Georgetown University Athletics

STUDENT-ATHLETES ON NCAA.ORG
The following is a brief summary of the rules and regulations that directly affect you, the student-athlete.  This is not intended to be a comprehensive list of all NCAA rules and regulations – for a copy of the NCAA manual, click here.  Please remember that the Athletics Compliance Office Staff is here to assist you should you have any questions regarding NCAA, Conference or University rules. 

Georgetown University athletics has partnered with ARMS Software. Through ARMS, the compliance office will be able to accurately monitor CARA, eligibility status, medical history and a host of other vital information in a paperless environment.  Additionally, required compliance, equipment, sports medicine and sports information paperwork will be completed through your ARMS portal.  In order to complete paperwork:
 
1) Go to: https://my.armssoftware.com?
2) Your Username: Your Georgetown University Email Address?
3) Your Password: If this is your first login then your password will be your Georgetown ID (GoCard) number. You will then be asked to reset your password. If you did these forms last year then your password was set to whatever you selected after initial login.?
*If you have any issues logging into ARMS Software please contact the Compliance Department.
 
AMATEUR STATUS
Loss of amateur status
An individual loses amateur status and thus shall not be eligible for intercollegiate competition in a particular sport if the individual:

• (a) Uses his or her athletics skill (directly or indirectly) for pay in any form in that sport;
• (b) Accepts a promise of pay even if such pay is to be received following completion of intercollegiate athletics participation;
• (c) Signs a contract or commitment of any kind to play professional athletics, regardless of its legal enforceability or any consideration received;
• (d) Receives, directly or indirectly, a salary, reimbursement of expenses or any other form of financial assistance from a professional sports organization based on athletics skill or participation, except as permitted by NCAA rules and regulations;
• (e) Competes on any professional athletics team per Bylaw 12.02.12, even if no pay or remuneration for expenses was received;
• (f) Subsequent to initial full-time collegiate enrollment, enters into a professional draft (see also Bylaw 12.2.4.2); or
• (g) Enters into an agreement with an agent.

 
Advertisements and Promotions
Subsequent to becoming a student-athlete, an individual shall not be eligible for participation in intercollegiate athletics if the individual:

• (a) Accepts and remuneration for or permits the use of his or her name or picture to advertise, recommend or promote directly the sale or use of a commercial product or service or any kind, or
• (b) Receives remuneration or endorsing a commercial product or service through the individual’s use of such product or service.

Prior to engaging in any promotional activity, please ensure the activity is permissible by securing prior approval from the Athletics Compliance Office.
 
FINANCIAL AID
A student-athlete shall not be eligible to participate in intercollegiate athletics if he or she receives financial aid that exceeds the value of the cost of attendance (NCAA 15.1).  Please notify the compliance office of any outside scholarships, grants, or loans that you may receive – such awards may affect your eligibility.
 
Reduction or Cancellation Permitted
Institutional financial aid based in any degree on athletics ability may be reduced or canceled during the period of the award or reduced or not renewed for the following academic year or years of the student-athlete's five-year period of eligibility if the recipient:

• (a) Renders himself or herself ineligible for intercollegiate competition;
• (b) Fraudulently misrepresents any information on an application, letter of intent or financial aid agreement (see Bylaw 15.3.5.1.2);
• (c) Engages in serious misconduct warranting substantial disciplinary penalty, as determined by the institution's regular student disciplinary authority;
• (d) Voluntarily (on his or her own initiative) withdraws from a sport at any time for personal reasons; however, the recipient's financial aid may not be awarded to another student-athlete in the academic term in which the aid is reduced or canceled;
• (e) Violates a nonathletically related condition outlined in the financial aid agreement or violates a documented institutional rule or policy (e.g., academics policies or standards, athletics department or team rules or policies); or
• (f) Provides written notification of transfer (see Bylaw 13.1.1.3) to the institution; however, the student-athlete’s financial aid may not be reduced or canceled until the end of the regular academic term in which written notification of transfer is received. If a student-athlete provides written notification of transfer to the institution between regular academic terms (winter break, summer break) the institution may reduce or cancel the financial aid immediately.

