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For Immediate Release

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Contact(s)

Stacey Osburn
Associate Director of Public and Media Relations
317/917-6117

INDIANAPOLIS---The NCAA Division III Committee on Infractions has penalized State University of New York at Potsdam for violations of financial aid rules. The violations involved the men’s and women’s ice hockey; men’s and women’s lacrosse; women’s volleyball and women’s soccer programs.

Penalties in this case include two years probation and a postseason ban.

This case was resolved through the summary disposition process, a cooperative effort where the involved parties submit the case to the Committee on Infractions in written form. When the NCAA enforcement staff, the university and involved individuals agree to the facts of the case and penalties proposed by the university, they may use this process instead of a formal hearing.

During the 2008-08 and 2009-10 academic years, the university awarded financial aid packages to student-athletes in a pattern clearly distinguishable from the general pattern of all financial aid for the general student body. The committee noted the violations were unintentional, but represented a significant competitive advantage.

The university awarded the scholarships in the form of International Initiative Grants, which were designed to increase the presence of international students enrolled at the university.

Specifically, in 2008-09 approximately 24 percent of the grants were awarded to student-athletes while student-athletes comprised only approximately 11 percent of the general student body. In 2009-10, almost 17 percent of the grants went to student-athletes, even though they made up only eight percent of the student body. Because the percentages were not closely equivalent to those of the student-athletes within the general student body, the university’s awards were in violation of NCAA rules.

The penalties in this case are as follows:

• Public reprimand and censure.
• Two years of probation from April 21, 2011, through April 20, 2013. The public report further details the conditions of probation.
• Postseason ban, effective immediately, for any teams whose rosters include one or more student-athletes receiving International Initiative Grants.

The members of the Committee on Infractions who reviewed this case include Keith Jacques, attorney and committee chair; David Cecil, director of financial aid at Transylvania University; and Mary Jo Gunning, athletic director at Marywood University; and Amy Elizabeth Hackett, athletic director at University of Puget Sound.