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Athletics Investigation Handbook (2015 Edition)
A Guide for Institutions and Involved Parties during the NCAA Enforcement Process
By Michael L. Buckner iUniverse
Copyright © 2015 Michael L. Buckner
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4917-6119-9
CHAPTER 1
NCAA MEMBERSHIP, THE ENFORCEMENT STAFF, AND THE COMMITTEES ON INFRACTIONS
During the NCAA enforcement process, member institutions and involved individuals interact on one or more occasions with the NCAA enforcement staff, the committees on infractions, the infractions appeals committees, and athletic conference officials. This section provides a brief description of these groups and their role in the NCAA enforcement process.
The NCAA and NCAA Member Institutions
The National Collegiate Athletic Association ("NCAA" or the "Association") is a voluntary organization of about 1,200 colleges and universities, athletic conferences, and affiliated sports organizations devoted to the "sound administration of intercollegiate athletics" (NCAA n.d.). A member institution is a college or university with one of three categories of membership (active, conference, and affiliated) in the association (NCAA Constitution 3.01, 3.02.3.1, 3.02.3.2, and 3.02.3.3). NCAA legislation describes the requirements, rights, and privileges for each membership category (NCAA Constitution 3.02.3). The membership is divided into three divisions: Divisions I, II, and III. NCAA Bylaw 20 defines the criteria for membership in each division.
An NCAA member institution employs administrators who have designated responsibilities concerning the operation of its athletic program, including a chief executive officer, director of athletics, faculty athletics representative, senior woman administrator, compliance officer, and other selected administrators.
A chief executive officer (e.g., president, chancellor) is responsible for the implementation of the strategic plan and policies established by the institutional or university system board of trustees/regents. The chief executive officer also oversees the institution's operations. Under NCAA legislation, a chief executive officer has the ultimate responsibility and authority for the conduct of an institution's athletic program.
A director of athletics is responsible for the operations of an institution's athletic program. A faculty athletics representative is a member of an institution's faculty or administrative staff who is designated by the chief executive officer to represent the institution and its faculty in the institution's relationships with the NCAA and its athletic conference (NCAA Constitution 4.02.2). A senior woman administrator is the highest-ranking female administrator involved with the conduct of a member institution's athletic program (NCAA Constitution 4.02.4.1). A compliance officer coordinates the administration of an institution's athletic compliance program. An institution may employ other administrators with varying titles and responsibilities to assist in the operation of the athletic program.
Athletic Conference
An athletic conference is "a group of colleges and/or universities that conducts competition among its members and determines a conference champion in one or more sports (in which the NCAA conducts championships or for which it is responsible for providing playing rules for intercollegiate competition)" (NCAA Constitution 3.02.3.2). A conference commissioner oversees the operations of an athletic conference.
NCAA Rules and Athletic Compliance Programs
The NCAA and its membership are governed by the association's constitution, rules, and regulations, called bylaws or legislation. Bylaws are introduced and voted on by division-specific boards, councils, and committees, which are comprised of representatives from the NCAA membership. Some bylaws are common among all divisions, while others are applicable only to members in a specific division, sub-division or a defined subset within a sub-division (i.e., "Power 5" conferences). (For the purposes of this book, division-specific legislation will be denoted by the applicable division.) The NCAA Constitution and bylaws are published annually in a division-specific NCAA Manual. The NCAA Constitution and bylaws can also be accessed on the NCAA website (http://www.ncaa.org).
Member institutions are required to establish a compliance program to ensure that athletic programs adhere to NCAA legislation. In particular, an institution is expected to maintain a centrally coordinated system that ensures effective communication, organization, documentation, and evaluation of its compliance program (Division I Committee on Infractions, 1996, 1–7).
Involved Parties or Individuals
An involved party or involved individual is a person or organization implicated or named directly or indirectly in an alleged violation of NCAA legislation. Involved individuals can include campus and athletic department administrators (e.g., chief executive officer, director of athletics, vice president), institutional personnel (e.g., faculty, staff), coaches, student-athletes, or representatives of the institution's athletics interests.
A student-athlete is a student who: (a) was recruited by an institution or a representative of the institution's athletics interests to participate in the institution's athletic program; or (b) reports for an intercollegiate athletic team that is under the jurisdiction of the institution's athletic program (Bylaw 12.02.10).
