FB: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[ScreamingEagles]

I know this looks bad for UWL, but I think ultimately it will help them.  This situation brings to light the lack of funding UWL really has for athletics.  They only have two administrators for the entire athletics department, whereas schools like Whitewater, Oshkosh and Eau Claire have multiple ones covering the different areas of Marketing, Compliance, Business Ops etc.  As a result of the investigation they will be hiring a Compliance officer, something that they should have had all along and most schools do have.  Hopefully this will lessen the burden on some of the other admins and oversights like this wont happen in the future.

Another thing I thought was interesting was that the Chancellor stated no athletes actually got any scholarships from the foundation during the time period of the investigation.  The University is simply being punished for allowing athletic achievement to be listed on scholarship apps (in categories such as "extracurricular activities") and also for allowing coaches to be on the committees to select who gets them.  Seems like a situation where this process had been done for years and nobody questioned it.

Ultimately though it is the athletic departments job to adhere to NCAA rules and they failed.  I hope UWL can turn this into something positive for the future.

[02 Warhawk]

I know this looks bad for UWL, but I think ultimately it will help them.  This situation brings to light the lack of funding UWL really has for athletics.  They only have two administrators for the entire athletics department, whereas schools like Whitewater, Oshkosh and Eau Claire have multiple ones covering the different areas of Marketing, Compliance, Business Ops etc.  As a result of the investigation they will be hiring a Compliance officer, something that they should have had all along and most schools do have.  Hopefully this will lessen the burden on some of the other admins and oversights like this wont happen in the future.

Another thing I thought was interesting was that the Chancellor stated no athletes actually got any scholarships from the foundation during the time period of the investigation.  The University is simply being punished for allowing athletic achievement to be listed on scholarship apps (in categories such as "extracurricular activities") and also for allowing coaches to be on the committees to select who gets them.  Seems like a situation where this process had been done for years and nobody questioned it.

Ultimately though it is the athletic departments job to adhere to NCAA rules and they failed.  I hope UWL can turn this into something positive for the future.

If found this line interesting in the statement:

The investigation began when financial aid data that UW-L submitted to the NCAA in September 2010 as part of an annually required reporting process indicated that incoming student-athletes were receiving financial aid in disproportionate percentages when compared to their non-athlete peers

I assume that means athletes didn't neceassarily receive scholarships from the foundataion, but rather athletes were receiving more financial aid than non-athletes? Am I reading that correctly?

[badgerwarhawk]

I know this looks bad for UWL, but I think ultimately it will help them.  This situation brings to light the lack of funding UWL really has for athletics.  They only have two administrators for the entire athletics department, whereas schools like Whitewater, Oshkosh and Eau Claire have multiple ones covering the different areas of Marketing, Compliance, Business Ops etc.  As a result of the investigation they will be hiring a Compliance officer, something that they should have had all along and most schools do have.  Hopefully this will lessen the burden on some of the other admins and oversights like this wont happen in the future.

Another thing I thought was interesting was that the Chancellor stated no athletes actually got any scholarships from the foundation during the time period of the investigation.  The University is simply being punished for allowing athletic achievement to be listed on scholarship apps (in categories such as "extracurricular activities") and also for allowing coaches to be on the committees to select who gets them.  Seems like a situation where this process had been done for years and nobody questioned it.

Ultimately though it is the athletic departments job to adhere to NCAA rules and they failed.  I hope UWL can turn this into something positive for the future.

If I'm understanding the information 02 is refering to correctly I don't think that's the only reason.  While they are being penalized for allowing athletics to be a criteria and coaches to be involved they are also being penalized for dispensing financial aide to athletes in a disproportionate percentage.  That's different than simply allowing athletics to be a criteria and coaches to be involved. 

At least that's how I read it.

Pat, disregard my previous question.  I have since seen that probation does not prevent their programs from participating in post season tournaments. 

[02 Warhawk]

Correct, I agree.

After the NCAA reviewed UWL's annual financial aid report, they discovered the disproportionate amount of aid going towards athletes, compared to non-athletes. This prompted an investigation which led to the finding of three different violations (listed in the statement) that put them on probation.

Seems like this won't be an issue going forward once UWL's staff gets brought up to speed on NCAA's guidelines. Getting a compliance officer will certainly help.

[emma17]

I'm kind of starting to get the itch for college football already. Too bad it's still five months away.

I stopped by and watched some of the practice today.

BW- I've never been to a spring practice. Can you share some info on what goes on?
Are they in pads?
Do the do conditioning?
Do they scrimmage or 7 on 7 against each other?
Do they work much as a team or is it mostly position specific?
Does the cannon boom when there is a score?
Is there field goal kicking?  Did they make any?
Is the band playing Warhawk Strut shake your Butt?

