Athletics Grant-In-Aid

Enrollment

In order to participate in intercollegiate competition, you must be enrolled in a minimum of 12 credit hours during your season. Do not drop or withdrawal from classes without consulting your coach or the office of athletics compliance beforehand.

Terms of Attendance

Student athletes must use their athletic eligibility (4 seasons of competition per sport) within the first 10 semesters of full time enrollment. Enrollment in 12 hours or more is considered a full time semester for NAIA eligibility rules.

Summer Attendance

Summer school attendance does not count towards your 10 full time semesters of enrollment; but can be used to satisfy eligibility requirements. A maximum of 12 summer hours can be added to the previous full time semester hours in order to satisfy the 24 hour rule.

Progress Rules

Incoming freshman must pass 9 hours in order to compete during the 2nd semester of the freshman year. To be eligible for a second season of competition, 24 credit hours must have been accumulated during the previous two full time semesters; for a third season of competition the student athlete needs to have accumulated 48 credit hours and 72 credit hours to compete in a 4th season of competition with 48 hours going towards a major.

GPA Rule

Upon entering a third season of competition through your final season of competition, you must have at least a 2.0 institutional GPA in order to be eligible to compete.

Repeat Classes

A repeated course which has been previously passed and counted toward the 9hr, 12hr, or 24hr rule may not be used again to satisfy any of the progress rules for future eligibility purposes. It is the student athlete’s responsibility to ensure that he or she is not in a repeated course for a given semester at GGC unless otherwise approved. If taking a repeated course is necessary, the student athlete is expected to communicate this with his or her athletic academic advisor upon enrolling in the course. It is expected that all student athletes be cognizant of their academic history and degree progress at GGC at all times.

Athletics Grant-In-Aid

Athletics grant-in-aid awards are recommended by each coach, approved by the director of athletics and issued by the Financial Aid office. These awards are categorized as follows: • Tuition and Fees • Room and Board • Books

Student athletes who have a balance on their accounts must be prepared to pay prior to registration. Pre-registration fees are to be paid on a date announced by the Student Accounts Office. Please note that students will be dropped from all classes if fees are not paid on time. If you are on an athletics scholarship that covers the entire cost of your tuition and your classes are dropped, you should contact the Financial Aid Office or the Office of Athletics Compliance immediately.

GGC ATHLETICS POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

Team Activity Participation Regulations

In order to participate in team activities (practice, conditioning, weight training, film sessions, team meetings, walkthrough drills, and individual skills workouts involving a member of the coaching staff), all student athletes must meet the following requirements: • Be enrolled in a minimum of 6 semester hours; (a student may be enrolled in less than 6 hours if he or she is in their last semester before graduation). • Have received a final determination (eligible or ineligible) from the NAIA Eligibility Center; o 1st time GGC student athletes will have until the following dates to receive a final determination from the NAIA Eligibility Center before having to stop participating in team activities:  Fall Semester: September 15th  Spring Semester: February 15th Exception: If the NAIA Eligibility Center has received all required documents and the determination says “Review in progress – no additional info needed at this time”, then the student may continue/begin participating in team activities. Any other determinations (i.e. profile submitted, pending, not completed, review in progressmore information requested, etc.), shall not satisfy this regulation. • Provide proof of medical insurance which covers intercollegiate athletic injuries. • Must have an approved physical examination rendered by a licensed M.D. prior to any athletic participation. • Must have signed the NAIA Certificate of Clearance • Must have read and signed the Student Athlete Handbook • Must have read and signed the FERPA form

Graduation Sash

Graduating student athletes have the opportunity to receive a student athlete Graduation Sash, which they are encouraged to wear during the commencement ceremonies. This sash represents the commitment to academics and athletics and the achievement of receiving an academic degree.

To be eligible to receive a graduation sash, student athletes must fulfill the following requirements:

1. Finished/exhausted eligibility at GGC and/or graduated prior to exhausting eligibility. 2. Finished/remained in good conduct/standing with the Athletics Office

Exception: The student athlete was in good conduct/standing and sustained a career ending injury while on a team at GGC. The student athlete must have been on the roster for at least 20% of the games during the season in which he or she sustained the injury.

Removal from Team during the Academic Year

If a student athlete is removed from the team during the academic year, for any reason, the Office of Athletics shall inform the student athlete in writing that he or she, upon written request, shall be provided an opportunity to meet with the Director of Athletics. If needed the Assistant AD for Internal Operations and the Faculty Athletics Representative may be called upon to hear the student athlete’s grievances.

The student athlete may also be requested to supply a written statement of grievance to the Director of Athletics.

The written statement shall include: • The student athlete's name, student number, year in school, sport; • Type and amount of previous financial aid (if applicable); • Reasons for believing that the decision was unfair, including names of institutional staff members (e.g., coach, financial aid officer) with whom the student athlete has discussed the aid; and • Copies of any relevant documents (e.g., letter regarding initial award of athletic grantin-aid).

The Director of Athletics reserves the right to rescind, modify, or support the decision to remove the student athlete from the team.

The student athlete may appeal the Director of Athletics’ decision by requesting an in-person hearing before the Athletics Appeals Committee. The Athletics Appeals Committee shall conduct a hearing within fifteen (15) calendar days of receiving a written request for such a hearing unless all parties agree to a delay. At the conclusion of the hearing, the chair of the Athletics Appeals Committee shall in writing: • Request additional information, to be reviewed prior to a final ruling, or • Find that there is insufficient cause to rescind the decision to remove the student athlete from the team, or • Find that there is sufficient cause to modify or overrule the decision to remove the student athlete from the team. In which case, the student athlete will resume participation in team activities as soon as possible.