A routine audit conducted Spring term has directed scrutiny toward Dartmouth's ski team, revealing the College's possible failure to comply with National Collegiate Athletic Association rules.
An internal routine rules compliance audit discovered possible violations of NCAA regulations, including competitions for individuals and teams that exceed NCAA limits and illegal individual benefits for training and competition beyond the Dartmouth ski team's competitive season, as well as infractions of coaching limits and responsibilities.
These findings potentially effect both Nordic and Alpine competitors, as the two groups together comprise the Dartmouth Ski Team as a whole.
An internal investigation of these infractions carried out by the institution is complete, Dartmouth officials said, though the report may be subject to review by the College's Office of Audit and Advisory Services before it is submitted to the NCAA in the next few weeks.
According to Kay Hawes, associate director of media relations for the NCAA, the organization has rules governing numerous aspects of athletic competition that are voted on by the institutions. Typically, an institution has a compliance office that helps the school ensure it follows these rules. If inquiries such as the audit conducted by the College reveal violations, institutions self-report this to the NCAA who then reviews the case and establishes practices to bring the institution back into compliance.
At Dartmouth, all teams report to the College's Athletics Department, which serves as an oversight program for all NCAA compliance issues, Dean of the College James Larimore said.
Larimore added that it was too early to say what the potential consequences of the audit's findings might be.
He expected to have individual violations resolved before fall term, but that it would take longer -- potentially several months -- to report institutional infractions.
The College is submitting recommendations for changing the procedures that led to the possible violations in the NCAA report.
These recommendations may include requiring individuals who received impermissible funding for outside competition to repay the allocation or donate the amount to charity to reestablish eligibility, according to Larimore.
Additionally, athletes "may need to sit out practices or competitions to bring them into compliance," Larimore said.
Hawes could not give a NCAA perspective on the possible consequences of the audit findings, since NCAA policy prohibits commenting on any potential or ongoing investigation.
"We don't speculate on possible penalties," Hawes said, but as Dartmouth was submitting means for remedying the situation, "the NCAA [would review] the recommendations."
Athletes on campus met with a campus dean Monday afternoon to discuss the implications of the audit. Off-campus team members were notified by letter and telephone.
A statement issued by Dartmouth said the potential violations were believed to be unintentional, but that there was a need for "improved systems of communication and management between the Outdoor Programs Office and the compliance and eligibility staff in the Athletic Department."
Historically, the ski team's funding has been controlled by the Office of Outdoor Programs, not the Athletic Department.
"The ski program is a part of Outdoor Programs and has been for a long time," Larimore said. "It began as a part of the Outing Club, which predated the creation of the Athletic Department."
As a result, the infractions revealed by the audit are practices the ski team has been doing for awhile, that failed to be detected through some previous internal audits, according to Larimore.
Larimore emphasized that the violations were unintentional.
"It is not uncommon for campus this size to have as many as 10 individual infractions a year," he said. "A number of inadvertent mistakes are made."
"I don't think we've done anything in spirit that would violate the regulations," ski team member Ali Crocker '06 added.
As yet, the audit results have not significantly affected ski team members' morale.
Crocker surmised that until the implications of the audit are announced, there doesn't seem to be a call for much concern.
"The feeling is that [the audit findings] aren't going to keep us from racing, but of course we can't tell yet because we haven't really heard from an official source," she said.
