Appalachian State University leaders on Friday said they are “very pleased” with a report conducted by the university’s internal auditor that finds student-athlete clustering is not occurring at ASU.

According to a Sept. 20 letter from Director of Internal Audits Michael Stanley addressed to ASU Chancellor Ken Peacock and the Board of Trustees chairman, “in a university academic setting, ‘clustering’ occurs when a large percentage of players, defined by researchers as having 25 percent or more of an athletic team, share one major.”

Researchers say this happens as a result of coaches or school administrators steering athletes toward courses and majors that will keep them eligible to compete or simply as the natural result of a like-minded student population seeking out majors that reflect its interest, the letter said.

Stanley presented the report’s findings at Friday’s Board of Trustees meeting. Peacock said he asked the audits office to conduct a review in light of the academic fraud scandal at UNC-Chapel Hill.

The state’s flagship university came under fire earlier this year when an internal investigation and media reports found that 54 courses in the university’s Department of African and Afro-American Studies, primarily filled with student-athletes, were offered irregularly and provided little classroom instruction or assignments.

“I can look at them in Chapel Hill and say I do not believe we have this at Appalachian,” Peacock said. “They want me to show them the numbers.”

The review compared majors of student-athletes to the overall student population for six academic sessions between the first summer session of 2011 and the second summer session of 2012. During this time period, ASU’s 508 student-athletes declared 96 majors, or 44.5 percent of the 216 majors available.

The majors having the greatest percent of student athletes were communications studies, 10.1 percent; strength and conditioning, 10.2 percent; health promotion, 10.9 percent; business and marketing education, 14.3 percent; trade and industry, 33 percent; and health education/secondary education, 35.3 percent. In the latter two majors, however, one student-athlete was among three total trade and industry majors, while six student-athletes were among 17 total health education/secondary education majors.

“We analyzed these two situations … and concluded that the total of seven student-athletes representing six different men’s and women’s teams in these two majors does not constitute clustering,” Stanley’s letter stated.

On the men’s football team, student-athletes declared 40 majors with 10 students undeclared for an average of 3.02 student-athletes per major, the report stated. In men’s basketball, student-athletes declared 10 majors with three students undeclared, an average of 1.08 student-athletes per major.

“This similar diversified stratification appears among all other Appalachian State University NCAA-sanctioned teams with an average of 3.8 student-athletes per major,” the report said.

According to the report’s cover letter, “Our analysis of the data did not indicate clustering within any athletic team. The student-athletes at Appalachian pursue a diverse and varied course of study. We found there to be sufficient institutional oversight and governance concerning the student-athletes and the policies and procedures concerning Appalachian’s program of intercollegiate athletics.”

The Office of Internal Audits also examined the transcripts of current student-athletes who were enrolled in courses taught by either Cindy Wallace (vice chancellor for student development) or Charlie Cobb (Athletics director). The two administrators were among six instructors that taught courses with more than 25 percent student-athletes during the report period.

Wallace taught Polarized Politics, in which seven out of 25 students (28 percent) were student-athletes. The course is offered as a First-Year Seminar class, which is required for all freshmen at ASU.

Cobb taught Leadership in Athletics, in which 24 of 25 students (96 percent) were student-athletes. The course is geared toward high-performing student-athletes. “The students are responsible for attendance, participation in discussion, review of materials and two written papers,” the report said.

The auditors also examined 17 transcripts of student-athletes who left ASU to play professional football or basketball.

“Our analysis of the transcripts, along with the assistance of the university registrar, did not indicate any grade anomalies for the purpose of maintaining NCAA eligibility that would warrant further review,” the report said. “We therefore conclude … that the transcripts did not indicate that grades were manipulated.”