A representative of the institution's athletics interests ("athletic representative") is an individual, independent agency, corporate entity, or other organization that is known, or that should have been known, by a member of the institution's administration to: (a) have participated in or been a member of an agency or organization promoting the institution's athletic program; (b) have made financial contributions to the athletic department or to an athletic booster organization of the institution; (c) be assisting or to have been requested by athletic staff to assist in the recruitment of prospective student-athlete; (d) be assisting or have assisted in providing benefits to enrolled student-athletes or their families; or (e) have been involved otherwise in promoting the institution's athletic program (Bylaw 13.02.14). Most important, an individual, independent agency, corporate entity, or other organization identified as an athletic representative retains that identity indefinitely (Bylaw 13.02.14.1).
NCAA Enforcement Staff
The stated mission of the NCAA enforcement staff is "to act as a means of accountability for member institutions by seeking out and processing information relating to possible major and secondary violations of NCAA legislation in accordance with the policies and procedures enacted by the NCAA membership" (Enforcement/Infractions, 2004). The vice president for enforcement services is responsible for the operations of the NCAA enforcement services group. A team of managing directors and directors of enforcement assists the vice president. Directors of major enforcement supervise teams of assistant directors that investigate alleged major violations of NCAA legislation (Enforcement/Infractions, 2004). The enforcement services group have a staff that processes alleged secondary violations of NCAA legislation and a staff that develops information (specifically, with a focus on strategically building knowledge, meaningful contacts and actionable leads to better inform investigations). Further, the enforcement services group assigns individuals to focus on several key areas of emphasis including: agents; football; men's and women's basketball; and sports wagering (NCAA n.d.).
Committees on Infractions and Infractions Appeals Committees
The committees on infractions and infractions appeals committees are independent bodies composed of individuals from NCAA member institutions, athletic conferences, and the general public. Each NCAA division has its own committee on infractions and appeals committee. The committees are responsible for the administration of the NCAA enforcement program (Bylaw 19.1). A full team of NCAA staff members assist the committees in drafting reports and letters, arranging committee travel, and planning committee meetings (NCAA, n.d.; Enforcement/ Infractions, 2004).
The committees have the authority to: (a) consider complaints concerning a member's failure to maintain NCAA academic or athletic standards or membership conditions or obligations; (b) devise and amend policies and procedures for the NCAA enforcement process; (c) establish facts related to alleged violations and discover violations of NCAA legislation; (d) impose an appropriate penalty or show-cause requirement on a member found to be involved in a major violation (or in appeals involving secondary violations), or recommend suspension or termination of membership to the division-specific board of directors or president's council; and (e) carry out any other duties directly related to the administration of the enforcement program (Bylaw 19.3.6).
The Division I Committee on Infractions is composed of not more than 24 representatives from Division I member institutions, athletic conferences and the general public (NCAA Division I Bylaw 19.3.1). Unless ordered otherwise by the chair of the Committee on Infractions, cases involving Level I or Level II violations will be presented to and decided by hearing panels consisting of not less than five and not more than seven members of the full Committee on Infractions and chaired by a chief hearing officer (NCAA Division I Bylaws 19.3.3 and 19.3.8). For each case set for hearing and in consultation with the chair of the Committee on Infractions, the chief hearing officer designates a panel member or other member of the committee to serve as the committee appeals advocate for any appeal from the decision of the panel (NCAA Division I Bylaw 19.3.8). The committee appeals advocates represent the committee on matters appealed to the Division I Infractions Appeals Committee (NCAA Division I Bylaw 19.3.8). The committee meets up to six times per year for two- or three-day sessions at locations throughout the country (Enforcement/Infractions, 2004).
The Division II Committee on Infractions consists of seven members, including one member of the Division II Management Council and one individual from the general public (NCAA Division II Bylaw 19.1.1). One of the committee members serves as a liaison from the Division II President's Council (Enforcement/Infractions, 2004). The committee meets on an as-needed basis (Enforcement/Infractions, 2004).
The Division III Committee on Infractions is composed of five members, including one member from the Management Council and one member from the general public (NCAA Division III Bylaw 19.1.1). The committee meets on an as-needed basis (Enforcement/Infractions, 2004).
An infractions appeals committee exists in Divisions I, II, and III. The appeals committees are bodies charged with hearing and deciding on appeals concerning the findings of major violations by each division's committee on infractions.
CHAPTER 2
DIVISION I: THE NCAA ENFORCEMENT PROCESS
Introduction
In October 2012, the NCAA Division I Board of Directors adopted an overhaul of the enforcement structure. The revision created additional levels of violations, revamped the investigation process, and enhanced penalties for the most serious rules violations. The new enforcement process for Division I member institutions includes the following features:
• A four-tier violation structure that tops off with "severe breaches of conduct" and sets "incidental infractions" as the lowest violation category. The structure replaces the two-tier approach (major and secondary violations) and is designed to focus most on conduct breaches that seriously undermine or threaten the integrity of the NCAA Constitution and bylaws.
