Compliance for Current Students

OVC Sportsmanship for Family and Friends

Academic Eligibility

All student-athletes must be enrolled in a minimum full-time program of studies (12 credit hours per term), be in good academic standing, and maintain progress toward a degree to remain eligible for athletics competition.

	End of Fall Semester	End of Spring Semester	End of Summer
Freshmen	Pass 6 credits* 1.8 GPA	Pass 6 credits Pass 18 credits (fall & spring) 1.8 GPA	Pass 24 credits (fall + spring + summer)
Sophomore	Pass 6 credits* 1.8 GPA	Pass 6 credits Pass 18 credits (fall & spring) 1.90 GPA	Declare Major 40% of credits earned towards degree
Junior	Pass 6 Credits* 1.90 GPA	Pass 6 credits Pass 18 credits (fall & spring) 2.0 GPA	60% of credits earned toward declared major
Senior	Pass 6 Credits 2.0 GPA	Pass 6 credits Pass 18 credits (fall & spring) 2.0 GPA	80% of credits earned toward declared major

*Football

A student-athlete must complete at least 9 credit hours during the fall term and earn the Academic Progress Rate eligibility point for the fall term to be eligible to compete in the first 4 contests against outside competition in the following playing season.
Eligibility may be regained for the 3^rd and 4^th contests, provided the student-athletes completes at least 27 semester hours of academic credit before the beginning of the next fall term.
Eligibility may be regained for all 4 contests once during the student-athlete’s 5-yr period of eligibility, provided he completes at least 27 hours before the beginning of the next fall term.

Practice Limits

Any required activity with an athletics purpose involving student-athletes and at the direction of, or supervised by, one or more of an institution’s coaching staff (including strength and conditioning coaches) is subject to the following limits:

In-Season	Out-of-Season (during the Academic Yr.)
No more than 4 hrs. per day & 20 hrs. per week	No more than 8 hours per week (up to 2 hours may be skill instruction [or film review for football])
One Day off per week	Two days off per week
No CARA after competition	The only permissible activities are conditioning, weight training, and, for sports other than football, skill instruction.
Unlimited CARA during institutional vacation periods	No CARA during institutional vacation periods
Unlimited CARA during pre-season prior to the first day of class or first contest (whichever is earlier)	No CARA beginning the week prior to finals through the end of finals.
No CARA activity may occur between 12 a.m. and 5 a.m.	No CARA activity may occur between 12 a.m. and 5 a.m.
Competition always counts as 3 hours	No competition permitted out-of-season

Financial Aid

Athletics aid MAY be reduced, canceled, or not renewed for the following reasons:

Renders himself or herself ineligible for intercollegiate competition;
Fraudulently misrepresents any information on an application, letter of intent or financial aid agreement;
Engages in serious misconduct warranting substantial disciplinary penalty, as determined by the UTM’s regular student disciplinary authority;
Voluntarily withdraws from a sport for personal reasons
Violated a non-athletically related condition outlined in the financial aid agreement or violates a documented institutional rule or policy

Athletics aid MAY NOT be reduced, canceled, or not renewed (SA must receive aid in initial year of enrollment) for the following reasons:

A student-athlete’s athletics ability, performance or contribution to a team’s success (e.g., financial aid contingent upon specified performance or playing a specific position);
An injury, illness, or physical or mental medical condition; or
Any other athletics reason.

A student-athlete whose athletics aid has been canceled, reduced, or not renewed by the Director of Athletics will receive an official notice by the University Financial Aid Office in writing that he/she, upon written request to the Chairman of the Scholarship Committee, has an opportunity for a hearing. The written request for a hearing must be received within fifteen (15) days of the University’s official notice of the reduction, cancellation, or non-renewal.

Complimentary Admissions

Student-athletes may receive 4 complimentary admissions per home or away contest to a student-athlete’s sport, regardless of whether the student-athlete competes in the contest.

All complimentary admission will be provided via pass list. Any changes made to a student-athlete’s complimentary admission must be made with the Compliance Office at least 24 hours prior to the contest.

Important Reminders:

No “hard tickets” will be issued.
ALL INDIVIDUALS RECEIVING COMPLIMENTARY ADMISSIONS MUST PRESENT A PHOTO IDENTIFICATION (e.g., Driver’s license, student ID) AND SIGN FOR THEIR OWN COMPLIMENTARY ADMISSION.
- Younger kids do not need to present identification provided the adult presents proper identification.
Student-athletes and their guests MAY NOT sell or trade the complimentary admission for any item of value. Failure to comply will affect the eligibility of the student-athlete.

Extra Benefits

Student-athletes may not receive any tangible benefit that is not available to the general student body. Receipt of any extra benefit will jeopardize the student-athlete’s athletic eligibility and must be reported to the Compliance Office.

Examples of non-permissible extra benefits include, but not limited to, the following:

Special discounts and credit
Free or reduced cost service
Entertainment services
Cash, loans of moneys, use credit card
Transportation or the use of a vehicle

Employment

NCAA rules permit you to earn income through legitimate employment opportunities. However, the NCAA has established several requirements designed to ensure that your employment is consistent with the principles of amateurism and the prohibition on extra benefits. It is important to understand and comply with these rules to avoid impacting your eligibility.

Compensation may be provided to a student-athlete:

Only for work that is actually performed;
At the going rate in the locality for similar services; and
Not based on the value the student-athlete has for an employer because of the publicity, reputation, fame, or personal following obtained because of their athletics ability

Fee-For-Lesson

A student-athlete may receive compensation for teaching or coaching sport skills or technique in his/her sport on a fee-for-lesson basis, provided:

UTM facilities are not used;
Playing lessons shall not be permitted;
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 or entity;
Instruction to each individual is comparable to the instruction that would be provided during a private lesson when the instruction involves more than one individual at a time; and
The student-athlete does not use his/her name, picture or appearance to promote or advertise the availability of fee-for-lesson sessions.

Student-athletes must register all forms of employment with the Compliance Office.