Wednesday’s University Senate meeting marked a momentous occasion in the body’s history with the delivery of the first ever State of the Athletics Department address by Athletic Director Bill Moos.
The address is one of the new requirements the University Senate recently established to improve relations between the Athletics Department and the rest of the University administration, though this was not the first time Moos has addressed the Senate. The requirements were proposed after the President’s Task Force on Athletics conducted an exhaustive four-year study that examined nearly every facet of athletics at the University.
“This moment has taken four years to make,” University Senate President W. Andrew Marcus said in
introducing Moos.
In his address, Moos spoke about multiple facets of the department, including the academic and athletic performance of student-athletes, the department’s contributions to the community and the University’s recent purchase of the Williams’ Bakery site.
Student athletes have a graduation rate of 63 percent, 3 percent higher than the general student population. While Moos said this rate is satisfactory, he noted that academic performance among student athletes has slightly slipped. Just three years ago, Stanford University barely edged out the University for the top spot in the Pacific-10 Conference for academics.
Moos highlighted the department’s contribution to the University, citing that out of the department’s
$37.5 million budget, about $6.8 million goes to Club Sports, intramural sports and other programs that benefit students. The department is also heavily invested in the community, Moos said. The department’s
mentoring program, S.O.A.R, has received national honors, and the department continues to host high school athletics championships at University facilities, even though these events yield no revenue for the department.
Moos said out of the 1,000 or so high school students who come for the championships, only a few will become Division I athletes. But he added that while hosting these events provides recruitment opportunities for the Athletics Department, it also benefits the University as a whole by exposing high school students to the University.
“I believe that there are great reasons for bringing these events here … including student recruitment,” he said.
Moos also commented on the University’s recent acquisition of the Williams’ Bakery site.
“I’m thrilled that they’ve purchased that land, whether they’ll build a stadium or not,” he said.
In the past, faculty senators have expressed concern about whether the department is in compliance with the University’s mission — Moos said it is.
“I am proud to put my signature on a program that is in sync with the University’s mission,” he said.
He also emphasized the potential for athletics to be used as a vehicle to advertise other facets of the University. He recounted the department’s decision to shell out $60,000 for a billboard of Heisman Trophy finalist Joey Harrington in New York City three years ago, a decision that drew criticism from those who felt athletics compromised the University’s mission and who questioned the effectiveness of advertising across the country.
A similarly puzzled reporter from the New York Times called Moos the day after the billboard was unveiled, Moos said.
“He said, ‘Why the heck would you do that?’” Moos recalled. “I told him, ‘So you’d call me!’”
Apart from The New York Times, the billboard also generated media attention from the Boston Globe, USA Today and Sports Illustrated and put the University in the national spotlight.
“We have a role to take an entity that is visible and use it to showcase the other accomplishments of the University,” he said.
In closing, Moos spoke approvingly of the improved relations between the Athletics Department and the rest of the University administration and compared the relationship to a family.
“I have five kids and we bicker and argue all the time, but we love each other,” Moos said. “We’re going to have squabbles and resentments, but we have to remember that we’re a family.”
In addition to the State of the Athletic Department address, University President Dave Frohnmayer spoke about possibly restructuring the administration after the resignation of Vice Provost of Academic Affairs Lorraine Davis and Vice President John Moseley. The new administrative structure would require the Athletics Director to report to the president; Moos currently reports to the vice president.
Frohnmayer also confirmed that the University had purchased the Williams’ Bakery site, but emphasized that a decision had not been made regarding the use of the land.
In other business, Vice Provost of Institutional Equity and Diversity Greg Vincent spoke about the progress of the Diversity Action Plan, a comprehensive set of initiatives being developed to increase diversity on campus and improve cultural competency and community relations, among other things.
He said the plan had made “significant progress” toward implementation and emphasized the importance of input from as many people as possible.