Academic Fraud in Sports: Problems and Recommendations

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Table of Contents

Executive Summary
Apparent Problem
Analysis
Real Problem
Alternatives
Recommendations
Reference List

Executive Summary

The present-day educational system faces the problem of the increased frequency of recruiting violations and academic fraud committed by athletic departments and coaches for supporting their athletes and improving their performance. For the purpose of improving their chances of winning the tournaments, a lot of universities may want to circumvent the regular admission process and recruit unqualified athletes. The academic fraud continues after the admission when coaches do the homework for their athletes, and the school officials fix their grades and arrange somebody to type the materials for the athletes.

College Baseball Advisers Inc. which offers to enhance the player’s scholarship prospects may be involved in one of the recruiting violation patterns. On the other hand, it may be an opportunity for exploring the existing opportunities and selecting the most appropriate admission option for the high school player. The choice between the opportunities of receiving the highly desirable athlete scholarship and achieving good academic results can become a real ethical dilemma for the high school students and their parents.

The dilemma of academic fraud was faced by Sam, a top graduate student who decided to make up data for his survey instead of conducting a survey due to his personal circumstances. The desire of accelerating the research process through fabricating the necessary data was explained with the intention to graduate when his brother was alive. James, Sam’s older brother had cancer and was not expected to survive Christmas. Though Sam’s feelings can be understood and empathized with, they cannot be regarded as sufficient excuse for cheating because Sam had alternative ways for meeting the deadline, such as working day and night as he pretended to, for example. Thus, regardless of the initial motivation and the underlying causes, there is a common tendency towards the increased frequency of recruiting and other academic violations in athletic departments.

Apparent Problem

The high school player has a problem of deciding between using the services of College Baseball Advisers Inc. for receiving the athletic scholarship with the rest of the attributed advantages and following the fair enrollment rules which would reduce the chances for receiving the desirable scholarship significantly. As to Sam’s advisor Dr. Milton who suspects Sam of academic fraud, it is stated that the tutor has the ethical dilemma of unveiling the truth which can result in her student’s failure or covering his academic fraud.

Analysis

The peculiar position and advantages provided by the universities for their athlete students have predetermined not only ethical debates but also certain legislative measures. On the one hand, athletic performance contributes to the prestige of the institution. On the other hand, the students’ academic achievements should remain the primary concern of universities.

Going to extremes, some schools have made the attendance, exam and even the choice of major optional for their athlete students because sport is their only concern (Finley and Finley, 2006, p. 82). Moreover, the desire of the sports departments and other interest groups to succeed was so intense that they developed perfect patterns of recruiting and academic fraud. The tension grew so high that when Bensel-Meyers, the educator from the University of Tennessee wanted to investigate the case of 39 athlete students which she regarded as academically suspect, she received death threats (Finley, Finley & Fountain, 2008, p. 107). These examples clearly demonstrate that the stakes in the sphere of recruiting violations and academic fraud by sports departments are extremely high.

Real Problem

Success in athletic programs can be translated into millions of dollars and enormous prestige for the university, its coaches, alumni and fans. It can predetermine the aggressive athlete students recruiting programs adopted by some of the institutions. In this highly competitive environment, some universities want to succeed by all means and cannot resist the temptation of circumventing and violating the rules.

Whereas instances of cheating can have personal underlying causes, as it was in Sam’s case, the personal acceptance of academic fraud to a certain extent depends upon culture and environment (Rettinger & Kramer 2007). The main focus of this case is not on Sam’s decision to fabricate the necessary data though he could have chosen the alternative options, but rather on the decision of his tutor. Making the academic fraud patterns and extra benefits for athlete students their common practices, universities increase the acceptance of cheating which can become taken for granted within particular surroundings.

Recognizing this problem, a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) imposed sanctions aimed at eliminating the extra benefits for players and the corresponding cheating programs. However, these sanctions had certain negative implications for innocent students, restricting their ability to transfer from one institution to another, for example (Weston, 2011, p. 551). For this reason, more effective alternatives need to be taken into consideration for handling the discussed problems of recruiting and academic frauds in sports departments and controlling the university programs without violating the rights of the uninvolved athlete students.

Alternatives

The NCAA and universities have a few options for resolving this ethical dilemma. First, it is possible to consider the option of making the coaches and school officials financially accountable for violating the NCAA sanctions and the program violations. It is important to hire coaches who will be able to become the models of ethical behavior and foster the culture of compliance within the institutions (Weston 2011). This approach has certain advantages. Thus, the financial accountability could become an important motivating factor for enhancing the feeling of responsibility in mentors. Moreover, it would allow putting the burden to the school officials and coaches as frequently the most important players and decision makers in the fraud systems of sports departments.

Another option is conducting the academic evaluation prior to enrollment of the student athletes for the purpose of developing the individual academic plans to them and providing them with the necessary academic support (Advising student athletes commission). The academic plans of student athletes really deserve serious consideration for preventing the overload which can be caused by the excessive physical activity. Still, providing the extra-benefits and developing the cheating strategies is not a way out because these strategies deprive these students of opportunities for developing their academic competencies. Mapping the student’s academic program beforehand and taking into account the level of physical load and the academic needs for creating a complex academic plan which would provide students with not only healthy sport experience, but also opportunities for developing their academic skills and competencies and contributing to their better tomorrow. Though this approach has certain limitations, namely the students’ uncertainty about their major during the recruiting period and the time limits for the admission procedures which would not allow devoting much time to developing the academic plans, still, this alternative could be effective for improving the current practices.

Recommendations

The recommendation is that the NCAA and universities should adopt the second alternative and introduce the practices of conducting academic evaluation prior to the students’ enrollment and developing the individual academic plans for them so that to provide them with opportunities for developing the necessary academic skills and competencies. As opposed to the sanctions which have already been imposed by the NCAA, this approach would allow controlling the sports departments and their compliance with the rules without violating the rights of the non-involved student athletes.

Regarding the first option of making the coaches and the school officials financially accountable for any instances of violations, this approach can enhance the mentors’ motivation for complying with the rules but has certain limitations. Putting the main responsibility upon the big players of the cheating patterns within the athletic departments of educational institutions would not allow solving the problem of controlling the load for student athletes. The development of individual academic plans during the recruiting processes and providing the students with the necessary academic support would imply the acknowledgement of the problem and allow the NCAA and universities to adopt a wise strategy to improving the current practices and solving the existing problem.

Taking this approach would limit the opportunities of such companies as College Baseball Advisers Inc. which is inclined to make business by taking advantages from the extremely competitive environment and the existing gaps in the intercollegiate athletic programs and the drawbacks of the universities recruiting practices. Moreover, the ethical dilemma of unveiling Sam’s fraud would be resolved as well.

Reference List

Advising student athletes commission: Additional NCAA Division I Academic Reform Initiatives. Academic Support Discussion Document. The National Academic Advising Association Website, 2004. Web.

Finley, P. & Finley, L. (2006). The sports industry’s war on athletes. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group.

Finley, P., Finley, L. & Fountain, J. (2008). Sports scandals. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Press.

Rettinger, D. & Kramer, Y. (2007). Situational and personal causes of student cheating. Research in Higher Education, 50 (3): 293-313.

Weston, M. (2011). NCAA sanctions: Assigning blame where it belongs. Boston College Law Review, 52(2): 551 – 583.

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