Code of Ethics

Purpose:
A code of Ethics is the essential tool whose primary purpose is to clarify and distinguish ethical practices from those that are detrimental and harmful to other member institutions and/or the student-athletes of other member institution.

General Principle:
Individuals employed by (or associated with) a member institution to administer, conduct or coach intercollegiate athletics shall conduct themselves with honesty and sportsmanship at all times so that their institutions and they, as individuals, shall represent the honor and dignity of fair play and the generally recognized high standards associated with wholesome competitive sports.

Conduct of ADMINISTRATORS, COACHES and STUDENT-ATHLETES:
Athletic administrators and coaches shall conduct themselves in a manner consistent with the codes of conduct and ethics of the NJCAA and Region XIX. Unethical conduct by a staff member, or by a prospective or enrolled student-athlete may include, but is not limited to:

a. Knowingly falsifying academic records, transcripts or eligibility records.

b. Making statements that are degrading or misleading about other Member Institutions. This prohibition applies to both public and private comments and includes, but is not limited to, comments about another Member Institution's athletics budget, its students, coaches, facilities, faculty and staff, or the quality of its education programs.

c. Making contact with a student-athlete who has matriculated at another college or who has signed a Letter of Intent to become a matriculating student-athlete of another college shall have the responsibility to notify the athletic administration of the institution where the student-athlete is currently enrolled within 5 days of the first contact. There will be no further contact with that student-athlete for a period of 10 days.

d. Providing scouting information about a member institution's team(s) to a competitive entity outside the Region XIX membership.

All coaches, administrators and student-athletes are bound as well by the codes of conduct and ethics as found in Article XVIII of the NJCAA Handbook. It is the responsibility of athletic administrators to make their staff and stduent-athletes aware of the codes and to enforce them. Violations of any of these codes of conduct and ethics could result in disciplinary action by the Regional and/or National Standards and Ethics committees.

Approved: 2/25/03
Last Revised: