In a surprise development at its annual convention, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) approved new legislation allowing athletes to work part-time jobs during the school year.
The new rule, which governs Division I schools and takes effect in August offers a mixed bag. Most folk agree that athletes deserve the opportunity to work and earn their own money — just like other students. But college athletic officials fear that monitoring jobs is sure to create monumental headaches for every athletic department.
Full athletic scholarships pay for tuition, books, plus room and board, but not other costs. Under the new rule, athletes’ earnings may not exceed what their school calculates as “incidental expenses” for the academic year, which range from $1,200 to $2.500.
Proponents of the change argued that in an age when many major colleges are making money hand over fist in football and basketball, it’s only reasonable that the athletes who play the games have the opportunity to earn some cash to go on a date, put gas in their car, or buy a burger and some fries.
The reason for the old ruling — which prohibited scholarship athletes from working except during the summer and approved school breaks — was to limit the potential for booster-related wrongdoing where boosters pay athletes for non-existent or dubious jobs.
“I have mixed emotions about [the new work rule],” says Hoke Wilder, compliance officer at the University of Georgia. Philosophically, it’s great. It’s long overdue. But from a compliance standpoint, it’s going to be one huge can of worms — a nightmare. This new rule will open doors in areas that historically, we haven’t had to worry about.
“It was such an emotional issue at the convention. It’s like apple pie and motherhood, so it was hard to vote against it. But as the convention came to a close, people were saying `Oh, oh. What have we done?'”
