NAIA Eligibility

Welcome

On behalf of the NAIA Legislative Services Department, let me welcome you to the first of many posts regarding NAIA eligibility. 

While a good portion of the content on the blog will be driven by the National Office and our national committees, the blog will be successful only if all of you participate.  There will be many features we trust you will find useful, including Official Interpretations from the NEC, educational tools and points of emphasis.  I encourage all of you to use this blog in the manner that will be most useful to you. 

Calling all case studies

Did you have a unique eligibility situation this year? Are your coaches recruiting a student whose eligibility you just aren't sure about? Now is your chance to share and learn with everyone else.

Marcus Manning and Israel Negron are preparing the case studies to be used at the Advanced Eligibility Session at the Convention. They are open to all types of questions and will choose the best and craziest situations you share with us during this session.  No names will be used and no universities identified.

Please e-mail us your case studies.

Legislative Proposals Released

The legislative proposals to be considered at the 2009 Convention have been sent to each institution's CEO, FAR and AD.

The proposals can be accessed from the NAIA website by clicking the link below

2008-09 Legislative Proposals

I hope to start a discussion about some of the proposals as we head into the Convention.  The comment section is open.

Recruiting Reminder

During the past few months, various collegiate institutions have announced that they will be either suspending their athletics programs or ceasing operations entirely.  The purpose of this message is to remind you that all NAIA recruiting rules apply in these instances.

As a reminder, NAIA institutions are not permitted to initiate contact with athletes at other collegiate institutions.  This is true even when the student’s institution has announced it will not have an athletics program or will close its doors after this year.  The restriction applies to coaches, athletics administrators and anyone acting on behalf of the athletics department. 

Also, if you are contacted by a student from one of these institutions, your athletics department is required to send notice to the student’s institution within 10 days.

Please contact your FAR, conference eligibility chair or the National Office with any questions.

Contact with Prospective Students

We have received numerous questions regarding contact with parents of students currently enrolled at other collegiate institutions. 

As a reminder, NAIA Bylaws Article II, Section D, Item 1 states,

”If, during the school year or summer vacation period, the athletics director, faculty athletics representative, or coach of a member institution is contacted or becomes aware of contact by an athlete who enrolled at another institution of higher learning (two-year or four-year), it shall be the responsibility of the contacted institution (athletics director or faculty athletics representative) to notify, in writing, the institution (athletics director or faculty athletics representative) where the athlete is presently enrolled within 10 days following the first contact.

 A coach or another representative of a member institution shall not initiate contact with an athlete who has enrolled at another four-year institution. It is permissible to contact a student who is currently enrolled at a two-year institution once the student completes the academic year in which the student utilizes his/her first season of competition.

 A coach or another representative of a member institution may respond to a contact by an athlete only after the enrolled athlete's institution (athletics director or faculty athletics representative) has been notified as prescribed above.”

Eligibility Between Terms

During the 2008 Convention, the membership approved changes to NAIA Bylaws Article V, Section C, Item 13 to permit an incoming student who is enrolled in enough hours to identify during an upcoming term to participate during the period between terms.  This change to the legislation mirrors NAIA regulations which permit an ineligible student who identified at the institution during the fall term to compete between terms once the term has officially ended and the student meets all NAIA eligibility requirements.

Three Term Semester Institutions

NAIA regulations clearly indicate credit-hour requirements for institutions that use basic semester (two terms per academic year) or quarter (three terms per academic) credit systems.   There are a growing number of schools, including NAIA institutions, which use a three-term semester model.  As the number of institutions which use this system grows, you are increasingly likely to encounter a student who transfers to your institution from such an institution.  As current NAIA regulations do not provide guidance to you in evaluating such transcripts, the NEC has reviewed these academic systems as they relate to NAIA academic eligibility rules.

Forfeits

As a reminder, all forfeits must be requested and approved by the National Office in order to be considered official.  If the forfeit is not requested, it cannot be used for any purposes including ratings or postseason selection.

To be approved:

Participation Prior to Enrollment

From the NAIA Casebook

Participation Prior to Enrollment in the Fall

Approved Ruling: When an institution has scheduled an intercollegiate contest prior to the opening of school in the fall, a student shall be allowed to represent the institution although the student is not officially enrolled at the time of participation. The NAIA Official Eligibility Certificate must be filed with the Eligibility Chair with the column requesting “Institutional Credit Hours Enrolled in this Term” left blank. This column would then be completed during the first week of enrollment and a second, complete certificate would be sent to the Eligibility Chair.

Should a student compete and then not enroll in the term in which competition occurs, a season of competition and a term of attendance shall be charged for such competition.

Marcus Manning joins staff

I am a little late in welcoming Marcus Manning to the fun world of eligibility.  Marcus joined the staff last week as Director of Membership Services.  He has hit the ground running and I know many of you have spoken with him already.  Marcus and I will work together here in Kansas City reviewing and preparing cases as well as providing you with answers regarding NAIA rules.

Click here for more information regarding Marcus and other changes at the National Office.

Online Year-End Reports Now Available

The September 1 deadline for year-end reports is fast approaching. In our continuing effort to make your submissions to the National Office as easy as possible, we have added year-end reports to the online reporting system. Athletic Directors can access the Year-End Report portion of NAIAHelp in the same manner they did when reporting their Declaration of Intent earlier this spring. Due to the online system, hard copies of the year-end report will not be accepted by the National Office.

 There has been no change to the year-end reports. You must collect and submit all the same information you have turned in to the National Office previously. The only thing that has changed is the method of reporting the information to the National Office.