Campus Athletics Governance, the Faculty Role: Principles, Proposed Rules, and Guidelines
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2.C Guidelines for Campus Consultation and Adaptation
The guidelines are intended to allow an institution to check its athletics governance board structure and function in an efficient way. It is not designed to provide a comprehensive look at all potentially useful practices. Readers will need to review the recommendations critically to determine which ones may be helpful for their institution or their particular circumstances.
As was the case with the guidelines for FARs, different institutional traditions, personnel, missions, academic standards, league affiliations, and the like will influence what will work and what will not. In general, however, it is suggested that the specific guidelines provided below reflect sound educational values and principles that are shared by all institutions.
Those provisions that are included above in recommended uniform rules are not listed below as guidelines; however, until such rules are adopted, they should be interpreted as recommended guidelines.
Board Charge and Composition Board Functions Board Communications and Accountability
1. The Board has clearly established functions and responsibilities that are acknowledged by the president of the institution.
2. The Board has both advisory and legislative functions.
3. The Board has legislative functions, either delegated by FGB policy or exercised in tandem with the FGB, that have a substantial effect on academic integrity. These may include the following: admissions policies, standards for normal progress and good academic standing (GPA), and limits for missed class time for competition.
4. The Board includes faculty and academic administrators who are highly respected by peers for their research, teaching, service, or administrative work outside intercollegiate athletics.
5. The Board includes the Athletics Director.
6. Other athletically-related personnel (e.g., Senior Women’s Administrator, Director of Admissions, the head of the athlete advisement center) participate in Board meetings as staff.
7. The Board includes student representation.
8. The Board includes alumni representation.
9. The Board has a specified relationship to the Faculty Governance Body. This relationship may be established in one or more of the following ways, listed (in general) from weaker to stronger connections:
· A member of the board is designated as the official liaison to the FGB.
· A specified number of board members must also be members of the FGB.
· A specified number of board members are appointed or elected by the FGB.
· The Board is required to send all legislation that affects the academic well-being of athletes through the FGB.
· The Board is required to provide regular informational reports to the FGB, minimally on an annual basis
· The Board is a standing subcommittee of the FGB.
10. The Board reviews data on admissions decisions, including progress and graduation success rates by admission category.
11. The Board promotes admissions policies that are consistent with admissions policies outside intercollegiate athletics.
12. The Board participates in the review of appeals of the denial of scholarships for continuing athletes.
13. The Board reviews data on normal progress and grade point averages and reports its findings to the FGB.
14. The Board, by FGB policy or in tandem with the FGB, establishes policy for normal progress and grade point average that meets minimal NCAA and any conference requirements.
15. The Board, by FGB policy or in tandem with the FGB, establishes policy for normal progress and grade point average that exceeds NCAA and conference requirements, where this is consistent with the institution’s standards for other students.
16. The Board reviews information on all athletic schedules and reports its judgment to the FGB.
17. The Board establishes a confidential personnel subcommittee of faculty and academic administrators, which may also have an alumni or student member, that participates and advises in searches and major personnel decisions concerning athletics directors and head coaches; the full CAB should play a role in searches.
18. The Board, by FGB policy or in tandem with the FGB, guides athletics program decisions by establishing policy for excused absences and maximum amount of missed class time for athletic competition.
19. The Board reviews the certification of the academic eligibility of students of athletic grants-in-aid.
20. The Board reviews major requests for waiver of any institutional athletics policies.
21. The Board delegates responsibilities for review of minor requests for waiver of institutional athletics policies to the Faculty Athletics Representative.
22. The Board develops a method to determine needs, interests, and concerns of athletes.
23. The Board reports activities, on at least an annual basis, to the FGB.
Board Communications and Accountability
24. The Board communicates information beyond won-loss records (and other athletic achievements) to the broader campus community and specifically to the FGB, including information on graduation rates and continuing eligibility performance, by sport.
25. The Board is empowered to gather information from sources within and outside the Athletics Department, and shares information, within boundaries established by institutional policy and Federal regulations, on such matters as the following:
--the number of Presidential or special admits
--a comparison of the number special admits for athletes and similar admissions for other reasons (e.g., unusual musical talents)
--an analysis of the academic success (including graduate rate and continuing eligibility performance) for all special admits in comparison to other athletes and the entire student body
--a longitudinal analysis of student athlete graduation rates in comparison to the entire student body
--information on the grade point averages of athletes in comparison to the entire student body
--information on the distribution of majors selected by athletes in comparison to the entire student body
--information on academic honors (e.g., academic All-America) won by athletes
26. The Board coordinates informational reports to the FGB, given by the Chair of the Board and/or the Faculty Athletics Representative.
27. The Board encourages informational reports to the FGB by the Director of Athletics