The UW-Madison Faculty Senate approved a motion to create an external review committee for the Athletic Board during its meeting Monday.
Professor Bruce Jones, a member of the UW-Madison Athletic Board, drafted the proposal to create the committee and presented it to the senate. Although the Athletic Board previously conducted an internal analysis, the new committee will consist of seven to nine non-Athletic Board faculty members to review the group's functions.
Chancellor Biddy Martin opposed the motion. According to Martin, faculty members who stand outside of the Athletic Board cannot be called upon to review the group's functions because they do not have genuine expertise.
""It makes no sense to have a committee of five to seven members and call it an external review team … and imagine that that somehow is going to give us an accurate comparison to other institutions,"" Martin said.
Martin said if there is a need for review of the Athletic Board then ""it ought to be done in a way that is really sound."" She said she does not think the faculty have enough expertise to make a sound review.
According to professor Jeremi Suri, a former member of the Athletic Board, external review by an ad hoc committee is necessary because of serious allegations by at least five Athletic Board members. Allegations include harassment, mistreatment, miscommunication and intimidation.
""I think we do have cause to investigate what is happening. I'm certainly open to an amendment which would allow people other than faculty to a review,"" Suri said. ""A number of people came to the university committee in two different years … and those people feel that their concerns weren't adequately addressed.""
Several previous and current members of the board said university officials did not address all earlier Athletic Board issues with the internal review.
One of the members of the senate who pushed for the additional review committee said questions about the Athletic Board remained unaddressed by previous reports, documents and other statements.
""When we have serious allegations about the body, we don't let that body alone review itself,"" Suri said. ""This is not really about the athletics, this is about fairness and the integrity of the institution.""
