The NCAA released a report Feb. 22 detailing work-study violations by students in USM’s athletic department during the 2003-2004 academic year. The report also reflected the collegiate sports organization’s decision to follow recommendations set by the university to resolve the violations and safeguard from further fraud.
The majority of the violations were a result of work-study fraud facilitated by an athletic department’s assistant coordinator, who was given the responsibility of supervising the work-study students.
The assistant coordinator and an administrative assistant in the department were in violation of athletic department’s work-study policy and NCAA regulations when they offered students double pay for working during events held in the Costello Sports Complex and to document clocked hours not actually worked by students. One student was allowed to be paid by working under another student’s name after depleting her work-study funds.
“This came to Al’s (Bean, athletic director) and the universities’ attention late April of that school year, ’03-’04, when a student was overheard talking about it with a group of other students,” said Bob Caswell, executive director of public affairs. “The financial aid office and Al followed up on that immediately. As a matter of fact, a university investigation was initiated within 24 hours of that conversation being overheard.”
That overheard conversation led to an internal investigation by the university that extended into the fall 2004 semester. The athletic department determined that 42 students had fraudulently been paid for hours they did not work. Of these students, 37 were athletes.
USM’s athletic department filed its “self-report” of their investigation with the NCAA on Jan. 7, 2005.
“When it was determined that student-athletes, as well as non-athletes, were involved,” the NCAA report reads, “the director of athletics declared the student-athletes ineligible pending further investigation and NCAA review.”
Five non-athlete students were also involved. All 42 students involved were ordered to make full restitution and participate in community service projects. Athletes also needed to re-apply for NCAA eligibility. The investigation also pointed to eight athletic department staff that were involved or knew of the fraud.
“There were a handful of people that we were not able to get to make restitution,” said Bean, “and the (athletic) department made that restitution, so that financial aid books were made clear again.” Bean added that some students involved in the fraud were no longer in the university because they had graduated or moved on in some other way.
The NCAA commenced its review of the case and sent enforcement officers after the university filed their investigative findings. Because of continued efforts to cover up the fraud by the assistant coordinator and the administrative assistant, a decision was reached for almost two years. The NCAA’s report reads that their “actions constituted unethical conduct” because they were dishonest during the university’s investigation.
In early Jan. 2007, the university was informed that the NCAA had accepted the findings of USM’s internal investigation through a summary disposition process, in which the enforcement officers cooperated with USM’s recommendations based on an agreement of the facts. The case was then passed to the NCAA’s Infractions Committee, who determined what the penalties or sanctions may be.
“In this case,” said Bean, “(they) are all sanctions that, in our own self-report and throughout this process, is what we recommended to take place.”
The infractions report also reads that USM failed to provide education and training of the work-study program to its staff which would have ensured the program worked within NCAA regulations and “The failures by the institution to educate staff and institute proper work-study policies created an environment that allowed the violations to occur throughout the academic year.”
The Infractions Committee outlined in its report what the university is required to do during its probation. “.the institution shall establish and implement a comprehensive rules compliance education program,” reads the report. “Because this case involved two athletics staff members willfully committing rules violations and providing false and misleading information, the education program shall include ethics training.”
Bean had already made changes in policy after first learning of the fraud. “We have completely revised policy and procedure guidelines for both student employees and for staff supervisors,” he said. “There are multiple layers of checks now to try to prevent this from happening again.”
USM is required to submit a preliminary report to the NCAA by May 1.