Minutes of the Presidential Committee on Athletics

Big Ten/Iowa Room, Carver-Hawkeye Arena

August 28, 2014

Members Present: Bruhn, Chung, Cox, Dillavou, Donatelli, Eko, Elliott, Herman, Moorhead, O’Deen, O’Hara, Parkin, Rhodes, Vlastos, Westefeld, and Williams.

Members Absent: Hollingworth, Weinstein, and Zaharis.

Also Present: Moeller, Associate Provost; Grady, Associate Vice President and Dean of Students; Dodge, Chief Diversity Officer and Associate Vice President; Modestou, Director of Equal Opportunity and Diversity; Beach, Assistant Vice President of Business Services; Lynch, Chair, NCAA Certification Self-Study Committee; Barta, Director of Athletics; Taylor, Deputy Director, Athletics; Meyer, Senior Associate Athletics Director; Clerry, Curtis, Mims, and Tovar, Associate Athletics Directors; Walker, Chief Financial Officer, Athletics; and, Roe, Director, Athletics Communications.

Guest Present: UI President Sally Mason.

The meeting was called to order at 4:07 p.m. by Chair Cox.

I.  Introductions and Agenda for the Year - Chair Cox

Chair Cox asked PCA members and Athletics’ Senior Staff to introduce themselves to the Committee.

Barta’s plans for reorganization of Athletics’ Senior Staff due to recent and upcoming retirements included establishing a new position of Deputy Director; GeneTaylor was hired to fill the position. Taylor addressed the Committee and spoke about his family, prior employment, and current responsibilities.

Chair Cox stated the PCA charge for the year will be to maintain the academic integrity of student-athletes.

II.  President Sally Mason: Charge to the PCA

Chair Cox welcomed President Mason. He spoke about the history of the PCA and how the role of the Committee has changed over time. He stated the PCA serves at the will of the President and defined its role as one of providing advice to the President.

President Mason stated the Presidential Committee on Athletics is her chief advisory committee on issues of college athletics. She emphasized the focus of the PCA should be on the health, well-being, and education of student-athletes.

President Mason highlighted athletic accomplishments of various sports teams as well as honors bestowed upon coaching staff members and student-athletes. Fans continue to support the sport teams setting attendance records in football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, and wrestling this past year. Three head coaching changes occurred—one sought a job opportunity elsewhere, one changed his career path into athletic administration, and the final was dismissed. PresidentMason expressed her confidence in the Athletics Director’s decision in the latter case.

Forty-four UI student-athletes were honored by the Big Ten Conference with the Distinguished Scholar Award, five of whom had perfect 4.0 grade point averages in the sports of men’s basketball, rowing, cross country, soccer, and volleyball. Also, 44 student-athletes were named to the spring Academic All-Big Ten Team. All 24 sports team performed above the Academic Progress Rate of .925 this past year.

The NCAA’s changes affecting student-athletes will continue to be discussed on the UI campus and nationwide. President Mason stated any changes must be done in a thoughtful and equitable manner keeping welfare of student-athletes at the forefront. The autonomy of the five athletic conferences will be further defined.

In sum, she stated it will be a busy year working through the NCAA changes dealing with opportunities for student-athletes in a fair and equitable manner. She added the financial implications of these changes are not yet known.

Chair Cox thanked President Mason.

III.  Announcements

A.  Committee members are reminded to update/complete FERPA training as needed.

B.  The annual PCA Reception with head coaches will take place October 2, 2014, after the PCA meeting.

C.  Annual reports on Athletics’ budget and facilities were tabled until the October, 2014, meeting.

IV.  Approval of Minutes

Westefeld moved to approve the minutes of May 1, 2014; Chung seconded. Unanimous approval was recorded.

V.  Distribution of PCA, Big Ten, NCAA Manuals (The PCA Membership Directory will be emailed to members after the August 28th PCA meeting.)

A.  The PCA Operations’ Manual was distributed. The online version can be found on the President’s home page: http://president.uiowa.edu/files/president.uiowa.edu/files/PCA_Operations_Manual_1.pdf.

B.  The 2014-15 NCAA Division I Manuals were made available to PCA members. The manual can be downloaded free at: http://www.ncaapublications.com.

