NCAA appeal struck down in Tallahassee

TALLAHASSEE -- The Florida Supreme Court refused to hear the NCAA’s appeal that documents related to an academic fraud case are not public record.

...

However, because the document was a communication with a state agency, a judge found it was subject to Florida public records law.

More here.

University of Michigan Claims Open Meetings Act Unconstitutional

As a defense to a lawsuit alleging that a February 3 meeting violated the Open Meetings Act, the University of Michigan Board of Regents is asserting that the law is unconstitutional. The meeting was allegedly held to discuss an NCAA probe into the university football program, and the school asserts the meeting was closed for attorney-client privileged communications.

The university's brief argues the Open Meetings Act is an "unconstitutional infringement upon the Regents' autonomy and authority over the general supervision of the University of Michigan."

Read more about the lawsuit and defense here.

Contracts Obtained by FOIA Requests Show Football Coaches Rewarded for Performance, Not Academic, Successes

No surprise here. The San Francisco Chronicle obtained contracts from 70 public universities playing big-time football to see how "performance-based" bonuses compared to bonuses given to coaches for their players' academic achievement. On the whole, the paper found that the contracts are quite specific in the monetary rewards of winning on the field, but are much more vague when it comes to academic achievement bonuses.

For specifics on the contracts, including the coaches of University of Florida and UCLA, click here.

Florida State Releases Academic Fraud Investigation Files

Following a favorable ruling for The Associated Press and other news-media organizations, Florida State released a 695-page transcript on an N.C.A.A. hearing regarding an academic fraud case spanning 2006 and 2007 and involving 61 athletes across 10 sports.   

The transcript included the testimony of the university president, T.K. Wetherell, as well as university professors and administrators, and Brenda Monk, a learning specialist hired to work with Florida State athletes with learning and physical disabilities.  In the transcript, Wetherell apologized for the actions of a "rogue tutor" and an instructor.  Wetherell also minimized the blame placed upon the athletes, who were found to have received answers to test questions and allowed tutors to type and write their papers.  Monk has since left the university and has filed a defamation suit against Florida State.  

As a result of the investigation, the N.C.A.A. put Florida State on probation, reduced scholarships, and revoked the record of all wins in which the affected athletes participated.  The school is appealing the vacating of the wins, but has accepted the remaining sanctions.  

Get the NY Times article here, which includes a link to the transcript of the N.C.A.A. hearing.  

Florida State sues NCAA for legal fees

Florida State wants the NCAA to pay its legal fees associated with a suit against the university and NCAA for not releasing records related to academic cheating sanctions, the AP reported. The university says it can't make the records public because of an NCAA Web site that forbids downloading or printing.

Florida State is back in court — suing the NCAA.

The school said Friday its wants the NCAA to pay its legal fees and other costs incurred in a suit filed against the university and the athletic governing body for failing to comply with Florida's public records law.

General Counsel Betty Steffen said it has been technically impossible for the school to make records in the case public because an NCAA website prohibits downloading or printing.

More here.

Fla. AG sides with public records law, not NCAA

Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum has taken steps to help protect the state's public records law in regards to NCAA records, WCTV reported. Because the records were released to Florida State University, they are considered public records, according to McCollum. However, both the university and NCAA are being sued by news organizations for withholding the files.

Florida's Attorney General wants to join the fight over the NCAA documents released to FSU.

As we reported Tuesday, Attorney General Bill McCollum filed a motion Tuesday that would allow the office to file an amicus brief with the circuit court.

The Attorney General's office says Florida State and the NCAA are part of a lawsuit against a number of news organizations over the release of public documents.

More here.

MU says it complied with Columbia Dispatch's request

The University of Missouri says it complied with the Columbus Dispatch's records request and maintains records as it should according to NCAA terms, the Columbia Missourian reported. MU says it didn't "refuse to provide any information to protect privacy" involving the records of complimentary tickets for athletes and it does keep records on athletes' summer employment. The university said it informed reporters that the ticket data would cost $300 to compile into a compatible form, but the reporter no longer wanted the information. Similarly, MU says it keeps employment records but the reporter didn't want them unless athlete names were included. MU redacts students names in these records.

