The mission of athletic compliance at UVA Wise is to promote an atmosphere of compliance and to advance the NCAA principle of institutional control through rules education and open communication. Compliance with all NCAA Division II, South Atlantic Conference rules and regulations is an obligation that UVA Wise takes seriously. This site will help provide our enrolled student-athletes, prospects, institutional staff members, and representatives of athletics interests (boosters) information concerning the rules of the NCAA. Our philosophy is to “ask before you act” so the eligibility of our department and student-athletes is not jeopardized by violating NCAA rules.
If you have additional questions, do not hesitate to contact a member of the compliance staff listed below:
Student-Athlete Handbook
NCAA Division II Website
NCAA members, particularly presidents and chancellors, asked the NCAA to develop a measure of student-athlete graduation success that more accurately reflects modern-day patterns of student enrollment and transfer. As a result, the NCAA created the Graduation Success Rate (GSR) for Division I and the Academic Success Rate (ASR) for Division II.
The NCAA GSR differs from the federal calculation in two important ways. First, the GSR holds colleges accountable for those student-athletes who transfer into their school. Second, the GSR does not penalize colleges whose student-athletes transfer in good academic standing. Essentially, those student-athletes are moved into another college’s cohort. The Division II ASR additionally includes student-athletes who did not receive athletics aid, but did participate in athletics.
NCAA Academic Success Rate Database
Graduation Rates
Because the ultimate goal of the college experience is graduation, the NCAA has devoted attention to researching student-athlete graduation rates for more than two decades.
All colleges and universities are required by NCAA legislation and federal law (the Student Right-to-Know act from 1990) to report student graduation rates, and those institutions offering athletics aid are required to report for their student-athletes as well. The NCAA acquires student-athlete graduation rate data from the Department of Education’s Integrated Post-Secondary Data System Graduation Rate Survey (IPEDS-GRS).
The student-athlete graduation rate calculated directly based on IPEDS-GRS (which is the methodology the U.S. Department of Education requires) is the proportion of first-year, full-time student-athletes who entered a school on athletics aid and graduated from that institution within six years. This federal rate does not account for students who transfer from their original institution and graduate elsewhere; they are considered non-graduates at both the college they left and the one from which they eventually graduate.
NCAA Graduation Rate Database
Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act (EADA) Survey
The Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act is designed to make prospective students aware of a school's commitment to providing equitable athletic opportunities for its men and women students. Any co-educational institution of higher education that participates in a federal student aid program must prepare an EADA report by October 15. Institutions must also report data to the U.S. Department of Education via this online survey. This is a mandatory survey.
Data collected in this survey will be published by the Office of Postsecondary Education.
EADA Data Analysis
Prospective Student-Athlete Information
High School Students
The NCAA defines a prospective student-athlete (“prospect”) as any student who has started classes for the ninth grade.
An individual remains a prospective student-athlete until one of the following occurs (whichever occurs earlier): (a) The individual officially registers and enrolls in a minimum full-time program of studies and attends classes in any term of a four-year collegiate institution’s regular academic term (excluding summer); or (b) The individual participates in a regular-squad practice or competition at a four-year collegiate institution.
College Bound Student-Athlete Guide
NCAA Initial Eligibility Center
Banned Drugs Educational Document
National Letter of Intent
Transfer Students (Two and Four-year College)
The first question you want to ask is, “Am I a transfer student-athlete?” It seems fairly simple, but you need to answer this basic question before you can move forward. So, how do you figure out if you are considered a transfer? First, we would ask several questions about the most common conditions involved in transferring from one school to another. We call these conditions transfer triggers. The triggers are important because they tell you if you are a transfer student-athlete and if you will need to know the transfer rules.
Ask yourself these questions:
• Have you ever been enrolled full time at a two-year or four-year school in a regular academic term?
• Have you ever reported for practice with the regular squad?
• Have you ever practiced or played while you were enrolled part time
• Have you ever received athletic aid (even if just for the summer term)?
