Rutgers University Athletics

Prior to competing on any outside team, or unattached, you must inform your coaches and the office of athletic compliance to determine permissibility, and you will have to complete an outside competition form.  Please reach out to your coach & compliance liaison for the form.

Student-athletes competing unattached may not receive meals, transportation, hotel accommodations or other competition-related expenses from Rutgers during the academic year. Further, they may not compete in their Rutgers uniforms or score points for Rutgers.
 

Gambling & Ethical Conduct

NCAA rules prohibit all student-athletes, coaches, and staff from wagering on any sport, at any level, that is sponsored by the NCAA. 

Prohibited activities include, but are not limited to:

• Accepting or placing a bet for anything of value (e.g., food, clothes, money) on competition such as the Superbowl, the Olympics, Rutgers contests, NCAA tournaments, little league baseball games, etc.
• Knowingly providing inside information (e.g. injuries, ineligibility) to others wagering on athletics.
• Participating in pools or fantasy leagues in which there is an entry fee and an opportunity to win prize/money.

It remains permissible to accept and place bets on non-NCAA-sponsored activities, such as boxing and horse racing.  Please check with the Office of Athletic Compliance should you have any questions regarding what is permissible to wager upon.  As always, please remember "Don't bet on it!"

Academic integrity is paramount to the academic and ethical development of all students. Rutgers is committed to ensuring all students' work is fairly evaluated, and no student has an inappropriate advantage over others. Individuals found to have engaged in academic misconduct will subject to both NCAA and Rutgers penalties.

NCAA Bylaw 14.02.1 Academic Misconduct -- Post-Enrollment. All institutional staff members and student-athletes are expected to act with honesty and integrity in all academic matters. Post-enrollment academic misconduct includes any violation or breach of an institutional policy regarding academic honesty or integrity (e.g., academic offense, academic honor code violation, plagiarism, academic fraud).

NCAA Bylaw 14.02.10 Impermissible Academic Assistance -- Institutional Staff Member or Representative of Athletics Interests. Impermissible academic assistance by a current or former institutional staff member or a representative of an institution's athletics interests includes, but is not limited to, the provision or arrangement of:

• Substantial assistance that is not generally available to an institution's students and is not otherwise expressly authorized in Bylaw 16.3, which results in the certification of a student-athlete's eligibility to participate in intercollegiate athletics, receive financial aid, or earn an Academic Progress Rate point; or
• An academic exception that results in a grade change, academic credit or fulfillment of a graduation requirement when such an exception is not generally available to the institution's students and the exception results in the certification of a student-athlete's eligibility to part

For Rutgers-specific regulations, please read the Rutgers University Academic Integrity Policy (PDF) and Code of Student Conduct.

General Restriction

NCAA legislation limits the amount of financial aid a student-athlete may receive. "Financial aid" refers to funds provided to student-athletes from various sources to pay or assist in paying their cost of education at their collegiate institution, including athletic scholarships, federal grants, state grants, loans, and outside financial awards (e.g. Lions Club, Rotary Club, BOEP).

Eligibility for Athletics Scholarships
In order to qualify for an athletics scholarship, a student-athlete must meet all applicable NCAA, Big Ten, and institutional regulations for receiving  athletic  aid (e.g., be a qualifier or a partial qualifier as a freshman student-athlete).  Once enrolled at Rutgers, a student-athlete must be enrolled full-time (other than their last semester before graduation) and have athletics eligibility remaining in order to receive institutional athletics aid. All incoming freshmen and two-year college transfers will not be eligible for athletic aid until they have been certified as eligible to receive aid by the Rutgers University Office of the Registrar.

Cost of Attendance

A student-athlete is not permitted to receive financial aid that exceeds their cost of attending Rutgers during each academic year. Cost of attendance amounts consist of tuition, required fees, room, board, books, and other miscellaneous expenses associated with attending Rutgers University (e.g. travel expenses throughout the academic year). Cost of attendance amounts are student-specific and are calculated and left to the discretion of the Rutgers University Office of Financial Aid. 

