COMMITTEE:          University Athletics Committee

 

MEETING DATE: September 10, 2009

 

PERSON PRESIDING: Mike Felts/Scott Below

 

REGULAR MEMBERS IN ATTENDANCE:   

Cal Christian, Lori Flint, Mark Moore, Scott Below, Stephanie Tilcott

 

EX-OFFICIO MEMBERS IN ATTENDANCE:  

David Dosser, Nita Boyce, Tim Metcalf, Walter Jenkins, Todd Fraley

 

OTHERS IN ATTENDANCE:      

Gary Overton, Rosie Thompson Smaw, Nance Mize, Terry Holland

 

ACTIONS OF MEETING

 

Agenda Item: Approval of minutes

Discussion: Approve as amended.

Action Taken: Approved minutes.

 

Agenda Item: Election of Officers

Discussion:

Action taken: Elected Scott Below as Chair, Cal Christian as Assistant Chair, Lori Flint, Secretary.

 

Agenda Item: Charge to committee: to help faculty be aware of athletics and its role in the university, and to show care for our student athletes.

Discussion: David Dosser, of student athlete welfare committee, states student athletes should be treated just the same as all other students-no better and no worse.

As a committee, our job is to ensure that academic integrity be maintained for all students, that student athletes are encouraged to perform to the best of their abilities as both students and athletes. When we wait to express concerns once students are already struggling, we have waited too long. As an institution, we do a better job at helping student athletes be well-rounded than most other institutions.

As ECU has grown in size, there seems to be a reduced interest on the part of the faculty in the welfare of student athletes, and this should not be the case.

 

There are only a few majors at ECU that might not work particularly well for student athletes, but these and others require compromise on the part of the athletes, coaches, and other faculty.

Scott Below states it refreshing to be at an institution that values both academics and athletics, and that Coach Holland sets the tone clearly for student athletes at ECU. Coach Holland states we need to stay vigilant about issues related to academic integrity as well as be good emissaries to the community.

 

Mike Felts discussed special problems of scheduling and athletics in our conference. The time may come when faculty may have to take a stand and refuse schedules that work counter to values at ECU, such as adding additional games to our schedule.

 

Action taken: N/A

 

 

Season ticket sales are still holding up despite the sluggish economy. Terry Holland feels economy may still impact us as we have been impacted by internal budgetary factors such as student fees, but up until now, external factors have taken up the slack.

 

The stadium expansion will move forward because: construction costs are good right now, and construction adds jobs to the local economy, adds to the economic impact of the area, gives us more tickets we can discount to allow more people to come to events.

 

Soccer is playing well. Volleyball is 2 and 4, and the coaching change there has been well-received by all involved, and the assistant coach is effective, as well.

 

Barring complications, no team is expected to perform worse than it finished last year.   We also need to continue to exercise common sense in our recruiting and admissions as regards tests and grades. The APR situation is still a work in progress; we are still losing some student athletes to transfers, which do not count against us as a school unless student transfers to a community college.

 

Assigned additional duties to: N/A

 

Agenda Item: Business carried over from last year:

1.                  Gender equity plan-need to review the gender equity plan and appoint a subcommittee.

2.                  Softball field expansion has begun and should be ready for late next spring

3.                  NCAA 10 year re-accreditation plan: Cal Christian chairing this.

4.                  Faculty mentoring program continues and starts with a pilot of men's basketball.

5.                  Academic Integrity Subcommittee convenes after next regular meeting of UAC (10/20/09), to look for patterns of poor academic performance in various sports. Special Talent Waivers now have a formalized plan in place to deal with these on a case-by-case basis, examining high school information, test scores, writing samples, etc. so Chancellor can make educated decisions about STWs.

                                     APR situation means men's basketball is still being monitored, though should                             be cleared after this year. Coaches' APR score now institutional although s/he                                 may not have created a particular situation. In 2010, coaches' APR scores will be                                  publicly available. Also, NCAA is composed of people like those on this                                       committee: faculty, coaches, administrators, athletes, etc., and has little power                               over its member institutions.

6.                  Athletic compliance is already in Academic Affairs, but next needs to move all involved staff to AA instead of Athletics to avoid the appearance of any conflict of interest.

 

Action Taken:  N/A

Assigned additional duties to: N/A

 

NEXT MEETING:  October 20, 2009.

 

 

ITEMS TO BE DISCUSSED:

 

Respectfully Submitted,

Lori J. Flint

Secretary, University Athletics Committee