Introduction
While you are a student-athlete at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, you are obligated to abide by NCAA and University rules. The Department of Intercollegiate Athletics is ready to assist you with these issues. The Compliance Staff will conduct an annual rules education meeting with each team and provide periodic updates as needed during the course of the academic year. Student-athletes are encouraged to ask questions and utilize the resources available.
Progress Towards Degree Requirements
The NCAA has set academic standards to ensure the graduation of student-athletes. In order to maintain your athletic eligibility, you must meet the following standards:
1. Complete 24 hours of academic credit prior to the second year of enrollment;
2. At least 18 hours of academic credit must be earned during the traditional academic year (i.e. fall, spring) starting with your third semester of full-time enrollment;
3. Six hours of academic credit must be earned in the previous regular academic term (fall/spring) of full-time enrollment;
4. Declare a major no later than the beginning of your fifth semester or third year of enrollment. At this point, all academic credit used to fulfill NCAA requirements must be degree applicable;
5. Complete 40 percent, 60 percent, and 80 percent of your degree requirements before the beginning of your third, fourth and fifth years of full-time enrollment;
6. Maintain a minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.0, unless your major requires a higher GPA;
7. In baseball, student-athletes must be eligible in fall in order to be eligible for spring.
Full-Time Enrollment
To be eligible for practice, competition, and athletic aid, you must be enrolled in a minimum of 12 credit hours during the fall and spring semesters. If you need fewer than 12 credit hours to graduate, you may enroll in only those final hours and still be eligible with approval from the Compliance staff. If you are enrolled in a Graduate Program, you must be enrolled in a minimum of nine credit hours per term. You must have approval from an athletic advisor before dropping a course. Dropping a class without discussing it with your academic advisor and coach could put your eligibility in jeopardy.
NCAA Five-Year Rule
The NCAA states that you have five calendar years in which to complete four years of competition in a sport. The five-year clock begins when you become a full-time student at any collegiate institution. If you decided not to enroll in school at any time during the five years, you don't regain that time. Extension of the five-year eligibility clock may be granted under special circumstances.
Improper Benefits
Accepting extra benefits or illegal aid is a serious violation of NCAA rules. You could lose your eligibility and athletic aid if you or your family members accept any discounts, favors, complimentary gifts or preferential treatments from boosters. Examples of extra benefits include but are not limited to:
– Gifts of clothing, automobile, cellular phone, electronics, food.
– Free or reduced cost goods or services
– Material benefits that are not available to the general student population.
Complimentary Admissions
NCAA regulations allow a maximum of four complimentary admissions per student-athlete for each event in his/her sport. Complimentary admissions are granted through a list at each facility's ticket gate. The NCAA does not allow the distribution of “hard tickets.” It is not permissible for a student-athlete to receive anything of value in exchange for a complimentary admission.
Medical Hardships
A “medical hardship” is defined as an illness or incapacitating injury which occurs under the following conditions:
1. It occurs during the first half of the playing season that concludes with the NCAA Championship in the sport AND results in the incapacity to compete for the remainder of that playing season;
2. It occurs in one of the four seasons of intercollegiate competition at any 2-year or 4-year collegiate institution; and
3. It occurs before you have completed in three contests/dates of competition or 30% of the scheduled events in your sport (whichever is greater).
A student-athlete may be granted an additional season if they suffer a medical hardship. If you believe that you have a situation that meets this criteria, please see a member of the Compliance staff.
Amateurism
Only an amateur student-athlete is eligible for intercollegiate athletic participation in a sport. A student-athlete loses amateur status and shall not be eligible for competition in a particular sport if he or she:
- Is paid or accepts this promise of pay based on his/her athletics skills;
- Signs a contract or verbally commits with a professional sports agent;
- Plays on a professional team;
- After full-time enrollment, enters into a professional draft;
- Receives a salary or any other form of financial assistance from a professional sports organization.
See the Compliance staff for exemptions to NCAA Bylaw 12 amateurism rules.
Gambling
The NCAA prohibits student-athletes and the members of the SIUE Department of Intercollegiate Athletics from:
- Providing information to individuals involved in organized gambling activities;
- Soliciting or accepting a bet on any team representing the institution or an NCAA-sponsored sport; and
- Participating in any gambling activity that involves intercollegiate or professional athletics.
