An additional stipend for student-athletes has garnered the vast majority of headlines stemming from the NCAA’s move toward reform, but it was another recommendation that wasn’t adopted that likely caught the attention of most football programs around the country.
The Division I Board of Directors Saturday declined to adopt a measure that would have cut the number of scholarships available in football and women’s basketball. The proposal would’ve cut the number of scholarship players in football at any one time from 85 down to 80.
The university presidents who make up the board, however, referred the issue, a release from The Association stated, “to the Collegiate Model: Rules Working Group for further review as part of their wholesale examination of Bylaw 15.” That bylaw encompasses the issue of financial aid for student-athletes in all sports.
The overriding factor in the move to eliminate scholarships was the proposal to offer up to $2,000 in an additional stipend to football players as well as student-athletes in other qualifying sports. The legislation was approved in late October, but then suspended in December because of an override signed by more than 125 Div. 1 institutions.
During Saturday’s board meeting, however, the presidents reaffirmed its support for what the NCAA refers to as “a $2,000 miscellaneous expense allowance”. The new legislation would be effective for the 2013-14 academic year, pending “the Student-Athlete Well-Being working group [coming] back to the presidents in April with recommendations for implementation.” At that April meeting, the release states, “the Board will consider new legislation reinstating the miscellaneous expense allowance that takes into account the membership’s concerns and those of the student-athletes.”
While there are many institutions that likely remain opposed to the added expense the stipend would bring to their athletic department’s bottom line, it appears the NCAA and its board is prepared to move forward with the legislation.
“I was very moved by the student-athletes… They said consistently that we have this momentum going, and this action will allow us to keep that momentum,” said David Hopkins, president of Wright State, said in regard to the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee that was a part of the process. “We need to move forward.”
Additionally, the multi-year scholarship proposal remains on-track for implementation. Unlike the stipend, the proposal that would allow schools to offer more than the current one-year renewable scholarships was not suspended back in December. The board reaffirmed its support for multi-year scholarships today, meaning the legislation will now go to a vote of the entire Division I membership, which will be conducted online sometime in February.