UI review could help Presidential Committee on Athletics, chairwoman says

IOWA CITY - The faculty head of the University of Iowa's Presidential Committee on Athletics said she is glad for an internal review of the group, and she hopes it will improve communication between the committee and UI officials.

The Presidential Committee on Athletics is an advisory group to UI President Sally Mason and Athletics Director Gary Barta. But committee chairwoman Ellen Herman, clinical professor in education, told the UI Faculty Senate Tuesday committee members often hear about athletics issues in the media before they are briefed by UI officials.

It's sometimes a frustrating situation for members, Herman said.

“I'm glad they're doing” the review, she said. “Why have a committee when we have no power anyway?”

The Presidential Committee on Athletics is undergoing an internal review as part of a periodic review of all UI charter committees. A five-person group, including Faculty Senate President Ed Dove, will submit a report about the Presidential Committee on Athletics to Mason by the end of the semester.

Herman said she has not met with the review committee yet, but she plans to in April.

Several years ago, the committee was called the Board of Control and it had more power regarding athletics issues. The structure was changed before Mason began her tenure as president and it became an advisory group with a new name.

Faculty who served on the Board of Control who continue to serve on the Presidential Committee on Athletics have told Herman that it's a completely different committee now.

The committee does have good input when it comes to student welfare, Herman said, and she sees student-athlete advocacy as the group's biggest role at the moment. It's when there are larger issues - such as finances and facilities - that the committee often gets left out of the loop, she said.

“I just think we need to have a better system of communicating,” Herman said.

Several Faculty Senate members said they would like the Presidential Committee on Athletics to advocate for the idea of the UI Athletics Department giving revenue back to the university general fund. The Athletics Department is self-supporting, but contributing some revenue back to the university would go a step beyond that, several faculty said.

Herman said some universities, such as Michigan and Ohio State, already do this.