2. 2
Introduction
The world of NCAA Division 1 compliance encompasses so many different roles and
duties. The common person most likely has no idea what goes on behind the doors in the Joe
Craft Center. To a blind eye, scholarship documents look like hieroglyphics, and to an untrained
ear, athletic eligibility statuses sound like a different language. There are so many cogs in the
compliance wheel; it truly is a team effort. A compliance coordinator has specific duties at the
University of Kentucky. Along with the specific duties of a compliance coordinator, this person
is also the starting point for all compliance communications, whether it be on the phone, e-mail,
or in person. From agent and advisor paperwork and correspondence to student-athlete
employment communications, the compliance coordinator stays very busy throughout not only
the day, but during the academic year and summers as well.
General Compliance Communications
At the University of Kentucky, any questions regarding compliance first go through the
compliance coordinator. The compliance coordinator fields inquiries from the general public,
coaches and athletic support staff, student-athletes’ parents, and oftentimes from student-athletes
themselves. Items the general public might ask about include donation items such as signed
sports memorabilia; or possible permissible interactions with student-athletes. Coaches and
athletic support staff have questions regarding a student-athletes’ eligibility status, financial aid
and scholarship questions, and anything regarding social media, just to name a few. Parents of
student-athletes may have concerns about financial aid or procedures regarding NCAA or SEC
legislation. Student-athletes often ask about social media concerns or have general questions
3. 3
about eligibility or other compliance-related issues. The compliance coordinator is also in charge
of coordinating all-athletic staff e-mails for things such as “Blue’s Clues”, the compliance
newsletter at the University of Kentucky, and ordering NCAA manuals for athletic staff and
coaches. The compliance coordinator also has the duty of taking minutes at all compliance
meetings and ensuring they are correct and sending them to the correct people. Since most
communication at the University of Kentucky is done through e-mail and phone, usually the
compliance coordinator is the first person to be reached by phone or e-mail, and fields the
messages to the correct person if they cannot answer the question themselves.
Agent/Financial Advisors
The compliance coordinator is responsible for keeping track of all sports agents or
financial advisors who want to contact current University of Kentucky student-athletes.
According to NCAA legislation, a sports agent must be registered with both the state of
Kentucky and the University of Kentucky to be able to communicate with a student-athlete.
However, the student-athletes must understand that even just speaking with an agent or a
financial advisor may create eligibility issues for the student-athlete.
From a compliance standpoint, there are many aspects to monitoring agents. The agent
database must be updated every year. If an agent was registered in the previous year, they must
renew their registration through a form sent to them by the University of Kentucky Compliance
Office which they can e-mail, mail, or fax back to the office. However, if they were registered in
another year besides the previous year, or have never been registered with the university, they
must fill out a longer agent registration form, which they can e-mail, mail, or fax back to the
4. 4
office. Once the correspondences have been returned, the database is updated and compared to
the information provided. The registration and renewal forms are then filed alphabetically in a
file drawer in the Senior Associate Athletic Director for Compliance’s office. This is to ensure
that there is a hard copy of the agents’ registration and information in case a problem arises.
Social Media/eBay
One of the most major parts of the Compliance Coordinator job is social media
monitoring. The student-athletes have all signed contracts that specify that they will abide by the
University of Kentucky’s policies for social media posting. This protects the University’s image
and promotes a positive atmosphere on the internet. These policies include, but are not limited to,
no nudity or pornography, no gang affiliation posts, and no endorsement posts. Every day,
Twitter and Instagram are checked to be sure all student-athletes are adhering to these guidelines
when they decide to post on these sites. Facebook is also checked, but less frequently. While
many student-athletes possess a Facebook account, they don’t necessarily use it as much as they
use other sites.
To effectively monitor the student-athletes on social media sites, a spreadsheet is used for
organizational purposes. Each student-athlete is separated by sport, and then alphabetically by
last name. We have columns for their Facebook user name, Twitter user name, and Instagram
user name. Once access has been granted to view a student’s account, the username is filled in
with green. If we have to request permission to view the account, the name is filled in with
yellow. In some cases, the account cannot be found at all. When this happens, “N/A?” is put in
the Excel cell, filled in with yellow, and verification is needed from the student-athlete’s coach.
5. 5
If the coach confirms that the student-athlete does not have a certain type of social media
account, the question mark is taken away and the cell is filled in with green. This signifies that
there is no social media account for this student-athlete and it is no longer necessary to search for
one.
When an inappropriate post is spotted, several steps need to be taken. First, a photo of the
post in question must be taken, and the student-athlete’s username must be clearly visible. The
screenshot is then inserted into an e-mail, which is sent to a coach or a director of operations,
depending on the sport. The e-mail asks the coach or director of operations to have the student-
athlete remove the offensive post, tweet, or re-tweet. Once this is done, the screenshot of the post
is inserted into a tracking spreadsheet to keep track of the posts and when they were sent. If
student-athletes are confused as to why the post was asked to be taken down, they can contact the
compliance office.
