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PETITION
Please
sign our petition to save dropped OU sports. Click
here. If
your current circumstances or position with Ohio University do not require
anonymity, we
request that you sign with your name rather than as "Anonymous"
as some have. Thank you and thanks to the Women's Lacrosse blog
for setting up this petition.
MORE
LINKS
EMAIL
CONTACT FOR THIS SITE: SaveOUSports ATgmailDOTcom
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OU VIOLATES ITS OWN AND NCAA POLICIES
Stakeholders excluded from decisions that
turn their lives upside down
"The exclusion of these groups worked to the detriment of a valid,
equitable, respectable and thorough analytical decision-making process.
One could hardly expect support of the decisions under the circumstances.
Decisions made behind closed doors by few seldom win the support or earn
the respect of many."
--
From a letter sent to the Ohio University Board of Trustees by the Team
Coordinators.
Please pay particular attention to 2.2.6 below:
(Downloadable at the above link but it is a large pdf file
476 pages long)
Page 3
"2.2 The Principle of Student-Athlete Well-Being
2.2.5 Fairness, Openness and Honesty. [*] It is the
responsibility of each member institution to ensure that coaches and
administrators exhibit fairness, openness and honesty in their relationships
with student-athletes."
Page 3
"2.2 The Principle of Student-Athlete Well-Being
2.2.6 Student-Athlete Involvement. [*] It is
the responsibility of each member institution to involve student-athletes in
matters that affect their lives. (Adopted 1/10/95)"
Page 4
"2.4 The Principle of Sportsmanship and Ethical Conduct
[*]
For intercollegiate athletics to promote the character
development of participants, to enhance the integrity of higher education and to
promote civility in society, student-athletes, coaches, and all others
associated with these athletics programs and events should adhere to such
fundamental values as respect, fairness, civility, honesty and
responsibility. These values should be manifest no only in athletics
participation but also in the broad spectrum of activities affecting the
athletics program. It is the responsibility of each institution to: (Revised
1/9/96)
(a) Establish policies for sportsmanship and ethical conduct
in intercollegiate athletics consistent with the educational mission and goals
of the institution; and (Adopted 1/9/96)
(b) Educate, on a continuing basis, all constituencies about
the policies in the Constitution 2.4-(a) (Adopted 1/9/96)"
Page 5
"2.16 The Principle Governing The Economy of Athletics
Program Operation [*]
Intercollegiate athletics programs shall be administered in
keeping with prudent management and fiscal practices to assure the financial
stability necessary for providing student-athletes with adequate opportunities
for athletics competition as an integral part of a quality educational
experience."
Page 54
"11.1 - Conduct of Athletics Personnel
11.1.1 Standards of Honesty and Sportsmanship.
Individuals employed by or associated with a member institution to administer,
conduct or coach intercollegiate athletics shall act with honesty and
sportsmanship at all times so that intercollegiate athletics as a whole, their
institutions and they, as individuals, represent the honor and dignity of fair
play and generally recognized high standards associated with wholesome
competitive sports. (See Bylaw 10 for more specific ethical-conduct
standards.)"
Excerpt from an email sent by an OU
student government official:
"The mission of the Inter Collegiate Athletic Committee (IAC) of the
Faculty Senate is to meet with the Athletic Director and Assistant Athletic
Director to ensure that the Athletic Department is doing its job."
There was no student involvement in the decision process. A sitting
member on that committee since the beginning of the year informs us "that at
no time was the decision process that might result in cutting teams brought up
to the general body meeting of IAC or in any Faculty Senate meeting by any
member: student, grad student, faculty, classified, or administrative."
The student government official goes on to say:
"This was completely closed door! We, as students, pay their
salaries and what do we get? Our sports cut! In our experience, this
behavior is not characteristic of Ohio University, but rather what many of
us who work closely with the University, the horrible administrative staff
put in place. Our impression is that AD Hocutt is being used and the
President and the VP of Finance are the ones behind this."
THE CLOSED-DOOR COMMITTEE
The committee that was formed and met behind closed doors sometime in the thirteen
month period after OU's Athletics Department determined that financial problems
might force it to eliminate teams, and which
apparently endorsed this decision, was composed of the following according to a
statement by the Athletic Director:
"It was made up of a trustee, a former trustee, two
former student-athletes, a faculty athletic representative, a dean from Ohio
University, as well as the Vice President for University Finance."
From an Interview with Phil Whitten, Executive
Director of the College Swimming Coaches Association of America. Read
full interview here.
[Bold type emphasis, aside from question headings,
inserted by SaveOUSports.Org]
There has been talk that the process by which the decision
was made was flawed. Is that so, and can you enlighten our readers on the issues
with the process as well as the reaction to those problems?
Sure. The process has been seriously flawed from the get-go. Like all
universities these days, OU has a specified, institutionalized process for
dealing with this type of issue. That process includes representation of the
students. At OU, that representation comes through its Student Athlete Advisory
Council. Yet, the administration ignored its own policy and deliberately
excluded the student-athlete reps. Why?