C.  PCA members who would like to receive a copy of the 2014-15 Big Ten Manual should contact Parker.

VI. Old Business

Standing Subcommittee Reports
Chair Cox announced chairs will give oral reports of their subcommittee’s work at each PCA meeting.
A.  Academic Achievement Subcommittee - O’Hara

O’Hara’s subcommittee will focus on academic goals as stated in the PCA Operations Manual. Review of student-athletes’ majors, access to classes, and travel-related issues are some topics to be discussed this academic year.

B.  Equity Subcommittee - Hollingworth

No report.

C. Executive Committee - Chair Cox

The Executive Committee met earlier today.

D. Student Athlete Well-Being Subcommittee - Moorhead

Moorhead reported subcommittee members spent much of last year reviewing and updating policies as needed. Two agenda items this year will be the reexamination of the pregnancy policy and student-athletes’ assessments of their experiences at Iowa over a longer period of time to look for trends.

VII. New Business

A.  Election of PCA Vice-Chair

O’Hara nominated O’Deen for the position of Vice-Chair. Westefeld seconded. No other nominations were received. Unanimous approval was received from Committee members.

Chair Cox stated O’Deen will supervise the task of assigning PCA members to Athletics Department’s search committees on his behalf. O’Deen gave a report on PCA members who served on searches this past academic year.

B. Signing of Confidentiality Pledges

Confidentiality forms were distributed to PCA members for completion.

C.  NCAA Certification Report - Lynch

Lynch reported the NCAA Certification Self-Study Committee met on August18, 2014. He gave a report to the PCA Executive Committee today where he shared the measurable standards developed by the NCAA to clarify expectations and bring consistency to the Institutional Performance Program (formerly known as NCAA Certification). The standards address institutional control, rules compliance, academic standards, academic integrity, gender issues, diversity issues, and student-athlete well-being.

Lynch asked PCA Chair and PCA subcommittee chairs to review and discuss the measurable standards and provide input to Lynch throughout the year. A summary report on academic standards will be drafted by him at the end of this academic year.

VIII. NCAA & Big Ten Legislation and Pending Issues - Barta, Meyer, Herman, and Parkin

President Mason’s coverage of NCAA changes above fulfilled the report on this topic.

IX. Iowa Student Athlete Advisory Committee (ISAAC) Report - Donatelli

The Annual Student-Athlete Kick-Off took place Sunday, August 24, 2014. Three UI alum and former student-athletes addressed the group.

X. Athletics Director’s Report - Barta

A.  Barta and Athletics’ Senior Staff members held their annual retreat earlier this month. A good amount of time was spent focusing on the Athletics Department Strategic Plan.

B.  Three coaching positions were recently filled: Joey Woody, Director of Track and Field/Cross Country; Tyler Stith, Head Men’s Golf Coach; and, Lisa Cellucci, Head Field Hockey Coach.

Barta stated the dismissal of Head Field Hockey Coach Griesbaum was a difficult decision. Since it is personnel matter, he is not at liberty to discuss the separation.

C.  The following sports highlights were mentioned:

1.  Soccer competes against Fresno State tomorrow, August 29, 2014, at the Iowa Soccer Complex.

2.  The Iowa vs. University of Northern Iowa football game takes place Saturday, August 30, 2014.

3.  Cross country travels to Drake University for competition Friday, August29, 2014.

4.  The UI volleyball team left today for competition in the Texas A&M Tournament.

5.  Tickets for all of Iowa’s home football tickets are available. Overall comparison of sales as of today indicates the Athletics Department has sold 9,000 more tickets than during the same time frame last year.

D.  Barta stated a new NCAA rule allows the Athletics Department to provide student-athletes’ (other than in football and men’s basketball) free admission to football and men’s basketball games. The Athletics Department has set aside seats for this purpose.

E.  Ten thousand seats for football games are held each year for UI students to purchase tickets. Athletics’ staff members are monitoring trends because the total allotment was not used again this year—only 6,700 seats were sold.

F.  Barta answered questions from PCA members pertaining to the January, 2015, NCAA Annual Convention and job responsibilities & duties associated with the new Athletics’ Deputy Director position.

XI. Adjourn

Chair Cox adjourned the meeting at 5:25 p.m.

______

Rae Parker

Recording Secretary