NCAA Rejects Academic Fraud Recommendations

D3Playbook OCTOBER 8, 2019 | written by Steve Ulrich your must-read briefing on what's driving the day in NCAA Division III

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1. NCAA Rejected Recommendations to Halt Academic Fraud "Newly released NCAA records show a Pac-12 president came up with a way to help the NCAA catch schools who fraudulently help student athletes stay eligible and avoid complaints of NCAA enforcement overreach. But his proposal failed after an NCAA committee found little support from athletic conferences. University of Oregon President Michael Schill made the proposal for a panel of university presidents who are not serving on NCAA committees to identify egregious academic fraud. He said having a panel of academics making that decision would address long-standing opposition member schools have had toward letting NCAA officials determining what constitutes academic fraud. NCAA rules currently leave that decision to the members. But Schill’s proposal didn’t survive. It was dropped despite two special NCAA committees’ recommendations in the wake of the UNC-Chapel Hill academic-athletic scandal that the association step up policing of academic fraud in egregious cases. The abandonment of a proposal that puts the decision in the hands of academics shows member schools are worried about more fraud being uncovered on their campuses, says a college athletics expert." >> What They're Saying: “The fact that the association is so resistive to this kind of scrutiny suggests that there is so much (academic fraud) out there than they want to have revealed." - Ellen Staurowsky, professor, sport management, Drexel University >> Situational Awareness: Correspondence obtained by the N&O through a public records request shows that Schill made the proposal in April and he said he believed the other Pac-12 presidents would support it. “Enact an ‘egregious violation’ provision like this, but provide that allegations would be adjudged by a panel of presidents from NCAA schools who are not part of a continuing NCAA body,” Schill wrote in an email on April 16 to NCAA staff and UNC-Greensboro Chancellor Frank Gilliam, who leads the NCAA’s Presidential Forum. “Since instances are likely to be very rare it should be easy to recruit these presidents on a one-time only basis,” Schill continued. “Only presidents would judge these cases; not athletic directors or others.” >> Be Smart: The academic fraud reform effort stems from the outcry following the NCAA Committee on Infractions’ decision two years ago that it could not punish UNC-Chapel Hill over classes that offered high grades but no instruction. A detailed investigation by a former federal prosecutor found an academic secretary created and graded many of the classes. More than 3,100 students took at least one. >> Go Deeper with the Raleigh News & Observer

2.  No Title IX Violation at Kent State Kent State University found its athletics officials did not violate Title IX when they cut a women’s field hockey game short last month to accommodate a football fireworks display. In an email to Kent State students and staff, President Todd Diacon wrote that Kent State is “grateful” there were no findings of gender discrimination by the university’s Department of Intercollegiate Athletics. He offered to have Kent State fund a rematch between the Temple University and University of Maine field hockey teams, who were playing during a Sept. 7 tournament held at the Kent, Ohio, campus when they were asked to leave the field -- though the game was tied and required a second overtime period. As it stands, the game is recorded as a scrimmage in both teams’ records. “We deeply regret the negative impact of the match cancellation upon the Temple University and University of Maine field hockey teams,” Diacon wrote. “We are sorry this incident has reflected poorly on the proud tradition of academic and competitive excellence in women’s athletics at Kent State.” The department will review its upcoming schedule of home matches to prevent similar scheduling conflicts and to communicate better with visiting teams, Diacon wrote. Kent State’s Intercollegiate Athletics Equity and Diversity Committee will also begin conducting “a self-study on gender equity in athletics,” which it is due for under its own five-year review policy. - courtesy of InsideHigherEd.com