[badgerwarhawk]

No pads.  The use of actual footballs has only been allowed the past few years.
Yes they do conditioning.
No scrimmage that I observed.  Without pads I suspect the most they could do would be something like walk throughs.
The part of practice I watched involved position specific activity.
No cannon in sight. 
I didn't see any field goal kicking though I suppose kickers probably work on it.
No Warhawk strut.  I did not shake my butt. 

[TOPDOG]

The part of the La Crosse situation that, to me raises the biggest red flag, is the involvement of athletic department personnel on the different scholarship committees.  To me, that would have had to be covered in athletic administration 101.  I don't care how few administrators are working in the athletic office.  Between athletics and financial aid, someone had to know.

[ScreamingEagles]

I know this looks bad for UWL, but I think ultimately it will help them.  This situation brings to light the lack of funding UWL really has for athletics.  They only have two administrators for the entire athletics department, whereas schools like Whitewater, Oshkosh and Eau Claire have multiple ones covering the different areas of Marketing, Compliance, Business Ops etc.  As a result of the investigation they will be hiring a Compliance officer, something that they should have had all along and most schools do have.  Hopefully this will lessen the burden on some of the other admins and oversights like this wont happen in the future.

Another thing I thought was interesting was that the Chancellor stated no athletes actually got any scholarships from the foundation during the time period of the investigation.  The University is simply being punished for allowing athletic achievement to be listed on scholarship apps (in categories such as "extracurricular activities") and also for allowing coaches to be on the committees to select who gets them.  Seems like a situation where this process had been done for years and nobody questioned it.

Ultimately though it is the athletic departments job to adhere to NCAA rules and they failed.  I hope UWL can turn this into something positive for the future.

If found this line interesting in the statement:

The investigation began when financial aid data that UW-L submitted to the NCAA in September 2010 as part of an annually required reporting process indicated that incoming student-athletes were receiving financial aid in disproportionate percentages when compared to their non-athlete peers

I assume that means athletes didn't neceassarily receive scholarships from the foundataion, but rather athletes were receiving more financial aid than non-athletes? Am I reading that correctly?

That's a good catch.  The article posted in the La Crosse Tribune quotes the Chancellor as saying

"Several months ago, almost half a year (ago), the NCAA had us do our regular reporting on financial aid. ... We made some errors in reporting that day," Gow said.

"Even though we corrected the error in the data reporting, the NCAA said, 'Let's look at all your financial aid and how you award scholarships and what the criteria is.' They found that we are not in compliance with their rules."

I took that statement as meaning the report of athletes receiving a disproportionate amount of financial aid was the error and that the subsequent report showed the true data.  The NCAA investigated after receiving the error filled report and then found the illegal practices in scholarship awards.  So athletes didn't receive a disproportionate amount of financial aid and the administration screwed up and sent a clearly incorrect report.

I will definitely agree that having coaches serve on the scholarship committee's should be a no-brainer.

[bulk19]

It's perhaps a minor error in having coaches serve on the scholarship committee, but they are also educators at UWL, who are in charge of giving out academic scholarships...

The bigger problem is that athletics leadership,
participation or performance were weighed and used as criteria in awarding scholarships... Thus, all things being equal academically, if you are a coach making a selection, you run into the problem of that bias, of favoring the one who is the better athlete, and that's where the problems occurred...

The bigger news out of UWL this week, and one that may have a larger influence on sports there, is the students approved the building of a new student center. If it happens, it will be located right across from Mitchell Hall and the football stadium and will definitely have an impact on recruiting...

[BoBo]

It's perhaps a minor error in having coaches serve on the scholarship committee, but they are also educators at UWL, who are in charge of giving out academic scholarships...

The bigger problem is that athletics leadership,
participation or performance were weighed and used as criteria in awarding scholarships... Thus, all things being equal academically, if you are a coach making a selection, you run into the problem of that bias, of favoring the one who is the better athlete, and that's where the problems occurred...

The bigger news out of UWL this week, and one that may have a larger influence on sports there, is the students approved the building of a new student center. If it happens, it will be located right across from Mitchell Hall and the football stadium and will definitely have an impact on recruiting...

IMO, the bigger news was being placed on probation for the infractions...

A new student center would be nice - would they shoehorn it to the north of Cartwright? Students approving it still means it's years away from fruition - considering the state bureaucracy...but it is one important step out of the way.

[ScreamingEagles]

It's perhaps a minor error in having coaches serve on the scholarship committee, but they are also educators at UWL, who are in charge of giving out academic scholarships...

