The NCAA Division 1 Board of Directors has rejected a proposal that would have lowered the number of total scholarships available to student-athletes.
The proposal, which the board rejected at this past weekend’s NCAA Convention , would have reduced the number of scholarships available to football programs at the Football Bowl Subdivision, or FBS, level from 85 to 80 and lowered the number of women’s basketball scholarships from 15 to 13.
“I think we’re at a very good number (of total scholarships),” said MSU Athletic Director Mark Hollis. “We came to that number many years ago after a lot of analysis and evaluation.”
The board also decided to delay implementing a $2,000 expense allowance for some student-athletes to help pay for costs not included in their scholarships. The proposal will now undergo further review from the appropriate NCAA committees and will be discussed again at the board’s meeting in April. A full athletic scholarship includes the costs of tuition, room and board and a
book stipend.
Each conference will be able to decide whether or not to allow the $2,000 stipend, and the Big Ten Conference is supportive of it overall, Hollis said. Still, revision of the finances of the proposal is needed, Hollis said , which is the reason for the delayed implementation.
“If there’s an increase in the (athletic) department budget for $800,000 for the stipend, there is going to be a reduction in some other area,” Hollis said. “That’s the part everyone is going through — what are you pulling back on?”
Hollis said the details of which athletes would receive the stipend have yet to be worked out, as not all athletes receive full scholarships.
Studio art junior Mary Cox said the opportunity to play collegiate sports should be enough to satisfy athletes.
“I think they’re already getting the publicity, and they’re pretty much covered and taken care of,” Cox said. “They can use the money that they’re saving because of the sport to pay for those living expenses and everything else they need.”
The board also shelved a proposal that would limit the number of noncoaching staff personnel in football programs to 12 and men’s basketball programs to six . That proposal also was sent back to committee for revision.
Hollis said the reason for wanting to limit noncoaching staff personnel is because of the increasing specialization in collegiate athletics. Some athletic programs stock up on noncoaching staff personnel — such as nutritionists, strength coaches and video coordinators — to help gain a competitive advantage.
Holly Baumgartner, director of compliance in MSU’s athletic department, said there seems to be a national push toward limiting people who work directly with NCAA programs.
“For individuals outside the coaching staff … we try to monitor who has access to our teams,”
Baumgartner said.
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