Regents Policy 3501: Policy on Student Athletes

Approved May 12, 2016

1. Athletic directors at Division I and Division II campuses shall report directly to the Chancellor of their campus.
2. Because of the time required for travel and practice schedules, student-athletes shall receive priority registration through the established institutional priority registration process at each campus.
3. For those campuses that provide athletic scholarships, if a student sustains an incapacitating injury while participating in intercollegiate athletic activities and is medically unable to continue his/her athletic commitments, the campus shall not revoke financial aid or scholarships, and shall provide the student-athlete with an equivalent grant or scholarship to finish his/her degree.

Guiding principles:

1. Student-athlete academic performance should be considered a central element of annual performance evaluations for athletic directors and all athletic coaches.
2. During the recruitment and admissions process, Athletic Departments should work to identify those student-athletes who may need additional support to succeed academically at the University of California, and collaborate with other campus departments and available resources to mitigate obstacles to success.
3. Athletic Departments should help facilitate regular collaboration and communication between admissions personnel and athletic coaches in order to help identify student-athletes who are able to succeed at UC. Consistent with the faculty’s governance over admissions policies, athletic coaches should continue to have no decision-making authority in the admissions of student-athletes.
4. For those students on athletic scholarships at Division I and II campuses, each campus should make publicly available the athletic scholarship appeals process to ensure student-athletes and their families are aware of their rights regarding athletic scholarship renewal.
5. As with the recruitment and admissions process, Athletic Departments should work to identify and support student-athletes once they have matriculated. Each Athletic Department should ensure that student-athletes have access to academic counselors who are integrated into university-wide academic and advising programs, and have been trained specifically to work with student-athletes.
6. Each Athletic Department should require those student-athletes who are identified as at-risk academically to meet with their academic counselors regularly and should encourage all student-athletes to meet with their academic counselors.
7. Athletic Departments should work in conjunction with campus career counselors to provide a comprehensive approach to addressing career education and preparation as they pertain to the unique needs of student-athletes.
8. To continue providing a balanced academic and athletic environment for student-athletes, Athletic Departments should remain diligent in complying with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) rule limiting practice for student-athletes to the NCAA maximum (currently 20 hours) per week.
9. Athletic Departments should offer a freshman/transfer orientation for student-athletes that communicates the academic and behavioral expectations of student-athletes as campus leaders and often highly visible members of the campus community. Additionally, this orientation should inform student-athletes of all available academic and career resources.
10. Athletic Departments should either provide, or partner with other campus departments to provide, training and counseling services to address systemwide student issues such as sexual assault, campus climate, and mental health.