The bigger problem is that athletics leadership,
participation or performance were weighed and used as criteria in awarding scholarships... Thus, all things being equal academically, if you are a coach making a selection, you run into the problem of that bias, of favoring the one who is the better athlete, and that's where the problems occurred...

The bigger news out of UWL this week, and one that may have a larger influence on sports there, is the students approved the building of a new student center. If it happens, it will be located right across from Mitchell Hall and the football stadium and will definitely have an impact on recruiting...

IMO, the bigger news was being placed on probation for the infractions...

A new student center would be nice - would they shoehorn it to the north of Cartwright? Students approving it still means it's years away from fruition - considering the state bureaucracy...but it is one important step out of the way.

I believe the plan is to build it in the parking lot of Wimberley Hall, the business building.

http://www.uwlax.edu/studentcenter/faq.htm

[BoBo]

It's perhaps a minor error in having coaches serve on the scholarship committee, but they are also educators at UWL, who are in charge of giving out academic scholarships...

The bigger problem is that athletics leadership,
participation or performance were weighed and used as criteria in awarding scholarships... Thus, all things being equal academically, if you are a coach making a selection, you run into the problem of that bias, of favoring the one who is the better athlete, and that's where the problems occurred...

The bigger news out of UWL this week, and one that may have a larger influence on sports there, is the students approved the building of a new student center. If it happens, it will be located right across from Mitchell Hall and the football stadium and will definitely have an impact on recruiting...

IMO, the bigger news was being placed on probation for the infractions...

A new student center would be nice - would they shoehorn it to the north of Cartwright? Students approving it still means it's years away from fruition - considering the state bureaucracy...but it is one important step out of the way.

I believe the plan is to build it in the parking lot of Wimberley Hall, the business building.

http://www.uwlax.edu/studentcenter/faq.htm

Thanks for the link wiacfbfan!!  The plans look nice and in the right place too, IMO.

[BoBo]

JSonline.com D3 kings

[KitchenSink]

JSonline.com D3 kings

Great article.  Wish they showed that kind of enthusiasm for the Warhawks and the rest of the WIAC a little more often.

[02 Warhawk]

I know this looks bad for UWL, but I think ultimately it will help them.  This situation brings to light the lack of funding UWL really has for athletics.  They only have two administrators for the entire athletics department, whereas schools like Whitewater, Oshkosh and Eau Claire have multiple ones covering the different areas of Marketing, Compliance, Business Ops etc.  As a result of the investigation they will be hiring a Compliance officer, something that they should have had all along and most schools do have.  Hopefully this will lessen the burden on some of the other admins and oversights like this wont happen in the future.

Another thing I thought was interesting was that the Chancellor stated no athletes actually got any scholarships from the foundation during the time period of the investigation.  The University is simply being punished for allowing athletic achievement to be listed on scholarship apps (in categories such as "extracurricular activities") and also for allowing coaches to be on the committees to select who gets them.  Seems like a situation where this process had been done for years and nobody questioned it.

Ultimately though it is the athletic departments job to adhere to NCAA rules and they failed.  I hope UWL can turn this into something positive for the future.

If found this line interesting in the statement:

The investigation began when financial aid data that UW-L submitted to the NCAA in September 2010 as part of an annually required reporting process indicated that incoming student-athletes were receiving financial aid in disproportionate percentages when compared to their non-athlete peers

I assume that means athletes didn't neceassarily receive scholarships from the foundataion, but rather athletes were receiving more financial aid than non-athletes? Am I reading that correctly?

That's a good catch.  The article posted in the La Crosse Tribune quotes the Chancellor as saying

"Several months ago, almost half a year (ago), the NCAA had us do our regular reporting on financial aid. ... We made some errors in reporting that day," Gow said.

"Even though we corrected the error in the data reporting, the NCAA said, 'Let's look at all your financial aid and how you award scholarships and what the criteria is.' They found that we are not in compliance with their rules."

I took that statement as meaning the report of athletes receiving a disproportionate amount of financial aid was the error and that the subsequent report showed the true data.  The NCAA investigated after receiving the error filled report and then found the illegal practices in scholarship awards.  So athletes didn't receive a disproportionate amount of financial aid and the administration screwed up and sent a clearly incorrect report.

I will definitely agree that having coaches serve on the scholarship committee's should be a no-brainer.

Correct. I just read an article from a LaCrosse newspaper. Apparently the Financial Aid information UWL provided the NCAA was incorrect. It turns out there wasn't a disproportional amount of aid given to student-athletes. But the NCAA already had probable cause to do an investigation, which resulted in those three violations.

If that was indeed the case (faulty information given to the NCAA), then this is really not that big of an issue. The NCAA just wants UWL to have a better grip on its financial aid process, that's it. Just a minor slap on the wrist.