Determine the fundamental ways in which the NCAA’s ethics program failed to prevent the scandals at Penn State, Ohio State, and the University of Arkansas. Support your response with one (1) example from each of these schools’ scandals.
The NCAA ethics program lacked the much-needed capacity to prevent the various scandals in two fundamental ways, including permissiveness and business aspect. Undoubtedly, the ethics program remains characterized by a great deal of complacency; given it has failed to define specific strategies tasked with the responsibility of ensuring college sports teams adopt effective ethical policies in addition to combating any form of misconduct. Referring to the University of Arkansas, for instance, the scandal occurred due to the current complacent rules and regulations. If NCAA had a properly defined and strict ethical procedures for coaches, Bobby Petrino would have not made any attempt of hiring Jessica Dorrell. The NCAA ethics program tends to have unclear guidelines for individual stakeholders (Ridpath, Gurney, & Snyder, 2015). In essence, colleges have since developed and continue to perpetuate the complacent culture, especially when it comes to regulating and addressing disciplinary issues with their sports teams.
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Apart from program’s permissive nature, NCAA could not prevent the scandals because the program has been commercialized. In the case of Penn State University, the institution’s leadership covered up each of the sex crimes since the school officials, including the coach feared the risk of losing the very financial support associated with the NCAA ethics program. For many year, one of the former assistant coaches sexually assaulted more than eight years. Despite receiving reports about the occurrence of these serious crimes, the coach did not conduct any investigations with the sole purpose of ensuring the accused received the correct punishment for his actions (Ridpath, Gurney, & Snyder, 2015). The business aspect of the program also became apparent in Ohio State University in which players received financial and other material benefits, which violated NCAA rules. Concisely, it is evident that schools often ignore controversial and unethical issues that occur because they do not intent to lose the revenue brought in by the program.
Examine the principal ways in which the leadership of the NCAA contributed to the ethical violations of Penn State, Ohio State, and the University of Arkansas. Support your response with one (1) example from each of these schools’ scandals.
The NCAA leadership played a pivotal role in contributing to the various ethical violations witnessed at Penn State, the University of Arkansas, and Ohio State; given NCAA directors acted contrary to its rules and regulations. The first principle way in which they contributed to the crimes involves the directors’ decision to jump into the compensation process as opposed to conducting the much-needed investigation into the serious Penn State Scandal. In this case, the leadership did not only adhere to the provisions of the NCAA ethics program but also catalyzed the occurrence of the scandal. The other principle way in which they led to the ethical violations involves the leadership’s failure to effectively collaborate with the law enforcement and investigative agencies, including the FBI (Ridpath, Gurney, & Snyder, 2015). A close cooperation with the intelligence service providers would have provided NCAA with insight into the hidden crimes committed by school officials and other stakeholders.
Predict the key differences in the scenarios that occurred at Penn State, Ohio State and the University of Arkansas if an effective ethics program was in place. Provide a rationale for your response.
I firmly believe that if Penn State, the University OF Arkansas, and Ohio State had effective and result-oriented ethics program, the outcomes of scandals could differ a great deal. Starting with Penn State, the institution should have placed great emphasis on the enactment and implementation of mandatory reporting policies when it comes to identifying and addressing misconducts. By establishing a policy that compels officials and other responsible stakeholders to report crimes, Penn State would be well positioned to undertake a comprehensive investigation into each of the accusations against the assistant coach (McFadden & Stenta, 2015). In this way, the issued at hand would have reached the NCAA experts, as well as law enforcers for prosecution.
If Ohio State University had prioritized the formulation and implementation of a solution-driven ethics program, the bartering scandal could have been prevented. Broadly speaking, an effective program requires inclusivity, which means that the university would have involved players and their coach in decision making (Ridpath, Gurney, & Snyder, 015). At the same time, it would have engaged them in awareness creation initiatives, educating stakeholders on the importance of adhering to the various NCAA ethical guidelines. With the adoption and integration of this program, the scale of the scandal would have reduced because just a few individuals would have committed the crime.
The Arkansas scenario would have been much different if the university would have created and enforced a comprehensive and vetting program and a clear criterion recruitment criterion. The Head Coach, Petrino, acted contrary to the NCAA rule, which prevents anyone from engaging in activity characterized by conflict of interest. Although the NCAA program and associated laws remains quite clear on this, the school lacked a properly established policy governing such actions (Kelly et al., 2018). For instance, Dorrell would have appeared before a panel of experts or personnel department for an interview or vetting. In this sense, failure to meet the much-needed threshold, including passing the conflict of interest test, she would have not landed the job, preventing the scandal altogether.
Postulate on two (2) actions that the NCAA leadership should take in order to regain the trust and confidence of students and stakeholders.
Investigations into scandals have revealed that NCAA directors often violate a variety of rules and ethical standards governing the program. As a result, the program’s public image has since been tainted. In order to regain the much-needed confidence, as well as trust among the various stakeholders, the NCAA leadership should prioritize transparency and associated values. The ability to create and maintain a transparent culture, NCAA should consider engaging students and other players in vital decision –making processes, while at the same time, encouraging their active participation throughout the implementation process (Ridpath, Gurney, & Snyder, 2015). Another action that the leadership in question should take revolves around the creation of public awareness programs. In this way, individual stakeholders would find the best possible opportunity to understand and appreciate each of the principles promoted by NCAA. Accordingly, they would, in turn, recognize the important role played by NCAA in ensuring their success and well-being.
Recommend two (2) measures that the HR departments of colleges and universities should take to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future. Provide a rationale for your response.
Although the NCAA has created and continues to implement a variety of ethics and compliance initiatives and programs tasked with the responsibility of regulating the various actions of coaches, schools, and players, scandals have proved resilient. Colleges, as well as universities continue to breach different rules and regulations and ethical standards provided by NCAA, as they remain complacent in the face of misconducts (Ferrell & Fraedrich, 2015).). In response, the HR department of these institutions should identify and establish change-driven measures or mechanisms tasked with the responsibility of preventing the occurrence of similar cases in the near future.
The first strategy revolves around the need for university and college administrators taking a leading role in helping NCAA in the whole process of implementing each element of its ethical program. For example, the effectiveness of this measure became evident during the Ohio Scandal in which the productive cooperation of the institution presented NCAA with the best possible opportunity to identify and punish each of the culprits quickly. Another strategy that the HR departments should use involves regular review of the already established rules governing the behaviour of administrators, coaches, and players (Kelly et al., 2018). Undoubtedly, the present-day society features constant changes, meaning traditional problem-solving approaches might not address the already complicated and multifaceted issues in sports teams.
References
Ferrell, O. & Fraedrich, J. (2015). Business ethics: Ethical decision making & cases . Toronto, Canada: Nelson Education.
Kelly, C., et al. (2018). Institutional reforms and the recoupling of academic and athletic performance in high-profile College sports. The Sport Journal, 20 .
McFadden, C. & Stenta, D. (2015). Connecting collegiate recreation and athletics to leadership. New Directions for Student Leadership, 2015 (147), 5-18.
Ridpath, B., Gurney, G., & Snyder, E. (2015). NCAA academic fraud cases and historical consistency: A comparative content analysis. Journal of Legal Aspects of Sport, 25 (2), 75-103.