If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, you are a transfer student-athlete. That means you now need to learn the transfer rules if you still want to play your sport at a new NCAA school.
• If you are a transfer from an NCAA institution you must go through the notification of transfer process required by your division. To do so may require you to contact your compliance administrator and request entry into the NCAA Transfer Portal prior to any recruitment activities that may occur.
• If you are a transfer from a two-year college or non-NCAA four-year institution (i.e. NAIA), you are not required to obtain Permission to Contact from your current athletic department; however, it is a good idea to discuss your choice to contact other institutions with your current coach. Also, if you have not done so, you will need to register with the Eligibility Center so an amateurism decision can be made.
Representatives of Athletics Interests (“Boosters”) Information
A “
representative of athletics interests” (“booster”) is an individual who is known (or should have been known) by a member of the institution’s executive or athletics administration to:
(a) Have participated in or to be a member of any agency or organization, including corporate entities (e.g., apparel and equipment companies), promoting the institution’s intercollegiate athletics program;
(b) Have made financial contributions to the athletics department or to an athletics booster organization of that institution;
(c) Be assisting or to have been requested (by athletics department staff) to assist in the recruitment of prospects;
(d) Be assisting or to have assisted in providing benefits to enrolled student-athletes or their families; or
(e) Have been involved otherwise in promoting the institution’s athletics program.
Note: Once an individual is identified as such a representative, the person retains that identity indefinitely.
NCAA Rules and You
Representatives of an institution’s athletics interests are prohibited from making in-person, off-campus recruiting contacts or telephone calls with a prospect or the prospect’s relatives or legal guardians. On-campus contact is permitted, as are written communications. Recruiting contacts by
representatives during a prospect’s official visit are confined to campus. General exceptions: 1) Contacts made with the prospect by an established family friend or neighbor, it being understood that such contacts are not made for recruiting purposes and are not initiated by a member of an institution’s coaching staff; and 2) An unavoidable incidental contact made with the prospect by
representatives of the institution’s athletics interests, provided the contact is not prearranged by the
representative or an athletics department staff member, does not take place on the grounds of the prospect’s educational institution or at the sites of organized competition and practice involving the prospect or the prospect’s team, is not made for the purpose of recruitment of the prospect, and involves only normal civility.
Other restrictions are:
An
athletics representative may view a prospect’s athletics contest on his/her own initiative, subject to the understanding that the
athletics representative may not contact the prospect on such occasions. An
athletics representative may not contact a prospect’s coach, principal or counselor in an attempt to evaluate the prospect. An athletics representative may not visit a prospect’s educational institution to pick-up film/videotape or transcripts pertaining to the evaluation of the prospect’s academic eligibility of athletics ability.
Please feel free to identify outstanding student-athletes that our coaches would be interested in. Do this by sending newspaper clippings or calling our coaches.
What is an extra benefit?
As a general rule, the student-athlete shall not receive any extra benefit. An extra benefit is any special arrangement by an institutional employee or a
representative of the institution’s athletics interests to provide a student-athlete or the student-athlete’s relative or friend a benefit not expressly authorized by NCAA legislation, and not available to a general student.
Permissible benefits include, but are not limited to:
Any provision of an extra benefit to a prospective or currently enrolled student-athlete by an institutional staff member or athletics representative jeopardizes the athletics eligibility of that student-athlete. We urge you not to provide a prospective or enrolled student-athlete with any benefit without contacting the Compliance Office to determine the permissibility of your actions.
Name, Image and Likeness
Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) legislation permits a student-athlete to profit based on their NIL in exchange for services rendered. Student-athletes may not promote a drug, alcohol, tobacco, or sports gambling company. They may not promote a direct sponsorship competitor of the UVA Wise Athletic Department. Student-athletes may not use UVA Wise athletic marks in any promotional opportunity without department approval, and they must receive approval for all promotional activities. The NIL landscape is constantly evolving, please direct any initial inquiries on NIL to Erik Lemley.
UVA Wise's Compliance Department Reminds you to...ASK BEFORE YOU ACT!!!
