College of the Sequoias Academic Senate Resolution

College of the Sequoias Academic Senate Resolution

Fall 2010: December 8, 2010

10/11-3 Resolution in Support of Priority Registration for Athletes

Whereas student athletes must meet specific academic requirements to participate in athletics,

Whereas all COS student athletes are required to take 12 or more units each semester,

Whereas the practice times and work schedules of student-athletes require them to take classes during peak times of the day (2:00-6:00pm),

Whereas the 360 and 200 level courses do not apply to the A.A. degree or do not transfer to the four year schools,

Whereas the NCAA has instituted the 40-60-80% rule requiring, at minimum, the student with 4 full-time semesters to have completed 40% of their B.A. degree,

Whereas the NCAA rule of 40-60-80% makes it impossible to transfer enough units to be eligible for a scholarship at Division I, II, III and NAIA if the student-athlete stays in school for six semesters,

Whereas the great majority of colleges and universities do not accept more than four units of Physical Education,

Whereas the NCAA wants the student-athlete to transfer two English class and one Mathematics class,

Whereas the sum total of units a student playing athletics must take might be as high as 77 units including the nontransferable basic skills courses,

Whereas the Athletic Department has already started developing a complete academic program with the initiation of the grant-driven Student Athletic Retention Program with positive results in the area of retention and transfer of student-athletes,

Whereas the majority of local community colleges already have priority registration,

Whereas the lack of priority registration and a complete academic program for athletes is being used as a negative recruiting tool in Tulare County and hurting the overall reputation of COS,

Whereas the California Community College Athletic Association accessed that the academic retention and degree and/or transfer for student athletes does not present itself to be a priority at COS in a 2007 review of our academic program for athletics,

Be it resolved that the COS Academic Senate requests Priority Registration for students in the Athletic Program, allowing student-athletes to meet the academic standards required of California Community Colleges and meet the more stringent standards for transfer Community College student-athletes developed and implemented by the NCAA and NAIA colleges.