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NCAA News Archive - 2003
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The NCAA News
The NCAA Committees on Infractions and the national office staff have agreed on a revised process for announcing infractions cases to ensure confidentiality and provide uniform parameters around the announcement period for each case.
"In recent discussions with Tom Yeager, the chair of the Committee on Infractions, and others within the national office, it has become evident that the policies surrounding the announcement of infractions cases should be strengthened to ensure the utmost confidentiality," said NCAA President Myles Brand. "As a component of this focused endeavor, the national office is increasing its efforts in the infractions area to ensure only those individuals that have a demonstrated need to know confidential details about any case have access to the pertinent information. The national office staff has always operated with the Association's confidentiality bylaws at the forefront of daily activity, and that commitment will not change."
The mission of the NCAA enforcement program is to reduce violations of NCAA legislation and impose appropriate penalties if violations occur. Once all parties have responded to allegations brought by the enforcement staff, an administrative hearing date is set with the Committee on Infractions. The hearing is an administrative procedure, not a trial.
"It is important to draw a distinction between the administrative hearing and an actual trial," Brand said. "While the facts concerning some allegations may be in dispute during an infractions case, in many instances all parties agree that a violation did in fact occur. Therefore, during an administrative hearing, discussion often surrounds the circumstances of the violations and whether mitigation should apply to possible penalties."
Once both sides have presented their facts and comments on the penalties, the Committee on Infractions deliberates in private, and its only communication with the institution or enforcement staff is to obtain clarifying information. To maintain the credibility of the infractions process, Brand said it is critical that information surrounding individual cases remain strictly confidential.
The process concludes with an announcement detailing the findings of fact by the committee and any penalties that have been assessed by the committee. It is at the announcement stage that the following policies will be applied to the public release of the Committee on Infractions and Infractions Appeals Committee cases.
Infractions release timeline
The date of the public release is set by the chair of the Committee on Infractions.
Forty-eight hours before the media announcement:
The infractions report is provided to the media relations liaison by the director of the Committee on Infractions, in order for the media relations liaison to contact the institution about the date for the telephonic press conference.
The enforcement staff vice-president, supervisor and investigator are provided a copy of the full infractions report.
The media relations liaison prepares the media release and the enforcement staff checks the release for factual inaccuracies. The enforcement staff does not comment on the penalties except for clarification purposes.
Upon completion, the draft media release is provided to the director for the Committee on Infractions staff for factual review.
Twenty-four hours before the media announcement:
The infractions report and media release are provided to the institution and appropriate involved parties by the director for the Committee on Infractions for factual review. In exceptional cases, release of the report may be delayed.
8 a.m. Eastern time on the day of the media announcement:
The public and media relations office sends a media alert announcing the telephonic press conference time and institution involved.
The NCAA Web site coordinator receives the final public infractions report and release for placement on NCAA Online.
One hour before the media announcement:
The infractions case media release is placed online.
3 p.m. Eastern time on the day of the media announcement:
A telephonic press conference is conducted by the media relations liaison, with the chair of the Committee on Infractions providing preliminary remarks and responding to questions from the media. Institutional representatives may listen to the call but are not permitted to participate.
During the telephonic media announcement:
The public infractions report is placed on the NCAA Web site.
Infractions appeals release timeline
The date of the public release is set by the chair of the Infractions Appeals Committee.
Forty-eight hours before the media announcement:
The primary liaison for the Infractions Appeals Committee provides the infractions report to a member of the media relations staff.
The media relations liaison prepares the media release, which upon completion is provided to the chair of the Infractions Appeals Committee.
Twenty-four hours before the media announcement:
The Infractions Appeals Committee liaison provides the report and media release to the institution/individual, the Infractions Appeals Committee and the Committee on Infractions. In exceptional cases, release of the report may be delayed.
8 a.m. Eastern time on the day of the media announcement:
If needed, the public and media relations staff will send a media alert announcing the telephonic press conference time and institution involved.
The NCAA Web site coordinator receives the final report for placement on NCAA Online.
3 p.m. Eastern time on the day of the media announcement:
The public and media relations staff alerts the media that the release and report are available online. (In the event a telephonic press conference is scheduled, the above timeline for the Committee on Infractions will be the standard.)
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