Reference no: EM132222732

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Perhaps no sport at American colleges is as popular, or as lucrative, as college football. College football often has a significant impact on the school’s culture. This is especially true for the more successful and prolific football programs, such as Texas A&M or Notre Dame. Football has increasingly become a big money maker for many colleges, with a significant amount of sports revenue coming from their football programs. Within the past two years, the sports channel ESPN made deals with certain teams to gain rights to air more games than usual. Because of this influx of revenue, the duties of coaches have evolved beyond just coaching. In many ways, they became the face of the team. Programs that show positive returns have coaches working hard to fill seats on game day and encourage college alumni to donate to the school. The more successful the football team, the more visibility it is given in the media. This visibility leads to greater awareness of the college or university among the public, and schools with the best football programs can see a greater influx of applications. The collegiate football programs have an intangible influence within and outside their immediate surroundings. This is mainly seen in their fan base, composed of current students, alumni, staff, faculty, and local businesses. For example, when the University of Alabama won its 15th national championship, the victory was celebrated by an enormous crowd, fireworks, and a parade. Texas A&M University is one example of a football program that generates not only profits but also a sense of loyalty among its fans. Texas A&M is spending over $485 million to expand its Kyle Field stadium so that it will seat up to 102,500 spectators. Table 1 shows the value of some of the most successful college football programs. These games also help local businesses generate more revenues. Because of the financial support and widespread influence of the football program, the players, coaches, and football administrators have to deal with a lot of pressure to fundraise, sell tickets, and win games. These pressures open up opportunities for misconduct to occur, and it is increasingly important that university administrators and football program officials directly acknowledge opportunities for misconduct. While the university is ultimately responsible for the operation of each department and the behavior of its employees, it can be difficult for the administrators to have an objective view of incidents that occur, especially when it involves a successful football program that benefits the entire university. The university administrators are often subject to the same pressures as those in the football program to increase the level of revenue and reputa- tion. This led to the development of a more objective institution to set and enforce rules and standards: the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The NCAA views ethical conduct as a crucial component to a college football program and works to promote leadership and excellence among student-athletes and the universities to which they belong. It also serves to protect the interests of student-athletes, ensure academic excellence, and encourage fair play. The NCAA takes the enforcement of rules seriously and tries to ensure the penalties fit the violation if misconduct does occur. The organization also makes sure the penalties are handed down in a timely manner, not only to indicate the seriousness of the infraction but also to maintain a credible and effective enforcement program. This method tries to corrector eliminates deviant behavior while maintaining fairness and objectivity toward those members of the Association not involved in violations. Employees (coaches and other administrative staff) are exhorted to have high ethical standards since they work among and influence students. The NCAA makes it a requirement that each employee engages in exemplary conduct so as not to cause harm to the student-athletes in any way. They are also given a responsibility to cooperate with the NCAA. The NCAA lays out three types of violations and corresponding penalties, depend- ing on the nature and scope of the violation. Secondary violations are the least severe and can result in fines, suspensions for games, and reduction in scholarships. For major violations, some of the penalties are the same as secondary violations, but the scope is far more severe. For example, suspensions will be longer and fines larger. However, some penalties are specific only to major violations, such as a public reprimand, a probationary period for up to five years, and limits on recruiting. The last type involves repeat violations that occur within a five-year period from the start date of the initial violation. The penalties for repeat violations are the most severe, including the elimination of all financial aid and recruiting activities and the resignation of institutional staff members who serve on boards, committees, or in cabinets. Table 3 lists some of the more prominent unethical practices the NCAA lists specifically concerning college football. The NCAA incorporates a compliance approach to ethics by developing and enforcing rules to keep the games fair and respectful of student-athletes’ rights. The NCAA Committee on Sportsmanship and Ethical Conduct identified respect and integrity as two critical elements in the NCAA 2013 and 2014 Football Rules and Interpretations. The NCAA strives to keep football games fun and entertaining without sacrificing the health and safety of the student-athletes participating. As previously mentioned, the NCAA places emphasis on the level of education