Student-athletes violating the NCAA rules will be subject to a loss of one year of eligibility. Any student-athlete wagering on a competition in which SIUE is a participant risks permanent loss of eligibility.
You are required by the NCAA to report any offer of gifts, money or favors in exchange for supplying information or for attempting to alter the outcome of a game.
Outside Competition
As an NCAA Division I student-athlete, you cannot participate in outside competition during the academic year (1st day of fall semester through the last day of spring semester) There are a few exceptions to this rule. If you are considering participating in outside competition, you must first complete the Outside Competition Form (located in the Compliance section of the SIUE Athletic web site) and receive approval from the Compliance staff and your coach.
Participation on outside teams during summer is permissible in most instances. The NCAA restricts the number of SIUE student-athlete who can participate on the same team in the sport of baseball (4), basketball (2), cross country (2), golf (2), softball (4), soccer (5), tennis (2), track and field (7), volleyball (2), and wrestling (5).
Summer Basketball League
SIUE student-athletes who wish to participate in a summer basketball league can only participate in a league that is approved by the NCAA. You must meet with a Compliance staff member and obtain approval from the Athletic Director prior to participation in a summer basketball league.
WITHIN YOU SPORT, YOU CANNOT …
- Accept payment or a promise of payment (in cash, prizes, gifts, or travel) for participation in your sport.
- Enter into an agreement of any kind to compete in professional athletics.
- Request that your name be placed on a draft list for professional sports or try-out with a professional sports organization.
- Use your athletic skill for payment.
- Play on any professional athletics team.
- Have your athletically-related financial aid determined by any entity other than SIUE.
- Participate on teams other than those fielded by SIUE during the academic year. This includes tryouts, exhibitions, or tournament games.
IN ANY YOU SPORT, YOU CANNOT …
- Accept gifts, meals, loans of vehicles, or money from boosters groups or people within the athletics program at SIUE.
- Be represented by an agent or organization in order to market your athletic skills
- Receive any benefit that is not available to other students at SIUE.
- Participate in a summer basketball league not approved by the NCAA. You must have written permission from the Athletics Director for summer league participation.
- Play on a non-collegiate athletics team during the academic year without permission from your head coach, the Compliance staff and Athletics Director.
NAME, IMAGE AND LIKENESS
Student-athletes can earn money based on their name, image and likeness (i.e. personal business, social media influencer, advertising personal lessons).
Illinois state law requires you to be paid for work actually performed and to disclose all activity to SIUE's Compliance staff. You may obtain an agent for NIL purposes but not for professional athletics purposes. All agent agreements must be disclosed to SIUE within 7 days. Any promotion of products or services cannot conflict with SIUE corporate sponsorships and cannot involve anything that could be considered inconsistent with the values or mission of SIUE.
SIUE can place reasonable restrictions on the time or date of your NIL activity (i.e., not during team travel, practice, etc.). You also cannot miss class or other academic requirements for an NIL activity. If you would like to use SIUE's logo, you will need written approval from University Marketing and Athletics. You must complete an NIL Disclosure form for each NIL activity.
Countable Athletically-Related Activities
The NCAA states that during the declared playing season, your participation in countable athletically-related activities must be limited to four hours per day, 20 hours per week, and one day off, which may be a travel day. Outside of the declared playing season during the academic year, your participation in countable athletically-related activities is limited to eight hours per week, including a maximum of two hours of skill instruction and at least two days off.
Countable athletically-related activities are:
- Required practice and competition;
- Required weight training and conditioning;
- Required participation in departmental physical fitness class or individual workout;
- Review of athletics practice or contest films/videos;
- Required camp, clinic, or workshop participation;
- Athletics-related meetings;
- Requested on-court/on-field activities.
If you have any questions about these regulations on countable activities or feel this rule is being violated, please speak with a Compliance staff member. All athletically-related activities outside the playing season are prohibited one week prior to the start of the final examination period through the conclusion of the student-athlete's final exams.