• Head coach responsibility/accountability enhancement as well as potential consequences for head coaches who fail to direct their staffs and student-athletes to uphold NCAA bylaws. The penalties under the new process can include game suspensions ranging from 10 percent of the season to an entire season.
• Division I Committee on Infractions membership increases from ten to as many as twenty-four voting members. Infractions cases are processed by panels of the full committee.
• Penalties (e.g., postseason bans, scholarship reductions, recruiting limits, head coach suspensions, show-cause orders, and financial penalties) that align with the severity of the violations. Further, the new penalty structure emphasizes aggravating and mitigating circumstances in each case.
• Shared-responsibility emphasis, which includes highlighting "a culture among head coaches, the compliance community, institutional leadership and conferences to assume a shared responsibility for upholding the values of intercollegiate athletics."
• The new enforcement process became effective on August 1, 2013. Starting on that date, the NCAA began processing cases by these rules:
• Breaches of conduct (violations) that occurred before October 30, 2012, and were processed before August 1, 2013, were subject to the former process and penalties.
• Breaches of conduct that occurred before October 30, 2012, and were processed after August 1, 2013, were subject to the new process; however, such cases would incur the more lenient of the two penalty structures.
• Breaches of conduct that occurred before and after October 30, 2012, and were processed after August 1, 2013, would be subject to the new process and the revised penalties as long as most of the violations occurred after October 30, 2012.
• Breaches of conduct that occurred after October 30, 2012, and were processed after August 1, 2013, were subject to the new process and the revised penalty structure.
The Four-Tier Violations Structure
Level I: Severe Breach of Conduct
Violations that seriously undermine or threaten the integrity of the NCAA collegiate model as set forth in the constitution and bylaws, including any violation that provides or is intended to provide a substantial or extensive recruiting, competitive, or other advantage, or a substantial or extensive impermissible benefit. Multiple Level II and III violations may collectively be considered a severe breach of conduct.
Level II: Significant Breach of Conduct
Violations that provide or are intended to provide more than a minimal but less than a substantial or extensive recruiting, competitive, or other advantage. Such violations include more than a minimal but less than a substantial or extensive impermissible benefit or involve conduct that may compromise the integrity of the NCAA collegiate model as set forth in the constitution and bylaws. Multiple Level III violations may collectively be considered a significant breach of conduct.
Level III: Breach of Conduct
Violations that are isolated or limited in nature, provide no more than a minimal recruiting, competitive, or other advantage, and do not include more than a minimal impermissible benefit. Multiple or repeated Level IV violations may collectively be considered a breach of conduct.
Level IV: Incidental Infractions
Minor infractions that are inadvertent and isolated, technical in nature, and result in a negligible competitive advantage. Level IV infractions generally will not affect eligibility for intercollegiate athletics.
Revised Procedures to Investigate and Process Alleged Rules Violations
The NCAA enforcement process addresses instances wherein a member institution is in noncompliance with NCAA legislation. Some athletic conferences, including the Pacific-12 Conference, also have formal enforcement processes to review alleged violations of conference and NCAA rules. The enforcement process is designed to be a cooperative program involving member institutions, involved individuals, athletic conferences, and the NCAA enforcement staff to: (a) reduce violations of NCAA legislation; and (b) impose appropriate corrective measures and penalties if violations occurred at an institution.
Initiation of the Enforcement Process
The NCAA enforcement process in Division I is initiated in a number of ways. For example, the NCAA enforcement staff can initiate an investigation when it receives information or an allegation from a media report or an anonymous or nonattributable source (e.g., high-school and college coaches, student-athletes, the general public) concerning a possible violation of NCAA legislation at a member institution. In addition, enforcement staff investigations begin after a member institution discovers and self-reports violations to the staff. Finally, the enforcement staff makes proactive efforts to discover potential violations, including: (a) interviewing highly recruited prospective student-athletes and student-athletes who have transferred from member institutions; or (b) attending selected athletic contests and events (e.g., high-school or two-year college all-star games) that may be attended by college coaches.
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Excerpted from Athletics Investigation Handbook (2015 Edition) by Michael L. Buckner. Copyright © 2015 Michael L. Buckner. Excerpted by permission of iUniverse.
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