Student Athletes Awards and Recognitions

Division I Degree-Completion Award Program
The NCAA established this program to assist student-athletes who have exhausted their eligibility for institutional financial aid (in five years). Applicants must have completed eligibility for athletics-related aid at a Division I member institution before applying and must be within 30 semester hours of their degree requirements. Full-time students receive grants equal to a full athletics grant at the institution; part-time students receive tuition and an allowance for books. The program is administered by the NCAA Degree Completion Scholarship consultants.

Contact Information:
www1.ncaa.org/membership/scholarships/degree-completion/d1/index.html

The Freedom Forum-NCAA Sports-Journalism Scholarship
The Freedom Forum, through a grant to the NCAA, supports eight $3,000 scholarships to college juniors who have career goals in sports journalism and major in journalism or have experience in campus sports journalism. The program assists deserving full-time students in their final year of study and is designed to foster freedoms of speech and press while promoting quality sports journalism education at the collegiate level. Applications for these scholarships are available in late August from the institution's NCAA faculty athletics representative, journalism department or school newspaper office.

Contact Information:
www.ncaa.org/leadership_advisory_board/programs.html#freedom

NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship Program
The NCAA awards up to 174 postgraduate scholarships annually, 87 for men and 87 for women. The scholarships are awarded to student-athletes who excel academically and athletically and who are in their final year of intercollegiate athletics competition. The one-time grants of $7,500 each are awarded for fall sports, winter sports and spring sports. Each sports season (fall, winter and spring), there are 29 scholarships available for men and 29 scholarships available for women. The scholarships are one-time, non-renewable grants.

Contact Information: www1.ncaa.org/membership/ed_ooutreach/prof_development/postgrad_scholarships.html

Walter Byers Postgraduate Scholarship
Under this program, one male and one female student-athlete are annually awarded a postgraduate scholarship in recognition of outstanding academic achievement and potential for success in postgraduate study. It is intended that an individual named a Byers Scholar will be recognized as one who has combined the best elements of mind and body to achieve national distinction for his or her achievements, and promises to be a future leader in his or her chosen field of career service.

Contact Information:
www1.ncaa.org/membership/scholarships/byers/index.html

Additional scholarships can be found through the Office of Financial Aid: www.fullerton.edu/financialaid/

Conferences-Leadership Development Opportunities

Division I Student-Athlete Regional Leadership Conference
The annual NCAA Leadership Conference provides NCAA student-athletes with a forum to openly discuss issues that may affect them on their campuses and in their communities, while also providing them with the opportunity to enhance their leadership, communication, decision-making and problem-solving skills. The NCAA Leadership Conference also promotes better communication among student-athletes, coaches, administrators, faculty and communities. The five-day leadership conference consists of daily exercises and activities to help the student-athletes develop as individuals and as contributing members to a group. This conference is provided at no cost to institutions participating in the NCAA CHAMPS/Life Skills Program.

Contact Information:
www.ncaa.org/leadership

APPLE Conference
The APPLE conference provides training to an “athletic prevention team” on the APPLE model, a comprehensive design for improving substance abuse prevention programming and policies in the athletics department. The seven impact areas are known as the “slices of the APPLE” and include recruitment practices; polices; drug testing; tobacco and other drug-education programs; sanctioning; referral and counseling; and exceptions and attitudes.

Contact Information:
www.ncaa.org/health-safety

Awards

The Coca-Cola Community All Americans Programs
The Coca-Cola Company has teamed with the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) to recognize community service in intercollegiate athletics at NCAA®, NAIATM and Junior/Community College member institutions. The Coca-Cola Community All-Americans program is designed to help institutions recognize, celebrate and applaud student-athletes who are making a difference in their communities. On college campuses across the country, student-athletes are giving it their all, not only on the playing field, but also in their communities through hands-on volunteerism and service. Whether it's reading to kids, restoring homes, or coaching youth sports, Coca-Cola and NACDA believe in recognizing these significant contributions.