Non-Countable Athletically-Related Activities
The following are considered non-countable athletically-related activities are NOT counted in the weekly or daily time limitations:
- Meals related to competition;
- Physical rehabilitation or medical exams;
- Academic study tables or tutoring;
- Travel to or from practice or competition;
- Voluntary individual workouts.
Time Management Plans
Each week coaches must provide a weekly schedule or all required activity to the team (a two week schedule for Men's Soccer). Changes to that schedule can only occur with 24 hours notice, unless the change is cause by inclement weather. Each team must be provided an additional 7 days off from athletic activity following the conclusion of the team's season (14 days off for Men's Wrestling).
Fee-For Lesson Instruction
A student-athlete may receive compensation for teaching or coaching sport skills or techniques in his or her sport on a fee-for-lesson basis provided:
- Institutional facilities are not used;
- A playing lesson does not occur;
- The institution obtains and keeps on file documentation of the recipient of the lesson(s) and the fee for the lesson(s) provided during any time of the year;
- The compensation is paid by the lesson recipient (or the recipient's family) and not another individual entity;
- Instruction to each individual is comparable to the instruction that would be provided during a private lesson when the instruction involved more than one individual at a time; and
Before a student-athlete begins giving a fee-for-lesson instruction, he/she must meet with a member of the Compliance staff and complete the Student-Athlete Fee-For-Lesson Request form which is located under the Compliance section of the SIUE Athletic website.
Transfers
Every student who has ever attended a two- or four-year institution, even those who did not participate in athletics at a former institution, is considered a transfer student-athlete. The NCAA requires extensive documentation on a student-athlete who wishes to compete in athletics at a new institution (the certifying institution) prior to certification of eligibility. Students must fill out the appropriate paperwork and meet NCAA transfer requirements before being certified to practice or compete at SIUE.
Transferring from SIUE
If you are interested in transferring to a new school, you should first inform your coach. Before you are permitted to discuss transferring with a new school, you must request that your name be placed in the NCAA Transfer Portal. Requests to be placed in the Transfer Portal must be submitted via the Notification of Intent to Transfer Form. Requests will only be accepted from the student-athlete and not a parent, guardian or third party. Once the completed form is received by the Compliance staff, your name will be placed in the portal within 2 business days. Once your name is in the portal, you may begin speaking with other schools. Notification of intent to transfer policies and the required form can be found here.
Summer Workouts
Workouts conducted during the summer vacation period are strictly voluntary in sports other than men’s and women's basketball. In basketball, required summer workouts are permissible for a total of 8 weeks. Student-athletes may be required to be enrolled in summer school in order to participate. Voluntary workouts are at the discretion of the student-athlete and should not be mandated by any coach or staff member. The following criterion governs summer conditioning activity:
(a) The student-athlete must not be required to report back to a coach or other athletics department staff member (e.g., strength coach, trainer, manager) any information related to the activity and those individuals permitted to observe such activity may not report back to the student-athlete’s coach;
(b) The activity must be initiated and requested solely by the student-athlete. However, it is permissible for an athletics department staff member to provide information to student-athletes related to available opportunities for participating in voluntary activities (e.g. times when strength and conditioning coach will be on duty in the weight room or on the track) and may assign times in advance as to when institutional facilities for such purposes are available;
(c) The student-athlete’s attendance and participation in the activity (or lack thereof) may not be recorded for the purposes of reporting such information to coaching staff members or other student-athletes; and
(d) The student-athlete may not be subjected to penalty if he or she elects not to participate in the activity. In addition, neither the institution nor any athletics department staff member may provide recognition or incentive (e.g. awards) to a student-athlete based on his or her attendance or performance in the activity.
Student-Athlete Employment
Student-athletes may have jobs during the academic year and summer. All employment must be reported to the Compliance Office on the annual compliance forms and meet the following rules:
(a) The student-athlete’s compensation does not include any remuneration for value or utility that the student-athlete may have for the employer because or the publicity, reputation, fame or personal following that he or she has obtained because of athletics ability;
(b) The student-athlete is compensated only for work actually performed; and
(c) The student-athlete is compensated at a rate commensurate with the going rate in that locality for similar services. (Bylaw 12.4)
