Faculty Senate Notes

[Pony_Fan]

Not sure if anyone posted this previously?


Fall Term Report of the Faculty Senate Athletic Policies Committee/Athletic Council

December 5, 2005

Academic- All data indicate that with the exception of football and possibly men?Ĵs basketball our student athletes are performing on a par with the general student population or better. Football seems to be a problem. The Athletic Department is monitoring this and believes that the situation will improve. We are looking into issues of academic culture in the program, impact of recruiting procedures and the like. The NCAA mandated APR for 2003-05 is 969, a solid score. LEC has 153 student athletes in mandated academic support.

Change in undergraduate advising policy (approved by the Provost)?Įthe new rules state that students must meet with their adviser. Further consultation is invited. But Students will no longer be required to get adviser approval prior to a subsequent enrollment transaction. This will no longer be an honors code violation.

Ongoing discussion of need for change in general university transfer policy.

Graduation Success Rate- Again, very high (Football is lower, but is going up) (1995-99 statistics)?Įoverall graduation success rate is 89%- in the measure known as the Federal Rate, SMU is among the top 25.

Gender Equity sub-committee report delayed until early next term

Scheduling and Travel- nothing out of the ordinary here- except that men?Ĵs basketball has extra travel days due to C-USA scheduling that has Wednesday and Saturday games. We recommended that sending academic support staff along with the team. And this is already working well. SMU?Ĵs NCAA Men?Ĵs Soccer team will be missing reading days and some final exams due to the NCAA tournament. The team is now in the final four.

Athletic Majors compared to Majors of general Student body issue- SMU unique in Texas in that its football players major in subjects (Economics, Sociology, Business that are also favorites of the general student population. In our peer private schools around the country- football players are clustered in certain majors as is the case in the state schools in Texas.

Drug and Alcohol Advisory Committee?Įoversees logistics of drug testing program- work is under way for this year, directed by Ed Wisneski

Pals Job Placement Results- first rate program created and superbly managed by Ed Wisneski that is under publicized (1996-2006- 1,789 jobs). This is an important SMU success story.

NCAA proposed plan to give $100,000 to colleges if athletes do well academically and have high graduation rates- just a proposal

COIA meeting, December - will discuss NCAA Presidential Task Force agenda which includes- Presidential Leadership, Values and standards, fiscal responsibility and student-athlete well-being. President Turner and Jim Copeland are solidly behind the work of COIA.

Admissions- all quiet for now- very few files reviewed by faculty committee

Budget- deficit still at 3.7 million, not counting scholarships. This deficit is similar to what is reported by other schools in Conference USA (some deficits are much larger, some smaller). The usual problems persist here. This money does not alleviate obvious needs for facilities upgrades and the like.

Trustee Athletic Committee initiative to examine football program to determine what is wrong and what can be done to improve the situation- This initiative began in early September, prior to improved team performance, when there was a great sense of urgency on the part of the trustees. This process has gone on during the Fall Term and should result in recommendations to the Board of Trustees. The Athletic Council has been involved in this process. Last week at an extraordinary meeting, the Athletic Council discussed the issues and proposals and subsequently has participated in the redrafting of the documents. We have been asked not to speak publicly at this time about the proposals. But we have been successful in advocating changes that will maintain or enhance academic integrity and the well- being and academic success of student athletes.


Submitted by

D. Orlovsky
Chair, Faculty Senate Athletic Policies Committee
and Athletic Council

[SMU Football Blog]

I mentioned the Board of Trustees Committee some time ago on the blog. There is also a "transfer course equivalencies" review underway, but I don't know if or how the two are related.

I am telling you, I believe the "urgency" is the desire to have the SMU football program having some sustainable level of success before the Centennial Campaign is in full swing. Turner knows the importance of athletics to fundraising. That, and Ford is PO'd.

[Pony_Fan]

I mentioned the Board of Trustees Committee some time ago on the blog. There is also a "transfer course equivalencies" review underway, but I don't know if or how the two are related.

I am telling you, I believe the "urgency" is the desire to have the SMU football program having some sustainable level of success before the Centennial Campaign is in full swing. Turner knows the importance of athletics to fundraising. That, and Ford is PO'd.

This is the Athletic Committee of the faculty senate - not sure if they report to the board or how that works - I would imagine I would be p'od also for my ROI if I gave that much cash.

[SMU Football Blog]

Yes, this is the faculty committee's report, but the part in bold is about the "subcommittee" of the Trustee Athletic Council, which is a committee of the board of trustees.

[Pony_Fan]

Thanks, gotcha.

[that's great raplh]

very interestesting p_f

[SMUPhil]

First class I ever had at SMU was taught by professor Orlovsky. Good guy, I didn't realize he was on this committee.

[Pony_Fan]

This is all accessible at http://www.smu.edu/facultysenate/

[Hoop Fan]

i hope they don't back off after the 'improved performance' by football team to end the season. All that proves is we have some great kids who are getting better and a coaching staff who won't let em quit. Still got a ways to go to get where we need to be even in CUSA.

[SMU Football Blog]

This is all accessible at http://www.smu.edu/facultysenate/

Yeah, and I am worried that we won't be able to read them as soon as they figure out that just anybody can read them. It will take them five seconds to fix. You can't read the board of trustees' reports . . . anymore.