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Scandal Has FSU Bracing For NCAA

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By SCOTT CARTER, The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 28, 2007

Updated: 09/28/2007 12:22 am

TALLAHASSEE - Facing possible NCAA sanctions for an academic-fraud scandal involving 23 student-athletes, Florida State University has made changes within its Office of Athletics Academic Support Services.

FSU provost and vice president of academic affairs Larry Abele said Thursday the school recently changed the way it conducts online testing, which is at the center of the scandal involving nearly two dozen student-athletes.

Based on a six-month internal investigation, two former university employees provided answers to online tests and typed papers for some student-athletes.

'We've already taken care of the online tests by moving everything into a testing center,' Abele said of monitoring online testing. 'The exam did have some security problems. I think we could have done a better job on the maintaining of the material.'

According to Abele, chair of FSU's four-person investigative committee that is following up the school's Office of Audit Services report, FSU also is requiring students to have a pass code to enter the testing facility. During its investigation, FSU officials interviewed 129 student-athletes and 14 university employees.

While Abele declined to name the course in question - citing the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act - he said FSU has offered the class since 1997 and that it's a three-credit Humanities course. Abele would not speculate on what type of punishment FSU could face from the NCAA, but he said the school is confident the problem is not widespread and that that the school's initial report to the NCAA documents the case well.

'The nice thing is the student-athletes themselves reported this,' Abele said. 'Some students allowed this to occur, others left because they didn't feel comfortable. The two employees were involved in totally different and isolated incidents.'

FSU president T.K. Wetherell ordered the internal investigation in March when school officials were first tipped off that a 'learning specialist' and a tutor were providing improper academic support to the student-athletes, including the veteran learning specialist typing coursework for five students and providing others with online quiz answers.

Neither former employee is named in the 12-page report, but based on school personnel records, Dr. Brenda Monk, former assistant director of the athletics academic support program, was placed on administrative leave in April and resigned July 5. A call to Monk's listed Tallahassee number was not returned.

At the Florida Board of Governors quarterly meeting on Thursday, Wetherell spoke briefly to the media about the investigation, which he hopes to finalize within the next month for NCAA investigators.

'It bothers us, obviously, that faculty or athletic staff people would have done what they did,' he said.

According to Abele, approximately 250 to 275 students took the online course in the spring 2007 semester, and only about 5 to 10 percent of those were student-athletes. Since the scandal surfaced, FSU has beefed up its standards when hiring approximately 50 to 60 athletic department tutors per school year.

'They do already go through training on honor code and ethics,' Abele said. 'We'll have a lot more training.'

David Price, the NCAA's vice president of enforcement services, did not return a call seeking comment. FSU mailed its internal report to Price on Tuesday, and NCAA investigators are expected on campus in the coming weeks.

In August, the Purdue University women's basketball team lost two scholarships after the NCAA determined a former assistant coach and former player committed academic fraud and lied about it. In October 2006, the NCAA extended the University of Kansas' self-imposed probation another year and made severe scholarship cuts when a former football graduate assistant coach was cited for academic fraud.

In FSU's case, 21 of the 23 student-athletes remain enrolled, and 17 of those are on scholarship. The scandal includes nine sports, including football.

Two football players, fifth-year wide receiver Joslin Shaw and sophomore defensive end Kevin McNeil, are involved in the investigation. Neither Shaw, a Plant City High product, nor McNeil has played in FSU's first three games because of what Coach Bobby Bowden called a violation of team rules.

'I'm very optimistic I'll be cleared,' Shaw said following practice Thursday. 'Unfortunately, I had to start this way. I'm just waiting for some things to get finalized.'

Reporter Scott Carter can be reached at (850) 294-3088 or scarter@tampatrib.com.

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