National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I governance will not be adding reforms that would give the NCAA greater authority to discipline institutions that have engaged in academic misconduct.
In recent years, issues of academic misconduct in the athletic departments of high profile Division I institutions have made headlines. The decision of the NCAA not to penalize the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill after serious issues came to light drew intense criticism.
With the NCAA board of directors deciding not to exert greater control, colleges and universities will continue to control the academics of their student-athletes. While unquestionably people involved in intercollegiate athletics want to see careful oversight of the best interests of student-athletes, two individuals contacted by Diverse said the NCAA made the right decision because it is not equipped to provide that oversight.
“Realistically, the NCAA is not in the academic world,” said Dr. Fritz G. Polite, assistant dean of student affairs and director of the sport management program at Shenandoah University’s Harry F. Byrd, Jr. School of Business. “They try to pretend they’re concerned about academics, but they have no academicians. There are no professors that work at the NCAA.”
Polite, president of the Drake Group, an entity formed in 1999 with the mission of defending academic integrity in college sports, said the NCAA is not an academic accrediting body. While it espouses its interest in academics, he called that a “farce.”
“When you look at those television contracts and you look at those coaches’ salaries, it’s all about money,” he said, further noting that conference realignments didn’t take the student-athletes into consideration at all.
In Polite’s opinion, the faculty at the respective institutions need to step up, but most are either intimidated or indifferent, he said, adding that donors and corporate sponsors have considerable input.
