Dialog, UA Faculty and Staff News

UA Faculty to Look at Increased Governance in Intercollegiate Athletics

by Joanna C. Hutt

A growing trend among faculty members of U.S. colleges and universities is to get more involved in the administration and academics of the student athletes in intercollegiate sports. They are doing this in several ways, including organizing coalitions and associations; and by endorsing and supporting initiatives such as the NCAA's recent academic reform measures. These measures are aimed at Division I schools (which includes The University of Alabama) to improve academics in general and graduation rates specifically of student athletes.

SEC Association of Faculty Leaders

Vanderbilt University in Nashville recently hosted the SEC Association of Faculty Leaders, which urged "significant reform in intercollegiate athletics." The President of the NCAA, Myles Brand, formerly president of Indiana University, was the keynote speaker. He is actively seeking support and endorsement from faculty members, associations and coalitions for the reform measures already passed by the NCAA Board and for measures currently under review.

UA Faculty Senate president, Dr. John Mason

UA's Faculty Senate president, Dr. John Mason, professor in the Culverhouse School of Accountancy, attended the meeting and reported last month to the Senate steering committee both the Association's recommendations and the new NCAA academic reform measures.

The Association's main mission is to seek increased faculty governance in the administration, policy-making, and personnel matters as they relate to intercollegiate activities. Mason is on the steering committee that will plan next year's conference to be held at the SEC headquarters in Birmingham and hosted by the University of Arkansas. He will also be one of two representatives that the Association will send to the NCAA Student Athlete Representatives October meeting in Birmingham.

The Association became the third conference to endorse academic reforms for collegiate athletics, after the Big Ten and Pac-10 conferences.

Coalition of Intercollegiate Athletics

The Coalition of Intercollegiate Athletics (COIA), headed by Bob Eno of Indiana University who addressed the recent SEC Association meeting to outline its mission, was created by and is representative of faculty senate leaders. It is seeking to impact academic reform in intercollegiate athletics. COIA, to be led by a steering committee, has met with representatives of the Association of Governing Boards (AGB) and NCAA to explore how the groups can form an alliance. For information on the AGB and its alliance with COIA, visit the Web site at www.agb.org and click on the scrolling news items on the right.

Representatives from six conferences were involved with COIA's founding, excluding the SEC.

At the UA Faculty Senate's first fall meeting on Aug. 26, Mason will pose to senators whether to join COIA. He will recommend to the Senate steering committee that it recommend joining.

NCAA Faculty Athletics Representative

UA's current Faculty Athletics Representative, Gene Marsh, professor of law, will complete his six-year term in August. (See a Q&A feature in the Feb. 17 issue of Dialog on the Web.) According to Marsh, who addressed the recent SEC Association meeting at Vanderbilt, the duties of being a FAR take up a lot of time on top of duties of teaching and research. "Help is always needed and welcomed," he said. He sees these organizations as having an important role in the overall management of student athletes' academic needs and responsibilities, without having to be involved in rules compliance, enforcement processes, certification and other similar administrative needs.

"At many institutions, the faculty has been silent for too long on academic integrity issues as they relate to athletics," said Marsh.

As Mason noted, UA's Senate steering committee was unfamiliar with the NCAA's academic reform measures. Mason feels that becoming a member of an organization such as COIA will keep faculty informed, as well as give them a voice in governance.