UI President Sally Mason: Iowa doesn't want to become 'Ohio State or Miami'

IOWA CITY - University of Iowa President Sally Mason emphasized the need for strong oversight by the Presidential Committee of Athletics in light of several scandals involving recent college athletics programs.

"I think it's safe to say the landscape out there in college athletics is a bumpy one," Mason told the advisory board Thursday afternoon. "We at Iowa don't want to become Ohio State or Miami in any way, shape or form. That means we all have to be diligent in watching over this system, and I know Gary (Barta, Iowa athletic director) watches it carefully. I watch it carefully. We're all responsible to some extent to make certain the program maintains integrity."

The PCA is an university board that advises Barta and other Iowa athletics officials on decisions, student-welfare and other issues. Mason said she doesn't want to give the PCA decision-making power over the athletics department, which it did as the Board of Control until the early 2000s.

"I am not interested in going back to a Board of Control in any way," she said. "What I need as president is a very solid advisory board. I need a group that looks in particular at student issues, welfare issues and in the business of athletics. It gives myself and Gary advice on the types of issues that are now day-to-day business issues in athletics. It's not a group that's going to set fees. It's not a group that's necessarily going to write policy, but it is a group that's very important in watching over this operation, just a very important operation within the university structure and be able to give me advice."