COLLEGE PARK, Md. – NCAA Associate Director of Enforcement Kathy Sulentic spoke before members of the University of Maryland athletic department Friday about academic integrity and trends observed by the NCAA staff.

Sulentic leads the NCAA enforcement department's academic integrity unit by providing subject matter expertise on Bylaw 14 and academic fraud issues. She spoke to all coaches and staff from Academic Support & Career Development, compliance and the Maryland registrar's office.

“Academic misconduct affects not only the integrity of the game, but more importantly, a student-athlete's education,” said Sulentic. “It has far reaching consequences beyond athletics.” 

Sulentic's presentation centered on current trends related to academic misconduct and steps Maryland can take to prevent an issue from arising at the university.

The NCAA enforcement staff is currently investigating a number of academic misconduct cases that involve online courses. 

“Level I violations centered on academic fraud are the enforcement staff's 'violation du jour' these days,” said Marcus Wilson, senior associate athletics director for compliance. “It is important that we educate our staff and have appropriate systems in place in order to prevent any misconduct from occurring on our campus. Having Kathy here to educate our staff and provide advice on additional systems that we can implement, based upon trends she sees from the National Office, furthers that goal.”

The presentation highlighted online education as a potential danger area in academics.

“With the growth of online education, we need to face the academic misconduct challenges that arise from this new and growing form of learning,” said Sulentic.

-Maryland-