Penn State will be responsible for paying the salary of its new independent Athletics Integrity Monitor George Mitchell who was appointed to the university by the National Collegiate Athletic Association Wednesday.
In an email, university spokesman David La Torre wrote that the university is responsible for payment but also that the university has not finalized any concrete financial arrangements with Mitchell yet. La Torre also said an official statement will be made soon and posted on the university Progress website.
Mitchell was appointed to the university last week as Athletics Integrity Monitor and will be in charge of making sure Penn State complies with the sanctions the NCAA placed on the university. Mitchell will be in charged evaluating the university's compliance with Athletics Integrity Agreement it will execute with the NCAA and the Big Ten Conference.
Mitchell will also be responsible for making recommendations he believes are necessary for the university's compliance with NCAA standards. He will make quarterly progress reports on the university's compliance for the NCAA, the Big Ten and the Penn State Board of Trustees.
The job also allows Mitchell to have comprehensive access to records and personnel throughout campus.
In wake of the Jerry Sandusky sex abuse case and Judge Louis Freeh's investigation and report on whether certain Penn State officials knew about the abuse and chose to cover it up, the NCAA issued sanctions on the Penn State football program. Among these sanctions were a $60 million fine, a four-year postseason ban, loss of scholarships, a five-year probation of the Penn State athletic program and the vacation of all wins from 1998 to 2011 vacated.
Sandusky, the former Penn State defensive coordinator, was convicted in June on 45 counts of abusing boys he met through his charity, The Second Mile.
Freeh's report indicated that former football coach Joe Paterno, former university President Graham Spanier, former Athletic Director Tim Curley and former Interim Senior Vice President for Finance and Business Gary Schultz knew the abuse was happening and chose not to report it. Freeh was hired by the Board of Trustees in November to conduct the investigation.
Mitchell is known for leading an investigation into the use of performance enhancing drugs in Major League Baseball, which led to what is known as the "Mitchell Report." Mitchell has also served as chairman of the special commission investigating allegations of impropriety in the bidding process for the Olympic Games.
