NAIA Violations & Penalties Task Force

For many years, college athletics has had a consistent set of penalties for rules violations; within the NAIA, the prescribed penalties have essentially gone unchanged for decades. The majority of violations are due to ineligible student-athletes competing, and the primary penalties for these violations aim to make others whole to the extent possible and to serve as a deterrent. For example, an eligibility violation often results in forfeits and the student must be withheld from future contests. Unfortunately, the result is penalties that punish people (mostly students) who had little to do with the violations.

In May 2022 a task force was formed to take up this issue and included athletics directors, faculty athletics representatives, conference eligibility chairs, a compliance officer and a senior vice president as well as members of the National Eligibility Committee, National Conduct and Ethics Committee and National Coordinating Committee. Objectives for the task force included either validating or recommend changes to the NAIA’s self-reporting and enforcement approach, and identifying the appropriate framework for penalties. The task force reported its draft recommendations to NAIA leaders at the NAIA Fall Meetings, and also received feedback from a variety of conference and committee meetings. After incorporating elements of the feedback, these task force proposed legislation codifying its recommendations, and these proposals will be voted on by NAIA members during the NAIA annual business meeting on April 3, 2023.

Review the Fall Meetings Presentation 
Flip through the presentation from October 2022 below.