Committees.provost.ncsu.edu



Athletics, Council on - Minutes – 2013-2014

August 23, 2013

Members Present: Sam Pardue, Roby Sawyers, Joel Pawlak, Paul Williams, John Griggs, Jason Bocarro, Karen Bullock, Sandy Stallings, Kathy Ziga, Tom Roberts, Derek Aday, Astra Barnes, Dave Ellis

Members Absent: Jim Mickle, Susan Moore, Seth Williams, Cody Munson, Daniel Gunter

Ex-Officio Members Present: Joanne Woodard, Vice Provost for Institutional Equity & Diversity; Carrie Leger, Director of Academic Support Program for Student Athletes (ASPSA); Debbie Yow, Director of Athletics; Mike Poterala, Deputy General Counsel

Ex-Officio Members Absent:

Coaches Present: Elliott Avent, Baseball; Mark Stevenson, Gymnastics

Student Athletes Present: Milton Anthony Hall

Guests Present: Michael Lipitz, Senior Associate Athletics Director- Administration; Chris Boyer, Senior Associate Athletic Director for External Operations; Sherard Clinkscales, Senior Associate Athletic Director for Sports Administration & Student Services Michelle Lee, Associate Athletics Director & SWA; Jason Montgomery, Assistant AD/Compliance

Meeting

The Chair, Sam Pardue, called the meeting to order at 2:03 p.m.

Minutes Approval

The April 26, 2013 minutes were approved.

Introduction and Welcome to New Members

Sam Pardue asked the new and returning Council members and guests to introduce themselves. New and returning members of the Council included: Karen Bullock, Sandy Stallings, Derek Aday, Astra Barnes, and Joanne Woodard.

Student Athlete Representative

Milton Anthony Hall, is from Burlington, NC; although he has lived in a number of locales given that his father was a member of the US Marine Corp. A member of the football team, he is pursuing a degree in Sociology with a minor in Economics. Anthony has found being a student athlete to be fun, rewarding, and challenging. One element of the student athlete experience is being recognized by his peers. He takes pride in his academics and is involved in campus leadership having founded a leadership organization. In regards to the new staff, the team has embraced the coaches and “love them”. The focus has been that we make a better team by making each individual a better man. Emphasis on personal development and bonding has made the team better.

Athletic Department Update

Dr. Yow commented on the Leadership Academy that Sherard Clinkscales and Tonya Washington coordinated. Directed by Jeff Jassen of the Janssen Sports Leadership Center, the Academy was intended to develop team chemistry, mental toughness, and leadership skills among student athletes and coaches. Reports indicate that it was a great success.

She also discussed the fact that the football team had the second fewest returning starters in the ACC. However, the football staff has done a remarkable job and the 2014 recruiting class is ranked in the top 25 nationally by a number of recruiting services.

Copies of the Student Athlete handbook were distributed. A prominent section of the Handbook focuses on the Code of Conduct which sets standards of behavior and establishes expectations for those that wear the red and white. An abbreviated version for the Athletics Department Strategic Plan was also provided. Finally, the Council received a spreadsheet displaying the rise in NC State’s Director’s Cup rankings. The Cup is recognized as the benchmark for overall athletic achievement among US colleges. A composite ranking is determined by points accumulated by the top ten men’s and women’s teams from each institution. Three years ago NC State was ranked 89th in the Cup standings. Today we have risen to 34th; an unprecedented three year improvement in NC State history and among the best nationally.

|2010 |2011 |2012 |2013 |

|89th |67th |37th |34th |

Chris Boyer, Senior Associate AD for External Operations provided an update on what has commonly become known as the O’Bannon case. Former UCLA basketball player Ed O’Bannon and others filed class actions against the NCAA, video game manufacturer EA Sports, and the Collegiate Licensing Company (CLC), claiming their images had been misappropriated without compensation. The suit also contends that the NCAA and its member institutions use athlete’s likenesses to profit from the sale of jerseys and television revenues. Both the SEC and Big 10 have announced that they will no longer participate in EA Sports NCAA Football video games.

