Susan Herbst Leading Charge on Athletics Programs Oversight
A release sent out by UConn this evening:
A new report that incorporates perspectives of higher education leaders
nationwide, including University of Connecticut President Susan Herbst, is
urging colleges and universities to enhance their governing boards’ oversight of
their athletics programs.
The Association of Governing
Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB) on Tuesday released “Trust,
Accountability, and Integrity: Board Responsibilities for Intercollegiate
Athletics,” the result of extensive study by the association under the guidance
of a 14-member advisory board. The report, an
initiative of the AGB Intercollegiate Athletics Project, was released at
Tuesday’s Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics (KCIA) meeting in
Washington, D.C. The findings were presented by AGB President Richard D. Legon
and John T. Casteen, president emeritus of the University of Virginia and
director of the project. Casteen also was UConn's 11th president, serving from
1985 to 1990.
“It is imperative that our
nation’s colleges and universities find ways to ensure transparent, responsible
management of our valued intercollegiate athletics programs while protecting and
furthering our academic missions. It was an honor to serve with President
Casteen and others who care so deeply about student success," Herbst
said.
The new report cautions that as
intercollegiate athletics departments increasingly operate like businesses,
boards must act to ensure an appropriate balance between athletics and academics
in their institutions, or policy makers or regulators will do it for
them.
The report focuses on three
recommendations for appropriate board engagement:
- The governing board is
ultimately accountable for athletics policy and oversight and must fulfill this
fiduciary responsibility.
- The board must act decisively to
uphold the integrity of the athletics program and its alignment with the
academic mission of the institution.
- The board must educate itself
about its policy role and oversight of intercollegiate athletics.
“In light of recent issues in
college sports, it is imperative for boards to function at a higher level of
awareness and judgment in order to address the financial challenges associated
with college sports, to ensure the link between intercollegiate athletics and
academic priorities, and to reaffirm standards and ethics in college athletics,”
Legon said.
“Chief executive officers
administer their institutions’ sports programs on a daily basis,” Casteen said,
“but boards must engage actively and appropriately in the policy considerations
surrounding the key issues, which can have a major impact on their institutions’
financial welfare and reputation.”
As part of the report, AGB
surveyed chief executive officers and board chairs of Division I institutions,
as well as of university systems that include Division I
institutions.
The survey asked those
institutional leaders how they have applied recommendations from AGB’s 2009
“Statement on Board Responsibilities for Intercollegiate Athletics” and about
other governance issues related to college sports, including compliance with the
rules and regulations of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and
various conferences.
Electronic copies of the report
and its supplemental survey data are available online at www.agb.org.
Labels: Susan Herbst
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home