Contact Information:
http://nacda.collegesports.com/CCCAA/index.html


Sportsmanship Award
The NCAA Sportsmanship Award honors student-athletes who, through their actions in the competitive arena of intercollegiate athletics, have demonstrated one or more of the ideals of sportsmanship, including fairness, civility, honesty, unselfishness, respect and responsibility. Selections are made by the NCAA Committee on Sportsmanship and Ethical Conduct. This award was first presented in 1999 as the Outstanding Sportspersons of the Year Award. The award was renamed the NCAA Sportsmanship Award in 2001.

Contact Information:
www.ncaa.org/awards/sportsmanship/

Today’s Top VIII Awards
The Today's Top VIII Awards provide the Association with the opportunity to honor eight outstanding senior student-athletes of the preceding calendar year. From 1973 through 1985, this award was known as the Today's Top V Award and from 1986 through 1994, it was known as the Today's Top VI Award.

Contact Information:
www.ncaa.org/awards/honors_program/top_eight/index.html

Women of the Year
The NCAA Woman of the Year Award honors senior student-athletes who have distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in the areas of academic achievement, athletics excellence, service and leadership. The overall winner is selected from ten finalists. The ten finalists are selected from winners from each state, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

Contact Information:
www.ncaa.org/awards/woty/

CSUF Awards & Recognitions

Big West Scholar Athletes
To Be eligible for the Big West Scholar-Athlete Award, student-athlete must have lettered in a varsity sport during the previous season of competition and a) have achieved a minimum grade point average of 3.0 over at least 24 semester grade units at the member institution during their previous two semesters of attendance; or b) 3.2 GPA in at least 12 units or 3.4 GPA in nine graded units in the event the students have been in attendance at the member institution for less than two semesters

Big West Male & Female Scholar Athletes of the Year
Each year every Big West member school selects one male and one female Big West Scholar-Athlete of the year. Honorees are announced on March 1, and receive a plaque at a breakfast held in conjunction with the Big West Basketball Tournament. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be: a non-freshman meeting the minimum criteria of a Big West Scholar-Athlete, as described above; selected by his or her own University; and selected prior to February 1 of the academic year based on athletic and academic performance from the previous academic year’s spring term and the current academic year’s fall term

Dean’s List
If student-athlete’s semester GPA is a 3.50 or higher for a least 12 units of graded coursework he/she will receive notification from the University the he/she is on the Dean’s Honor List for the semester

Athletic Honor Roll
If a student-athlete’s semester GPA is a 3.00 or higher for at least 12 units of graded coursework he/she will receive notification form Athletics Academic Services that he/she is on Athletic Honor Roll for the semester.

Team Grade Point Average Awards
The Conference shall present an award to the team in each Big West Conference championship sport that annually achieves the highest overall cumulative grade point average. The award shall be calculated at the conclusion of the academic year and the deserving teams shall be honored at the following year’s Scholar-athlete Banquet. Reporting forms shall be distributed by the conference office to the faculty athletics representatives and shall be due to the conference office by July 15

Academic All-Conference Award
The Conference shall sponsor annual Academic All-Conference teams in each Conference sport. Student-Athletes shall be named to the Academic All-Conference Teams for their respective sports if the following standards are met: 1) Student-athlete must carry a minimum 3.20 cumulative institutional grade point average (no rounding ), 2) Student-athlete must have completed one full academic year at the member institution prior to the season for which the award is being received ( at least a sophomore academically ), 3) Student-athlete must have completed in at least 50 percent of the institution’s contests in the student-athlete’s respective sport. Academic All-Conference forms shall be supplied to each institution and a submission date shall be determined by the Conference Office. All students so honored shall receive a certificate appropriate for framing, as well as recognition in the form of a media release.

Letter Award
The goal of the award is to recognize the student-athlete for their outstanding accomplishment and as a token of pride for their college athletic experience. Specific criteria are laid out for each sport and Athletics Academic Services coordinates this award’s process. A Head Coach may nominate the letter award winners meeting the criteria set by each individual team.

Information is also available via NCAA and CSUF Student-athlete Handbook. For additional information please feel free to contact Athletics Academic Services in LH 215 or (657) 278-3057.