student-athletes receive and encourages athletes to focus on their grades to ensure they have career opportunities post-athletics. The core of the NCAA concerns ethics. This organization takes not only key players into consideration, but also other stakeholders, such as the college community and the sports society as a whole. Aside from its involvement with student-athlete academics, the NCAA is likewise involved with other off-the-field activities to protect the best interests of student-athletes. According to NCAA guidelines, college football coaches are not permitted to actively begin recruiting prospective players to their school until the prospective player is at least a junior in high school. These coaches have a limit on the number of phone calls and off-campus visits they are permitted to make to prospective students. These rules are in place to ensure student-athletes do not feel pressured by these colleges. Once the student-athletes are in college, a set of rules made between the NCAA and the individual college limit the types of gifts a student-athlete can accept. Parents of student-athletes, for example, are able to give any number and type of gifts to their own children but must be wary when it comes to other members of the team. Student-athletes generally cannot accept gifts at reduced prices (for example, a free iPod) and other gifts, such as practice uniforms for the team, must be cleared by the school first. Despite the NCAA’s wide array of rules and regulations, there have been many criticisms of the organization’s practices. One of these criticisms has to do with a former NCAA investigator, Ameen Najjar, who worked on investigating reports of rule violations from the University of Miami. Najjar was promptly dismissed from the NCAA when it was found he was going outside the NCAA’s rules of investigation in order to collect more evidence for the case. Not only was this a major embarrassment for the NCAA, but critics state Najjar followed orders from others within the organization and was put up as a scapegoat when the rule-breaking investigative techniques came to light. The NCAA was also sued for allegedly allowing the video game company EA to use the likeness of NCAA basketball players in its video games without giving the players any compensation. EA later stopped producing college football video games altogether. The NCAA paid $20 million to settle these claims. Minor violations become scandals when the university, the football program authorities, or both cover them up for long periods of time. No matter where the cover-up begins or ends, the ultimate responsibility lies with the university to monitor the actions of the football program. If the culture of the university fosters misconduct, minor violations will inevitably become scandals. On the other hand, universities that monitor their athletics programs and swiftly address minor violations, including reporting the infractions to the NCAA, are less likely to be involved in major scandals. This act of self-reporting demonstrates a concern with ethical behavior and accountability for their actions. Furthermore, the NCAA takes these measures into account when deciding on the appropriate level of penalties to impose for violations. In 2014 the NCAA penalized the University of Alaska Fairbanks for violations of eligibility requirements for college players. Most of the violations involved students who had not declared majors did not have sufficient credits for their majors or did not meet the requirements for transferring from junior colleges. The University of Alaska Fairbanks discovered the violations had occurred over a five-year period. In 2011 and 2012, the university reported the violations to the NCAA and imposed penalties on the school for the infraction. The NCAA determined that the violations occurred not because of student misconduct but due to lapses in the school’s compliance system. The NCAA imposed penalties against the university in the form of a $30,000 fine against the university, fewer scholarships for its hockey team, and the elimination of wins for games deemed to be ineligible. A growing problem the NCAA is facing involves a rise in academic misconduct. Because sports bring a lot of money to the university, administrators and faculty are sometimes tempted to turn the other way when players engage in misconduct. It is not uncommon for coaches and professors to provide assistance to players that might violate NCAA rules or lower academic standards so they can continue to compete. In 2014 a massive fraud was uncovered at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill when it was discovered that 3,000 students got credit for classes they did not attend, for which they did not do significant work, and/or were not supervised by a professor. The scandal took place over a 16-year period, and approximately half the students involved were athletes. Students were provided with fake grades for fake classes. It is believed the misconduct largely occurred to keep athletes eligible to play and was exacerbated by a lack of institutional control. Ambiguous statements made to school personnel inexperienced with NCAA rules are also problematic. For instance, it is not uncommon for a coach to tell support staff to make sure a student is eligible to play without giving them directions on how to do so without violating the rules.

Essay Questions (MINIMUM 10 SENTENCES)

1. How does the NCAA encourage collegiate football programs to develop a culture of ethics and compliance?

2. Is it a valid criticism that the NCAA is based more on compliance than ethical values?

3. How can student-athletes, coaches, and university administrators demonstrate a proactive response to ethics and compliance?