On a somewhat related topic, options for providing student athletes with the “full cost of attendance” were discussed. Currently, 65 institutions are represented by the top five “power” conferences. These included the ACC, Big 10, Big 12, SEC and PAC 12. In general, these five conferences were viewed as being more open to providing additional resources to student athletes up to the full cost of attendance. Smaller schools in Division 1A were more likely to oppose any changes in the funding model since they feared that they would be unable to compete in a climate of escalating costs. However, significant differentials in athletic department budgets already exist. In recent USA Today article, athletic budgets from public institutions displayed major differences with 13 institutions exceed $100 million:

|RANK |SCHOOL |TOTAL REVENUE |CONFERENCE |

|1 |Texas |$163,295,115 |Big 12 |

|2 |Ohio State |$142,043,057 |Big 10 |

|3 |Michigan |$140,131,187 |Big 10 |

|4 |Alabama |$124,899,945 |SEC |

|5 |Florida |$120,772,106 |SEC |

|6 |Texas A&M |$119,702,222 |SEC |

|7 |LSU |$114,787,786 |SEC |

|8 |Penn State |$108,252,281 |Big 10 |

|9 |Oklahoma |$106,456,616 |Big 12 |

|10 |Auburn |$105,951,251 |SEC |

|11 |Wisconsin |$103,803,040 |Big 10 |

|12 |Tennessee |$102,884,286 |SEC |

|13 |Florida State |$100,049,444 |ACC |

|20 |Louisville |$87,840,501 |ACC* |

|25 |North Carolina |$82,424,430 |ACC |

|27 |Virginia |$80,835,566 |ACC |

|34 |Virginia Tech |$70,723,748 |ACC |

|37 |Clemson |$70,002,280 |ACC |

|39 |Maryland |$68,142,660 |ACC |

|44 |Georgia Tech |$63,184,163 |ACC |

|46 |NC State |$59,757,911 |ACC |

Of the top 13 publics, six are in the SEC and only one (FSU) is in the ACC. By comparison, Texas has an athletic budget approximately 2.7 times larger than NC State’s.

Recent changes in North Carolina tax law will impact the athletic department. Modifications to the State’s sales tax on entertainment will result in roughly an added tax burden of $700,000 annually.

Issues surrounding a former student athlete Eric Leak continue. Leak, a receiver for the Wolfpack football team from 1997-2000 was sent a formal letter of disassociation in 2011 following an NCAA finding that he provided impermissible benefits to former NC State student athletes. As a result of his “disassociation” he may not join the Wolfpack Club, purchase season tickets, or be on any coaches or players pass list. He is also prohibited from interacting with any NC State student athlete. Public records indicate that Leak and/or his wife are principles in E Squared Community Services which provides psychological and outpatient therapy services.

Introduction of Coaches

Coach Elliot Avent brought a report on the status of the baseball program at NC State. Coach Avent has been at University for 18 years, following Coach Ray Tanner’s tenure. He has been pleased with the overall consistency of the program through the years. Making the trip to Omaha and the College World Series has made a huge impact in the program.

This year should be a very good one. Following their success, the entire coaching staff has been working on keeping the team grounded and frequently talks about keep level headed and humble. There are 35 young men on the team and he expects for them to perform well academically. Recruiting has changed such that they are now looking at prospects three years out. The timing of the major league draft (August 15th) is problematic in that no one is sure who will ultimately arrive on campus. Coach Avent believes that today’s team has better students and fewer problem kids than ever before. Five new members of the team had HSGPAs of 4.0 or higher, with the average approaching a 3.5. Carlos Rodon was on the cover of USA Baseball and a projected #1 overall pick for the upcoming 2014 draft.

