http://www.jonesborosun.com/story.php?ID=35328
ASU conducting eligibility probe
BY MATTHEW V. ROBERSON
SUN STAFF WRITER
JONESBORO — Arkansas State may be in deep with the NCAA.
An internal investigation has revealed Arkansas State University mistakenly certified 23 student-athletes as meeting academic certification under NCAA regulations, and there may be a history of similar procedural mistakes that could lead to some sort of punishment by the NCAA.
According to documents obtained by The Jonesboro Sun through the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act, two newly hired academic advisers discovered discrepancies in what the school reported to the NCAA for student-athlete academic certification and what its student-athletes had actually accomplished toward degree completion. ASU academic advisers Brad Herman and Meredith McCall found the problems during routine work just before the start of the fall semester around Aug. 21.
The school reported its findings in a letter from ASU Chancellor Dr. Robert Potts to the NCAA dated Aug. 25. It also informed the Sun Belt Conference and began an internal investigation.
“When we became aware of the issue, we contacted the conference office and visited with them, and we did contact the NCAA as well and informed them that we’re doing our review,” Arkansas State Director of Athletics Dr. Dean Lee said. “We have been in constant communication with them — the conference office — and the conference office has been here to help and assist. We also did hire an outside consultant to come in and assist us.”
According to Dr. Lynita Cooksey, interim dean at Arkansas State, many of the mistakes occurred because of simple mathematical errors and “honest mistakes” in approving certain courses as progress toward degree completion.
Among other mistakes, ASU advisers were giving credit for too many elective classes and rounding up percentages to meet NCAA regulations. NCAA rules require percentages of total credit hours toward a degree to be rounded down.
“I would say a lot of the things that we encountered with the student- athletes was maybe they had some extra electives,” Cooksey said. “The NCAA has a very strict policy on the number of courses or the percent completion toward degree progress. ... Part of it was just policy or just practice interpretation.”
The nature of the infractions were not to intentionally defraud the NCAA in order to keep athletes eligible, according to Lee and Cooksey. The mistakes could be costly, though.
The mistake is a Level I violation and was reported first to the NCAA. Level II violations are reported to a school’s conference first, according to Lee, although he said that “it’s not necessarily (a) major” violation.
Arkansas State plans to submit a report from an internal investigation to the NCAA around the first week of December. Included in that report might be self-imposed penalties in an effort to avoid a more severe punishment by the NCAA.
Lee acknowledged the NCAA could agree with Arkansas State’s assessment and recommendations, or could come back with something more severe. Such penalties the NCAA might choose to enforce could be a reduction of scholarships, probation, fines, bans from postseason play or forfeiture of previous games.
“That is always among the things the NCAA has as a prerogative,” Lee replied when asked if the school might be penalized. “As we have had communication, I can’t speak on what that will be. We will file a final report of our investigation and our review with them of what penalties and what our recovery plan will be. At this time I can’t be specific. We want to get through this first phase, and then we will begin that process, but I think a lot of it will be how we respond, what our recovery plan is and what measures we are putting in place.”
The ASU Student Services and Academic Support department is headed by Associate Director of Athletics Melanie Richardson, who oversaw the certification process for the school. Richardson was in a similar position at Louisiana-Lafayette from 2000-04 before the school was placed on probation for two years for an academic violation in the basketball program and multiple violations in the football program.
At the time of the mistakes, former ASU advisers Ron Norman and Liz Flanagan were employed by the school and filed the reports. The academic progress reports were certified by the school’s certifying officer, Sharon McDaniel, and then turned over to Richardson, Lee, the coaches of each sport and the NCAA.
Norman and Flanagan no longer work for the school. Norman was released of his duties on June 30 while Flanagan retired.
Cooksey said the dismissal of Norman and Flanagan’s decision to retire had nothing to do with the certification of ineligible student-athletes. McDaniel, who works in the ASU Registrar’s Office, was relieved of her duties as certification officer.
“I think that she probably interpreted things pretty much the same way (as the advisers) just because they discussed and talked about things together, but probably should have looked at some things a little more closely and so forth,” Cooksey said. “So it just wasn’t in the best interest for us to let her continue in that situation.”
Norman, who worked for Arkansas State for eight years, said he was told his position was being upgraded to require a master’s degree.
Norman was unsure of what mistakes had been made since he had not seen any paperwork since the errors came to light. However, he unloaded a bombshell about what could be waiting to be discovered.
“We did them exactly like I was trained to do,” Norman said. “That’s how I did them for eight years. If they were incorrect this semester, then they were incorrect ever since I have been there. We were always taught to round up, and that’s what we did.”
Lee said Arkansas State is focused on its current athletes and their progress toward meeting the NCAA’s guidelines. But Lee also said the school will look into past certifications and possible existing problems when it begins an internal review in a couple of weeks.
“Our first priority is to look at student-athletes that are competing now,” Lee said. “We have not (looked at previous student-athletes). Again, our first priority is to look at what we’re currently working with. That will be part of our future and our review and where we go. We will take full examination.”
Of the 23 athletes who were determined to be ineligible to start the season, 22 have been granted a waiver by the NCAA to participate in athletics this year. Because of privacy laws, none of the names, sports or gender of the athletes were available.
ASU also paid a $5,000 fine for one student who competed while ineligible.
Cooksey said several times that the school did not knowingly certify athletes who were ineligible.
“They were human errors,” Cooksey explained. “They weren’t intentional in any way, and they weren’t something that you were going to just sit down and immediately see. They weren’t things that just jumped out at you.”
Norman was apparently asked by someone from Arkansas State not to speak about the certification errors. However, he expressed an interest to exonerate himself from any wrongdoing — knowing or unknowing.
“I’ve got nothing to hide,” Norman said. “Something doesn’t add up to me. If I had a chance to look at it, I could explain it better, but I don’t have access to the records or anything like that anymore. It’s all a shock to me. As far as I knew, when I left June 30, there were one or two guys that needed to get eligible.”
Arkansas State had a graduation rate of 64.1 percent for its student- athletes, according to its latest report, which is based on a 6-year cohort. The rate is the highest in school history.
ASU’s general student population graduation rate is 39.8 percent.
mroberson@jonesborosun.com
ASU STATEMENT |
Statement from Dr. Lynita Cooksey, interim dean, University College, Arkansas State University-Jonesboro, in regard to the release of documents requested under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act:
“Earlier this fall during the regular procedure for athletic certification, we became aware of some questions surrounding academic certification of some athletes under NCAA regulations. The issues raised were matters of advisement, grade computations, and campus academic standards, and were not the fault of the student athletes.
“As soon as ASU officials became aware of these issues, the university responded immediately and proactively by taking immediate action to look at each affected player’s academic record in light of the NCAA’s certification requirements.
“The questions arose following some staff changes in the advisement area. ASU immediately began working with the NCAA and the Sun Belt Conference to review the matter. As with all issues concerning the NCAA, we take this situation very seriously and will continue to work with the NCAA and the conference office to achieve a prompt and appropriate resolution.
“Of the waivers requested, some are still pending but none have been denied. The university will take all necessary steps to ensure that student-athletes and ASU are in full compliance with academic standards as stated by the NCAA.”
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Frick..I'd be upset at the A.D. if I were an ASU fan! 
So the ASU Win-Loss record looks like this: 
Wasn't it like 2006 that ASU went to a bowl and won some title in their conference?