Oklahoma State has paid more than $100,000 so far to the firm hired to assist the university through the fallout of a Sports Illustrated series about the Cowboy football program.

The five-part series was published in September and OSU responded by appointing Chuck Smrt, president of The Compliance Group in Lenexa, Kan., to lead an independent review of allegations.

Three billing periods later, The Compliance Group has been paid $100,043.58 by OSU, according to figures obtained through an open records request.

According to an open records request made in September, Smrt is billing OSU for professional services at $220 per hour. Services provided by other TCG professional staff members are billed at $185 per hour. A rate of $85 per hour is charged for report preparation, transcript review and other duties performed by support staff.

OSU also is required to reimburse TCG for “reasonable and necessary expenses” associated with the project.

The terms were agreed upon in a contract dated Sept. 13.

According to the agreement, OSU acknowledged TCG shall spend as much time as deemed necessary by TCG to perform its obligations. The investigation is expected to continue for several months.