First released last December by an ad hoc committee, the report has been critiqued by the University Committee and the Faculty Senate.
“While there are certainly differences of opinion regarding the report, if you look at the provisions proposed by the University Committee, I think they did a good job of bringing into line the concerns of the shared governance,” Athletic Board Faculty Representative Dale Bjorling said. “At the end of the day the differences are fairly personal and minimal.”
The document will be further discussed at today’s Faculty Senate meeting.
Also discussed at the meeting were nationwide National Collegiate Athletic Association budgetary concerns, which instigated a review by UW Athletic Department officials that drew the department’s performance bonus plan into consideration.
“Everything I go to involves discussions on cost containment,” Athletic Director Barry Alvarez said, referencing meetings on the local, Big Ten Conference and NCAA levels. “That probably instigated it more than anything.”
Athletic Board Chair Walter Dickey confirmed these nationwide budgetary concerns, citing reports saying about three quarters of athletic departments in the country are in the red.
He said he wanted to remind people, however, that the UW Athletic Department is fairing better than most.
“I do think it’s actually more than three quarters,” Dickey said. “I just want to remind everyone that we are not part of that three quarters.”
Dickey said all aspects of the department’s current performance-based bonus policy will be examined and weighed, with recommendations from UW Athletic Department administrators coming up for a vote at the next board meeting in June.
In other Big Ten developments, Alvarez said concerns were expressed at the NCAA football committee meetings two weeks ago regarding the sponsorship and process of bowl games as the contracts are up this year.
“One of the major issues that we tried to confront were the number of bowls,” Alvarez said. “Currently we have 34 bowls with 68 spots, and at one point this year we were very concerned we wouldn’t have enough teams to fill those slots.”
After switching to 12-game seasons in the past three years, the NCAA has had 70, 71 and 71, respectively, as the number of teams that were bowl eligible, Alvarez added.
Also discussed at the meeting was a particular piece of legislation voted down at the last Big Ten Student Athletic Advisory Committee.
According to Nick Fulton, UW SAAC president, the piece of legislation said non-traditional courses could constitute up to 50 percent of student athletes’ eligibility requirements.
Dickey felt the legislation improperly treated student athletes differently from other students, while Bjorling said he does not believe it is the NCAA’s place to dictate what constitutes adequate course work.
