NCAA rules regarding student-athlete employment have changed many times over the last few years, and another important change is on the horizon.

Effective Aug. 1, 2003, student-athletes will no longer be limited in the amount of compensation they can earn during the academic year. However, other NCAA rules regarding employment remain in place.

Specifically, compensation may only be paid to a student-athlete

(1) at a rate commensurate with the going rate in that locality for similar services;

(2) for work actually performed;

(3) if it does not include any remuneration for value or utility that the student-athlete may have for the employer because of the publicity, reputation, fame or personal following that he or she has obtained because of athletics ability.

The vast majority of the readers of this publication meet the NCAA's broad definition of a representative of Cal's athletics interests (booster). A booster may employ a Cal student-athlete as long as the above guidelines are followed. A booster may even employ a Cal prospective student-athlete after his or her high school graduation, as long as the prospect has signed a National Letter of Intent (NLI) to attend Cal.

If you are a booster and wish to employ a Cal student-athlete or a prospect who has signed an NLI with Cal and graduated from high school, please contact the Cal compliance office. Although we encourage you to hire Cal student-athletes, the Athletic Department is ultimately responsible for monitoring the employment of all student-athletes and prospective student-athletes to ensure that NCAA regulations are followed. To this end, we require student-athletes and employers to document their employment relationship.