The Division I Committee on Infractions has placed Northern Arizona University on probation for three years and reduced financial aid equivalencies in the sport of football for one year resulting from violations of NCAA eligibility bylaws and institutional-control legislation.

The violations occurred during the fall semester of the 1999-00 academic year and involved one football student-athlete. During the fall semester, the student-athlete competed in six football games despite not having met conference-mandated academic standards to be eligible for competition.

On several occasions during the semester, changes in grades the student-athlete had earned the previous semester or the submission of an early grade caused his grade-point average to fluctuate below and above the minimum required by the Big Sky Conference to be eligible for competition. Though some of these actions caused the student-athlete's grade-point average to fall below the minimum, and thus cause him to be ineligible for competition, the university did not declare him ineligible, withhold him from competition and seek reinstatement of eligibility from the NCAA on any of the occasions.

The Committee on Infractions found the university failed to exercise appropriate institutional control because it did not declare the student-athlete ineligible, withhold him from competition and seek reinstatement from the NCAA before permitting him to compete. The university also did not learn in a timely fashion on two occasions that grade postings rendered the student-athlete ineligible and improperly applied an early grade posting to declare him eligible to compete.

The Committee on Infractions, the enforcement staff and the university agreed on the facts of case. The university disagreed that the violations were major violations and that they demonstrated a lack of institutional control. The university contended that the violations were secondary in nature and indicated a failure to monitor rather than a lack of institutional control.

The Committee on Infractions disagreed with that position for these reasons: there were inadequate procedures in place to notify the athletics department of grade changes for student-athletes; the university's failure to use the NCAA's procedures for student-athlete reinstatement and rules interpretations; and the university's failure to apply NCAA rules about early posting of grades was further evidence of lack of institutional control.

The committee also noted that the university did not consider information from the conference commissioner when he attempted to warn the institution about academic irregularities involving the student-athlete, that the university recognized upward grade changes much more quickly than downward adjustments and that the inquiry was initiated by an anonymous source rather than through self-detection.

The university imposed a number of corrective actions and penalties, which were considered by the committee. They are:

Vacated six contests in which the student-athlete participated while ineligible during the 1999 season.

Implemented a team approach to monitor the continuing eligibility of student-athletes. The "team" includes the faculty athletics representative, the director of compliance and the assistant director of athletics for academics and will involve frequent meetings to review eligibility.

Instituted a "computer hold" on student-athletes' academic accounts, which will not allow them to drop below 12 credit hours during any semester, without special permission from appropriate athletics department officials.

Implemented a daily academic status report which will flag any changes to a student-athlete's academic account.

Amended the institutional grade-change policy, which clarifies the circumstances under which a retroactive change can be made in a posted grade.

Because of the serious nature of the violations, including a lack of institutional control, the Committee on Infractions imposed the following additional penalties:

Public reprimand and censure.

Three years of probation from April 18, 2001.

The total number of athletically related financial aid equivalencies the institution may award in the sport of football will be limited to no more than 58 during the 2002-03 year. (The university has averaged nearly 62 football equivalencies in the previous four years.)

The university will vacate its team record and any individual records of the student-athlete who participated in the six contests while academically ineligible during the 1999 season. In conjunction with this penalty, the university's records regarding football will be reconfigured to reflect the vacation of the six contests in which the student-athlete competed during the 1999 season, including participation and performance in the 1999 Division I-AA Football Championship. This vacation of performances will be recorded in all publications in which football records for that season are reported, including, but not limited to, university media guides, recruiting material and university and NCAA archives. Any reference to the 1999 Division I-AA football playoff contest in which the university participated will be removed, including, but not limited to, athletics department publications, stationery and flags or banners displayed in public areas such as the stadium in which the football team competes.

Each year during the period of probation, the university will send the director of athletics, the head football coach, the faculty athletics representative, all compliance personnel and the primary individual in the registrar's office that is involved in academic eligibility to an NCAA regional compliance seminar.

During the probationary period, the university will continue to develop and implement a comprehensive education program on NCAA legislation and submit periodic reports to the NCAA. At the end of the probationary period, the university's president will provide a letter to the committee affirming that the university's current athletics policies and practices conform to all requirements of NCAA regulations.

As required by NCAA legislation for any institution involved in a major infractions case, Northern Arizona is subject to the NCAA's repeat-violator provisions for a five-year period beginning on the effective date of the penalties, which in this case is April 18, 2001.

The members of the Division I Committee on Infractions who heard this case are: Jack Friedenthal, committee chair and professor of law, George Washington University; Frederick B. Lacey, attorney and retired judge, LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae, Newark, New Jersey; Gene A. Marsh, professor of law, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa; James Park Jr., attorney and retired judge, Frost Brown Todd LLC, Lexington, Kentucky; Josephine R. Potuto, professor of law, University of Nebraska, Lincoln; and Thomas E. Yeager, commissioner, Colonial Athletic Association.

A copy of the complete report from the Division I Committee on Infractions is available at www.ncaa.org.