Aid Reductions/Nonrenewals

The Rutgers University Department of Intercollegiate Athletics reserves the right to reduce or not renew a student-athlete’s athletic scholarship should he/she give reason to per NCAA legislation. Examples of reasons a student-athlete’s aid may be reduced or not renewed include, but are not limited to: 

• Renders himself or herself ineligible for intercollegiate competition;
• Engages in serious misconduct warranting substantial disciplinary penalty.
• Voluntarily (on his or her own initiative) withdraws from a sport or University at any time for personal reasons.
• Provides written notification of transfer to the institution; 

If a student-athlete's scholarship is being reduced/not renewed during the previously agreed upon period of scholarship and he/she has athletic eligibility remaining, he/she will be notified by Rutgers’ Office of Financial Aid by July 1st before the first academic year in which the aid will not be reduced/not renewed. In the event his/her athletics scholarship is not reduced/not renewed, he/she will be provided a hearing opportunity to challenge the reduction/nonrenewal. 

Outside Scholarships
A student-athlete may receive scholarships or grants from individuals and agencies outside of Rutgers. All outside awards must be declared with Rutgers University’s Department of Intercollegiate Athletics, Office of Financial Aid, and Office of Student Accounting to determine whether the student-athlete exceeds his/her cost of attendance limit on financial aid. - Should a student-athlete not report an outside award that is later found to be related to athletic ability, it can jeopardize both the student-athlete’s eligibility as well as cause a violation for their athletic team’s financial aid limits.

Athletics Scholarship for Summer School
Summer school athletic aid is available based on available funds, Academic Support Services for Student Athletes and coach recommendations, and NCAA legislation. Student-athletes with questions regarding their summer school athletic aid should contact their head coach or the Office of Athletic Compliance. 

Student-Athlete Employment

Please note the following conditions to ensure that you are being employed in a permissible manner:

• You must be compensated only for work you actually perform.
• You must be compensated at the same pay rate as others employed for similar services
• You may not be paid because of your athletics reputation or personal following you have achieved as an athlete.
• It is permissible for student-athletes to work both Rutgers and non-Rutgers athletic camps/clinics. I
• t is also permissible for student-athletes to teach private lessons ("fee-for-lessons").

Student-athletes are recommended to contact the Office of Athletic Compliance to obtain the compliance paperwork before engaging in private lessons or employment activities.

Extra Benefits

An extra-benefit, generally, is something that is given to a student-athlete that is not available to the general public.  Extra benefits can effect the eligibility of a student-athlete to be a member of an intercollegiate athletics program.

Impermissible (Extra) Benefits include, but are not limited to:

• Money, gifts, clothing, tickets for entertainment, haircut, and use of a car
• Free or reduced-cost room or board anywhere
• Free or reduced-cost merchandise or services
• Typing or editing reports, papers, letters, etc. for a student-athlete
• A loan of money or the co-signing a note to arrange a loan
• The sale or trade of complimentary admissions for merchandise, services or debt repayment
• The sale or trade of ANY items a student-athlete has received for his or her participation in athletics (e.g., gear, clothing, awards)

Prior to accepting anything of value, as a student-athlete it is your responsibility to check the permissibility with the office of athletic compliance.

CARA

Countable Athletically Related Activities (CARA) are any required activities with an athletics purpose that involves student-athletes and occurs at the direction of, or is supervised by, one or more Rutgers coaching staff, including strength and conditioning coaches.

Types of CARA

• Practice
• Competition
• Required weight training and conditioning
• Out-of-season individual skill-related instruction with coaching staff
• Review/discussion of game film
• Athletics meetings initiated or required by a coach
• Required participation in camps/clinics

Student-athletes' participation in CARA is subject to the following in-season and out-of-season limitations:

*There are additional exceptions for each sport in regards to what required activities may occur in each weekly limitation, so please speak with your compliance liaison should you have any questions.

Required Athletically Related Activities (RARA) are any required activities that occur at the direction of Rutgers athletic staff, but do not involve physical activities or coaching.  RARA cannot occur during a day off (with exceptions), however Voluntary Athletically Related Activities may occur at any time.

Types of RARA

• Compliance meetings
• Drug/alcohol education meetings or Life-Skills meetings
• Community service, promotional activities, or media activities
• Recruiting host duties

Voluntary Activities: In order to be "voluntary," all of the following conditions must be met:

• Student-athletes are not required to report back to a coach any information related to the activity; staff members observing activities may not report back to a coach any information related to the activity;
• Activity must be initiated and requested solely by the student-athlete;
• Attendance and participation in the activity (or lack thereof) may not be recorded for the purpose of reporting to coaching staff or other student-athletes; and
• Student-athletes may not be subjected to penalties should they not participate, and no recognition or incentive may be awarded based on attendance or performance.

The following are additional terms that you will need to know as a student-athlete.

Competition Day: All competition and any associated athletically related activities on the day of competition shall count as three (3) hours regardless of the actual duration of these activities. CARA may not be conducted at any time (including during vacation periods) following competition, except between contests, rounds or events (e.g., double-headers in baseball).

