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All of the items approved on Thursday were born out of a retreat Emmert hosted for university presidents in August. The corresponding legislation that arrived just three months later is designed to address the negative headlines plaguing recruiting, scholarship retention, and academic progress in college athletics.

"It was one of the most aggressive and fullest agendas the board has ever faced," NCAA President Mark Emmert told the NCAA News. "They moved with dispatch on it, and I think they're taking positive steps for schools and student-athletes."

"The board passed the three most significant initiatives in NCAA history that will ensure student academic success," Walter Harrison, Chair of the NCAA Committee on Academic Performance and President of the University of Hartford told the NCAA News. "I believe that we'll look back on today as a historical occasion."

SCHOLARSHIP BREAKDOWN
Perhaps the biggest news coming out of the Board of Directors meeting is that athletic conferences may vote to allow schools to add up to $2,000 in "full cost-of-attendance" money to scholarship offers. Due to Title IX, the additional funding will have to be spread out equally among athletes competing on men's and women's teams. And according to InsideHigherEd, the $2,000 limit will be in place for at least three years, but in the future will be adjusted according to the consumer price index.

Emmert insists the move should not be classified as "pay-for-play." He explained that it represents a reintroduction of a stipend that existed for college athletes until 1972, and compared it to the stipends received by other students who receive non-athletic scholarships.

However, the additional funding is not without critics, many of whom believe wealthier institutions are in better positions to offer the additional funds, which would give them a recruiting advantage in all sports--not just football and basketball. Meanwhile, others wonder what student-athletes will actually do with the additional income.

"Everybody would like more money," University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Head Men's Basketball coach John Shulman told the Times Free Press. "But who gets it? And where does the money come from? If every school can't do it, then no school should be able to do it. But if you're going to give these kids an extra $2,000, you better teach them what to do with it, because $2,000 will last 15 minutes with a lot of them. That $2,000 needs to come with a money manager."

However, in the other direction, some believe the payout should have been higher. For example, Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany said studies have shown the average athlete pays roughly $3,000 to $4,000 out of his or her own pocket in college costs.

In other scholarship news, the Board of Directors voted to allow individual schools to award multiyear scholarships to student-athletes if they desire. Under the current model, athletic scholarships are renewed annually and can be revoked for any reason.

This would allow a school to guarantee a scholarship for the player's entire career and would be unable to revoke it based solely on athletic performance. No longer would a coach be allowed to pull an existing player's scholarship and offer it to a recruit the coach feels has more athletic potential. However, scholarships could still be pulled for reasons such as poor grades, academic misconduct, or other forms of improper behavior.

APR STANDARDS & CONSEQUENCES
New legislation also centered on academics. The Academic Progress Rate (APR) cutline will be increased from the current 900 to 930 in four years, and schools that fail to reach that standard will be ineligible for NCAA postseason play, including bowl games.

According to InsideHigherEd, the NCAA is phasing in the new benchmark and the clear-cut 930 ban won't be fully in place until the 2015-16 academic year.

So for 24 months beginning in the next academic year, teams must make the current 900 APR each year, or a 930 average over the same time period, to be eligible for postseason play. In 2014-15, teams that don't achieve a 930 four-year APR or a 940 average for the most recent two years will be ineligible. After that, it's 930 or nothing. "This is a major jump," Harrison said. "We think this is a tough but fair approach to having teams improving their academic performance, but allowing them to do so."

There are also a number of updated penalties going into place. Teams that miss the cutline will need to replace four hours of weekly practice time with academic activities, and reduce their number of games. For the most severe cases, there can also be coaching suspensions, financial aid reductions, and restricted NCAA membership. However, the Board indicated that the new structure includes some special exceptions for "low-resource" institutions and historically black colleges and universities.

INCOMING ATHLETE ELIGIBILITY
Eligibility requirements will increase from a 2.0 GPA to 2.3 for incoming freshman and 2.5 for junior college transfers in order to compete on a team. This will go into place, according to EducationWeek.org, starting in August 2015.

If a student-athlete meets the current 2.0 GPA requirement but falls short of the 2.3 GPA required for competition, the NCAA approved a proposal that will allow the student-athlete to remain on scholarship for the year. The NCAA is calling this scenario an "academic redshirt" year. At this point, the student-athlete is allowed to practice with the team during the first term of their enrollment and practice with the team in the next term if they pass nine semester or eight quarter hours.

The Board of Directors also approved a proposal aimed at ending what Emmert dubbed "summer miracles." Under the new rules, college prospects must successfully complete 10 of the 16 required core classes before the start of their senior year in high school, with seven of those 10 courses coming in English, math, and science.

And for student-athletes coming from community colleges, transfers must have a minimum 2.5 grade point average (up from 2.0) to be eligible for competition. Those who didn't meet that mark upon high school graduation must complete a core curriculum that includes English, math, and science courses.

Walter Harrison, Chair of the NCAA Committee on Academic Performance and President of the University of Hartford, comments on the changes in this video:

BASKETBALL RECRUITING
The Board of Directors also tackled basketball recruiting. It approved legislation that will allow coaches to make unlimited calls or send unlimited texts to prep recruits after June 15 of their sophomore year. There are also changes to the recruiting calendar as coaches will be allowed four evaluation days in April, previously a dead period, but in July they will go from 20 allowable days to 12.

By allowing unlimited telephone calls and text messages and deregulating private messages on social networks after a prospect's sophomore year in high school, the NCAA is encouraging coaches to get to know recruits and their families on a more personal level. The hope is that this will lessen the influence of third parties, such as runners and street agents.

"We know there are lots of third-party people involved in the recruiting process, and some are not as interested in the college degree as the NBA contract," Jim Haney, Executive Director of the National Association of Basketball Coaches told the Kansas City Star. "Part of this package is intended to increase the voice of the colleges and the value of an education through the coaches."

Haney told the Star that he sees greater interaction--coaches and athletes getting to know one another better during the recruiting process--as a catalyst for reducing transfers.

"We don't have an eligibility problem as much as we have a retention problem," Haney said. "Kids aren't flunking out of school. And one-and-dones are a small percentage. I think this helps address the program-attrition problem."

Other recommendations approved by the Division I Board of Directors include:

• Official visits can begin on Jan. 1 of a prospect's junior year, with schools paying the travel expenses for the student and a parent.
• Some contact will be allowed at a prospect's school during the prospect's junior year in conjunction with an evaluation.
• Staged, on-campus evaluations will be permitted on a recruiting visit.

The new recruiting model will be in place by Aug. 1.

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Click here to read the NCAA report on the new standards and legislation.

NCAA President Mark Emmert talks about the new legislation :

R.J. Anderson is the Online Editor at Athletic Management.