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(NCAA) Concussion Safety Protocol Management

This page includes information about the updates to the 2023 NCAA Concussion Safety Protocol Checklist and other relevant concussion safety materials and legislative and policy requirement changes pertaining to concussion management practices.

Schools should be aware of the following:

At its September 2023 meeting the NCAA Committee Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports approved modifications to the Concussion Safety Protocol Checklist, the Concussion Safety Protocol Template and the Concussion Fact Sheets, as recommended by the NCAA Concussion Safety Advisory Group. The Checklist is reviewed annually by the CSAG, which is composed of subject matter experts from external scientific and medical professional organizations and representatives from the NCAA membership to determine whether available research data and accepted industry practices may warrant revisions to its content.

The CSAG recommendations were informed by the Sixth International Consensus Conference on Concussion in Sport publication, NCAA-Department of Defense Concussion Assessment, Research and Education Consortium data and other emerging evidence-based guidance. The recommendations focus on evaluation tools, on/off field assessment, return-to-learn and return-to-sport management. Updated content is highlighted for easy identification.

NCAA legislation requires that schools’ concussion management plans must be consistent with the Checklist. To facilitate and support member compliance with this requirement, Checklist updates have been incorporated into the approved Protocol Template. The Protocol Template includes all components of the Checklist and may be customized by schools to accommodate and reflect their individual needs and practices.  Updated content is highlighted for easy identification.

In addition to maintaining a concussion management plan that includes an updated concussion safety protocol, schools in all three divisions are required to comply with the Interassociation Recommendations: Preventing Catastrophic Injury and Death in Collegiate Athletes, which contains content specific to concussion management and which were unanimously endorsed and established as Association-wide policy by the NCAA Board of Governors in the summer of 2019. The NCAA has published guidance regarding Medical Care and Coverage for Student-Athletes at Away Events and a corresponding Frequently Asked Questions document that contains additional information that may be helpful to schools as they review and implement Checklist changes and corresponding catastrophic emergency action plans.

As a reminder, Division I schools are no longer required to submit their concussion safety protocols to the NCAA Concussion Safety Protocol Committee. Elimination of the Concussion Safety Review Process will be made permanent when NCAA Division I Proposal 2023-19 (holistic model for student-athletes) becomes effective on August 1, 2024. In light of the availability of the Checklist, the corresponding Protocol Template and other educational resources (e.g., Concussion Fact sheets for student-athletes, educators, and coaches), schools have access to all the tools necessary to comply with applicable concussion protocol management legislation regardless of participation in the annual protocol submission process. This idea has been formally recognized in NCAA Divisions II and III where member schools have historically relied on diligent use of the Checklist, Protocol Template and other available tools in lieu of an annual submission process.

In an effort to proactively address some of the most anticipated membership questions related to those institutional review and update activities, we have created a Frequently Asked Questions document.

Please email ssi@ncaa.org with any additional questions not addressed in this communication or related resources.

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