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Who calls the shots, UW or UW athletics?

Todd Finkelmeyer  —  5/14/2008 11:05 am

It's no secret that some on the UW-Madison campus believe the athletic department operates more like an autonomous empire than a subset of the university.

That friction got a public airing May 5 when Walter Dickey, associate dean of the UW Law School and chairman of the Athletic Board, which is charged with oversight of the athletic department, was challenged on the maverick ways of the athletic department while delivering his annual report to the Faculty Senate.

As Barry Orton, a professor of telecommunications and a Faculty Senate member, sees it, "The question is who is in charge? Is it the tail (athletic department) or the dog (university as a whole). When it's important and it involves money, it's the tail. And that's the concern of the faculty -- that the dog should be in control of the tail, rather than the other way around."

This week, the four finalists vying to be the next UW-Madison chancellor are on campus for a series of interviews and meet-and-greets. And Orton and others are hoping the next leader of Wisconsin's flagship university will take a look at the relationship between the athletic department and faculty leaders.

"Obviously a question is going to be, 'Is the new chancellor going to set the tone of oversight right away or is the new chancellor going to be an athletic booster?'" says Orton. "I think you can be both, but it's tough.

"In a university this size there are three or four major issues that a new chancellor has to deal with that are political and public, and this is certainly one of them."

As far as Dickey is concerned, however, things are operating as they should be, "at least if you care about results," he said. "When you look at the academic performance of our student-athletes we're doing really well. Competitively we're doing really well .... On the financial side we're in the black. And on the compliance side (with the NCAA and Big Ten), we don't have any problems. So from the point of view of results, we're doing well.

"Having said that, I think it's vital that the chancellor be aware of athletics and athletic issues."

Some of the friction between the UW athletic department and faculty leaders dates to July 2005, when athletic Director Barry Alvarez anointed Bret Bielema his successor as football coach without following proper hiring procedures.

And some faculty leaders are still miffed about the lack of input they had last year in regard to the UW's contract with the Big Ten Network. Critics have claimed Chancellor John Wiley and Alvarez didn't follow proper procedures when striking the deal and deciding how network revenues would be distributed within the university.

In addition, the Big Ten Network issue as a whole remains a lightning rod for criticism of the UW because the network still doesn't have broadcast agreements with the largest cable providers in Wisconsin, Charter Communications and Time Warner.

In the most recent twist to the Bielema hiring controversy, Bruce Jones admitted at the May 5 Faculty Senate meeting that he didn't find out about Bielema being named Alvarez's successor until about two hours before a press conference to announce the big news. This is significant because Jones, a UW-Madison professor of agricultural economics, was chair of the Athletic Board at that time. Although Jones still serves on the Athletic Board, he was removed as chair two weeks after Bielema was named head coach.

In Jones' view, most of the proper policies are in place for oversight of the athletic department; it's a matter of using these tools when needed.

"It's the responsibility of the (athletic) board to continually and vigilantly look at these faculty policies and procedures to make sure the faculty's Senate and faculty's expectations are executed in terms of the performance of intercollegiate athletics," he said.

But Jones, whose second four-year term on the Athletic Board ends this summer, says there is nothing wrong with evaluating and revising faculty policies and procedures.

"That is the decision that will be made by the Faculty Senate because they are the ones in control of the faculty policies and procedures."

Prior to their arrival on campus this week, each of the finalists for the UW-Madison chancellor post were interviewed by phone by The Capital Times. The candidates were asked how they viewed the role of college athletics on a major college campus. Following is an edited transcript of each person's response.

REBECCA BLANK

Bio: From 1999-2007 Blank served as dean of the School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan, where she remains a professor of public policy and of economics, and is co-director of the school's National Poverty Center. Blank is currently on leave and is a visiting senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, a nonprofit public policy think tank in Washington. Before coming to Michigan, she was a faculty member at Northwestern University and served as a member of President Clinton's Council of Economic Advisors from 1997-99.

Blank: "Obviously you have to have thought about these issues if you're going to be a chancellor at a place like Wisconsin. Sports are a big issue. They bring in a lot of money. They bring a lot of alumni back to campus. They create a spirit on campus that is often important. It has some positive and negative aspects about it, there is no question. And there is going to continue to be a lot of lively debate about the role of college sports. My general reaction is that if you're thinking of college sports there are three things you have to be serious about and you have to hold them in balance.

