CSUN Player Failed English Admissions Test

Cal State Northridge volleyball player Nancy Ma, under investigation by the school for alleged academic fraud, failed to meet standard admission requirements for foreign students, an administrator said Friday.

Shirley Bowens, who works in the office of student development and international programs, said Ma failed her Test of English as a Foreign Language when she transferred to Northridge from a Chinese university in the fall of 1996.

Bowens said Ma scored 475 on the TOEFL. Northridge normally requires a minimum score of 500 for undergraduate foreign students.

However, Ma was granted a modification of admission requirements allowed within the California State University system.

“She’s fully admitted to the university and she’s fully qualified to be here,” said Ronald Kopita, vice president of student affairs. “There was sufficient evidence she could succeed at this university.”

Northridge officials have been investigating allegations of academic improprieties for more than a week.

The Times reported on Friday that Nicki Midwin, a former Matador volleyball player, said she did schoolwork for Ma, who speaks limited English, with the knowledge of Coach Lian Lu and assistant Kathleen O’Laughlin.

Lu and O’Laughlin both deny knowledge of Midwin performing schoolwork for Ma, 25, a junior and the team’s best player.

A man who said his last name was Yao and identified himself as a friend of Ma, told a Times reporter in a phone conversation he did not believe the accusations.

“If you’re asking if she speaks English like an American, no she doesn’t,” said Yao, speaking in Chinese from Ma’s home. “But to say she doesn’t know how to speak English at all is nonsense. How else would the university accept her?”

He said Ma “doesn’t want to speak to anybody.”

Midwin, 19, said she quit the team in February to pursue a beach volleyball career.

*

Judy Brame, associate athletic director, said Midwin had to sit out two matches last season while the school cleared her of possible NCAA rules violations for earning money while on scholarship. A student’s earnings cannot exceed the cost of a full grant-in-aid, roughly $8,530, for an academic year, Brame said.

Midwin said she did not have an ax to grind because Northridge investigated her working as an exotic dancer last summer.

Brame, who is spearheading Northridge’s investigation into Ma’s alleged academic improprieties, said she hoped to have her report completed by early next week. Brame said she had not heard from the NCAA and did not know if it would conduct an investigation.

Mark Jones, a director of rules enforcement for the NCAA, said academic fraud is “one of the most serious charges” against a member institution.

“It’s fair to say when we receive information like this, we’ll review it and try to react in some sort of fashion,” Jones said.

Although the exceptions can be granted to anyone, they are rarely given to international students, who normally must meet the significantly higher admission standards for out-of-state students.

About 290 international students were admitted to Northridge in the fall of 1996, the year Ma started school. Of those students, only about 12 were granted exceptions to the school’s admission requirements, said Mary Baxton, associate director for admissions and records. She declined to comment on whether Ma specifically was among the select group.

The exceptions, she said, are reserved for students who fall short of admission requirements, but have the potential to do well if given special help.

“There are few cases where we consider an international student. It’s not something we do every day,” Baxton said. “We’re not easily moved to admit them if they don’t show promise to succeed.”

In any case, Ma’s 475 score on the English test is close enough to the minimum 500 score that it almost doesn’t matter, test experts said. The test has a margin of error of 15 points, meaning that a person’s score can improve or decline that amount with no additional instruction in English.

“She was probably their star setter or whatever and they knew she wouldn’t be [slowing] classes down with that score,” said Debra Jonas, head of the American Language Institute at Long Beach State. “The 15 points is almost a fluke. It’s not considered major.”

*

State law mandates that specially admitted students receive tutoring and other services to help them succeed in their classes.

In Ma’s case, Bowens said Northridge offers tutorial services and provides English as Second Language courses for foreign students who need them. She said Ma was referred to the ESL program.

“To my knowledge, she didn’t go,” Bowens said.

In a prepared statement, school President Blenda J. Wilson said the academic cheating charges were troubling.

“We are distressed by this report, particularly because there are procedures in place for both the university and the NCAA to deal with such matters,” said Wilson, who was out of town.

“Until we complete our inquiries, we should assume Ms. Ma’s innocence.”

Ma led Northridge to the Big Sky Conference championship in 1996 and holds the school season record for kills with 456. Last September, she suffered a season-ending knee injury that required surgery.

*

Times staff writers Henry Chu, Rob Fernas, T. Christian Miller and Eric Sondheimer and correspondent Mike Bresnahan contributed to this story.