Ncaa Ethical and Compliance Program

Cassandra Raynor

July 12, 2014

Case 6 NCAA Ethical and Compliance Program

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a non-profit association that regulates athletes of many institutions, conferences, organizations, and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States and Canada. It is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. In 1973, the current three-division setup of Division I, Division II, and Division III was adopted by the NCAA membership in a special convention. Under NCAA rules, Division I and Division II schools can offer scholarships to athletes for playing a sport. Division III schools may not offer any athletic scholarships. Generally, larger schools compete in Division I and smaller schools in II and III. 

It all started in 1905. Due to the many injuries that occurred in the rough and tumble sport of football, President Theodore Roosevelt gathered many, if not all, of the leaders of athletics in Washington for 2 conferences to encourage them to reform the rules of the sport. In New York City under the leadership of Henry M. McCracken, The Chancellor of New York University, a meeting of 13 universities met and the rules of football changed. When the second meeting convened, the 62 members established the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States aka IAAUS. In 1910 the IAAUS officially changed its name to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). As this organization grew in membership so did its difficulties with maintaining its integrity.

Competitive sports have a tremendous impact on our culture, influencing the values of millions of participants and spectators.  It has been said that “Sport is too much a game to be a business and too much a business to be a game” (Hums, Barr, & Gullion, 1999). In society today, there is a greater concern about the moral and ethical conduct of those in leadership (Jordan, Greenwell, Geist, Pastore, & Mahony, 2004). In particular, rules violations within intercollegiate athletics have risen, which has led to increased pressure on administrators to encourage positive ethical behavior within the realm of their influence.

 One result of this greater concern about moral and ethical conduct has been the establishment of codes of ethics by intercollegiate conferences. There are several NCAA institutions that are currently under investigation or on probation for unethical behavior. Violations involved include improper academic certification of student-athletes, playing ineligible student-athletes, recruiting violations, providing extra benefits to student-athletes, lack of institutional control, and unethical conduct by head and assistant coaches (Hums et al., 1999). Increases in unethical behavior in intercollegiate athletics and a wide range of ethical dilemmas provide the framework for the development of a Code of Ethics. These codes are designed to identify appropriate behaviors expected of administrators, coaches, student-athletes, and others. In order to provide members with a clear understanding of ethical standards of an organization, codes of ethics are generally published and distributed to an organization’s membership.