"One is, for better or worse, college sports, because of the way they are run, because of past problems, are about a set of rules and you have to make sure you have the people in place who follow those rules and do what needs to be done so this is a clean program in every meaning of that word.

"Secondly, college sports is about sports -- it's about competition. And you know what? It's better to win than to lose in competition. If you're going to be the UW and you're going to be running major sports teams like Wisconsin, you want to have good coaches, good teams and attract good athletes. And that's something you have to pay attention to.

"Thirdly, you are working with people who are students and not athletes. And you always have to be aware of the fact that what really matters at the end of the day is the long-term human capital that these folks acquire and what they do their entire life afterwards as alums -- which is not just about sports but about other things. And then making sure that you maintain graduation rates and that you give people an education as well as the training that the coach is going to provide.

"And doing all three of those and doing them well is an ongoing challenge and balancing act."

CAROLYN MARTIN

Bio: Martin became Cornell University's provost, the university's chief academic and chief operating officer, in July 2000. Prior to that, she spent four years as senior associate dean in Cornell's College of Arts and Sciences. A professor of German studies and women's studies, she served as the chair of the Department of German Studies from 1994-97. Martin was a UW-Madison lecturer in the early 1980s and earned her doctorate at the UW in 1985 in German literature.

Martin: "The bottom line is athletics, whether intercollegiate or intramural or club, are an extremely important part in higher education and the balance between the cultivation of the mind and body is critical. Athletics certainly have a very important place, and Big Ten athletics are in a class by themselves.

"Of course there are always tensions in institutions about the relative significance of sports. But that's a healthy tension, a healthy discussion. I grew up in a sports crazy family -- both of my brothers were high school football coaches. So I myself turned out, inevitably, to be a sports fan."

TIM MULCAHY

Bio: Mulcahy has served as vice president for research at the University of Minnesota since February 2005. He is responsible for oversight and administration of an externally funded research program of more than $600 million on the university system's five campuses. Before taking the Minnesota post, Mulcahy was associate vice chancellor for research policy at UW-Madison for three years. From 1996 to 2002, he served as associate dean for the biological sciences at UW-Madison. He joined the faculty at UW-Madison in 1985.

Mulcahy: "First of all, athletics represent a very, very important part of campus life in general. For the students, faculty, staff and alumni, it's an important contact point and connection with the university. For the alumni, it's a good magnet, if you will, for people who want to support the university.

"Having said that, I think from an academic perspective a university has a responsibility to make sure athletic programs are run with integrity, that they're held to the same standard of excellence as any other aspect of the university, that we are sensitive to the risk of exploiting student-athletes, and that we're committed to providing them with the same quality educational experiences as any other student on campus.

"If athletics are viewed as part of the academic mission and are held to the same standards of excellence and accountability, then I think it's a very healthy part of campus life."

GARY SANDEFUR

Bio: Sandefur was named dean of the College of Letters and Science at UW-Madison in August of 2004. Prior to that, he served as professor of sociology, associate vice chancellor for academic affairs, interim provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs, and director of the American Indian Studies Program, all at UW-Madison. He has been on the faculty since 1984 and currently leads a college that has 39 departments and five professional schools.

Sandefur: "Well, my view I think is indicated by the fact that I've been a football and men's basketball season ticket holder for 23 years. So I really enjoy intercollegiate athletics and I think all in all and on balance it's a very positive thing for the university to have a strong athletic program.

"There are challenges because the athletic department and coaches are under tremendous pressure to deliver, especially in the high-profile sports. So, that sometimes leads to problems, and it's often alumni who cause problems by wanting to do things that are inappropriate or incorrect. So everyone just has to work together to make sure the people who want to help you don't end up hurting you more.

"Overall, I think Barry Alvarez does a great job as athletic director and if I were to become chancellor I would really look forward to working with him."

For continued in-depth coverage of the process to find the next UW-Madison chancellor, visit www.captimes.com.

Todd Finkelmeyer  —  5/14/2008 11:05 am