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Orlando Sentinal -- June 14, 2011
Compliance a major issue for NCAA
By Matt Murschel, Orlando Sentinel, June 14, 2011
Chuck Smrt knows a thing or two about compliance. He spent 18 years with the NCAA as an investigator before becoming president of The Compliance Group, which works with schools and conferences on compliance issues. Smrt spoke to a group of college athletic directors and personnel who are in Orlando for the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) conference this week. "I think the biggest hot button issues in compliance today are always the booster groups, academic fraud, and recruiting services," Smrt said following his 50 minute presentation. "Those are the top ones out there and they are the most significant."
It's hard to avoid the topic of some recent compliance issues such as the selling of athletic gear and memorabilia. Especially considering that Smrt's company is currently working with Ohio State on the issue. While he couldn't discuss details of that case, he did believe that it will be on everyone's radar in the next couple of years.
Compliance offices are a common practice on college campuses and with more and more information out there to process, the job of sniffing out actual infractions from bogus tips is a big one. "There's more opportunities for information to get into the system," Smrt added. "If you are an institution, you have to weed through that information." "There maybe more information coming in because compliance has its tentacles out and its reaching and getting things."
And it's the compliance offices that have done a better job creating obstacles to prevent coaches and staff from making the mistakes that could put a school on probation or worse.
"The low-hanging fruit is gone," Smrt said. "Back in the 1990s, you didn't have as many compliance people and if a coach wanted to do something, that coach could probably get by with it. Now, it's just more difficult. Does it still go on? Sure." And sometimes, the student-athlete himself can tip-off compliance officials to a violation. Smrt told the assembled crowd that in recent years, the NCAA has turned to social networking sites to get its leads. "In the past year, I've been in interviews three or four times when the enforcement staff will pull out and show an athlete, 'This is off your Twitter page or this is off your webpage and I'm thinking, 'I should have gone there beforehand,'" Smrt said drawing a laugh.
