The NCAA Division II Committee on Infractions has placed Benedict College on probation for three years and vacated football victories and records due to a number of NCAA violations, including lack of institutional control over the athletics program.

In its public infractions report, the committee said the institution, which became an NCAA member in September 2002, failed to have in place an adequate system of rules compliance.

"Specifically, athletics compliance did not involve all aspects of the university community from the president on down, including the offices of admissions, financial aid, the registrar and the faculty athletics representative," the report stated.

The committee said the lack of a compliance system led to a number of violations in the areas of transfer eligibility, full-time enrollment status and the recording of athletically related activities. In addition, the committee felt the environment prevented the timely discovery of a serious academic-fraud violation.

The scope and nature of the violations and the lack of an adequate compliance system led to a finding of lack of institutional control. The institution's president disagreed with this finding, telling the committee that its system was adequate because relatively few violations were discovered.

The committee disagreed, saying that as a new NCAA member the institution is "required to have a fully functioning compliance system in place, operated by properly trained individuals. In this case, the violations occurred because a comprehensive compliance system was lacking on campus."

Specifically, the lack of a compliance system led to the participation of two football players during the 2001 and 2002 seasons even though they were not full-time students. The committee said those violations occurred because the institution failed to incorporate the registrar into its compliance system.

In addition, a number of football student-athletes were allowed to compete and three received financial aid during the 2000-01 and 2001-02 academic years in violation of bylaws governing transfer students. Two of those student-athletes did not complete a year of residency before competing. One student-athlete was granted an exception to the transfer requirement without receiving the necessary permission from his previous institution. Three others who transferred from two-year colleges were allowed to compete even though they had not graduated or earned the minimum of 24 semester hours (or 36 quarter hours) from their previous institutions.

The committee also found that the institution failed to record countable hours for athletically related activities for the football team, even though it engaged in spring practices and scrimmages. While the institution contended that the violation was inadvertent, the committee pointed out that the rule exists for the welfare of student-athletes.

"Excessive practice demands upon student-athletes can lead and have led to academic difficulties and, in recent years, to serious health issues for a number of young people on member campuses," the committee stated.

Finally, the committee reached a finding of academic fraud after an administrative assistant in the institution's department of business and economics changed grades in 11 courses over four semesters for a football student-athlete. The student-athlete's actual grades would have rendered him ineligible for competition.

The committee said that the institution's compliance director learned of possible grade tampering but, after reviewing the transcripts, determined that no fraud had occurred.

The fraud was later uncovered during a routine audit of the administrative assistant's student records before her graduation. The student-athlete's involvement was discovered only after it was determined that the administrative assistant had changed some of her own grades. The student-athlete denies the charges, but the institution agrees to the facts of his involvement.

The compliance director's failure to alert academic officials outside the athletics department of possible academic fraud also contributed to the committee's finding of lack of institutional control. The institution did not agree with the finding that the compliance director did not take appropriate action.

"The fact that other departments of the university were not brought into the investigation of an issue as significant as academic fraud demonstrates a lack of institutional control and a failure to monitor the athletics program," the infractions report stated.

As a result, the committee has placed Benedict College on probation until April 11, 2007.

During the probationary period, the university shall implement a comprehensive educational program for coaches, athletics department staff, the faculty athletics representative, and all staff responsible for admission, eligibility certification, retention and financial aid tracking. The program should include seminars and testing on rules compliance and record keeping.

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

It also must request a compliance review by the NCAA membership services staff and comply with all recommendations made by the reviewer.

At the end of the probation, the institution's president must certify by letter that all NCAA regulations are being met.

In addition, the institution will be publicly reprimanded and censured. It also must vacate all victories and records related to the participation of ineligible student-athletes.

The committee recognizes that the former student-athlete involved in the academic-fraud case has now exhausted his eligibility. The student-athlete will be informed in writing that should he seek athletically related employment or affiliation with an NCAA member institution within the next five years, he and the institution must appear before the Committee on Infractions to determine whether the institution should be subject to the show-cause procedures contained in Division II Bylaw 19.5.2.2 (k), which would limit his athletically related duties at the institution.

The members of the NCAA Division II Committee on Infractions who heard the case are Larry Blumberg, committee chair and faculty athletics representative, Washburn University of Topeka; Les Brinson, faculty athletics representative, North Carolina Central University; Mike Marcil, commissioner, Sunshine State Conference; and James Park Jr., attorney, Lexington, Kentucky.