**DRAFT**

Boulder Faculty Assembly Meeting

Minutes

April 1, 2004

Attending:

Barbara Bintliff, BFA Chair

Jerry Peterson, At-Large Board Member

Andy Cowell, Academic Technology Committee Chair

Greg Carey, Secretary

Uriel Nauenberg, Former BFA Chair

Michael Preston, Intercollegiate Athletics Chair

Francis Beer

Anne Bliss

Peter Boag

Bud Coleman

Pamela Diggle

Kandace Einbeck

David Fagerstrom

Roberta Flexer

Rob Guralnick

Bruce Henderson

Bob Hohlfelder

Leslie Irvine

David Kassoy

Kai Larsen

John McIver

Peter Molnar

Rolf Norgaard

Andrew Pleszkun

Gail Ramsberger

Ted Snow

Rodney Taylor

Bill Waite, Academic Affairs Committee

Erik Monsen, UGGS

Jeff Dodge, Silver and Gold Record

Guest:  Dr. John DiBiaggio, Special Assistant to

                                The President and Chancellor

Not Attending:

Virginia Anderson

Mel Branch, Faculty Affairs Committee

Cathy Comstock, BFA AAP Committee Chair

Frances Charteris

Carol Cleland

Kim Dickey

Mark Dubin                                                                                          

Philip Graves

David Guenther

Lakshman Guruswamy

Natalie Hedberg

Robert Kuchta     

Roger King                                                                                                           

Paul Kroll

Richard Laver

Tom Mayer                                                                                                          

Marguerite Moritz

Terry Sawchuk

Bob Schulzinger

Lori Seward

Stein Sture, Vice Chair

Deward Walker

Martin Walter, BFA Student Affairs Committee Chair

A meeting of the Boulder Faculty Assembly was held on Thursday, April 1, 2004 in the Fleming Law Building, Room 156. Chair Barbara Bintliff presided.  The meeting convened at 4:00 p.m. and adjourned at 5:30 p.m.

A.            Approval of Minutes

Moved by Norgaard and seconded by Einbeck that the minutes of March 4, 2004 be approved.    There being no further comments or changes to the minutes, the motion to approve the minutes carried.

B.                   Special Report

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and introduced Dr. John DiBiaggio, Special Assistant to President Hoffman and Chancellor Byyny and liaison between the offices of the president, chancellor, and the Athletic Department. 

DiBiaggio described for the assembly how he was asked by President Hoffman and Chancellor Byyny to assist them with their concerns that have arisen as a result of the CU football recruitment scandal.  He was asked to come in and spend time on campus and objectively and fairly assess and observe the culture of intercollegiate athletics and make suggestions  to address the current concerns.  He outlined his qualifications for this task by describing his experiences as president of three universities, two of which were Division I schools in athletics.   He was also engaged with the NCAA to help establish a foundation with the intention of providing students with the resources needed to complete their degrees, perhaps do research on sports injuries, and provide  training for sports administration.    DiBiaggio reminded the Assembly that a very small number of athletes make it to the rank of professional and too many athletes end up without degrees and added that faculty  need to remind students that their real purpose while at university is to obtain an education.   In 1989 he was asked to join a group funded by the Knight Foundation to look at intercollegiate athletics as a result of concerns developing around athlete behavior all around the country.  Of the two different reports produced by this group, the first suggested that it was time that university presidents take control of intercollegiate athletics to provide the leadership necessary to “clean up” the offenses that were occurring.  The second was a follow-up report to see if any action had been taken.   It was assumed at that time that this would happen through the NCAA which would pass  legislation addressing the concerns.  The NCAA did pass legislation which called upon universities to recapture control of athletics, assure academic and fiscal integrity of those programs, and find some way to certify that these changes had been met.  Some suggestions were made that were implemented, but in some cases now the situation is worse:

• In many institutions the violations reported are truly embarrassing.  The  recent events involving recruits and the recruitment process at CU hurt the reputation of the university in an unfortunate way.  This impacts among other things the ability to attract and retain desirable students and faculty to CU.
• DiBiaggio has interviewed a number of persons on campus but there is no group more important than faculty.   He stated that it is critical that faculty become engaged in this process.  Faculty at some institutions feel the situation with intercollegiate athletics is out of their control, and faculty are  concerned whether they can influence the current situation because of the dollars involved and because the leadership in higher education has allowed the situation to get out of hand.
• Athletics is highly commercialized which presents another frustration.
• It is the business of faculty across the country to speak out if the role of intercollegiate athletics on campus is to change and DiBiaggio believes the faculty have an enormous influence as to what will happen with intercollegiate athletics.
• For those who enjoy watching sporting events it is important to remember that intercollegiate competition is an “adjunctive activity” and not about academic performance, which is what a university should be about. 
• Our expectations of student athletes should be the same in terms of admission, normal progress, quality of life while at CU.  (Some student athletes never get to enjoy all of the opportunities available on campus). 
• It is time to bring athletics “into the fold” and reestablish communication between the athletic enterprise and academics.   DiBiaggio said he had observed a kind of disconnect currently exists between athletics and the academic departments at CU. 

