“Don’t Make Me Call Your Mother!”

Kristy Belden & Sarah HillUniversity of Central Florida

Making Connections• During the Recruiting Process…

– Unofficial Visits– Pre-Game Activities– Official Visits

• Tailored to parents/guardians (strongly encouraged to attend)

– Academic Presentations/Meeting w/ Advisor– Campus Tours– Meals– Expectations

Making Connections cont’d…

• Phone Calls – Academic Advisors.  It is permissible for academic advisors (including academic

advisors within the athletics department) to make calls to or receive calls from a prospective student-athlete (or the prospective student-athlete's parents or legal guardians) related to admissions or academic issues, subject to any applicable limitation on the number of telephone calls an institution may place to prospective student-athletes. (Adopted:  1/10/95, Revised:  4/27/06 effective 8/1/06)

• Emails– After the calendar day on which a prospective student-athlete signs a National

Letter of Intent, there shall be no limit on the forms of electronically transmitted correspondence sent to the prospective student-athlete or his or her parents or legal guardians by the institution with which the prospective student-athlete has signed.  For an institution not using the National Letter of Intent in a particular sport, or for a prospective student-athlete who is not eligible to sign a National Letter of Intent (e.g., four-year college transfer), there shall be no limit on the forms of electronically transmitted correspondence sent to a prospective student-athlete or his or her parents or legal guardians by that institution after the calendar day on which the prospective student-athlete signs the institution's written offer of admission and/or financial aid.  (Adopted:  1/14/08)

Building the Relationship

• Teams host “Welcome” meetings for new student-athletes & their families

• Parents are invited & encouraged to attend University Orientation with their son/daughter

• Two “Tracks” of 2-day FTIC Orientation– Student Program– Parent Program

• Additionally, our office coordinates a Student-Athlete Parent Orientation Program…

Building the Relationship cont’d…

• Student-Athlete Parent Orientation Program– Presentations from various members of

the athletic dept/academic staffs– Basic responsibilities, expectations,

contact information, Q & A– SWA/Associate AD– Athletic Trainers– FAR– ASSA Director/Academic Advisors/Tutor

Coordinator– Compliance– Ticket Sales/Fundraising– CHAMPS/Life Skills Coordinator – SAAC Representative

•"Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, as Amended," known generally as "FERPA" or "The Buckley Amendment." FERPA is the United States federal law that protects student records privacy review and disclosure rights.

•The law guarantees these rights for both current and former students.

•Educational records are considered confidential. Under most circumstances, records will not be released without written and signed consent.

•Faculty/Staff have a responsibility to protect and keep confidential educational records in their possession.

What is FERPA???

FERPA cont’d…

Directory Information• Some information, called "Directory Information", may be

released to 3rd parties without the student's prior consent, unless the student files a written request to restrict directory information access. At UCF "directory information" is the student's:• Name • Current Mailing Address • Telephone Number • Date of Birth • Academic Major• Dates of Attendance • Enrollment Status • Degrees & Awards Received • Participation in Officially Registered Activities & Athletics• Student-Athletes’ Height & Weight

FERPA cont’d…

Buckley Amendment Consent• “By signing this part of the form, you certify that you agree

to disclose your educational records.

• You understand that this entire form and the results of any NCAA drug test you may take are part of your educational records.  These records are protected by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 and they may not be disclosed without your consent.

• You give your consent to disclose only to authorized representatives of this institution, its athletics conference (if any) and the NCAA, except as permitted in the Drug-Testing Consent form, the following documents…

FERPA cont’d…

You agree to disclose these records only to determine your eligibility for intercollegiate athletics, your eligibility for athletically related financial aid, for evaluation of school and team academic success, for awards and recognition programs highlighting student-athlete academic success, for purposes of inclusion in summary institutional information reported to the NCAA (and which may be publicly released by it), for NCAA longitudinal research studies and for activities related to NCAA compliance reviews and athletics certification. You will not be identified by name by the NCAA in any such published or distributed information. This consent shall remain in effect as long as any issues regarding the purposes listed above exist.

You also agree that information regarding any infractions matter in which you may be involved may be published or distributed to third parties as required by NCAA policies, bylaws or procedures.”

• Your social security number and/or student identification number

• Race and gender identification• Diagnosis of any education-impact disabilities• Accommodations provided or approved and

other information related to any education-impact disabilities in all secondary and postsecondary schools

• Records concerning your financial aid• Any other papers or information pertaining to

your NCAA eligibility• Graduation status

• This form• Results of NCAA drug tests and related

information and correspondence• Results of positive drug tests done by non-NCAA

national or international athletics organizations• Any transcript from your high school, this

institution, or any junior college or any other four-year institutions you have attended

• Precollege test scores, appropriately related information and correspondence (e.g., testing sites, dates and letters of test-score certification or appeal), and where applicable, information relating to eligibility for or conduct of nonstandard testing

Staying in Touch• Academic Updates

– Good Bad or Ugly – Dates to be aware of (Spring Break, Finals,

etc)– Academic Status (Academic Probation, etc)

• Our staff uses various methods to stay in touch with our advisee’s parents…

• Email• Phone Calls• Home/Away Games and/or Open Practices• Letters/Mailings

Home Away From Home•Our student-athletes know that we can/will contact parents at any given moment.•We also do many things to make UCF feel like a home away from home…

•Focus on strong relationships/build good rapport/trust •Occasional Meals•Adjust study hall/tutoring hours•Incentives (Awards, etc)•Leadership Roles•Community Outreach

Home Away From Home cont’d

• Public/Team Acknowledgement…– AD’s Honor Roll– Conference Academic Honor Roll– Press Releases– Public Acknowledgment (Media, Games,

Announcements, Jerseys/Warm-Ups, etc)– Team Meetings (High & Low GPA recognition)– Awards

In Conclusion…

• Questions?• Comments?

THANK YOU Go Knights!