The Division I Committee on Infractions has placed the University of Memphis on two years of probation for violations involving the women's volleyball and men's track and field and cross country programs.

The case was resolved through the summary-disposition process rather than a formal hearing. Summary disposition is used when there is agreement among the involved parties as to the facts of the case. The Committee on Infractions reviewed the agreement and the penalties recommended by the institution.

Gene A. Marsh, committee chair and professor of law at the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, said full cooperation by the institution, the enforcement staff and all parties must be present for the summary-disposition process to be used. "The committee agreed with the findings in this case and all sides felt the penalties were appropriate," he said.

During the spring semesters of the 2000-01, 2001-02 and 2002-03 academic years, the head women's volleyball coach required student-athletes to participate in individual skill instruction. Under NCAA legislation, spring skill instruction must be optional and held at the request of student-athletes. Twelve weeks of mandatory skill instruction were held over three years.

In addition, two student-athletes were required to participate in one hour of additional conditioning each morning during the spring of 2001. As a result, the women exceeded the weekly out-of-season conditioning limit of eight hours.

During August 2001, 2002 and 2003, the team's strength coach conducted mandatory strength and conditioning tests before the first permissible preseason practice.

"Weekly practice limits and permissible practice dates exist for a variety of reasons, most notably to ensure fair competition and to regulate the burden athletics places on the lives and academic pursuits of student-athletes," Marsh said.

The institution's failure to detect these extra activities resulted in a finding of failure to monitor its women's volleyball program.

The violations involving the men's track and field and cross country programs involved participation by two international student-athletes who gained eligibility by falsifying their student transcripts.

The first student-athlete provided two transcripts from a four-year institution in Europe. The two transcripts were inconsistent and should have led to an investigation by the admissions office. The student-athlete revealed during the NCAA investigation that the second transcript had been altered to included courses that were not taken.

A second student-athlete, who in his first semester fell one credit hour short of what was needed to be eligible for competition, claimed to have earned the necessary hours while enrolled in summer school at a European institution. It later was determined that the student-athlete was not enrolled at the institution and never earned the hours.

Both student-athletes were declared ineligible before the 2004 fall semester and have not competed since. Their financial aid was not renewed for the current academic year.

The institution's failure to detect and investigate these cases of academic fraud resulted in a finding of failure to monitor the men's track and cross country programs.

The penalties imposed by the Committee on Infractions were agreed upon by the enforcement staff and the institution. The two-year probation will expire October 20, 2007.

During the probationary period, the university shall continue to develop and implement a comprehensive educational program on NCAA legislation, including seminars and testing designed for coaches, the faculty athletics representative, athletics department personnel, and university staff responsible for certification of student-athletes for admission, retention, financial aid or competition.

The university must submit a preliminary report to the NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions by December 15, 2005, that includes a schedule for establishing the compliance and educational program. It also must file annual compliance reports indicating progress made with this program.

Additional penalties include:

* Public reprimand and censure.

• A reduction in preseason volleyball practice opportunities from 29 to 26 for fall 2005 and reduction of the spring conditioning period by one-week in 2006.

• The head volleyball coach must attend an NCAA Compliance Seminar at her own expense. In addition, she may not attend one week of the spring conditioning period, and her contract renewal has been delayed. A letter of reprimand has been placed in her personnel file.

• A reduction in men's track and cross country scholarships by a total of three for the 2005-06 and 2006-07 academic years. The institution may choose when to implement the reductions.

• The institution made adjustments to individual and team track and cross country records to vacate the performances of the two ineligible student-athletes.

The institution must submit a copy of this report to its regional accrediting agency.

In addition to Marsh, the members of the Committee on Infractions who reviewed this case were Paul T. Dee, director of athletics at the University of Miami (Florida); Alfred J. Lechner, Jr., vice-president at Tyco International (US) Inc., Princeton, New Jersey; Edward Leland, director of athletics at Stanford University; James Park Jr., an attorney in Lexington, Kentucky; Josephine Potuto, professor of law and faculty athletics representative at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln; and Thomas E. Yeager, commissioner of the Colonial Athletic Association.