To:



ATHLETICS COMMITTEE REPORT

FOR THE ACADEMIC YEAR 2005-2006

To: Chancellor Bantz and the Faculty Council

From: Athletics Committee:

Bill Kulsrud (Chair),

Drew Appleby

Edward Brizendine

Edward Deschepper

Michael Donahue

Paul Galanti

Eyas Hattab

Debomoy Lahiri

Robert E. Martin

Julie McKenney

Alan Mikesky

Michael R. Moore

Denise O’Grady

Tod Perry

Kathy Purvis

Bernadette Rodak

Ronald Sandwina

Robert Sandy

Cynthia Stone

Patrick Sullivan

Scott Taylor

Terri Talbert-Hatch

Greg Wright

Matt Rota-Autry

Subject: Athletics Committee Report 2005-2006

Pursuant to the Athletics Guidelines for Intercollegiate Athletics of Indiana University, the Athletics Committee (AC) is to submit a report periodically to the Chancellor and Faculty Council on the current status of intercollegiate athletics and student-athletes at IUPUI as well as work undertaken by the AC during the academic year.

The charge to the AC is to oversee the operation of the intercollegiate athletics program and consider campus wellness issues, including intramural and recreational athletics. The AC is responsible in part for ensuring compliance with the rules and regulations of the NCAA. In addition, the AC is involved with policy issues concerning long-term goals of IUPUI athletic programs and their role in the university.

The AC normally meets monthly throughout the academic year. It is comprised of 27 members of whom a majority is faculty members. Other members of the AC include the Athletics Director (ex officio, non-voting), the Faculty Athletics Representative to the NCAA (who currently chairs the AC), a representative of the Student Athletic Advisory Committee, alumni, and community members.

Division I Competition

The 2005-06 year was the seventh year of competition at the Division I level. The AC believes that the intercollegiate athletics program continues to fulfill the objectives initially identified for maintaining a Division I program. The athletics' teams have garnered more and more exposure for IUPUI not only in Indianapolis and the surrounding counties but also at the state and national level. The program has facilitated the recruitment and helped attract talented students, including both residents of Indiana and out-of-state students. In addition, the athletics program has helped increase the institutional pride among students, faculty and staff at IUPUI. Finally, the program has accomplished these goals with students who have performed admirably in the classroom and provided valuable service to the community.

Participation in the Mid-Continent Conference and Beyond

During 2005-2006, IUPUI continued its affiliation with the Mid-Continent Conference. On April 19, 2006 Chicago State withdrew from the conference. Chicago State will seek membership in a new conference that “reflects its evolving institutional profile, which includes expansion and enhanced access to other metropolitan communities." Chicago State will compete as an NCAA Division I independent during the 2006-07 school year, but will play nonconference contests against Mid-Continent schools in volleyball and men's and women's basketball. There were no other changes in the membership of the conference during the year. The Conference currently consists of nine members:

1. IUPUI

2. Missouri-Kansas City

3. Oral Roberts

4. Valparaiso

5. Western Illinois

6. Southern Utah

7. Oakland

8. Centenary

All IUPUI sports schedules featured high-quality opponents. In addition to conference opponents, the Men's Basketball schedule for 2005-2006 included such nonconference teams as Vanderbilt, Colorado State, Western Michigan and Ball State. The Women’s Basketball schedule included Kentucky, Iowa State and Evansville. Season schedules and results can be found at

Sports Sponsorships/Student-Athlete Participation

A minimum of 14 sports must be maintained for Division I status. IUPUI currently has the minimum of 14. The composition of the teams reflects the gender population of the campus with 6 Men's teams and 8 Women's teams. The number of student-athletes increased to 222 compared to 200 in the prior year. About 49% men and 51% women participated as follows:

2005-2006 MEN Roster # 2005-2006 WOMEN Roster #

Basketball 20 Basketball 15

Cross Country 10 Cross Country 7

Golf 14 Golf 12

Soccer 30 Soccer 25

Swimming & Diving 26 Swimming & Diving 15

Tennis 8 Tennis 10

Softball 17

___ Volleyball 13

TOTAL 108 TOTAL 114

Percentage 49% Percentage 51%

Student-Athlete Academic Achievements

On average, the student-athletes continue to outperform the remainder of the student-body academically. Overall, student-athletes compiled an enviable academic record during the fall semester. Below are some of the academic highlights for the fall semester 2005.

-- Record 115 student-athletes named to Fall Semester Academic Advisor’s List

-- Nine student-athletes among Top 100 IUPUI Students, including three second-time honorees and two among Top 10 IUPUI Students.

-- 52 Student-Athletes Named Collegiate All-American Scholars by United States Achievement Academy

-- 12 student-athletes inducted into Chi Alpha Sigma National College Athlete Honor Society.

-- 40 student-athletes named Academic All-Conference by the Mid-Con. (Lists for winter and spring sports not due out until June.)

