The NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions has penalized Florida International University for major NCAA rules violations in its athletics program. The violations include ineligible participation, misapplied financial aid rules and a lack of institutional control.

Penalties for the violations, including those self-imposed by the institution, include four years of probation, a vacation of records and reductions of scholarships in 11 sports.

During the five academic years from 2002-03 through 2006-07, 45 student-athletes in 15 sports were allowed to compete while ineligible as a result of the university's misapplication of basic NCAA eligibility rules. These misapplied rules pertained to full-time enrollment, progress-toward-degree requirements, the “five year” eligibility rule, squad lists and transfers. The university also over-awarded athletics scholarships in three equivalency sports – men’s and women’s soccer and women’s golf – from 2004-05 through 2006-07.

The committee found the violations coincided with the university’s rapid move from classification as a Division I Football Championship Subdivision member to a Football Bowl Subdivision member. Within four years of the inception of its football program, the university was playing in the highest classification and had added about 100 student-athletes to the university’s athletics squads.

The committee noted that the university’s compliance effort was not expanded or improved as the athletics program grew. The athletics compliance office and academic advising units were understaffed, and not all departments on campus had been integrated into the compliance effort. In addition, personnel making eligibility certification decisions were not properly educated on NCAA rules and were making decisions using a software system that at times did not contain all of the relevant information.

In determining the penalties, the Committee on Infractions considered the university’s cooperation in the investigation; the recent substantial improvements in the compliance system; its status as repeat violator (it is currently on probation from a 2005 case); self-imposed penalties and corrective actions. The penalties are as follows:

•         Public reprimand and censure.

•         Four additional years of probation to be added to the end of the institution’s current probationary period (May 20, 2008). As a result, the institution’s probationary period is extended through May 19, 2012.

•         The university will vacate all wins in which the 45 student-athletes competed while ineligible, including participation in any NCAA championship. The individual records of the ineligible student-athletes will be vacated as well, including any records accumulated during championship competition. Further, the university’s records regarding each affected sport, as well as the record of the former head coaches in those sports, will reflect the vacated records and be recorded in all records publications including, but not limited to, university media guides, recruiting material and university and NCAA archives. Any public reference to tournament performances or individual championships won during this time will be removed, including, but not limited to, athletics department stationery and banners displayed in public areas such as the arenas in which the affected teams compete. Finally, any championship awards shall be returned to the NCAA national office.

•         Reduction of grants-in-aid as follows:

Football, three in 2008-09 (self-imposed by the institution);

Baseball, 1.5 reductions in 2007-08 (self-imposed by the institution);

Men’s basketball, one reduction in 2007-08 (self-imposed by the institution);

Men’s soccer, 4.3 total, with a reduction of 3.06 in 2007-08 and 1.26 in 2008-09 (self-imposed by the institution);

Softball, one reduction in 2007-08 (self-imposed by the institution);

Women’s golf, .04 in 2007-08 (self-imposed by the institution);

Women’s swimming/diving, .50 reduction in 2008-09 (self-imposed by the institution);

Women’s soccer, 3.48 total, with reduction of 2.26 in 2007-08 and 1.22 in 2008-09 (self-imposed by the institution);

Women’s tennis; one reduction in 2008-09 (self-imposed by the institution);

Men’s track/cross country; 1.5 reduction in 2008-09 (self-imposed by the institution);

Women’s track/cross country; two reductions in 2008-09 (self-imposed by the institution);

Women’s volleyball, one reduction in 2007-08 (self-imposed by the institution).

The Committee on Infractions consists of conference and institutional athletics administrators, faculty and members of the public. The committee independently rules on cases investigated by the NCAA enforcement staff and determines appropriate penalties. The committee’s findings may be appealed to the Infractions Appeals Committee.

The members of the Committee on Infractions who reviewed this case are Josephine Potuto, the Richard H. Larson Professor of Constitutional Law at the University of Nebraska College of Law and chair of the committee; Alfred Lechner Jr., attorney; Dennis Thomas, the commissioner of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference and formerly director of athletics at Hampton University; Andrea Meyers, athletic director emeritus, Indiana State University; Gene Marsh, James M. Kidd Sr. Professor of Law at the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa School of Law; Jack Friedenthal, professor at George Washington University National Law Center; Thomas Phillips, attorney with the Austin, Texas office of the law firm Baker Botts and formerly the chief justice of the Texas Supreme Court; Dennis Thomas, the commissioner of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference and formerly director of athletics at Hampton University; and Yvonne “Bonnie” Slatton, professor of physical education and sport science, University of Iowa.