I understand that the students are so angry about both the decision, and the deliberate
exclusion of student input in the process, that they plan to hold a rally
today in support of the four teams and then march on the president's residence.
In addition, the student government has stated that it will withhold the $1
million it contributes to the athletics budget if the sports are not reinstated.
The students are angry. Yes, they support the teams that the administration
wants to kill, but they are even angrier by the fact that they were cut out
of the process...
Ohio University Student Senate
Click
here for the home page of the Senate
Click here to view the Constitution of
Ohio University Student Senate (MS Word file)
Article one of the Constitution states: "...appoint
students to University committees to ensure student input on all matters
concerning the University, and do that which is necessary and proper to serve
and protect the rights, interests, and needs of Ohio University students and to
execute the powers and responsibilities of this Senate."
Click here to view the Ohio University
Student Senate Rules (pdf file)
The Senate Rules state on page 14, under "Chapter 25, Commissions of
Senate," "25.16 University Life Commission:"
"(a) The Commission shall address
issues that do not fall under the jurisdiction of other commissions, including,
but not limited to, health services, Inter Collegiate Athletic issues..."
It appears that this student organization whose Constitution and Rules are
ostensibly approved and observed by Ohio University, was excluded from the thirteen
month closed-door decision process that included committee meetings during which they were
deprived of the opportunity to carry out their duty to "...serve and
protect the rights, interests, and needs of Ohio University students..."
Click here
for Faculty Senate concerns about OU management
From the Faculty Senate,
Intercollegiate Athletics Committee page on OU's Website - Click
here to go to the page
INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETICS COMMITTEE
General policies concerning athletics at Ohio University are determined by
the President and Board of Trustees in consultation with the Director of
Athletics. The Intercollegiate Athletics Committee assists the President,
Provost, Director of Athletics, and the NCAA Faculty Athletics Representatives
in the interpretation and implementation of athletic policies. The ICA is an
advisory group reporting to the President; it works closely with the Director
of Athletics and the Athletic Department. The ICA membership, listed below, is
comprised of student, faculty, staff and community representatives, plus the
Director of Athletics and the Senior Woman Administrator.
The Committee is concerned with all facets of intercollegiate athletics at
Ohio University. Policies and procedures pertaining to athletics are under the
jurisdiction of the Committee subject to the approval of the President. Such
matters include:
-
Serve as liaison between student athletes and other members of the
academic community. Review of major policy statements, motions and other
significant matters to be introduced or acted on at MAC and/or the NCAA
meetings.
-
Review of Athletics Department gender equity plans, with a view to
recommending specific actions to further progress toward compliance.
-
Involvement in strategic planning efforts undertaken by the Athletics
Department.
-
Involvement in periodic self-study reviews as mandated by either the MAC
or the NCAA.
-
Periodic review of governance policies relating to such issues as
student athlete eligibility processes, disciplinary practices and student
absences from campus for athletic participation. Recommendations for
alterations in practices, or the creation of new policies or practices may
be made to the Director of Athletics and/or President as appropriate.
-
Review of, and possible sponsorship of, academic and athletic awards
presented to current student athletics.
-
Representation on search committees for head coaches and/or senior staff
by members of the Committee.
-
Responding to requests from the President and/or Director of Athletics
for recommendations on issues not covered in the above, as deemed
appropriate or advisable.
On an on-going basis, most of the Committee's work will be in direct
consultation with the Director of Athletics and other staff in the Athletics
Department. As a means of keeping the President informed, minutes of meetings
will be sent to the President on a regular basis.
COMPOSITION
-
5 Faculty members appointed by the President on recommendations from the
Faculty Senate (3 year terms; may be reappointed)
-
2 NCAA Faculty Athletics Representatives appointed by the President
-
2 Undergraduate student members appointed by the Student Senate (1 year
term; may be reappointed)
-
1 Graduate student member appointed by the Graduate Student Senate (1
year term; may be reappointed)
-
1 Classified Staff member appointed by the President on recommendation
from the Classified Senate (3 year term; may be reappointed)
-
2 Administrative Staff members appointed by the President on
recommendation from Administrative Senate (3 year term; may be
reappointed)
-
1 Community member appointed by the President (3 year term; may be
reappointed)
-
1 Director of Athletics (ex officio; non voting)
-
1 Senior Woman Administrator (ex officio; non-voting)
-
Total: 16
COMMITTEE ROSTER
All University committees follow the academic-year calendar. All students
serve one-year terms. Undergraduate students are indicated by US and graduate
students by GS. Faculty, administrators, staff and community members generally
serve three-year terms; the year a committee member's term expires is shown to
the right of the person's name. Individuals who have no year to the right of
their names have ex officio appointments.
[The makeup of this committee may be seen at OU's
website at this link - Click
here.]
Other Significant Ohio University
Policies
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DROPPED
TEAMS
2006
Women's Lacrosse Team
Swimming
and Diving
and
Track
and Field
|
