Sept. 3, 2004
Georgia Tech self-reported what it believes to be a secondary violation to the NCAA involving the misapplication of NCAA rules regarding progress toward degree requirements, Director of Athletics Dave Braine announced Friday.
Seventeen student-athletes from four different sports over a five-year period were erroneously certified as eligible to compete due to the misapplication of Bylaw 14.4.3.1.5. Federal privacy laws prevent Georgia Tech from releasing the names or other identifying information of the student-athletes.
Georgia Tech uncovered and reported the 17 discrepancies following an extensive audit of the transcripts and academic records of 864 student-athletes (1.9 percent) from 2000-04.
With only one exception, the student-athletes in question earned the required 24 credit hours for the academic year with an acceptable grade point average.
“Certainly there was no deliberate intent to incorrectly certify student-athletes,” said Braine. “At the time, we believed that these athletes had met all the necessary criteria. We are committed to doing things right, so when it was brought to our attention that there might be some discrepancies, we performed a very exhaustive review of all the records.
“All of the cases can be characterized as errors of omission, not commission. Still, we accept responsibility for the mistakes that were made, and we have new procedures in place to prevent future errors.
“I think it’s important to note that six of these student-athletes earned their degrees in timely fashion and two more are on track to graduate this year,” continued Braine. “The remainder have made significant progress toward their degrees.”
Georgia Tech has proposed self-imposed penalties to the NCAA.
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