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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Samford University athletics department has been placed on probation for three years and must pay a $5,000 fine for violations involving academic certification, mostly involving transfer student-athletes, the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) announced April 12.
 
The violations involved 33 student-athletes over a four-and-a-half-year period between fall 2010 and spring 2014. The 33 student-athletes were involved in eight sports, including men's tennis, baseball, football, softball, men's track, men's cross country, soccer and men's basketball. Samford has more than 350 student-athletes participating in 17 varsity sports.
 
University officials acknowledged that the violations were the result of unintentional misinterpretation of NCAA certification guidelines and did not include any individual or institutional academic improprieties. Over the last 10 years, Samford has had two external reviews as well as an NCAA recertification process that showed no abnormalities in the university's processes. The violations were discovered during an Academic Progress Program (APP) audit by the NCAA.
 
"We have accepted the penalties the NCAA has given our athletics department," Samford Director of Athletics Martin Newton said. "In acknowledging the violations, we would like to point out that during the audit, the NCAA found that there was no intentional wrongdoing by anyone in the athletics department or the university. Members of the university and athletics staffs committed relatively simple errors, but the problems were compounded because the errors were made over an extended period of time. We have taken steps to make sure this does not happen again."
 
Newton noted that the NCAA did not impose any scholarship reductions, postseason bans or recruiting restrictions.
 
Since fall 2014, the university has implemented several improvements to assure the quality of processes, Newton said. During the APP audit, the athletics compliance and academic staffs, along with the university's registrar's office, worked closely with the NCAA auditor to come up with new policies and procedures to review academic records of student-athletes to ensure they meet NCAA guidelines. New academic tracking software has been added, and the university registrar's office has employed an additional staff member to work on athletics certifications.
 
"I want to emphasize that we take these concerns very seriously, and have made and continue to implement changes that are designed to avoid these types of challenges in the future," said Samford President Andrew Westmoreland. "The violations did not constitute individual or institutional unethical conduct or academic fraud. There was no intent to gain a competitive edge. Of perhaps the greatest consequence, we have added multiple layers of educational training — for some as often as monthly — with our athletics staff and others across campus who work with current and prospective student-athletes. We also have added staff assistance to provide for better oversight of certification and compliance."
 
Samford student-athletes have maintained a stellar record in the classroom, based on several public assessments. In the latest NCAA Graduation Success Rate (GSR) report, Samford had the top scores in the state of Alabama, 12 Samford teams led the nation or tied for the national lead in their respective sport, including 11 teams with a perfect score. Samford has also maintained one of the top Academic Progress Ratings scores in the state of Alabama.