UW Gives Itself Probation

Another shoe has dropped in the Shoe Box probe, and this one will leave a lasting imprint on the university's athletics operations.

In April, the university closed a nine-month investigation into allegations that UW student-athletes received unadvertised discounts on shoes — a violation of NCAA rules — at The Shoe Box, a Black Earth, Wisconsin, retailer. The report found that major violations had been committed and recommended a broad platform of self-imposed punishments and corrective measures, including a three-year athletics probation, voluntary fines, and a significant restructuring of duties within the athletics department.

Chancellor John Wiley MS'65, PhD'68 announced these measures at a press conference April 20, the same day that the university filed its self-report with the NCAA. During the past year, 157 Badger athletes have received suspensions or other penalties for accepting improper benefits; these additional penalties represent the university's evaluation of its own responsibility for the violations.

That responsibility, Wiley said, is shared by everyone in the athletic department and administration. He identified the failure to prevent and detect violations in this case as evidence of a "systemic problem" with the university's mechanisms for NCAA compliance.

Athletics Director Pat Richter '64, JD'71, who along with compliance director Tim Bald received letters of reprimand from the university, said that he takes "full responsibility" for the matter, which transpired while the department was already on probation for 1999 violations. "It's regrettable and disappointing that we have not been able to achieve a normal and successful compliance environment," Richter said, noting that the UW's compliance failures take away from what has otherwise been a stellar decade in athletics.

While Wiley acknowledged that athletics officials failed to follow through on warning signs in the Shoe Box matter, he said his primary concern was fixing the procedures used for compliance education and monitoring.

"Before I'm willing to assign individual blame, I want to make sure that the systems the individuals have to rely on and use are functioning," he said. "And right now, it's my view that our compliance education system is not [working]."

As part of its corrective measures, the university is designing a new online compliance education that Wiley promises will interpret the NCAA's often-Byzantine rules simply and effectively. He has also appointed history professor David McDonald to a new position as special assistant to the chancellor for athletics. McDonald will oversee compliance and academic development for athletes, responsibilities that formerly fell under Richter. McDonald, a former chair of the faculty Athletic Board, will participate as part of the athletics management team, Wiley said, and will report directly to the chancellor.

Since becoming chancellor, Wiley has made moves to more fully integrate athletics into the central administration of the university. Richter says the athletic department welcomes closer contact, noting that "building bridges" to the academic components of UW-Madison had already been identified as a department priority.

The case now goes to the NCAA, which has the option of imposing additional penalties. University officials hope that their approach of self-punishment and corrective action will satisfy the governing board, but they will not know until late summer or early fall if more penalties will be announced.

back