The Columbus Dispatch said that the University of Missouri, like other NCAA schools, misinterpreted privacy rules and violated NCAA terms by hiding public records.

However, MU said that it complied with the Dispatch's request and does keep all the records it should.

As part of a six-month investigation, the Columbus Dispatch found MU "refused to provide any information to protect privacy" involving the records of complimentary tickets for athletes, and "the school did not keep these records" about the athletes' summer employment.

More here.

Nevada cites FERPA to redact NCAA violations data

Nevada athletics director Cary Groth agrees that FERPA could be updated so that it's clearer. Nevada provided all information requested except data regarding violations in the Columbus Dispatch investigative story regarding NCAA programs. Legal counsel advised the athletic department not to release this information in the midst of the NCAA investigation into a 2007 whistleblower complaint. The Reno-Gazette Journal had also asked for information on the whistleblower complaint through three FOI requests. The university provided the data but cited FERPA and redacted student-athlete names and cited personnel matters exemptions for redacting the names of coaches and administrators.

Nevada athletics director Cary Groth said she was surprised to learn about the wide range of interpretations of FERPA -- the Family Educational Rights & Privacy Act -- and that she agreed with the law's writer that it needs to be revamped.

"I was kind of surprised there was such a variance of openness," Groth said, reacting to an investigative story by the Columbus Dispatch in Ohio that reported that many of the 119 FBS (formerly Division I-A) schools use the 1974 federal law improperly in an effort to keep their NCAA troubles secret. "In the article it talks about bringing (the law) in and looking at it again. That would be very helpful, to identify what we can and what we can't release.

"To hide behind the law when you shouldn't, I think that's wrong."

More here.

Great use of FOI in college athletics coverage

The eligibility issues surrounding prized recruit MarQueis Gray typify the academic question marks associated with the first full recruiting class of Gophers football coach Tim Brewster, according to data obtained by the Star Tribune.

Gray was the centerpiece of a group of 31 February signees that was ranked among the nation's top 20 by several recruiting services. But high-ranking university officials admit it was also a class filled with academic concerns.

The Star Tribune requested college entrance scores for incoming freshman football players from every Big Ten school last summer under the nation's Freedom of Information Act.

Minnesota's freshman class had the lowest scores among the eight Big Ten programs that complied with the request, and the scores were significantly lower than for the recruiting classes in the final years of Glen Mason, who coached the Gophers from 1997 to 2006.

More here.

Nice column on some secrecy at FSU...

Seems that FSU is stonewalling over acess to an NCAA document...

Not much sunshine in Orlando this week because of Tropical Storm Fay.

Not much Sunshine in Tallahassee either due to another tropical storm on the horizon -- a top-secret list of alleged NCAA violations.

The Sunshine we're talking about is the State of Florida's Sunshine Law, which Florida State is once again trying to finagle around amid an academic fraud scandal that has turned into a national embarrassment for the Seminoles and their athletic department.

A quick legal briefing: Our state's Government-in-the-Sunshine law and corresponding Open Records Act provide almost unfettered and timely public access to documents, tapes, photographs and just about everything else generated by state-funded agencies.

More here.

Great New FOI-Driven Series on NCAA Drug Testing

From a team including Mu J-School alum Nate Carlisle, a school-by-school look at athletic drug testing opens with a bang:

When an athlete at the University of Idaho failed a drug test nearly three years ago and became one of the few collegians caught cheating with performance-enhancing drugs, something remarkable happened:
Almost nothing.
He was not publicly identified or ruled ineligible. He was not banned from competition. He was not even suspended.
Instead, he faced only continued periodic testing over the next year, according to school records, and was required to enroll in a university counseling program. The school "encouraged" him to notify his parents.
Outrageous?
Try, unsurprising.

More here.

The complete breakdown by school is available here.