Addressing problems cited by the NCAA in their recent imposition of a four-year probation and a $100,000 fine was the focus of a presentation from Athletics Director Dan Radakovich at the Nov. 17 Academic Senate meeting.  

Radakovich said that while the Athletics Association is managing through the probation and fine internally, Georgia Tech is challenging the NCAA’s stripping of the football team’s 2009 ACC championship title. Results of that appeal should be announced by February.

“Mistakes were made by some of the student-athletes, by the athletics staff and by me,” Radakovich said of the November 2009 incident that led to the NCAA action. “I hope everyone understands that we acknowledge our mistakes, and we are working to ensure that they are never repeated.”

Radakovich cited a couple of major changes that have been made as a result of the NCAA action:

• The Athletics Association’s Compliance Office now has a dual reporting relationship to Georgia Tech’s Office of Legal Affairs and Risk Management, which Radakovich described as “another set of eyes” to review the work of the Athletics Association.

• The Athletics Association’s academic support function is now under the supervision of the Office of the Provost, which is assisting in a review of best practices that should be implemented by next fall semester.

Radakovich also explained that the graduation rates for student athletes should continue to improve thanks to a revision in NCAA rules that removes athletes who leave school before graduation from subsequent calculations of athletic graduation rates.

During the meeting, Tom Horton of the Georgia Tech Research Institute and Hope Wilson of the College of Management, co-chairs of the 2011 Charitable Campaign, also gave an update on the progress.

As of Nov. 17, the campaign had collected $189,000 in gifts from approximately 1,600 faculty and staff members. Last year, 1,225 employees contributed $313,000 to the campaign. Horton said the campaign would continue through the end of November.

He said the preferred method of giving is payroll deduction via the TechWorks system, but one-time contributions can be made by printing out a pledge form from the TechWorks site and writing a check. For those who prefer not to submit checks to their department campaign representative, Horton said checks and pledge forms could be mailed to him at mail code 0801.

And the following academic offerings were approved:

• Minor in Korean Language
• Minor in Energy Systems
• Certificate in Scenarios, Models and Military Games