Fans who attend the annual spring football game will be supporting more than just the team in the future, University of Wisconsin officials announced at Friday’s Athletic Board meeting.
Athletic Director Barry Alvarez said he and head football coach Bret Bielema decided to turn the spring game over to a unit on campus in need of extra support, and they hope to continue the tradition by choosing a different unit each year.
After hearing about the needs of UW’s School of Nursing during an event last week, Alvarez said he offered the option to Dean Katharyn May, who accepted.
This means UW’s School of Nursing will receive all proceeds from the 2011 spring game, Alvarez said, but they also have obligations to fulfill as a result.
“We could turn it over to some unit on campus, allow them to charge for the game, allow them to promote for the game, sell tickets,” Alvarez said.
The option also sparked the interest of Chancellor Biddy Martin, who asked to take charge of the game not five minutes after Alvarez spoke with May, he said.
Alvarez said Martin wanted to put the proceeds from the game toward need-based scholarships on campus, but will have to wait another year.
Alvarez said he sees the idea as a way to support athletics and various units around campus.
“I think it shows goodwill, and it’s a win-win,” he said. “We fill the stadium – it’s great for our players, great for the football program, and [we] help another group on campus.”
The board also voted on recommendations from the ad hoc committee that examined the Clayton Report.
The committee established its recommendations over the summer, and brought its findings to the board last month. Athletic Board Chair Walter Dickey postponed a vote in September due to the absence of some board members.
The committee suggested the board identify criteria during the search process for coaches that would meet athlete’s needs, open positions in accordance with UW policy, identify leading candidates to the board and require a full vote when hiring coaches.
The second change will make student evaluations of coaches available to the board’s personnel committee electronically, and the third recommendation requires the board to implement standards maintaining communication between the athletic department and the board.
After a synopsis of the recommendations by board member and UW veterinary medicine professor Sheila McGuirk, the board approved the changes. No member voted against implementing the changes.
Dickey also spoke about the Big Ten Conference meetings, at which reinstating the women’s soccer tournament was discussed.
After much discussion with faculty representatives from Big Ten schools, Dickey said a Big Ten women’s soccer tournament would be reinstated.
The primary reason the tournament stopped revolved around student-athlete’s missing class for the tournament, Dickey said.
To account for this concern, Dickey said after a team loses in the tournament they must return to their school unless they are prohibited from doing so for safety concerns.
Dickey said UW agrees with the decision, largely because many student-athletes do not miss many classes throughout the semester.