Dr. DiBiaggio charged the faculty with the responsibility to speak out on these issues and call for a reestablishment of the connection between athletics and the academic enterprise.   DiBiaggio sees his role as examiner of the current culture and plans to make recommendations as to how the culture should change, and he invited all faculty to come speak with him and share ideas and experiences.  He then asked for questions.

Beer asked if DiBiaggio had had the opportunity to meet with the Intercollegiate Athletics Committee, and DiBiaggio anwered in the affirmative.  Bintliff added that about three hours of  meetings have taken place between DiBiaggio and the Special Committee on Athletic Reform and she intended to speak about the committee’s activities later during this meeting.  The committee is committed to following DiBiaggio’s suggestions and is preparing a set of recommendations for changing the way athletics is dealt with on  campus.  Beer commented that the BFA, through various committees, has been trying for years to effect changes with minimal results and that  the newly expanded stadium stands as the final statement of the imbalance between athletics and academics at CU.   DiBiaggio answered that the President and Chancellor are ready to take this current crisis as an opportunity to act and specifically are ready to create a model program, and he has found the majority of the Regents have also been supportive.  Beer suggested that the recommendations proposed to the administration include giving faculty governance real independent leverage and independent reporting authority in this matter.  DiBiaggio stated this will be what he is calling for in his recommendations.  Nauenberg commented that it is difficult to do anything locally unless it is also done on a national level, and added that he has heard that on other campuses there is considerable pressure from the alumni not to do anything in the way of reforming athletics.    DiBiaggio agreed and added that  maintaining an educational institution’s integrity should override the importance of maintaining the athletic “competitive edge.”  He disagreed with  the argument raised that more funding comes to the universities with successful athletic programs.   He added that the U.S. is the only country in the world where intercollegiate athletics gets this kind of attention.  Hohlfelder asked DiBiaggio to name programs or universities where the faculty have increased their level of engagement.  DiBiaggio replied that he refers to university faculty around the country who are coming together collectively as groups to  speak out as the “heart of the university” and are insisting that their institutions begin engaging in practices which are more appropriate for a university.  DiBiaggio acknowledged that this process will not be easy but challenged the faculty to be courageous and face those interests outside the university that will want them to do otherwise.

Snow said that the involvement with the Subcommittee on Intercollegiate Athletics has spanned nearly a decade and over  time many ideas concerning faculty involvement in the governance of  athletics have been raised.  In that time period  the relationship with the administration when discussing athletics has been cordial but there has been no real response.  Faculty are now viewing the current unfortunate situation as perhaps the opportunity to capture  the attention of the administration in a manner we have not had before.  It is hoped that the end result of current discussions will be a new form of governance for athletics which involves faculty.   One of the goals of the special subcommittee is to insure that the academic standards for athletes are the same as for all other students.  The committee is also interested in knowing more about the general fiscal situation, with the goal of ending up with a recommendation about a new way to govern athletics that involves faculty.   The three person special subcommittee will be working on recommendations with input from Chair Bintliff and the administration.   Snow concluded by saying  it remains to be seen whether we can win because athletics has traditionally been  governed by higher forces. 

DiBiaggio stated that there are lots of good thoughtful people in athletics; there is also a communication gap between the academic side and athletic side on campus that somehow must be overcome.   He pointed out that there are also very successful, exemplary athletic programs like Women’s Basketball and successful student athletes on campus and that an overall “housecleaning” of athletics is not necessary. 

Coleman agreed and asked whether it was philosophically possible for a football operation that involves vast sums of outside money that is not going to spiral into something else when the highest paid employee in the State of Colorado is the CU-Boulder football coach.   DiBiaggio answered that Stanford seems to have done quite well, so it is possible.    Coleman then said the question that needs to be asked concerns whether the university is here  for students or here to support a farm team for professional football.  DiBiaggio said when he asked why not make the university the farm club for professional teams and he was laughed at because the relationship already exists.    The argument is sometimes made that “we have to do it this way” because the money generated supports the minor sports, when in fact without the minor sports there would be no credibility.  Beyond that it is not unusual for some university colleges that are low-technology to generate more monies from their tuition than is required to run their program but those dollars are used to subsidize the programs that are more expensive or more esoteric.  So if football generates more money than it spends, those excess dollars are used to support other programs.  Kassoy asked what role the NCAA could play for setting expectations on the national level.   DiBiaggio said the NCAA passes rules and regulations constantly but they primarily manage championships and resources and can’t be expected to deal with these other issues, which must be dealt with by university presidents and faculties.   The NCAA is not the solution, but they can be of assistance.  Kassoy then said DiBiaggio was implying then that these changes should be done campus by campus.  DiBiaggio replied affirmatively and added that there are probably institutions in the Big 12 that are not about to institute reforms.  Norgaard             was interested in how athletics is actively participating from their end, and asked about athletics coming to the financial rescue of departments if the need arose.   DiBiaggio said he would hope that when the various parties come together to discuss athletics the issue of revenue sharing should come up.  Larsen asked whether it would be possible that the CU football program could be shut down for two years and how that might affect recommendations.  DiBiaggio said that would not happen.  Taylor said that we are dealing with an entity that has a psychology and an autonomy as well as financial autonomy, and asked about the practical implications of taking control in a situation where most of the individuals involved in the entity view themselves as outside or removed from the authority.  DiBiaggio answered that this scenario  could change quickly if reporting mechanisms were instituted to insure accountability and there are such institutions in our country where the reporting is clear and the accountability absolutely assured.  It is a matter of restructuring the organization and making sure the right people are in place. 

