Page 302 - 2019-20 NJCAA Handbook - May, 2020

2. Question: Do I have to complete an online Letter of Intent for each student-athlete I am having commit to my college but
am offering no athletic aid?
Answer: The only way for a recruit to “commit” to a member college is through the online Letter of Intent system. You
must still complete the online Letter of Intent, have it signed by all appropriate parties, and submitted online. If
the college is not providing any scholarship money you would simply indicate, “No Athletic Aid” in the
scholarship information on the online Letter of Intent. This will count as one of your Letters of
Intent/scholarships allowed per the NJCAA Sports Procedures in that sport.
3. Question: Do I have to sign all of my walk-ons with the online NJCAA Letter of Intent system?
Answer: No. You are not obligated to sign a player if he/she is not receiving any athletic aid and you are not concerned
about committing him/her to your college with an NJCAA Letter of Intent.
4. Question: What do I do with the physical NJCAA Letter of Intent once it has been signed by all parties?
Answer: All NJCAA Letters of Intent must be kept on file at the college and submitted should your program be audited.
The signature dates that were handwritten on the physical forms must match the signature dates entered
online. A violation has occurred if the information and signature dates on the signed NJCAA Letter of Intent do
not match the information on the submitted Letter of Intent online.
5. Question: Can I input the signing date on the NJCAA Letter of Intent form prior to the student-athlete’s signing if I know
the date the student will sign?
Answer: No. The only printed date that should appear on the signed NJCAA Letter of Intent is the Athletic Directors date
of signature. All other dates must be handwritten by the person signing the form; once the signatures and dates
are obtained you must go back into the online Letter of Intent program, enter those dates and submit the form
once all signature dates are entered. Sanctions will be imposed by the NJCAA National Office if the correct
signing procedures are not followed.
7. Question: What do I need to do if the form goes “Inactive”?
Answer: Once the form becomes inactive it is invalid and a new form must be recreated, resigned and resubmitted.
8. Question: How do I release a student-athlete from his/her Letter of Intent?
Answer: The Release Agreement must be completed and submitted through the online Letter of Intent program. The
Release Agreement form can be found under the Action column to the right of the student’s name. Click on
release option, complete and print the form. The form must be signed by the student-athlete (as required
on the form), athletic director and president to be valid. If the student-athlete’s signature is not required per
the Release Agreement the form can be submitted without the student’s signature. Once all the signatures and
dates are obtained you must go back into the online Letter of Intent program and enter the signing date and
submit the Release Agreement. The status of that student’s Letter of Intent will show as “Released” once the
form has been submitted.
9. Question: What do I do with the physical Release Agreement once it is signed?
Answer: All Release Agreements must be kept on file at the college and included in the file should your program be
audited. The physical forms submitted must match the online forms in terms of information and signing dates.
If the forms submitted do not match the information submitted online the college will be notified of a violation.

Case 4
Faxed Copies of the LOI
SITUATION:
Student-Athlete R receives their NJCAA Letter of Intent in the mail and accepts the offer and signs the LOI. Student-Athlete
R sends a faxed copy of the signed LOI back to Community College A. Is the faxed copy of the signed LOI a valid and official
copy?
ANSWER:
Yes. The NJCAA considers the signed faxed copy a valid and official document. The NJCAA requests that the original still
be collected but the member college may act using the signed faxed document as valid and official. The faxed copy and the
original should both be filed in the student’s eligibility file to answer questions regarding the timeline and process for the signing
when possible.

Case 5
Dividing Scholarships
SITUATION:
Community College A is a Division I community college offering 24 full baseball scholarships. Can Community College A
offer 48 players each half a scholarship? Can they offer 12 full scholarships and 24 half scholarships?

ANSWER:
No. A scholarship is counted by the individual, not by the dollar amount. Community College A can offer 24 scholarships
to 24 individuals, regardless of the dollar amount. No athletic aid can be offered to any individuals over the 24 limit.

Case 6
Scholarship Limitation – Summer Term
SITUATION:
Community College A has utilized 15 men’s basketball scholarships for the academic year. At the completion of that year,
Community College A wishes to scholarship Student-Athlete R, who is a transfer student-athlete, for the summer term. Can
they scholarship Student-Athlete R?
ANSWER:
No. Community College A does not have an available scholarship to use for Student-Athlete R. The NJCAA defines an
st
st
academic year as August 1 -July 31 . Therefore, Community College A has already utilized all of their available scholarships