Reduction or Cancellation Not Permitted
Institutional financial aid based in any degree on athletics ability may not be increased decreased or canceled during the period of its award:

• (a) On the basis of a student-athlete’s athletics ability, performance or contribution to a team’s success;
• (b) Because of an injury, illness, or physical or mental medical condition; or
• (c) For any other athletics reason.

 
Renewals and Non-renewals Institutional Obligation
The renewal of institutional financial aid based in any degree on athletics ability shall be made on or before July 1 prior to the academic year in which it is to be effective.  The institution shall promptly notify in writing each student-athlete who received an award the previous academic year and who has eligibility remaining in the sport in which financial aid was awarded in the previous academic year (under Bylaw 14.2) whether the grant has been renewed or not renewed for the ensuing academic year.  Notification of financial aid renewals and non-renewals must come from the institution’s regular financial aid authority and not from the institution’s athletics department.
 
POLICY FOR ATHLETIC GRANT-IN-AID APPEALS
If a student-athlete’s athletic grant-in-aid is reduced or canceled during the period of the award or is reduced or not renewed for the following academic year, the student-athlete has the opportunity for a hearing to appeal the decision.  Student-athletes will have 10 business days from of the date of the letter notifying them of the reduction or non-renewal decision to request an appeal of that decision. Requests for appeal must be made in writing to the Dean of Student Financial Services.
Upon receipt of the written request for appeal, the Dean of Student Financial Services will promptly convene the Athletic Grant-In-Aid Appeals Committee to hear the appeal.  The Dean of Student Financial Services will notify the student-athlete of the date of the hearing.
The Athletic Grant-In-Aid Appeals Committee will be comprised of the following individuals from the following offices:
  Office of Student Financial Services (2 people – one of which will be the Chairperson)
  Registrar’s Office (1 person)
  Student Affairs (1 person)
  Faculty (1 person)
The student-athlete will be given the opportunity to present the basis for his/her appeal after which the Head Coach (or his/her designee) will present the basis for the reduction/non-renewal decision.  It is preferable that all parties are present in person for the appeals hearing; however, if that is not possible, a party may participate in the hearing via teleconference.  During both presentations, only committee members shall be allowed to address or question the presenters.  In addition to hearing from the student-athlete and the Head Coach (or his/her designee), the committee may interview any other witness or review any other documents or materials it deems relevant.               
Each party will be able to bring one individual to the hearing to serve as a support person.  That individual will be permitted only to observe the hearing; he/she shall not participate in the hearing in any way.
The Sr. Associate Athletic Director for Internal Operations will be present for the hearing but will not be present during deliberations.  The role of the Sr. Associate Athletic Director for Internal Operations is to provide the committee information about applicable NCAA rules and regulations.   The Dean of Student Financial Services may also elect to ask a representative from the Office of University Counsel to be present during the appeal process.
Once both sides have presented their position and the committee has collected and considered any other evidence it deems necessary, the committee will meet in private to make a decision on the appeal.  The committee shall use good faith efforts to make a final decision within 48 hours of the hearing.   The committee shall evaluate whether the reduction/non-renewal decision was reasonable and consistent with the NCAA rules.  If it finds that the decision was either unreasonable and/or inconsistent with NCAA rules, the committee shall grant the student-athlete’s appeal.
The committee shall use good faith efforts to make a final decision within 48 hours of the hearing.  The committee’s decision will be determined by majority vote.  Once a decision is made, the Dean of Student Financial Services will notify both parties in writing of the final decision. Pursuant to NCAA rules, all decisions of the committee are final.
 
Procedures for Transfer Portal and Policies for Transfer Appeals
Transfer Portal Process

• Talk to your coach and/or administrator about your intent to transfer.
• Once notification of transfer is communicated, you must submit, via ARMS, your official notification of transfer to the compliance department. 
• The compliance department will then place your name in the transfer portal within two business days.
• After your name enters the transfer portal, you will receive an email notification, verifying a coach’s ability to contact you.
• If on athletic aid, the institution has the ability to cancel your aid at the end of the term.

