UAPB granted audit approval

NCAA-mandated evaluation by Kansas firm to cost $48,870

— A legislative committee Tuesday authorized the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff to contract with a Kansas-based firm to conduct a compliance audit of the university’s athletic programs requested by the NCAA.

UAPB asked the Joint Budget Committee to approve a contract projected to cost $48,870 with The Compliance Group of Lenexa, Kan. Committee Co-Chairman Rep. Duncan Baird, R-Lowell, said the funding for the contract would come out of UAPB’s state general revenue.

Calvin Johnson, interim chancellor for UAPB, told lawmakers that the NCAA requested a second audit of the university’s athletic programs, after raising some questions based on an initial audit of the programs.

UAPB Athletic Director Lonza Hardy Jr. said the initial audit covered continuing eligibility of the university’s student athletes in the period from 2007-2010, and the second audit will cover initial eligibility of the student-athletes as they were recruited to the university’s athletic programs.

Last year, UAPB was one of 10 NCAA Division I men’s basketball teams banned from the postseason for this year because of low Academic Progress Rate scores; the progress rate tracks graduation and retention rates.

Richard Weiss, director of the state Department of Finance and Administration, said in a letter dated Monday to the legislative committee that UAPB is in immediate need of an independent compliance auditor.

The NCAA is requiring UAPB to have a second audit completed by Feb. 28 in the amount of $48,780 to The Compliance Group, he said.

“There are penalties and sanctions, which may be imposed by the NCAA if not completed timely,” Weiss wrote in his letter to the committee.

Johnson said in a letter dated Feb. 6 to Weiss that a failure to have this audit “completed timely as requested could not only put the athletic program in jeopardy, but such noncompliance has serious ripple effects for the university as a whole.

“If we are unable to meet the requirement to complete this audit by February 28, 2013, the adverse impact would be the imposition of multiple violations on several sports, some sports would be ineligible for competition, teams would receive post-season championship bans, a reduction in scholarships and teams being placed on probation by the NCAA - all impacting our enrollment,” according to Johnson’s letter.

“It is critical that we move on this as soon as possible to give the Compliance Group adequate time to complete the review of hundreds of records,” he said in his letter to Weiss.

Sports, Pages 23 on 02/13/2013

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