Compliance Question Of The Week - Indiana University Athletics

Compliance Question Of The Week
For the week of: January 23, 2006

Question 1:

Can an institution send strength and conditioning workouts to prospects (regardless of whether or not they have "signed" with IU)?

Answer:

Although the "pre-enrollment information" subsection of 13.4.1 has been deleted, there is still flexibility to provide this content to PSAs (whether or not they have signed an NLI).

Here are the institution's three options under the new recruiting material legislation:

General correspondence: The informational content could be included within the body of general correspondence. Obviously, the PSA must be a junior or senior (i.e., "old enough" to receive general correspondence).

Attachments to general correspondence: Information such as training programs and workout information may be provided as attachments to general correspondence as long as those attachments are not "created for recruiting purposes" - i.e., as long as the attachment is not created for the purpose of soliciting the enrollment of PSAs. For example, a copy of a team's annual workout program is a permissible attachment to general correspondence because the attachment was created for the purpose of disseminating information about the workout program to team members (i.e., not a recruiting purpose). The key question is whether the attachment was created for a recruiting purpose or for some other purpose - if the attachment was created for a purpose other than recruiting PSAs, then it is permissible per 13.4.1.1-(a). Note that 13.4.1.1-(a) does not require that a coach prepare attachments to general correspondence in football - it only requires that a coach prepare the general correspondence itself. As with (1), obviously, the PSA must be "old enough" to receive general correspondence.

Website: The institution could make workout-related content available on its website, even if that content was created for a recruiting purpose.

However, note that options (2) and (3) are mutually exclusive per the 8/25/05 hot topic - i.e., the institution can do one or the other, but not both...

If the institution chooses option #3 and a PSA can't afford to access the internet, then the best option is to include the information (i.e., not the attachment, but the informational content) within the body of otherwise-permissible general correspondence per option #1.

Question 2:

Proposal 2005-75, adopted by the Board in early January, eliminates the one phone call to a junior in March, as well as the one contact with a junior (at the HS) in April. Is this effective for March/April 2006?

Answer:

Yes, this proposal has an immediately effective date, so no phone calls to juniors until July 1 after the completion of the junior year (FB gets one call in May and then none until September 1; MBB and WBB get one call on or after June 21 and three during the month of July, with no more than one call per week) and no contact until July 1 following the completion of the junior year (subject to recruiting calendar restrictions).