As your children are embarking on their search for a university to attend, you will certainly seek the answers to numerous questions.  Simply finding a school that fits the academic needs of your child can be a daunting task.  Adding athletics participation into the mix only complicates the process.  Therefore, the Compliance Office at Cleveland State University will attempt to serve you as best we can along the way. 

The following information does not contain the answer to every question you may have, but hopefully, it is a sufficient starting point.  If you seek more answers, you may contact our office using the contact information below.  Furthermore, you can navigate to our links page by clicking on “Links” (at the top of this page) to seek out more sources of information.

2023-24 NCAA Guide For The College-Bound Student-Athlete

Contact Information: 

Erik Mathis
Senior Associate Athletics Director, Compliance
(216) 903-5609
(216) 687-4845 (Fax)
e.s.mathis@csuohio.edu

Eligibility
Eligibility Center
Freshman Eligibility Standards - Quick Reference Sheet
SAT Testing Information
ACT Testing Information

Amateurism
While your child is going through the process of choosing a university, the Eligibility Center requires candid responses about all amateur teams that he or she has participated for over the years.  Help your child collect information such as names and contact information for summer team coaches, years of participation, etc. before visiting the Eligibility Center at the link provided above.  The NCAA’s process of certifying your child as an amateur athlete will be quicker if your responses are thorough.  It is essential for your child to avoid acceptance of any pay or remuneration for athletics participation prior to enrollment in an NCAA-member school.

Bylaw 12.1.2 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 Bylaw12.02.4, even if no pay or remuneration for expenses was received;
(f)   After initial full-time collegiate enrollment, enters into a professional draft; or
(g)   Enters into an agreement with an agent.

Athletic Aid Renewals/Non-renewals
Athletically-related financial aid awards last for one year at a time.  At the end of each year, athletic aid may be increased, reduced, canceled, or it may stay the same.  It may only be reduced or canceled if certain criteria are met, though.

Bylaw 15.3.4 – Reduction, Cancellation, or Nonrenewal of Institutional Financial Aid

15.3.5.4 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-athletes 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;
c)     Engages in serious misconduct warranting substantial disciplinary penalty; or
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 was reduced or canceled.  A student-athletes request for written permission to contact another four-year collegiate institution regarding a possible transfer does not constitute a voluntary withdrawal; or
e)     Violates a non athletically 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). 

15.3.5.1.1 Timing of Reduction or Cancellation. Any reduction or cancellation of aid during the period of the award may occur only after the student-athlete has been provided an opportunity for a hearing per Bylaw 15.3.2.3.

15.3.2.3 Hearing Opportunity. The institution's regular financial aid authority shall notify the student-athlete in writing of the opportunity for a hearing when institutional financial aid based in any degree on athletics ability is to be reduced or canceled during the period of the award, or is reduced or not renewed for the following academic year. The institution shall have established reasonable procedures for promptly hearing such a request and shall not delegate the responsibility for conducting the hearing to the university's athletics department or its faculty athletics committee. The written notification of the opportunity for a hearing shall include a copy of the institution's established policies and procedures for conducting the required hearing, including the deadline by which a student-athlete must request such a hearing.

Bylaw 15.3.7 – Renewals and Nonrenewals

15.3.7.1 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 the previous academic year (under Bylaw 12.8) whether the grant has been renewed or not renewed for the ensuing academic year. Notification of financial aid renewals and nonrenewals must come from the institution's regular financial aid authority and not from the institution's athletics department.

Boosters
Once your child becomes a student-athlete at Cleveland State University, you become a representative of CSU’s athletics interests.  Therefore, the NCAA’s legislation on “boosters” applies to you.  Please review the following information about boosters and do not hesitate to contact the Compliance Office if you have further questions.  Also, check out the “Vikings Fans, Alumni, and Boosters” page via the link at the top of this page.

Bylaw 13.02.15 - Representative of Athletics Interests.  A “representative of the institution’s athletics interests” is an individual, independent agency, corporate entity (e.g., apparel or equipment manufacturer), or other organization that is known (or who should have been known) by a member of the institution’s executive or athletics administration to: (Revised 2/16/00)

a)     Have participated in or been a member of an agency or organization promoting the institution’s athletics programs (i.e. the Viking Club)
b)    Have ever made financial contributions to the athletics department or to a booster organization of that institution
c)     Be assisting or to have been requested (by the athletics department staff) to assist in the recruitment of prospective student-athletes
d)    Be assisting or to have assisted in providing benefits to enrolled student-athletes or their families
e)     Have been involved otherwise in promoting the institution’s athletics program

Furthermore, you will be considered a representative of CSU’s athletics interests if any of the following criteria apply to you:

•  You were once a member of a varsity team at CSU
•  You helped to arrange employment for prospective or current student-athlete
•  You are the parent(s) or legal guardians of an enrolled or former student-athlete

Under Bylaw 13.02.15.1, once an individual has been identified as a "representative of an institution’s athletics interests," the individual retains the title for life.

Agents and Financial Advisors

If your child has the opportunity to continue his or her athletics career professionally, our coaches and compliance staff will help secure an agent.  Please encourage your child to confer with his or her coach and the Compliance Office before the process of seeking representation by an agent or advisor.  A few NCAA bylaws regarding agents are detailed below.  Your child will lose all remaining intercollegiate eligibility if he or she agrees to representation by an agent before playing four seasons of a sport.  Check out our “Agents & Advisors” page by clicking here.

Bylaw 12.3 – Use of Agents

12.3.1 – General Rule.  An individual shall be ineligible for participation in an intercollegiate sport if he or she ever has agreed (orally or in writing) to be represented by an agent for the purpose of marketing his or her athletic ability or reputation in that sport.  Further, an agency contract not specifically limited in writing to a sport or particular sports shall be deemed applicable to all sports, and the individual shall be ineligible to participate in any sport.

12.3.1.2 – Representation for Future Negotiations.  An individual shall be ineligible per Bylaw 12.3.1 if he or she enters into a verbal or written agreement with an agent for representation in future professional sports negotiations that are to take place after the individual has completed his or her eligibility in that sport.

12.3.1.3 – Benefits from Prospective Agents.  An individual shall be ineligible per Bylaw 12.3.1 if he or she (or his or her relatives or friends) accepts transportation or other benefits from:

a)     Any person who represents any individual in the marketing of his or her athletic ability.  The receipt of such expenses constitutes compensation based on athletics skill and is an extra benefit not available to the student body in general; or
b)    An agent, even if the agent has indicated that he or she has no interest in representing the student-athlete in the marketing of his or her athletics ability or reputation and does not represent individuals in the student-athlete sport.

12.3.2 – Legal Counsel.  Securing advice from a lawyer concerning a proposed professional sports contract shall not be considered contracting for representation by an agent under this rule unless the lawyer also represents the individual in negotiations for such a contract.

12.3.2.1 – Presence of a Lawyer at Negotiations. A lawyer may not be present during discussions of a contract offer with a professional organization or have any direct contact (in person, by telephone, or by mail) with a professional sports organization on behalf of the individual. A lawyer’s presence during such discussions is considered a representation by an agent.