One-Time Transfer Exception
The student transfers to the certifying institution from another four-year collegiate institution, and all of the following conditions are met (for graduate students, see Bylaw 14.6.1):

• (a) The student is a participant in a sport other than baseball, basketball, bowl subdivision football or men's ice hockey at the institution to which the student is transferring. A participant in championship subdivision football at the institution to which the student is transferring may use this exception only if the participant transferred to the certifying institution from an institution that sponsors bowl subdivision football and has two or more seasons of competition remaining in football or the participant transfers from a Football Championship Subdivision institution that offers athletically related financial aid in football to a Football Championship Subdivision institution that does not offer athletically related financial aid in football;
• (b) The student has not transferred previously from one four-year institution unless, in the previous transfer, the student-athlete received an exception per Bylaw 14.5.5.2.6 (discontinued/nonsponsored sport exception);
• (c) At the time of transfer to the certifying institution (see Bylaw 14.5.2), the student would have been academically eligible had he or she remained at the institution from which the student transferred, except that he or she is not required to have fulfilled the necessary percentage-of-degree requirements at the previous institution; and
• (d) If the student is transferring from an NCAA or NAIA member institution, the student's previous institution shall certify in writing that it has no objection to the student being granted an exception to the transfer-residence requirement. If an institution receives a written request for a release from a student-athlete, the institution shall grant or deny the request within seven business days. If the institution fails to respond to the student-athlete's written request within seven business days, the release shall be granted by default and the institution shall provide a written release to the student-athlete.

Transfer Appeals Procedures
If the student's previous institution denies his or her written request for the release or enters a denial of the release in the NCAA Transfer Portal, the institution shall inform the student-athlete in writing that he or she, upon written request, shall be provided a hearing conducted by an institutional entity or committee outside the athletics department (e.g., the office of student affairs; office of the dean of students; or a committee composed of the faculty athletics representative, student-athletes and nonathletics faculty/staff members). The institution shall conduct the hearing and provide written results of the hearing to the student-athlete within 15 business days (see Bylaw 14.02.4) of receipt of the student-athlete's written request for a hearing. The student-athlete shall be provided the opportunity to actively participate (e.g., in person, via telephone) in the hearing. If the institution fails to conduct the hearing or provide the written results to the student-athlete within 15 business days, the release shall be granted by default and the institution shall provide a written release to the student-athlete.
 
COMPLIMENTARY ADMSISSIONS
Student-Athlete’s Own Sport
The General Rule allows an institution to provide four (4) complimentary admissions per home or away intercollegiate athletics event to a student-athlete in the sport in which the individual participates (either practices or competes), regardless of whether the student-athlete competes in the contest.
 
In Other Sports
Generally an institution may provide admission for each student-athlete to all of the institution’s regular-season home intercollegiate athletics events in sports other than that in which the student-athlete is a participant, via a printed student-athlete pass or gate list. Proof of identity is required upon admission.
 
Q: Who should I NOT put on my complimentary admission list?
A: Agents or agents runners; Representatives of Athletics Interests (Boosters, Student-Athletes Employers, Professors, Donors, Athletic Committee Members); Prospects/Recruits; Family, friends or requests of Georgetown University coaches; media; public officials; Athletic Department staff members.
 
Q: May I sell my complimentary tickets?
A: No. A student-athlete may not receive payment from any source for his or her complimentary admissions and may not exchange or assign them for any item of value.
 
Q: May a student-athlete purchase extra tickets and sell them for a profit?
A: No. A student-athlete may not purchase tickets for an athletics contest from the institution and then sell the tickets at a price greater than their face value.
 
Q: What happens if I give my complimentary tickets to a third party and that person sells the tickets?
A: This is a violation. Individuals designated by the student-athlete to receive complimentary admissions are not permitted to receive any type of payment for these admissions or to exchange or assign them for any item of value. Sale of complimentary tickets by such designated individuals is prohibited and considered an extra benefit not available to the general student body, which would render the student-athlete ineligible for participation in intercollegiate athletics.
 
