and that but for the misadvisement or lack of advisement, it is reasonable to determine the studentathlete would have satisfied the progress-toward-degree requirement; and

9 Attachment A Page No. 4 (4) A statement from the institution regarding its actions to educate the studentathlete about the progress-toward-degree requirements. b. Institutional-recovery plan. *An institutional-recovery plan describing steps being taken by the institution to ensure proper advisement and avoid such problems in the future. Such a recovery plan should include, but is not limited to: (1) Educational initiatives to be conducted by the institution relative to studentathletes and personnel who have a role in providing academic advisement to student-athletes. (2) Development of corrective actions to ensure that student-athletes will receive proper academic advisement relative to the evaluation of student-athletes degree programs and course selection and the evaluation of the studentathlete s transcript to ensure courses are acceptable for satisfying the PTD requirements. (3) The plan must be signed by the athletics representative with academic oversight for student-athletes, the director of athletics and the faculty athletics representative. *Please note that institutional-recovery plans submitted with waivers citing misadvisement, lack of advisement and/or misapplication of the progress-towarddegree regulations as mitigation are kept on file at the NCAA national office. These plans are referenced when considering other progress-toward-degree waivers submitted by the same institution citing misadvisement, lack of advisement and/or misapplication of the progress-toward-degree regulations as mitigation.

10 ATTACHMENT B Academic-Recovery Plan An academic recovery plan designed by the applicant institution is required for progresstoward-degree (PTD) waivers from both NCAA Divisions I and II institutions. An academic-recovery plan for a student-athlete needs to demonstrate how the studentathlete s individual efforts, course-schedule planning (including consideration of academic-related and athletics-related time demands) and use of academic resources will correct his or her academic eligibility deficiencies. An acceptable academic-recovery plan also needs to demonstrate that the student-athlete is able to graduate within five years initial full-time enrollment (Division I) or 10 semesters/15 quarters (Division II) of full-time enrollment, including a term-by-term scheduling of courses to the greatest extent possible. When designing the academic-recovery plan, an institution should consider the studentathlete s historical academic achievement to ensure that the plan is realistic and achievable. Both the student-athlete and an institutional representative with academic oversight (e.g., faculty athletics representative, director of academic support services, etc.) must sign the plan. The NCAA staff/committee/subcommittee may request that additional information be included in the plan as needed. For example a statement regarding use of accommodations related to an education-impacting disability may be added for a studentathlete impacted by such a disability. The staff/committee/subcommittee may consider academic-recovery plans for studentathletes that deviate from the requirement that student-athletes graduate within five years of full-time enrollment. These plans will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis when warranted by the particular facts of the waiver. A sample academic recovery plan follows.

11 Attachment B Page No. 2 MEMORANDUM Department of Athletics Student-Athlete Support Services TO: NCAA Division I Progress-Toward-Degree Waivers Committee NCAA Division II Academic Requirements Subcommittee on Progress- Toward-Degree Waivers. FROM: Faculty Athletics Representative/Director of Academic Services. DATE: March 10, SUBJECT: Academic-Recovery Plan for John Doe. John Doe will enroll in 12 to 15 hours over the next several terms to complete his graduation requirements within five years of enrollment. In order to support his classroom endeavors he must do the following (for example): 1. Meet with his academic counselor once a week. 2. Attend 10 hours per week in a structured learning environment which will consist of supplemental instruction, individual tutoring and monitored study time. Once his grade-point average reaches 2.300, his mandatory attendance will be reduced to six hours. 3. Record academic scores and grades to assist in monitoring academic performance as determined by his advisor. 4. Attend all classes (including labs) unless excused for athletics travel or other circumstances approved by his advisor. The student-athlete support services will remain committed to the academic progress of Mr. Doe with the goal of achieving graduation within the scholarship time limitations outlined by the NCAA. ***Institutions may self impose penalties or sanctions for noncompliance.

12 Attachment B Page No. 3 JOHN DOE ACADEMIC-RECOVERY PLAN Attached are Mr. Doe s current transcripts and degree plan. This academic forecast is based on the assumption that Mr. Doe will successfully complete the 12 hours that he is presently enrolled for the spring term and a review of hours taken in previous semesters. The elective requirements allow some flexibility in scheduling for unforeseen circumstances. To complete his degree Mr. Doe must complete 58 hours. The hours that he has remaining include: EH 208 Classics World Literature 3 Credits PPY 101 Intro to Philosophy 3 Credits MS 110 Mathematics of Change & Motion 3 Credits HUM Humanities 3 Credits IS International Studies 3 Credits GEO 231 PHSY GEO: Weather 3 Credits GEO 420 Methods of Social Research 3 Credits GEO 425 Survey Research Methods 3 Credits GEO Applied Geography/Independent Study 3 Credits GEO GEO Elective 3 Credits SCH Speech 3 Credits Electives 25 Credits 58 Credits SUMMER 10 FALL 10 SPRING 11 EH Cr. GEO Cr. SCH 3 Cr. MS Cr. GEO Cr. Elect. 3 Cr. Elect. 1 Cr. Elect. 3 Cr. Elect. 3 Cr. 7 Cr. Elect 3 Cr. Elect. 3 Cr. Elect. 3 Cr 15 Cr. Elect. 3 Cr. 15 Cr. SUMMER 11 Psy Cr. IS 3 Cr. 6 Cr. FALL 11 Hum 3 Cr. Ind.St 3 Cr. Elect. 3 Cr. Elect. 3 Cr. Elect. 3 Cr. 15 Cr. TERM TOTALS SUM 10 7 Cr. FALL Cr. SPR Cr. SUM 11 6 Cr. FALL Cr. 58 Cr. Student-Athlete Signature Date Institutional Representative with Academic Oversight Date Other (optional) (e.g., coach, director of athletics) Date ReportsOnline PTDWaiverInstructions_050713_JM:dks