ACC Announces Autonomy Proposal
By John Bauman
Today, the ACC announced groundbreaking new legislature that could change college sports in the ACC forever. Here is a press release sent out today by the ACC outlining the proposal…
"GREENSBORO, N.C. (theACC.com) – The Atlantic Coast Conference on Monday announced three legislative proposals that have been submitted to the NCAA as part of the recently adopted Division I autonomy process as approved by the league’s Council of Presidents.The proposals focus on the issues of cost of attendance, loss-of-value insurance and scholarship renewal. The ACC will work with the NCAA to finalize legislative language in anticipation of the January NCAA Convention.“The ACC’s continued discussions related to enhancing the student-athletes’ experience has resulted in our submission of three legislative proposals,” said Donna E. Shalala, Chair of the ACC Council of Presidents and President of the University of Miami.“These three proposals create a pathway to additional benefits for student-athletes, which continues to be the top-priority,” said ACC Commissioner John Swofford. “Our Council of Presidents and membership will continue to explore ways to enhance our student-athletes’ experience within the collegiate model.”A brief synopsis of the proposals submitted by the ACC follows.Cost of attendance: This proposal will permit an institution to provide an athletics scholarship to any student-athlete up to their cost of attendance at the institution. The cost of attendance figure shall be determined using federal regulations and in a manner consistent with institutional policies for the establishment of the value for all students. This proposal will be permissive and apply to student-athletes in all sports. The effective date would by August 1, 2015 and agreements may be executed prior to that date to take effect in the 2015-16 academic year.Loss-of-value insurance: This proposal is intended to permit a student-athlete to borrow against his or her future earnings potential to obtain loss-of-value insurance. The proposal will make the treatment of loss-of-value insurance consistent with that of disability insurance. The effective date would be immediate.Scholarship renewal: This proposal precludes an institution from not renewing a student-athlete’s athletic scholarship for athletics performance or injury reasons, even after the period of the award. The effective date would be August 1, 2015."
Some analysis on the proposal from our friends at Hokie Gobbler.com…
"This is big news that will grab the attention of fans across the country whether it’s from the ACC, SEC, Big 12, Pac-12, Big 10, or any of the other conferences. What the ACC is proposing is significant not only because of what it is but also because of the fact that this will very likely pass easily.The biggest headline from this proposal is the cost of attendance portion as that is almost certain to be covered by all five of the power 5 conferences and could be expanded beyond that depending on the conference, mainly by the Mountain West and the AAC.Of course, the ACC is probably working on the specific details of cost of attendance proposals but this makes tons of sense and will be great for athletes. This seems likely to not only pass but be implemented before the 2014-2015 collegiate athletics season concludes.Loss-of-value insurance seems to makes sense given that this also preserves the current disability insurance. This type of insurance could also keep more underclassmen in school especially with how quickly a football career can end.Guaranteed scholarship renewal is the third key component and should absolutely be passed. The fact that this wasn’t already certain is disappointing but when a school tells an athlete that they are giving them a scholarship, they should hold their end of the bargain up. This should absolutely happen."
This is certainly an interesting proposition. Let us know what you think about the proposal in the comments below…