UW-Madison should change its policies for hiring athletic department coaches, according to a Faculty Senate ad hoc committee.
The report, commissioned to ensure that the Athletic Board was complying with Faculty Policies and Procedure guidelines, found the Board was ""largely in compliance"" with its policies and ""not a passive rubber stamp"" to the athletic director and coaching staffs involved in hiring decisions.
However, the committee, composed of seven UW professors, called the Board's hiring oversight policy ""ambiguous."" Currently, small subcommittees make many of UW's hiring decisions without full Board approval, as in 2005 when Bret Bielema was selected as the new football head coach. The report recommended a change requiring a vote from the full board for ""any hiring actions or recommendations made by a … subcommittee of the board.""
Although the change would give the Board veto power, its vote would not have to take place before announcements to the press, according to the recommendations.
