The University of Wisconsin is the only member of the Big Ten Conference to support the override of an NCAA policy allowing Division I sports programs to offer multi-year scholarships to student-athletes.
Before the NCAA implemented the new policy, student-athletes were only offered one-year scholarships by major college sports programs with the option of renewing them on an annual basis, Associate Athletic Director for External Relations Justin Doherty said.
In an NCAA statement, President Mark Emmert expressed how the majority of the institutions with Division I membership are concerned about the implications of the new policy.
“As we continue to examine implementation of the rule, we want to work with the membership to address those concerns,” Emmert said in the statement.
After considering the pros and cons, Doherty said UW cited flexibility as a major concern and reason why it supported the override of the policy.
Keeping scholarship offers to one-year terms allows more flexibility for student-athletes, and offering multi-year scholarships would essentially lock both sides into the agreement, Doherty said.
“Our institution has always taken the stance that we want to do what we believe is in the best interest of our student-athletes,” he said.
UW was not the only Division I institution that voted the same way regarding the new policy.
According to the NCAA voting document, 205 out of 330 Division I institutions, including UW, supported the override of the multi-year grants policy. However, upon its conclusion last week, the override failed to gain the necessary five-eighths majority by only two votes.
Ninety percent of the Division I institutions voted on whether or not to implement the policy, according to the statement.
While UW and other Division I institutions may not be convinced of the benefits the policy has to offer, Doherty said some student-athletes may have an appreciation for the passing of the new policy.
“If you look at it from the student-athlete standpoint, the perception is this gives them a sort of security,” Doherty said.
He added that UW has not been operating in a way in which there is an annual threat of losing a scholarship. For this reason, he said UW has not viewed the policy as necessarily having a need for the level of long-term security that a multi-year scholarship will offer. There is not enough compelling evidence to see the change to multi-year contracts for all teams as essential, he said.
Doherty said the football team is the first UW sports program to use the new policy. The team offered multi-year scholarships for student-athletes who were recruited and have made a commitment to UW on signing day this year.
In the NCAA statement, Sidney McPhee, chair of the Student-Athlete Well-Being working group that proposed the policy, said the group will keep working on the concerns of the members of Division I institutions who voted to override the policy.
“As the reform effort continues, we will engage more closely with the membership on potential proposals and policy changes,” McPhee said in the statement.
