Kentucky Wesleyan College has been notified that the NCAA has resolved its infractions case through the process of summary disposition. The college and the NCAA agreed that Kentucky Wesleyan had committed a series of violations in the areas of student-athlete eligibility certification, tracking of countable athletically related activities and monitoring of promotional activities in eight sports from 1998-2005 and that the athletic program lacked proper administrative control.
For these infractions, KWC and the NCAA have agreed to the following penalties:
A. Public reprimand and censure.
B. Three years of probation beginning on July 14, 2006, and expiring on July 13, 2009 with no postseason ban on any sport.
C. Reduction of one full scholarship for men's basketball for the 2006-07 season.
D. Reduction of a partial scholarship for baseball during the 2007 season.
E. The eligibility of all transfer student-athletes shall be certified by the conference office throughout the period of probation.
F. The institution lacked a viable compliance program, resulting in 45 student-athletes being improperly certified as eligible for financial aid, practice and competition when they should not have been. The institution gained a substantial competitive advantage over institutions that were properly certifying student-athletes. Therefore, the institution will vacate all contests in which student-athletes 1-45 competed while ineligible. The records of the head coaches in the affected sports must be reconfigured to reflect the vacated records/results and the vacated records shall be included in all publications in which records and performances are referenced, including but not limited to media guides, recruiting materials, websites, institution and NCAA archives. Any public reference to any team performance that includes a vacated result shall be removed, including but not limited to athletic department stationary and banners displayed in public areas such as the venues in which the affected teams compete.
G. The institution shall initiate an external review of its campus compliance system as soon as one can be scheduled. The institution shall comply with all recommendations made by the reviewer in a timely fashion. If the institution needs help or guidance in scheduling the review or finding a qualified reviewer, it should contact NCAA Membership Services.
H. During the probationary period, the institution 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.
I. The institution shall submit a preliminary compliance report to the Division II Committee on Infractions by September 15, 2006, and annual reports due on May 15 of each year during the probationary period. The preliminary report shall set forth a schedule for establishing the compliance and educations program. The annual reports shall include documentation of compliance with all the penalties imposed by the committee and will emphasize the education of campus personnel, the education of boosters and the creation of a comprehensive campus-wide compliance system.
J. At the end of the probation period the president of the institution shall recertify in a letter to the office of the Committees on Infractions that all the institution's current athletics policies and practices conform to all requirements of NCAA regulation.
“I am pleased that the NCAA found no evidence to indicate that the violations were intentional and designed to gain recruiting or competitive advantages,†stated Wayne Foster, chair of the Kentucky Wesleyan College Board of Trustees.
President Anne Federlein said, “We at Kentucky Wesleyan are relieved to complete this investigation, especially in such a positive manner. Kentucky Wesleyan athletics is now in a position to regain its positive reputation and get back to the business of excellent athletic competition.â€
Joe B. Campbell, a Bowling Green attorney, guided Kentucky Wesleyan through this investigation. In a letter to President Federlein, Campbell wrote,
“By providing leadership and making tough, but necessary decisions, you impressed the NCAA and the Great Lakes Valley Conference with your willingness to investigate the allegations, truthfully report your findings and make the changes necessary to implement a “culture†consistent with the constitution, by-laws, rules and regulations of the NCAA.
Under NCAA rule 6.1.1, the ultimate responsibility and final authority for institutional control rests with the institution’s chief executive officer. Your recognition of these principles and willingness to make the changes necessary to return “control†of athletics to the administration was, in my opinion, the primary reason the NCAA was willing to resolve this matter in summary fashion, without major penalties beyond those already implemented by the conference office and KWC. The personnel changes you made were essential to the final outcome.
I have been involved in several NCAA investigations over the past seventeen (17) years. In my opinion, the leadership and courage displayed by you and your staff is among the very best I have witnessed. KWC’s athletic department, which was sinking when you arrived, has been righted. The favorable summary disposition by the NCAA is a direct testament to the actions you have taken. I congratulate you and, more importantly, congratulate KWC for this outstanding result.â€
Summary Disposition Background
After nearly three and half years of investigation (one year with the GLVC, and two and a half years with the NCAA), the NCAA resolved the case through the summary disposition process. According to the NCAA investigation staff, the NCAA was pleased with KWC’s spirit of cooperation and the policy and personnel changes made by President Federlein. Therefore, they were willing to conclude this case without a formal hearing. According to Mike Fagan, Vice President of Academic Affairs, summary disposition is somewhat like plea bargaining. The college admits to committing violations and agrees to accept an appropriate penalty.
The NCAA gave the college a tentative list of violations and a format for writing the summary disposition report which was co-authored by KWC and the NCAA. Kentucky Wesleyan began to write their portion of the report in October 2005, and submitted a draft to the NCAA in November 2005.
This agreement was first reviewed by the NCAA in February 2006. The Committee on Infractions did not adopt the summary disposition report at that time and requested more information be provided. The College resubmitted the report with the additional requested information. After the committee received the additional items requested it again reviewed the summary disposition report in May 2006, and at that time the committee adopted the report. Kentucky Wesleyan College was officially notified on Thursday, July 13, 2006.
Case Background
The investigation began with a February 2003, request to Kentucky Wesleyan from the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) for athletics eligibility
documentation of four men’s basketball student-athletes. The documents submitted by the institution revealed that two of the four identified individuals had not met NCAA transfer eligibility requirements. Subsequently, on May 12, 2003, Kentucky Wesleyan submitted to the NCAA acknowledgement of violations involving two student-athletes.
Also in May 2003, the GLVC, concerned that there might be other violations of NCAA regulations in the conduct and administration of the Kentucky Wesleyan athletics program, requested the GLVC form a committee and make an on-site investigation of Kentucky Wesleyan’s athletics compliance procedures. The site-visit team also was instructed to report any additional NCAA and GLVC violations discovered. The site visit was conducted on August 2003.
Prior to its visit, the site team requested copies of athletic-related documents to review. During this preparation, a number of possible secondary violations were identified by KWC officials. These potential violations were documented and provided to the site-visit team. Later, these secondary violations were reported to the NCAA in a September 2003 letter.
The GLVC communicated to the NCAA that the conference desired the NCAA enforcement staff conduct an investigation of the Kentucky Wesleyan athletics program based on the belief the GLVC had that possible violations of NCAA regulations were occurring.
The NCAA enforcement staff began interviewing potential witnesses to the case in January 2004. In June 2004, the enforcement staff visited the Owensboro campus and interviewed a number of key institutional staff members, a faculty member and several students-athletes. In October 2004, the NCAA investigation staff returned to campus for more interviews.
The case mainly involved violations in the areas of student-athlete eligibility certification, tracking of countable athletically related activities and monitoring of promotional activities. The violations occurred as a result of the institution’s failure to monitor its athletic program and install an adequate rules compliance system operated by individuals possessing appropriate background and knowledge. This was Kentucky Wesleyan College’s first major infractions case.
