Zach Osterman

USA TODAY Sports

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — As the debate over athletes' rights and the NCAA's amateurism model burns hot across college athletes, Indiana is preparing to introduce sweeping reforms.

The Indiana University athletic department will immediately begin implementing a 10-point student-athlete bill of rights, athletics director Fred Glass told The Indianapolis Star this week.

Among the benefits, Indiana will now guarantee multiyear scholarships to full-scholarship athletes, offer significant financial support to former athletes who wish to return to IU to finish their degrees, increase its healthcare commitments to all athletes and provide all athletes with personal iPads.

The idea materialized after a recent conversation between Glass and the parents of a volleyball recruit. Glass was struck by how little the parents knew of the benefits and guarantees of a scholarship.

"It just started me reflecting on the fact that I didn't think we had done a very good job of communicating what the benefits were of being a student-athlete," Glass told The Star.

Glass sat down by his pool over spring break and began sketching what he has come to call an Indiana student-athlete bill of rights.

Some aspects are just clarifications of existing policies and some are innovative enough that Glass hopes other athletic departments might soon follow Indiana's lead. The benefits are could eventually cost millions of dollars per year but Glass believes the benefits far exceed the costs.

"I think it's a big deal," Glass said. "Nobody's ever done this."

The biggest talking points from the bill of rights are as follows:

• Indiana will offer what Glass calls the "Hoosiers for Life" program, a lifetime degree guarantee "open to any former student-athlete who was eligible for at least two seasons, left IU in good standing, did not transfer and is readmitted under university rules."

IU will cover tuition, books and fees for any former athletes who wish to return and complete their degree.

• Indiana will commit to multiyear scholarships instead of year-to-year renewals traditionally used in college athletics. Multiyear scholarships were approved by the NCAA in 2011, though most schools still employ the year-to-year format.

All full-scholarship sports at Indiana (men's and women's basketball, football, volleyball and women's tennis) will offer multiyear scholarships. Players in sports that offer partial scholarships will still agree to terms on a yearly basis but the amount can't be reduced "for reasons of illness, injury (or) because they're not good enough," Glass said.

"Our view is, most ADs have long-term contracts, most presidents have long-term contracts, most coaches have long-term contracts; shouldn't student-athletes?" Glass added.

• From this point forward, Indiana will cover the cost of education with its full scholarships, picking up the tab on items, such as one-time fees, that it does not currently pay for. Sports with partial scholarships will also cover certain fees, such as the cost of books.

Glass added that, should cost of attendance scholarships gain NCAA approval, Indiana's scholarships would increase to that level of financial support.

"The cost of attendance piece, we're not permitted to do that under NCAA rules," Glass said. "But it's something that, when it happens — and I'm confident it will happen — it's just something we should do."

• The bill of rights clearly spells out Indiana's comprehensive health coverage for all athletes, including extended coverage to non-scholarship athletes. Walk-ons previously had to cover certain fees, including physical exams.

Indiana will also take advantage of relaxed NCAA rules on what food it can provide to athletes to offer more snacks and nutritional support. All student-athletes will have access to training tables and other food offered by the university.

• Every Indiana athlete will be provided certain NCAA-approved extras, including a personal iPad and a blazer for formal occasions.

• Athletes will be guaranteed a place on any internal athletics search committee. In the past, this policy was adopted intermittently. Drew Allenspach, a member of the men's golf team at the time, was part of the committee that ultimately recommended Glass' hiring. But Glass said the inclusion of students on such committees has never been a hard and fast rule until now.

"Institutionalizing that, if and when we have search committees — and we don't always have them — we're going to include a student-athlete, I think that's a big deal," he said.

A player will be part of Indiana's committee to find a new baseball coach, according to Glass.

Indiana's announcement comes on the heels of a statement released earlier this week by the Big Ten's presidents and chancellors, supporting many similar reforms across intercollegiate athletics.

The Ed O'Bannon lawsuit, over the use of players' likeness and their ability to profit off it; the push led by former Northwestern quarterback/wide receiver Kain Colter to unionize college athletes; and other similar debates have put student-athletes' rights front and center.

Glass characterized college athletics as "under siege a little bit" because of the scrutiny directed at the NCAA's amateurism model.

Many of the talking points of that statement parallel Indiana's bill of rights, including a fresh call for multiyear scholarships and a commitment to supporting athletes who want to return to school to finish their degrees. Glass said Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany was excited by IU's approach when presented with it earlier this week.

"Frankly, I think the Big Ten's been a leader on this, even before the statement," Glass said. "We've all been talking about it as athletic directors for quite awhile, certainly since commissioner Delany has started to articulate some of the reforms that he'd like to see in place."

Indiana's bill of rights stands as the broadest implementation of those kinds of reforms to date, in Glass' view.

As he drew up his proposal, Glass said he met with students, coaches, Indiana's faculty athletics representative and school president Michael McRobbie.

The bill of rights will be implemented immediately and coaches are free to use it as part of their pitch to recruits.

Indiana has conducted cost estimates as part of the development of its bill of rights and Glass hopes the cost for the "Hoosiers for Life" program, which could reach millions of dollars per year, will eventually be funded by an endowment separate from athletics' annual budget.

Whatever costs are incurred, however, Glass is willing to shoulder.

"We're the first school ever to do this bill of rights. It includes some things that are discretionary, that we don't have to do, that are pretty costly," Glass said. "It's the right thing to do, and we're going to prioritize that."

Zach Osterman writes for The Indianapolis Star.