Indiana University Athletics
Compliance Question Of The Week
Compliance Question Of The Week
Question:
How can I use social networking to help me recruit?
Answer:
Essentially, you can't!! At least for communication to or about recruits. Not till they've signed. Neither coaches, staff nor our student-athletes - NOR IU's students and staff in general - can use social networking tools to recruit - and in many cases, to even DISCUSS recruiting. Use your social networks to promote your program, share news and results, and tell people when you're cooking dinner, but NOT for recruiting.
Permissible recruiters (coaches mainly) can only e-mail or fax unsigned prospects, (when PSAs are old enough) and can REPLY publicly to the direct question: "Are you recruiting Bill Shankly?" with "Yes we are" and nothing more!
NOBODY (period) can openly Facebook prospects, or Tweet at them or about them. Not even hints, cryptic messages, or private jokes. I will repeat the mantra from the Big Ten and NCAA on the potential violations of the rules regarding publicity of recruiting: "The threshold is very low". This means you'll get looked at for what might seem to be the most general mentions of things that you consider innocuous regarding recruiting. Be careful. Be very careful. Tweeting about recruiting is a dangerous road. Repeat and share.
When we say "social networking", we mean it all - not just FaceBook and Twitter - anything that's an open blog or website or means of public communication.
And when we say "nobody" should be doing it, that means our players, our staff, our interns, our part-time employees, our managers, and even our students and fans!! We do what we can to educate everyone about this, but it's a continuous and ongoing battle. Please help us fight it.
While we cannot control the endlessly inane "chatter" that occurs on blog and recruiting sites, anyone who claims "insider knowledge" or who can be linked to the IU athletic department -or IU in general - can cause us to have to take action, try to stop the publicity, and file self-reports. So do your bit to help us with this. Tell people to relax, to be circumspect and that our teams and coaches could be the ultimate "fall guys" for publicizing our recruits before they have signed the NLI. And please inform/remind your employees that they should not share recruiting (or other confidential) information with the general public, or anyone for that matter.
Remember that your compliance office(rs) are here to help and we will provide rules ed, or come meet with whomsoever, on whatsoever, whensoever!!
Question:
How can I use social networking to help me recruit?
Answer:
Essentially, you can't!! At least for communication to or about recruits. Not till they've signed. Neither coaches, staff nor our student-athletes - NOR IU's students and staff in general - can use social networking tools to recruit - and in many cases, to even DISCUSS recruiting. Use your social networks to promote your program, share news and results, and tell people when you're cooking dinner, but NOT for recruiting.
Permissible recruiters (coaches mainly) can only e-mail or fax unsigned prospects, (when PSAs are old enough) and can REPLY publicly to the direct question: "Are you recruiting Bill Shankly?" with "Yes we are" and nothing more!
NOBODY (period) can openly Facebook prospects, or Tweet at them or about them. Not even hints, cryptic messages, or private jokes. I will repeat the mantra from the Big Ten and NCAA on the potential violations of the rules regarding publicity of recruiting: "The threshold is very low". This means you'll get looked at for what might seem to be the most general mentions of things that you consider innocuous regarding recruiting. Be careful. Be very careful. Tweeting about recruiting is a dangerous road. Repeat and share.
When we say "social networking", we mean it all - not just FaceBook and Twitter - anything that's an open blog or website or means of public communication.
And when we say "nobody" should be doing it, that means our players, our staff, our interns, our part-time employees, our managers, and even our students and fans!! We do what we can to educate everyone about this, but it's a continuous and ongoing battle. Please help us fight it.
While we cannot control the endlessly inane "chatter" that occurs on blog and recruiting sites, anyone who claims "insider knowledge" or who can be linked to the IU athletic department -or IU in general - can cause us to have to take action, try to stop the publicity, and file self-reports. So do your bit to help us with this. Tell people to relax, to be circumspect and that our teams and coaches could be the ultimate "fall guys" for publicizing our recruits before they have signed the NLI. And please inform/remind your employees that they should not share recruiting (or other confidential) information with the general public, or anyone for that matter.
Remember that your compliance office(rs) are here to help and we will provide rules ed, or come meet with whomsoever, on whatsoever, whensoever!!