Berkeley prof barred for giving out fake grades

Sources close to the investigation told the Chronicle that Professor Alex Saragoza will be suspended from his faculty position for one semester though he will continue teaching this term. Saragoza has been a faculty member at Berkeley since 1979 and also serves as systemwide vice president for educational outreach.

Documents released Friday after Chronicle public records requests showed that Saragoza retroactively enrolled football players Ainsworth and Davenport in spring 1999 classes to allow them to remain eligible to play football during the 1999 season.

However, a report by an investigator hired by the university said that Sargoza could produce no evidence that the students did any work. Neither player had even a general recollection of some of the subjects covered in lectures or exams, the report said.

Saragoza declined to comment Friday.

The athletics penalty would be relatively light compared to other colleges, such as the University of Washington, which have been barred from playoff competition or from appearing on television because of academic violations.

Sue Johnson, chairwoman of the university's board of regents, called Saragoza's suspension appropriate.

"He is a good person who made an egregious error. But I think he did it in being overzealous to help these students. It was not a systematic pattern," Johnson said.

The university's investigation began after an anonymous letter to the conference. The school concluded its first investigation in January 2000, but the Pacific-10 conference said it still had cause for concern.

The investigation found none on the coaching or athletic program staff was involved -- the school said head football coach Tom Holmoe told officials he thought the credit might not be deserved.

"I'm gratified that the report shows it to be an isolated case and that our staff played no role in the improprieties," Holmoe said in a statement last month. "There is some pain we'll feel in the proposed sanctions, but it's not going to undermine our goal to achieve major success over the next few seasons."

The Pac-10 will recommend any sanctions in June to the NCAA, and the NCAA will make a final decision. The conference does not need to follow the university's recommendation, and the NCAA doesn't need to follow the conference's recommendation.

The university said it will revise policies on retroactively adding students to increase the involvement of the faculty liaison to the athletic department. It will also have college deans review petitions before approval. It will also keep records on the actions.<