Ncaa Tougher On Jc Transfers Borderline Preps Also Affected By Academics Vote

University leaders at the NCAA Convention on Monday toughened academic standards and refused to roll back previous measures in that regard.

Delegates voted to make it harder for junior college students to get into Division I schools, and they rejected a plan that would have allowed more borderline high school students to get into Division I schools.

However, delegates voted against raising juco transfer standards even higher and they decided not to let Division I schools give a student financial aid the summer before his or her full-time enrollment.

Officials avoided another issue by delaying a vote to block juco students from using credits gained through correspondence courses as part of their transfer.

The most hotly contested topics were the rejections of widened requirements for Division I partial qualifiers and the summer school financial aid plan. Each required two votes to be settled.

Proponents of the summer school plan said it would have given students a chance to become acclimated to the campus, the environment and their teams. It initially passed 58-51, then was reconsidered and lost 68-43.

The vote on partial qualifiers was even closer. It initially lost 163-160 with nine abstentions, then fell 163-161 with six abstentions when it was reconsidered.

Partial qualifiers currently are students with a grade-point average of at least 2.525 in college preparatory courses who meet a rising scale of scores on either the SAT or ACT. If they match those numbers, students can receive scholarships and practice as freshman, but they can’t play until the next year.

The motion rejected Monday would have added a bottom layer to that scale by giving students whose GPA falls between 2.0 and a 2.499 a shot to partially qualify by making test scores even higher than other partial qualifiers.

Partial qualifiers were dealt another blow when a measure that would have made them give up practicing their first year in exchange for earning back that fourth year of eligibility was defeated soundly, 220-102.

The new standards for juco students transferring after Aug. 1, 1997 actually lowers the number of transferrable hours, but it now forces those credits to be in the student’s degree program.

Currently, any 48 hours that will be accepted by the Division I school are needed for a transfer. The new rule requires transfers to have at least 35 percent of their hours - roughly 42 - transferrable into their degree program, which is slightly different than their major.

The poor graduation rates of junior college transfers has become an embarrassment.

“It’s horrible. Something has to be done,” said Gene Corrigan, NCAA president.

A proposal that would have boosted that percentage to 40 percent - or 48 hours - failed.

The delegates decided to stay away from the topic of correspondence credits, an issue raised by the recent Baylor scandal, until further studies can be done.

The proposal was sent back to committees in hopes they could sort out which schools offered legitimate credits and which were being abused.

The action on academics was overshadowed by an overwhelming vote to streamline the infrastructure of the NCAA.

Gone is one-member, one-vote philosophy. In its place is a 16-member executive committee to deal with major issues. The new structure will begin in 18 months.