Coach Mark Stevenson directed the women’s gymnastics team to their 5th overall East Atlantic Gymnastics League (EAGL) conference championship. The team ended up ranked 17th nationally and missed making the US nationals by 0.2 points. Two freshmen did a great job, with one being named “freshman of the year”. Six new team members will be joining the squad with three routines needing to be replaced as a result of graduation. Recruiting has gone very well with the identification of national championship talent. Increased travel budgets, new and better equipment, and the proposed infrastructure improvements to Reynolds Coliseum have all assisted in the growth of the program.

As a result of Coach Stevenson’s consistently high level of performance, he was awarded a contract for the first time. In the previous 33 years, under seven different ADs, he had served under single “at will” year agreements. Gymnastics now has professional outlets for talented team members when they graduate. Two former NC State gymnastics alumna have appeared as stunt women in films such as the Hunger Games. Also the growth in the popularity of the Cirque du Soleil franchise has created opportunities for the gymnastics community. Finally, Coach Stevenson was very proud that three of the past four NC State valedictorians were members of the gymnastics squad.

Compliance Office Update

Jason Montgomery, Assistant AD/Compliance provided the Council with a handout describing the role of the Compliance Staff and a summary of NCAA Bylaws. The theme of Compliance education is to “Ask Before You Act”. Faculty and staff are considered representatives of the institution. As such, do not give anything of value to a student athlete, do not give anything of value to a recruit, and do not be involved in recurring off campus.

Reform efforts the past two years have focused on accountability and simplification. In the past the infraction scale was either secondary or major. The new system incorporates four levels of violations: 1 = severe breach of conduct, 2 = significant breach of conduct, 3 = breach of conduct and 4 = minor violation. Level 4 infractions are not reported to the NCAA, but remain at the conference level. Head coaches are accountable for level 1-3 violations. Deregulation has reduced some of the rules. One example is that medical expenses for student athletes are allowed at the institution’s discretion. Future deregulation may impact meals and methods of communication with prospects.

Academic Support Program for Student-Athletes

Ms. Carrie Leger, Director, of the Academic Support Program for Student Athletes thanked the Faculty Academic Committee for their eligibility review following summer school. NC State is only one of a handful of institutions that has a “faculty centric” review process. Ms. Leger reported that four new staff members had joined ASPSA over the summer:

Andre Johnson, Academic Coordinator, Men's & Women's Swimming/Diving and Wrestling

Ramone Cooper, Academic Coordinator, Football

Porscha Tidwell, Eligibility Coordinator

Anthony Bennett, Assistant Director, Men's Basketball, Gymnastics

A total of 81 student athletes participated in two summer programs: Summer Start and MAGIC. In Summer Start, 45 student athletes completed eight credit hours. This highly structured program provides tutorial sessions and enrichment opportunities. Collectively, these students achieved a GPA of 3.1. MAGIC is an acronym for Maximizing Academic Growth in College. The program is less structured and provides opportunities for community service. Again the cumulative GPA for MAGIC participants was above a 3.0. These programs are crucial to creating a positive learning experience for new students.

Only three returning student athletes have below a 2.0 GPA. That is approximately 0.5% of our student athlete population. At no other time has this number been lower. This is in part due to the development of an attendance policy. In the Fall of 2010, 85 student athletes were subject to the attendance policy. Today that number has declined to 63. Simultaneously, graduation rates have been improving. For the 2007 cohort, we project a student athlete graduate rate of 73%, the highest ever.

Committees:

Finance, Facilities, & Personnel Paul Williams

No Report

Student-life, Equity, & Sportsmanship John Griggs

No Report

Compliance Joel Pawlak

No Report

Faculty Academic Committee: Roby Sawyers

Chair Sawyers distributed a draft of the FAC report on Improving Graduation Rates for NC State Athletes.

Unfinished Business

None noted

New Business

Mike Poterala, Deputy General Counsel provided the Council with a copy of the Legal office’s newsletter that highlighted the Professional Sports Counseling Panel.

John Griggs noted the positive impact of his interaction with “class checkers”.

There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 3:53 p.m.

Respectfully Submitted,

Sam L. Pardue, Chair

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download