In NCAA sports administration, regardless of division, "you're going to have violations," a Big West Conference official says.

"Universities usually catch themselves" and report their violations, Big West Assistant Commissioner Erica Satterfield said during a Nov. 21 workshop with UC Davis athletics officials.

Satterfield, who is in charge of Big West compliance with National Collegiate Athletic Association rules, said the Big West's nine member schools — including UC Davis — average eight to 12 violations a year.

"The majority are simply mistakes and are self-reported by the institution to the NCAA and the conference office," she said after the workshop. "Similarly, most penalties are assessed as self penalties by the involved institution."

The Big West violation average is comparable with the nation's, in Satterfield's estimation, though she said there is no way of knowing because the NCAA does not report total violation numbers.

NCAA press releases and public reports deal with major violations, Satterfield said. She added that "nearly all violations" are classified as secondary violations, and that the sanctions for these include letters of admonition or reprimand; rules education with the parties involved; and recruiting restrictions.

Restitution is another available sanction. Suppose, for example, a prospective student-athlete receives four free tickets to an athletics event. The limit is three; the prospect's eligibility could be put on hold until he or she makes a donation to charity, giving a sum equal to the value of the extra ticket.

Some other rules about complimentary tickets: They can be for home events only, never for conference championship events, and the prospective student-athlete must accompany the people with the other two tickets. So, no giving away the tickets.

Sometimes a university can get into trouble through no fault of its own. Satterfield offered this scenario: A booster treats a students-athlete to an "occasional family meal" in a restaurant. That is a violation. Only a university staff member can do that. The booster, however, can provide such a meal in his or her home.

Satterfield said universities must educate boosters about what is permissible and what is not. "The booster thing can get you all the time because you never really know what's going on out there," she said.

She offered another scenario: A booster goes into an Internet chat room where a prospective student-athlete is known to spend time, and the booster types, "Hey, you need to call our coach."

The booster thinks he or she is helping, Satterfield said. Instead, "It is a recruiting act" — and a violation, she said, because boosters cannot participate in recruiting.

Who qualifies as a booster? "A rule of thumb is, treat everyone as a booster," Satterfield said.

Advertising is another sticky area. NCAA rules state that a player’s photograph can be used in ads that promote his or her school, and in business ads that primarily serve as a means of congratulating players and teams—but only if the ads do not show products. The NCAA, however, this year sanctioned the “Pontiac Game Changing Performance” Web site, a promotion that features football game video clips amid Pontiac cars.

The NCAA, however, this year sanctioned the "Pontiac Game Changing Performance" Web site, a promotion that features football game video clips amid Pontiac cars.

NCAA stumble?

Critics say the Web site puts the NCAA dangerously close to violating its own rule, according to a Des Moines Register article published Nov. 29. In the same article, an NCAA official said players were not being used to promote product sales, but NCAA football as a whole.

Another rule states that a student-athlete, once enrolled, cannot accept payment for the use of his or her name or picture to promote any commercial products or services. If a player commits this violation, he or she becomes ineligible to participate in NCAA sports.

In an e-mail, Satterfield said: "The majority of sanctions are minimal and rarely seen by the public. Probation is only assessed when an institution is involved in a major infraction."

Probation "means you need to keep your nose clean," she said at the UC Davis workshop. "If you screw up again, that's where you get into trouble."

Satterfield said NCAA rules enforcers are looking for big violations. For the rest, "The fact of the matter is, institutions are pretty much on the honor system."

"I'm far more concerned with my institutions that don't report (violations), because it makes you wonder if they have controls in place."

Jennifer Cardone, assistant athletic director for compliance at UC Davis, said: "It's better to report violations than not report, as it confirms for the program, the coaches and the conference that UC Davis is monitoring its athletic activities and holding ourselves accountable for violations."

To view the NCAA D-I rulebook, visit www2.ncaa.org, click on Administration and Compliance near the upper right-hand corner, then NCAA Bylaws under Tools and Resources).