3. Going Dancing The Dubuque women and St. Thomas men earned their spots into the 2020 NCAA Division III Golf Championships by winning their respective conference championships on Monday. The NCAAs will be held on May 12-15 in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. American Rivers Conference (W) Ames Golf and CC, Ames, Iowa 1. Dubuque 985, 2. Wartburg 1006, 3. Luther 1011, 4. Central 1031, 5. Buena Vista 1046, 6. Simpson 1067, 7. Nebraska Wesleyan 1212, 8. Loras 1319, Coe NTS. 1. Morgan Kranz (Lu) 232, 2. Hannah Gordon (S) 238, 3. Daniela Miranda (D) 239, 4. Madison Bowers (D) 240, 5. Kelly Schultz (Lu) 246. Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (M) Pebble Creek Golf Club, Becker, Minn. (hosted by Saint Benedict/St. Olaf) 1. St. Thomas 878, 2. Gustavus Adolphus 892, 3. Saint John's 896, 4. Augsburg 912, 5. Concordia 914, 6. Bethel 930, 7. St. Olaf 937, 8. St. Mary's 939, 9. Carleton 943, 10. Macalester 973. 1. Emmt Herb (UST) 211, 2. Jacob Petersen (GA) 218, T3. Preston Kopel (SJ) 220, T3. Jack Nasby (UST) 220, T5. Max Ulian (GA) 221, T5. River Goodmanson (A) 221. 1. Alyssa Akiyama (C) 220, 2. Nicole Miller (B) 229, 3. Cayla Kim (ST) 231, 4. Sydney Brown (SC) 232, 5. Anna Tollefson (B) 234. College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (W) Brighton Dale Links, Kansasville, Wis. (hosted by Carthage) 1. Carthage 932, 2. Illinois Wesleyan 941, 3. Augustana 992, 4. Millikin 1024, 5. Wheaton 1050, 6. Central 1095, 7. Elmhurst 1099, 8. Carroll 1147. 1. Marin Halvorsen (W) 223, 2. Adrienne Rohwedder (Carth) 224, 3. Jackie Garcia (I) 229, 4. Melanie Wolf (I) 230, 5. Kate Munro (Carth) 234. Carthage is the CCIW champion and will host IWU, Augustana and Millikin in May to determine the conference's AQ.

4. Polls Football - D3Football.com Mary Hardin-Baylor (4-0) Mount Union (4-0) UW-Whitewater (4-0) Saint John's (4-0) Wheaton, Ill. (4-0) Bethel (4-0) Muhlenberg (5-0) Berry (5-0) North Central (3-1) Ithaca (4-0) 11. St. Thomas, 12. Wesley, 13. Delaware Valley, 14. Salisbury, 15. Redlands, 16. John Carroll, 17. Hardin-Simmons, 18. Wartburg, 19. UW-Platteville, 20. Johns Hopkins, 21. Susquehanna, 22. Cortland, 23. Linfield, 24. Whitworth, 25. Case Western Reserve. >> Moving Up: Wheaton (+4), St. Thomas (+3), Redlands (+3) >> Moving Down: Hardin-Simmons (-11), North Central (-4) >> Hello: UW-Platteville, Cortland, Case Western >> Goodbye: UW-La Crosse, Hobart, Trine >> Games to Watch: #6 Bethel at #4 Saint John's; #12 Wesley at #14 Salisbury Football - AFCA Mary Hardin-Baylor (4-0) Mount Union (4-0) UW-Whitewater (4-0) Saint John's (4-0) Muhlenberg (5-0) Wheaton, Ill. (4-0) Berry (5-0) Wesley (4-0) Bethel (4-0) Ithaca (4-0) 11. Wartburg, 12. North Central, 13. Delaware Valley, 14. John Carroll, 15. Salisbury, 16. St. Thomas, 17. Redlands, 18. Johns Hopkins, 19. UW-Platteville, 20. Hardin-Simmons, 21. Case Western Reserve, 22. Linfield, 23. Central, 24. Susquehanna, 25. Cortland. Bethel, 12. Ithaca, 13. Wartburg, 14. Delaware Valley,1 5. John Carroll, 16. Salisbury, 17. St. Thomas, 18. Johns Hopkins, 19. Redlands, 20. UW-La Crosse, 21. Hobart, 22. Linfield, 23. Trine, 24. UW-Platteville, 25. Case Western Reserve. >> Hello: Central, Susquehanna, Cortland >> Goodbye: UW-La Crosse, Hobart, Trine

5.  Comings and Goings  Steve Larson will retire as commissioner of the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference at the end of the academic year. Tim Volkmann named director of athletic communications at RIT Miles Leathers named assistant men's basketball coach at Brevard. Olivia Leavitt named assistant men's and women's tennis coach at Babson. India Anderson named assistant women's gymnastics coach at Ursinus. Kolin Dean resigns as head tennis coach at Wisconsin-Superior

6.  Today's Numbers: 18, 21 Journeyman goalie Michael Leighton announced his retirement from professional hockey yesterday, concluding an 18-year career that saw him play for 21 different pro teams. Leighton: "You want to be that guy who ... plays a thousand games with the same organization and has a house, family all established in one city. People don't realize it's only a handful of people on every team that get that opportunity to do that." (The Athletic) - courtesy of Axios

7.  Tweet of the Day

Tribute to two great d3 powers! #tradition #Wittenberg-BW pic.twitter.com/YjXyXOFqrG

— Joe Fincham (@CoachFincham) October 6, 2019

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