EXTRA BENEFITS
An “extra benefit” is any special arrangement to provide you or your relatives or friends with a benefit not authorized by the NCAA rules. The NCAA allows Georgetown to provide student-athletes with scholarships to cover tuition, fees, room, board and books. Georgetown may also provide complimentary admissions to Georgetown athletic events, practice or competition-related apparel, equipment, meals, travel, academic support services and medical treatment. It is a violation of NCAA rules for you to receive any other benefit unless the same benefit is available to all Georgetown University students or members of the general public. This prohibition on receiving extra benefits also applies to parents/guardians and relatives. An extra benefit to a parent or relative is considered an indirect extra benefit to you and will affect your eligibility.
 
Some examples of extra benefits:

• Use of a staff member’s car for your personal use;
• A trip to New York City funded in part by a friend or roommate;
• Use of the fax machine or phones in the athletics department;
• A “discount” at a store because you are a student-athlete;
• Having a “friend” cosign a car loan; and
• Free doctor’s visit without a specific referral from the athletic trainers.

 
Some exceptions to the extra benefit rule:

• An authorized occasional home meal at staff members or booster’s home- Must be pre-approved
• Reasonable local transportation on an occasional basis
• Disabling injury insurance
• Student-Athlete Opportunity Fund
• Transportation in the event of a serious injury, illness or death of a family member

 
OFFICIAL VISITS – STUDENT HOST
YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE when a recruit is deciding whether to attend Georgetown University. The coaches spend many hours getting to know recruits and their families and educating them on the merits of our great institution. The goals of the recruiting visit are to help the prospect and Georgetown determine whether or not Georgetown is the right fit both academically and athletically, and for you and the coaching staff to feel the same way. You can most effectively show prospects all that Georgetown has to offer and help them determine that Georgetown is the right place for their intercollegiate career.
There are some rules you must adhere to in your involvement with recruiting visits that will ensure you are representing Georgetown University as expected. Below is a checklist of the rules and regulations you, as a student-athlete, are expected to follow at all times and especially during the course of recruiting visits to Georgetown.
General:

• First impressions are crucial. Make the prospect and his/her guests feel welcome.
• Read information about the recruit and his/her interests so you are prepared to talk with him/her. Ask questions and find something in common to talk about.
• Carefully review the student-host instructions form that you are required to sign prior to hosting each and every official visit prospect and ask your coach or the Compliance Office in advance if you have any questions to avoid any NCAA violations.
• Carry a cell phone when possible. Call the coaching staff immediately if there are any problems with a prospect.
• Have a plan for entertaining the recruit and review it with your coaches. If there are any changes to the plan, inform the coaches ahead of time.
• Be on time to all scheduled activities.
• Have fun!

 
Transportation:

• Institutions may provide local transportation for a prospect and the prospect’s parents, legal guardians and/or spouse around campus, within a 30-mile radius of campus, and from/to the local airport only in an institutional or personal vehicle with no special accessories.
• A coach, staff member or booster may not provide a student-athlete or prospect with the use of a vehicle for purposes of transporting a prospect during his/her official visit. The host is expected to use his/her own vehicle or a teammate’s for entertaining the prospect.

Meals:

• Institutions may provide only one student-athlete host per prospect with a meal and only if that student-athlete is accompanying the prospect on the meal. Other student-athletes may attend the meal, but must pay the cost of their own meals.
• You should not invite other individuals or Georgetown University students that are not current student-athletes to assist in the recruitment of a prospect (e.g., eat a meal with you and the prospect, hang out with you in the prospect’s hotel room, etc.)

