NCAA MEMBERSHIP, THE ENFORCEMENT STAFF, AND THE COMMITTEES ON INFRACTIONS

During the NCAA enforcement process, member institutions and involved individuals interact on one or more occasions with the NCAA enforcement staff, the committees on infractions, the infractions appeals committees, and athletic conference officials. This section provides a brief description of these groups and their role in the NCAA enforcement process.

The NCAA and NCAA Member Institutions

The National Collegiate Athletic Association ("NCAA" or the "Association") is a voluntary organization of about 1,200 colleges and universities, athletic conferences, and affiliated sports organizations devoted to the "sound administration of intercollegiate athletics" (NCAA n.d.). A member institution is a college or university with one of three categories of membership (active, conference, and affiliated) in the association (NCAA Constitution 3.01, 3.02.3.1, 3.02.3.2, and 3.02.3.3). NCAA legislation describes the requirements, rights, and privileges for each membership category (NCAA Constitution 3.02.3). The membership is divided into three divisions: Divisions I, II, and III. NCAA Bylaw 20 defines the criteria for membership in each division.

An NCAA member institution employs administrators who have designated responsibilities concerning the operation of its athletic program, including a chief executive officer, director of athletics, faculty athletics representative, senior woman administrator, compliance officer, and other selected administrators.

A chief executive officer (e.g., president, chancellor) is responsible for the implementation of the strategic plan and policies established by the institutional or university system board of trustees/regents. The chief executive officer also oversees the institution's operations. Under NCAA legislation, a chief executive officer has the ultimate responsibility and authority for the conduct of an institution's athletic program.

A director of athletics is responsible for the operations of an institution's athletic program. A faculty athletics representative is a member of an institution's faculty or administrative staff who is designated by the chief executive officer to represent the institution and its faculty in the institution's relationships with the NCAA and its athletic conference (NCAA Constitution 4.02.2). A senior woman administrator is the highest-ranking female administrator involved with the conduct of a member institution's athletic program (NCAA Constitution 4.02.4.1). A compliance officer coordinates the administration of an institution's athletic compliance program. An institution may employ other administrators with varying titles and responsibilities to assist in the operation of the athletic program.

Athletic Conference

An athletic conference is "a group of colleges and/or universities that conducts competition among its members and determines a conference champion in one or more sports (in which the NCAA conducts championships or for which it is responsible for providing playing rules for intercollegiate competition)" (NCAA Constitution 3.02.3.2). A conference commissioner oversees the operations of an athletic conference.

NCAA Rules and Athletic Compliance Programs

The NCAA and its membership are governed by the association's constitution, rules, and regulations, called bylaws or legislation. Bylaws are introduced and voted on by division-specific boards, councils, and committees, which are comprised of representatives from the NCAA membership. Some bylaws are common among all divisions, while others are applicable only to members in a specific division, sub-division or a defined subset within a sub-division (i.e., "Power 5" conferences). (For the purposes of this book, division-specific legislation will be denoted by the applicable division.) The NCAA Constitution and bylaws are published annually in a division-specific NCAA Manual. The NCAA Constitution and bylaws can also be accessed on the NCAA website (http://www.ncaa.org).

Member institutions are required to establish a compliance program to ensure that athletic programs adhere to NCAA legislation. In particular, an institution is expected to maintain a centrally coordinated system that ensures effective communication, organization, documentation, and evaluation of its compliance program (Division I Committee on Infractions, 1996, 1–7).

Involved Parties or Individuals

An involved party or involved individual is a person or organization implicated or named directly or indirectly in an alleged violation of NCAA legislation. Involved individuals can include campus and athletic department administrators (e.g., chief executive officer, director of athletics, vice president), institutional personnel (e.g., faculty, staff), coaches, student-athletes, or representatives of the institution's athletics interests.

A student-athlete is a student who: (a) was recruited by an institution or a representative of the institution's athletics interests to participate in the institution's athletic program; or (b) reports for an intercollegiate athletic team that is under the jurisdiction of the institution's athletic program (Bylaw 12.02.10).

A representative of the institution's athletics interests ("athletic representative") is an individual, independent agency, corporate entity, or other organization that is known, or that should have been known, by a member of the institution's administration to: (a) have participated in or been a member of an agency or organization promoting the institution's athletic program; (b) have made financial contributions to the athletic department or to an athletic booster organization of the institution; (c) be assisting or to have been requested by athletic staff to assist in the recruitment of prospective...