The Chair noted that if there were further questions for Dr. DiBiaggio, he was available by appointment by contacting  Joey White, Assistant to the Chancellor.  She thanked DiBiaggio for coming to speak to the Assembly.

C.            Chair’s Report

The Chair reminded the assembly that elections would be held at the last BFA meeting of the year on May 6.  Ballots for committee members and representatives were placed in the mails this week.

The annual Faculty Excellence Awards celebration is scheduled for Friday, April 16 from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. and the Chair read into the record the names of this year’s excellence awards recipients:

                Service                                   Shirley Carnahan                  Comparative Literature & Humanities

                                                                Merrill Lessley                      Theatre & Dance

                Teaching                               William Adams                     Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

                                                                Paul Beale                              Physics

                                                                Joanne Belknap                    Sociology

                                                                John Martin                          Farrand Residential Academic Program

                Research,                               Kristi Anseth                        Chemical & Biological Engineering

                Creative, and                         Dan Frangopol                     Civil Engineering

                Scholarly Work                    Charles Judd                         Psychology

                                                                Kalyana Mahanthappa       Physics

Bintliff thanked administrator Shernick and everyone on the excellence selection committees for their hard work with the awards selection process.

She then reminded everyone that May 7 is commencement and emphatically encouraged all faculty to attend this year’s ceremony in full academic regalia and she provided the phone number (2-4153) for reserving academic robes by April 2.  Peterson added that the Phi Beta Kappa initiation ceremony will take place in the UMC at 5:00 p.m. on April 25 and he encouraged all faculty to attend. 

The Chair then gave a legislative update:

• Student Bill of Rights (SBOR) was pulled by its sponsor; assurances were made by President Hoffman to the sponsors of the bill that student diversity is protected at UCB and grievance procedures are in place and publicized.  The Chair reminded the assembly that in February a resolution was passed calling on the Chancellor to appoint an ad hoc committee to formulate streamlined grievance procedures and Bintliff was assured this would happen this summer.  The BFA’s resolution and one passed by Faculty Council was very helpful to Hoffman as she negotiated and lobbied on this bill.
• The Colorado Civil Rights Act was defeated in the Senate; the Chancellor has put together a committee to advise him on the issue of considering race in admissions policies.  Representatives from this group will be brought to speak to the BFA early in the fall and they will ask the assembly to recommend specific language for campus  policies. 
• The Opt Out Personnel Bill was defeated but the committee continues to study the feasibility of opting out of the state personnel system as the bill will probably be reintroduced next year.  Bintliff asked for faculty input on this bill.
• The College Opportunity Fund or Enterprise Status Bill (SB189) has moved successfully through the Senate subcommittee and will go to the Senate as a whole.  If the bill is signed by Governor Owens we will see several additional tuition bills introduced. 

In other news:

• The new Executive Director of CCHE is Rick O’Donnell; the BFA will invite him to speak in early Fall 2004. 
• The  Special Subcommittee on Athletic Reform is preparing a set of recommendations to give to the administration on how to restructure the athletic oversight process and to involve faculty especially in the areas of recruitment, oversight of financial affairs, hiring of coaches, overall accountability in athletic department, and support and protect the welfare of the students. 

These recommendations are fluid at present and the BFA would like to be able to present them April 30 at the end of the semester.  They will be distributed to the BFA electronically so that a discussion can occur online with the goal being adoption of these recommendations at the May 6 meeting, after which time they will be distributed to the President and the Chancellor, and both are very interested in what the faculty have to say on this issue.   She asked all faculty to please read the recommendations and be ready with constructive comments at the next meeting.  

Bintliff went on to say that some faculty have been criticizing student athletes and the athletics program in their classrooms, which is inappropriate.  She read from a letter written by a group of athletes protesting this practice.  Nauenberg asked if the BFA will find out the names of the faculty who are using classroom time to criticize athletics.  Peterson reminded the group that there are grievance procedures in place for exactly this purpose.  Bintliff added that student athletes are to be respected and treated no differently than any other student on campus and asked the faculty to insist that their colleagues stop any negative behavior or criticism directed towards students in the classroom. 

Diggle said that an article published in The Economist ranked CU 11^th among the world’s public universities and encouraged students to write letters to editors of local papers in order to emphasize this positive report.   Bintliff agreed that CU is an extraordinary university and that such a report should be front page news.  Beer stated that the report was done in China and that other people feel there are that CU has other measures of greatness, and one of them would be to have a football program that is consistent with that status.   Monsen announced that on Tuesday the Provost will approve the Graduate Student Bill of Rights, which will soon after become policy.

The Chair thanked everyone for attending and the meeting was adjourned.