Entertainment:

• NCAA rules permit Georgetown University to provide a host with a maximum of $75 for each day of the official visit to cover the actual costs of entertaining the prospect (and the prospect’s parents, legal guardian or spouse) excluding the cost of meals and admission to campus athletics events. If several students host a prospect, the $75 per dayntertainment money may be utilized to cover the actual and necessary expenses incurred by the prospect and all hosts.
• The student-athlete host must sign a student-host form, via ARMS, prior to receiving host funds and prior to hosting any prospect. The host must also sign off on expenses post-visit as well.
• Cash may not be provided to a prospect.
• These funds may not be used for the purchase of any material items (e.g., souvenirs such as T-shirts or other mementos, etc.)
• The following activities are prohibited during official visits and may not be engaged in or paid for with host funds: gambling, use of escort services, exotic dance clubs, consumption of alcoholic beverages (even by those over 21) or drugs, or any activity contrary to University policy or state and/or federal law.

 
STUDENT-ATHLETE EMPLOYMENT
Criteria Governing Compensation to Student-Athletes
Compensation may be paid to a student-athlete:

• (a) Only for work actually performed; and
• (b) At a rate commensurate with the going rate in that locality for similar services.

 
Athletics Reputation
Such compensation may not include any remuneration for value or utility that the student-athlete may have for the employer because of the publicity, reputation, fame or personal following that he or she has obtained because of athletics ability.
 
Fee-for-Lesson Instruction
A student-athlete may receive compensation for teaching or coaching sport skills or techniques in his or her sport on a fee-for-lesson basis, provided:

• (a) Institutional facilities are not used;
• (b) Playing lessons shall not be permitted;
• (c) The compensation is paid by the lesson recipient (or the recipient's family member) and not another individual or entity;
• (d) Instruction to each individual is comparable to the instruction that would be provided during a private lesson when the instruction involves more than one individual at a time; and
• (e) The student-athlete does not use his or her name, picture or appearance to promote or advertise the availability of fee-for-lesson sessions.

 
Employment at a Camp or Clinic: Student-Athletes
A student-athlete who is employed in any sports camp or clinic must meet the following requirements:

• (a) The student-athlete must perform duties that are of a general supervisory character in addition to any coaching or officiating assignments.
• (b) Compensation provided to the student-athlete shall be commensurate with the going rate for camp or clinic counselors of like teaching ability and camp or clinic experience and may not be paid on the basis of the value that the student-athlete may have for the employer because of the athletics reputation or fame the student-athlete has achieved.  It is not permissible to establish varying levels of compensation for a student-athlete employed in a sports camp or clinic based on the level of the athletics skills of the student-athlete.
• (c) A student-athlete who only lectures or demonstrates at a camp/clinic may not receive compensation for his or her appearance at the camp/clinic.
• Prior to beginning any job, on or off campus, a student-athlete must secure permission from the Athletic Compliance Department through ARMS for official approval.

 
OUTSIDE COMPETITION
Sports Other Than Basketball
A student-athlete in any sport other than basketball who participates during the academic year as a member of any outside team in any non-collegiate, amateur competition becomes ineligible for intercollegiate competition unless eligibility is restored by the Committee on Student-Athlete Reinstatement.  A student-athlete is permitted to practice on such a team.
Exception - A student-athlete may compete outside of the institution’s declared playing and practice season as a member of an outside team in any non-collegiate, amateur competition during any official vacation period published in the institution’s catalog.  The number of student-athletes from any one institution shall not exceed the applicable limits set forth in Bylaw 17.32.2.
Exception – Soccer, Women’s Volleyball, and Field Hockey In soccer, women’s volleyball, and field hockey, a student-athlete may compete outside of the institution’s declared playing and practice season as a member of on outside team in any non-collegiate, amateur competition, provided the following conditions are met:

• (a) Such participation occurs no earlier than May 1;
• (b) In soccer, women’s volleyball and field hockey, the number of student-athletes from any one institution does not exceed the applicable limits
• (c) The competition is approved by the institution’s director of athletics;
• (d) No class time is missed for practice activities or for competition; and
• (e) In women’s volleyball, all practice and competition is confined to doubles tournaments in outdoor volleyball, either on sand or grass.

 
Outside Competition, Basketball
A student-athlete who participates in any organized basketball competition except while representing the institution in intercollegiate competition in accordance with the permissible playing season specified in Bylaw 17.5 becomes ineligible for any further intercollegiate competition in basketball.
 