Definition of a Week: Any seven (7) consecutive days as declared by the coaching staff. Once the "week" is defined, it shall not change for the duration of the season.

Final Exam Periods: When in-season, CARA limitations still apply during reading days and final-examination periods. When out-of-season, all athletically related activities are prohibited one (1) week prior to the beginning of final exams through the conclusion of each student-athletes' exam.

In-Season: The time between the team's first officially recognized practice session and the last practice session or competition. Seasons can be separated into two (2) distinct segments: championship and non-championship.

Out-of-Season: The remaining days during the academic year not included in the in-season period. In sports other than football, participation in up to two (2) hours of required skill instruction is permissible. In football, skill-instruction activities are limited to review of game film. Conditioning drills simulating offensive/defensive alignments are impermissible.

Safety Exception: A coach may be present during voluntary (i.e. noncountable) activities in a practice facility when students are using equipment in the sports of gymnastics, rowing, swimming/diving, track (field events only), and wrestling. Additionally, a strength coach may be present during voluntary weight training for safety monitoring purposes only.

Vacation Periods: CARA limitations do not apply during official institutional break periods when the student-athlete is in-season and classes are not in session (i.e., fall, winter, and/or spring break). This includes CARA limitations during preseason practice prior to the first day of classes. Student-athletes may not participate in any CARA during official institutional break periods when they are out-of-season.

For the Sport in which Student-Athlete Participates:

Student-athletes may receive a maximum of four (4) complimentary admissions per home or away contest for the sport in which they participate (if the athletics department charges admission).

Student-athletes may receive six (6) complimentary admissions for postseason contests at the site they (or their team) compete. Student-athlete guests must be admitted to the event via a pass list and are required to show identification in order to receive admission. No hard tickets may be issued.

The sale or exchange of a student-athlete's complimentary admissions for any item of value is a violation of NCAA legislation and may place the student-athlete's eligibility in jeopardy.

The Student Assistance Fund (SAF) was created by the NCAA to provide direct benefits to student-athletes with special financial needs. It is the policy of the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, that the fund is utilized to enhance the welfare of student-athletes, make the student-athlete experience more enjoyable, assist student-athletes in times of emergency or great need, and to help contribute to the academic success of a student-athlete.

It is the responsibility of the Student Assistance Fund Committee to oversee, administer, and distribute funds fairly and equitably. Additionally, the SAF committee will take all reasonable steps to publicize the existence of the SAF to all Rutgers student-athletes such that as many eligible student-athletes as possible can utilize the fund. While it is at the committee's discretion to decide who is eligible to receive SAF monies as well as the circumstances that warrant the approval of SAF funding, demonstrated financial need through qualifying for the Pell Grant will be a significant consideration. Student-athletes who do not qualify to receive a Pell Grant are not barred from applying for funds.

Examples of permissible uses of SAF funds include, but are not limited to:

• Health insurance premiums;
• Medical procedures and surgeries (both general and emergency in nature);
• Family travel, housing, and food expenses associated with medical procedures, surgeries, or other emergencies;
• Dental treatment;
• Vision treatment;
• Costs related to child care;
• Summer school;
• Recommended academic/educational expenses;
• Professional program testing;
• Graduate school exam fees;
• Educational testing;
• Emergency travel expenses;
• Post-eligibility athletic aid; and
• International student fees/taxes.

Application for SAF funds
All requests for SAF funds must be formally submitted by completing and submitting the 'NCAA Student-Assistance Fund Application' (along with any supporting documentation) to a member of the SAF committee. If the request does not fit into the automatic approval policy below it will then be circulated via email to the rest of the committee to vote on for approval or denial.

Whether in the real world or the cyber world, you, as a student-athlete, represent not only yourself, but also your team, the athletics department and Rutgers University. You are expected to do so with the highest standards of honesty, integrity and class.

• Website and personal pages are recommended to be kept private; but understand that anything posted on-line is available to the world and out of your control the moment you place it online.
• Do not post personal, identifiable information (e.g. address, phone number, date of birth, class schedule, location of your team hotel). Doing so opens yourself up to predators, stalkers, identity theft, and other criminals.
• Do not post, or allow others to post anything online that could embarrass you, your family, your team, or Rutgers.

NOTE: Law enforcement, university and athletics department officials may check these websites if necessary. Student-athletes could face discipline, including loss of athletic scholarship and even dismissal from a team for inappropriate postings.