The UW-Madison Athletic Board should be voting on all coach hiring decisions, according to a new report commissioned by the Faculty Senate.
The report, written by seven UW faculty members, concluded that the Board was ""largely in compliance"" with Faculty Policies & Procedures and ""actively involved in the governance of the Athletic Department.""
However, the report recommended the Athletic Board make three changes, including clarifying its hiring oversight policies.
""[Hiring] was typically being done by a subcommittee and then reported to the Board, but not always voted on by the whole Board,"" Murray Clayton, chair of the ad hoc committee that created the report, said. ""We thought that was a place where the full Board has to be engaged.""
The suggested language would give the Board explicit approval power.
Clayton said an internal review by the Athletic Board regarding its oversight role sparked a call for the Faculty Senate to perform an outside examination last spring.
According to UW History professor Jeremi Suri, who served on the Athletic Board from 2005-'08, much of the debate focused on the internal review's assertion that the Board was merely consulted by the chancellor ""as a courtesy"" on hiring decisions.
According to Faculty Policies & Procedures, however, one of the Board's functions is ""participating actively in the search-and-screen process for head coaches and senior administrators … and approving the employment contracts of such persons.""
UW Political Science Professor Donald Downs, said the recommendations made important improvements to last spring's internal review.
""Without the university there would be no athletic program,"" Downs said. ""We just wanted to maintain the potential of the Athletic Board and faculty of having ultimate oversight.""
According to former Athletic Board Chair Dave McDonald, the new report's recommendations are appropriate precautions, not responses to insufficient Athletic Board oversight.
""Since this [hiring] procedure first began in 1934, I can't think of any time that a Board has actively moved to contradict a hiring recommendation by the department,"" McDonald said.
However, Suri said Board members had little input in hiring decisions while he was a member, particularly in the 2005 decision to hire football coach Bret Bielema. Suri said such decisions contributed to his decision to resign.
Suri added that while he applauded the new report's recommendations, he disliked its provision that the Athletic Department could announce its chosen coaching hires publicly before Board approval, even though the Board would still maintain its vote.
""That puts enormous pressure on members of the board. It creates a fait accompli, which I think is inappropriate,"" Suri said. ""We need to make sure we're hiring people who are appropriate representatives of the institution.""
Clayton said that provision in the report was only meant to protect the Board's vote in the case of press leaks and other rare circumstances.
The Faculty Senate will discuss the report at its April 12 meeting.
Athletic Board chair Walter Dickey declined to comment before the meeting.