It is against NCAA rules to sell the name or likeness of current-student athletes at the
University of Kentucky, because it jeopardizes the eligibility of the student-athletes. Many
people try to sell items that athletes have signed on eBay in order to make a profit. When this
happens, a cease and desist order needs to be sent to the seller. A spreadsheet has been created to
track the transmission of these legal documents, since only five orders can be sent per
compliance account. The spreadsheet is organized by date sent, who the order was sent by, a
hyperlink of a pdf document that shows a picture of the item the order was sent about, the sport
from which the student-athlete participates in, a short description of the type of item, and the
signatures on the item. The cease and desist is sent through the “contact seller” feature on eBay,
and a copy of the message sent is also sent to the Compliance Coordinator’s e-mail. The pdf
version of this e-mail is hyperlinked and inserted into the spreadsheet. Many of the items come
6. 6
from the same sellers, such as rackcity2210, toppersports, and kykards. It is essential to get these
items removed from eBay to ensure a student-athlete’s eligibility. eBay and websites like it
where people are able to sell the names or likenesses of student-athletes are used frequently
during the playing season of the particular sport, and also during summer camps, fan days and
autograph days. eBay monitoring should happen at least once a week.
Student-Athlete Employment
Student-athletes have the right to hold a job if they choose, but several precautions must
be in place. If a student-athlete has been hired, they must have their employer complete a
Student-Athlete Employment Monitoring form. This lists details such as employer name, e-mail
address for the employer, pay rate, and job duties, as well as many other components. All of the
details provided are put into an Excel spreadsheet for organizational and tracing purposes. The
columns are labeled as student-athlete name, cell phone number, compliance notes, employer,
supervisor, supervisor phone number, supervisor e-mail, date the employment form was
received, and when the spot check was done.
A spot check is done to be sure the information first provided still applies and to make
sure the student-athletes are doing what they are supposed to be doing. During a spot check, a
number of questions are asked. These questions include what the student-athlete does when they
are at work, if they are a good employee, and perhaps most importantly, how the student-athlete
is compensated and if they are receiving any extra benefits. Extra benefits are things that are
provided to the student-athlete that are not provided to anyone else because they participate in
athletics at the University of Kentucky. For example, an employer cannot provide a student-
7. 7
athlete with a car unless they provide all of their employees with a car. Student-athletes must
also be paid the same as the other employees doing the same job. Once the spot check is
completed, it is recorded in the spreadsheet and then filed in the front of the student-athlete’s
folder.
JumpForward
JumpForward is the software used by the Compliance staff at the University of Kentucky,
and the Compliance Coordinator is the main liaison. JumpForward links all the departments
throughout a college campus, streamlines communication, and reduces complications and
miscommunications. All student-athletes are in the JumpForward software, even when they are
just recruits. With the Compliance Toolbox on JumpForward, the Compliance Coordinator can
manage the rosters for the student-athletes and coaches and staff, monitor communications
between coaches and recruits, manage comp admissions, submit practice logs, track eligibility,
and can run financial aid reports. JumpForward also has the ability to create forms for student-
athletes to fill out, which is another large part of the Compliance Coordinator job before school
begins again in the fall. Each student-athlete must fill out an employment form if they have a job,
the University of Kentucky student-athlete statement, the social media form, automobile form,
moped form if applicable, cell phone form, the NCAA student-athlete statement, drug testing
agreement, HIPPA agreement, sign the NCAA summary of regulations, and sign the UK
Buckley form. Once these forms are sent to the student-athletes via JumpForward, it is the
Compliance Coordinator’s job to track the submission of all the forms; they need to be
completed before each sport’s student-athlete orientation. JumpForward is also used to approve
guests for student-athletes’ complimentary tickets for their games or meets.
8. 8
Player Guest Complimentary Admissions
One of the perks of being a student-athlete is complimentary admissions to games or
meets for friends and family. Approvals are done through the JumpForward portal. Guests must
be approved by the Compliance Coordinator before they are placed on the student-athletes’
master list. Once a guest is on the master list, he or she can be added to the event ticket list. If a
guest is not on the event ticket list, they will not receive a complimentary ticket. The Compliance
Office and Compliance Coordinator have a detailed approval process for adding guests of
student-athletes to the master list. Once the guest has been entered into the portal by the student-
athlete, the compliance office reviews the guest for potential red flags. Red flag guests are
anyone who is an agent, financial advisor, University of Kentucky donor, executive with Under
Armour, Nike, or any other athletic brand, member of the media, business owner in Lexington or
surrounding areas, a CATS tutor, or a professor at the University of Kentucky. The Compliance
Coordinator uses Google, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to determine if a relationship
between the guest and the student-athlete is feasible. Once information is collected, it is added
into the ‘Notes’ section of JumpForward. If enough information has been collected, the guest
will not need to be called. Immediate family members, like parents, siblings and grandparents, do
not need to be called.
However, most guests will need to be called as an extra precaution. Certain questions
should be asked to establish the relationship between the guest and the student-athlete. These
include asking the guest exactly how they know the student-athlete, including where they met
and how long they have known each other, what the guest does as a profession to determine if
they are an agent or not, and asking how much the guest paid for the ticket since the guest should
not have paid anything. If all the information provided makes sense, the guest can be approved.
9. 9
Common non-family relationships that occur are students at the University of Kentucky, other
student-athletes at the University of Kentucky, high school coaches, and friends from the
student-athlete’s hometown.
Conclusion
The Compliance Coordinator is one of the most important people in the Compliance
Office. They often work longer hours and sometimes weekends, as well as gamedays. The
Compliance team does not function efficiently without the Compliance Coordinator. They must
be proficient in all forms of social media and know the ins and outs of JumpForward, as well as
be able to assist student-athletes with employment concerns and agent communications. Since
compliance is integral to the Athletics Department at the University of Kentucky, it requires hard
work, organization, and someone who is truly enthusiastic about the job.