 
UNETHICAL CONDUCT
Unethical conduct by a prospective or enrolled student-athlete or a current or former institutional staff member, which includes any individual who performs work for the institution or the athletics department even if he or she does not receive compensation for such work, may include, but is not limited to, the following:

• (a) Refusal to furnish information relevant to an investigation of a possible violation of an NCAA regulation when requested to do so by the NCAA or the individual's institution;
• (b) Knowing involvement in offering or providing a prospective or an enrolled student-athlete an improper inducement or extra benefit or improper financial aid;
• (c) Knowingly furnishing or knowingly influencing others to furnish the NCAA or the individual's institution false or misleading information concerning an individual's involvement in or knowledge of matters relevant to a possible violation of an NCAA regulation;
• (d) Receipt of benefits by an institutional staff member for facilitating or arranging a meeting between a student-athlete and an agent, financial advisor or a representative of an agent or advisor (e.g., "runner");
• (e) Knowing involvement in providing a banned substance or impermissible supplement to student-athletes, or knowingly providing medications to student-athletes contrary to medical licensure, commonly accepted standards of care in sports medicine practice, or state and federal law. This provision shall not apply to banned substances for which the student-athlete has received a medical exception per Bylaw 31.2.3.2; however, the substance must be provided in accordance with medical licensure, commonly accepted standards of care and state or federal law;
• (f) Engaging in any athletics competition under an assumed name or with intent to otherwise deceive; or
• (g) Failure to provide complete and accurate information to the NCAA, the NCAA Eligibility Center or the institution's athletics department regarding an individual's amateur status.

 
GAMBLING ACTIVITIES
The NCAA opposes all forms of legal/illegal sports wagering.  Sports wagering has the potential to undermine the integrity of sports contests and jeopardizes the welfare of student-athletes and the intercollegiate athletics community.  Sports wagering demeans the competition and competitors alike by a message that is contrary to the purposes and meaning of ‘sport.”
 
Sports competition should be appreciated for the inherent benefits related to participation of student-athletes, coaches, and institutions in fair contests, not the amount of money wagered on the outcome of the competition.
For these reasons, the NCAA membership has adopted specific rules prohibiting athletics department staff members and student-athletes from engaging in gambling activities as they relate to intercollegiate or professional sporting events.
 
Staff members of a member conference, staff members of the athletics department of a member institution and student-athletes shall not engage in sports wagering or provide information to individuals involved in any type of sports wagering activities.  Sports wagering includes placing, accepting or soliciting a wager (on a staff member’s or student-athlete’s own behalf or on the behalf of others) of any type with any individual or organization on any intercollegiate, amateur or professional team or contest.  Examples of sports wagering include, but are not limited to, the use of a bookmaker or parlay card; Internet sports wagering; auctions in which bids are placed on teams, individuals or contests; and pools or fantasy leagues in which an entry fee is required and there is an opportunity to win a prize.
 
A student-athlete who engages in activities designed to influence the outcome of an intercollegiate contest or in an effort to affect win-loss margins (“point shaving”) or who participates in any sports wagering activity involving the student-athlete’s institution shall permanently lose all remaining regular season and postseason eligibility in all sports.
 
A student-athlete who participates in any sports wagering activity through the Internet, a bookmaker or a parlay card shall be ineligible for all regular season and postseason competition for a minimum of a period of one year from the date of the institution’s determination that a violation occurred and shall be charged with the loss of a minimum of one season of eligibility.  If the student-athlete is determined to have been involved in a later violation of any portion of Bylaw 10.3, the student-athlete shall permanently lose all remaining regular season and postseason eligibility in all sports.
 
HAZING AND INITIATION RITUALS
Consistent with University standards for all campus student organizations, hazing (any ritual/activity that is demeaning, humiliating, and harmful or otherwise weakens or causes a teammate to feel uncomfortable) is specifically prohibited.  Please see the Georgetown University Code of Student Code of Conduct for more information.