-- Women’s volleyball team was recognized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association as having one of the top APR marks in the country in their sport.

Graduation and Retention

During the year, Dr. Drew Appleby, a member of the AC who has responsibility for the Student-Athlete Learning Communities, reported his findings regarding retention of student-athletes who had enrolled in Learning Communities. The report generally revealed a high retention rate for student-athletes who have been enrolled in the Student-Athlete Learning Community.

The NCAA has developed a revision to the federal graduation rate that takes into account transfer student-athletes. During the year, the NCAA announced the graduate rate for the 1995-98 cohort. IUPUI’s rate is the lowest of any school in the state at 56% and the newspaper has contacted Mike about this. This cohort included years four years prior to moving to Division I and one year of Division I. It is expected that this rate will improve significant going forward. The rate is also higher than the graduation rate for all IUPUI students during the same period which was 23%.

Student-Athlete Athletic Achievements (excludes spring sports)

-- Men’s Basketball Team wins were regular season Mid-Con Champions.

-- Women’s Basketball Team had the 4th-best W-L record improvement from 2004-05 to 2005-06 in the country.

-- Men’s cross country team won Cross Country Only Nationals meet.

--Three Mid-Con Coaches of the Year

-- One basketball player led the nation in blocked shots.

-- 18 All-Conference Honorees

--Athletes honored 27 times with Mid-Con Athlete of the Week Awards.

-- Nine Athletes named to All-Tournament Teams for regular season tournaments.

-- One All-Region Player

-- Three Mid-Con All-Tournament honorees.

-- Four NCAA Diving Qualifiers

-- One Golf Tournament Medalist

-- New school records established in women’s tennis, women’s golf, men and women’s swimming, volleyball, men and women’s basketball.

Academic Progress Rate

The APR is the new metric that the NCAA uses to evaluate programs. A team receives sanctions (scholarships lost) from the NCAA if it falls below 925 and in certain other situations. The overall APR score for IUPUI athletics is a 951. Volleyball reported a 2 year APR of 1000, and men’s and women’s basketball was 954 and 946 respectively. Men’s Swimming reported a score of 888. Although men’s swimming was below the 925 cutoff score, the NCAA developed squad adjustments for each sport. The adjusted cutoff for men’s swimming is 860.

Student-Athlete Conduct Policy. The Committee reviewed the current Student Athlete Conduct Policy during the year to ensure that it was adequate. The new policy was approved.

Priority Registration. The Committee prepared a report presenting the case for priority registration for student-athletes that is common among Division I schools (including Indiana University Bloomington). The report was presented to the IUPUI Academic Affairs Committee which approved the proposal. Priority registration was implemented this spring for registration for fall 2006 courses.

Budget

The AC reviews the Athletics Budget annually. The Athletics Budget for 2005-2006 was approximately $3.6 million. Over one-third of the budget, about $1.3 million is devoted to financial aid for student-athletes. Financial aid effectively provides academic support for the units on campus. Costs of operation are generally funded by fund raising, advertising and student activity fees (about 45%). No general fund dollars are used to support athletics. A comparison of the IUPUI budget for athletics compared to that of other conference schools and select Indiana schools reveals that IUPUI is sharply under funded in each sport in which it participates.

Gap Study

Members of the Athletics Committee are participating in a GAP Study the Athletics Department to identify problems and shortcomings in the program. There are four parts to the study four subcommittees addressing each. They include: Academic Support, Facilities, Scholarship and Recruiting, and Revenue and Expenses.

Personnel Issues

The Athletics Committee maintains a Personnel Subcommittee that has oversight of personnel issues, including evaluating coaches in regard to the impact of programs on the students' academic life, consulting regarding the selection/dismissal of coaches; and recommending general policy regarding coaches' contractual agreements. During the year, the Subcommittee was involved with several personnel issues. In each case, the Subcommittee was properly apprised of the actions to be taken.

Campus Wellness

The AC is also charged with advising on matters of facilities, intramurals, club sports programs, and other related wellness issues. No issues were raised during the year.

Jaguar Athletic Club

The Jaguar Athletic Club was quite active during the year and raised substantial sums for athletic scholarships. Activities included the annual membership drive, Evening in the Jungle (Jaguar Auction), golf outing, and Hall of Fame banquet.

Review procedures for NCAA legislation

One of the responsibilities of the AC is to make recommendations to the Chancellor regarding NCAA legislation. Throughout the year, the Athletic Director identified relevant legislation and brought to the attention of the AC for its input.

Review of schedules

One of the routine tasks of the AC is to review the schedules of the various sports to ensure that they are in accordance with the Missed Class Policy. In this regard, it should be noted that the current mode of scheduling classes (predominantly Monday-Wednesday and Tuesday-Thursday classes) is quite favorable for athletes since they are often traveling on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. As a result, student-athletes miss fewer class days.

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