New transfer rule eliminates permission-to-contact process

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Additionally, the proposal adds tampering with a current student-athlete at another school to the list of potential Level 2 violations, considered a significant breach of conduct.

Nicholas Clark, a recent graduate of and former football player at Coastal Carolina who represents the Division I Student-Athlete Advisory Committee on the Council, said the rule change promotes fairness and the well-being of college athletes.

“This creates a safe place for student-athletes to have a conversation with their coaches and makes the whole process more transparent,” Clark said. “This will clean the process up and give more influence and flexibility to the student-athlete.”

The Transfer Working Group first introduced the proposal in fall 2017, aiming to detach a student-athlete’s pursuit of transferring to a different school from the process of receiving a scholarship at the new college or university. The new rule was developed based on a series of principles the Division I Board of Directors developed for the working group, including any rule changes should support the academic success of student-athletes, be based on data and create the least restrictive environment possible for student-athletes.

Another financial aid element, autonomy legislation that governs when a school can reduce or cancel aid, may be adjusted next week by the autonomy conferences. Currently, a student’s notification of intent to transfer at the end of a term is not one of the listed reasons a school can use to cancel aid. The autonomy conferences will consider, by an electronic vote, two different proposals to allow schools to cancel the aid.

The rule change takes effect Oct. 15.

The Transfer Working Group will continue working on other transfer issues, including rules surrounding postgraduate transfers, and still is exploring the possibility of uniform transfer rules.

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when you put academia in charge of athletics, you get free agency in college sports. now, kids will band together and threaten to transfer immediately if whatever they want is not met. smh...

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Conferences, however, still can make rules that are more restrictive than the national rule.

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Change allows for scholarship changes in transfer situations

June 19, 2018 | Michelle Brutlag Hosick

In an expected next step, the Division I autonomy conferences Tuesday voted to allow schools to cancel a student’s scholarship at the end of a term if the student-athlete notifies the school of an impending transfer.

The decision is part of a comprehensive package of transfer reform that began last week with the Division I Council’s adoption of legislation allowing student-athletes to transfer and receive a scholarship without first asking for permission from their current school.

In 2015, the Atlantic Coast, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and Southeastern conferences adopted a rule preventing schools from canceling a student-athlete’s athletics aid except in a specific set of circumstances, including academic ineligibility and disciplinary actions. Tuesday’s action adds notification of transfer to that list.

Schools can cancel the aid of a student-athlete as soon as he or she provides written notification of transfer, but the aid may not be reduced or canceled until the end of the term. Schools can re-award the scholarship at the end of the term, subject to other financial aid rules.

The Transfer Working Group recommended the autonomy conferences adopt the proposal, which also was supported by the Division I Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. SAAC chair Noah Knight, former men’s basketball student-athlete and graduate of the University of Missouri-Kansas City, said his fellow committee members supported the proposal to hold student-athletes accountable.

“In fairness to the transfer student-athlete’s teammates, coaching staff and overall team dynamic, the Division I SAAC felt that a student-athlete should not be able to give notification, search for other opportunities, then return to their institution if dissatisfied with their options with no repercussions,” Knight said.

The sponsoring conference, the Big 12, noted that allowing schools to cancel aid immediately provided a measure of fairness to student-athletes remaining at a school.

The autonomy vote is seen as a companion piece to the transfer legislation adopted by the Division I Council last week, which allows students greater choice of schools to attend when they want to transfer because they now can get a scholarship from a school after transfer without having to receive permission from their current school.

The legislation also strengthens the penalties for coaches who tamper with student-athletes on other Division I rosters and creates a national database so that schools know which student-athletes are interested in transferring.

The 65 schools in the five autonomy conferences and the 15 voting student-athletes participated in a web-based discussion forum Monday, and votes were cast electronically Tuesday.

Additionally, this week, the Collegiate Commissioners Association will consider changing National Letter of Intent rules to allow more freedom for student-athletes who have signed an NLI but are interested in considering new schools after their head coach leaves before they enroll.

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