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Task force recommends changes to athletic
department
By Tom Cronin
In a 14-page report, the task
force charged last spring with reviewing the UIS athletic
department made 11 recommendations consisting of new policies,
plans and practices designed to benefit a department “beset with
problems.”
The task force submitted the
report to Dr. Christopher Miller, Vice Chancellor for Student
Affairs, in July. Since then, the Division of Student Affairs
has acted on some of the recommendations, the vice chancellor
said.
According to the report, Miller
convened the task force on March 31 and asked it to “review
certain aspects of the current athletics program at [UIS] … to
ensure that appropriate policies, procedures and structures are
being implemented to maintain the integrity of the program while
protecting and promoting the best interests of both the
University and the student-athletes individually.”
The report added that the
athletic department has grown rapidly “without the opportunity
for full consideration of comprehensive policies, procedures and
structure to consistently guide and direct the program.”
Task force member Pat Langley,
Chairwoman of Campus Senate and a Professor of Women’s Studies
and Legal Studies, said that the athletic department has had
some “growing pains” since the campus became part of the
University of Illinois system.
“When we were Sangamon State, we
were what I would call a ‘mom and pop university,’” Langley
said. “… There weren’t a lot of rules, there weren’t a lot of
procedures. … Since we’ve joined the University of Illinois,
we’ve had to change a lot of our rules, we’ve had to add rules.”
Miller said that it was
absolutely necessary to conduct the review and that he has
already begun to notice its benefits.
“I think that the
recommendations were solid, and I think that they were thought
provoking and fully addressed the issues which have surfaced
over the last couple of years within the department,” Miller
said.
According to Miller, Student
Affairs has acted on the recommendation to investigate whether
or not athletic employees have been intoxicated on institutional
time or property.
The report said that the task
force was unable to confirm any incidents in which athletic
employees were intoxicated on campus, at a sporting event or
while operating campus vehicles.
Miller told the task force that
he had heard rumors suggesting that athletic employees had
engaged in such behavior. He conducted an inquiry into the
matter, but was unable to verify any of these rumors, the report
said.
After receiving the report,
Student Affairs conducted an investigation into the alleged
incidents of intoxication. Miller said that the investigation is
complete and that the findings are inconclusive.
Student Affairs has also
addressed the recommendation to appoint a business manager for
the division. According to the report, Miller told the task
force that he was ultimately responsible for overseeing the
budget of the athletic department, but he did not have the time
or the staff to oversee every budget within Student Affairs.
Miller said that he plans to
eventually hire a full-time business manager for the division,
but he cannot make such an appointment at this time because of
budget constraints.
Stephen Chrans, Assistant Vice
Chancellor for Student Affairs, has assumed the role of business
manager and will monitor the financial activity of the athletic
department until the recommended position is permanently filled,
Miller said.
Three of the task force’s
recommendations (No. 5-7) ask for changes that would prevent
further growth of the athletic department’s budget deficit. As
the budget rose from $248,300 in fiscal year 2001 to $715,156 in
fiscal year 2004, the deficit increased from $49,000 to a
projected $360,000, the report said.
Miller said that a three-year
plan is in place to balance the department’s budget by the end
of fiscal year 2006.
According to the report, Miller
told the task force that although he was ultimately responsible
for overseeing the budget, the athletic director was responsible
for managing the budget.
Athletic Director Nick Adams
declined to discuss the report before speaking with his lawyer
and therefore would not comment before The Journal went
to press.
 Recommendations
of the Athletics Review Task Force
1. That a
policy/plan be adopted for compiling and reporting to the
Athletic Department all violations/infractions committed by
student-athletes, on or off campus.
2. That
the Office of Student Affairs in conjunction with the
Intercollegiate Athletic Committee, investigate all teams which
have disproportionate numbers of violations/infractions
committed by student-athletes and propose a plan of remediation.
3. That an
investigation be conducted into whether or not athletic
employees have been intoxicated on institutional time or
property.
4. That a
written policy be adopted setting out the role, responsibility
and authority of the campus Health Services in relation to the
Athletic Department and student-athletes.
5. That a
policy/plan be adopted to move athletic scholarships to realized
income, rather than projected funds.
6. That
the Scholarship clearing CFOPAL has a zero balance at the end of
each semester. Depending on the funding source, the posting of
athletic scholarship expenditures should occur each semester to
athletic gift CFOPAL or the particular athletic team CFOPAL.
7. That
the Scholarship clearing CFOPAL balance and athletic gift CFOPAL
activity be included in the monthly financial reports submitted
to the Vice Chancellor.
8. That a
Business Manager be appointed in the Division of Student
Affairs.
9. That a
plan be adopted immediately for providing academic advising to
student-athletes.
10. That
consultation with and consent of the Vice Chancellor for Student
Affairs be obtained prior to either contacting faculty
member/instructor concerning a student-athlete’s grades or
contacting academic support staff regarding certification or
eligibility of a student-athlete.
11. That
the Chancellor and Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs abide by
the principles of shared governance by working collaboratively
with the Intercollegiate Athletics Committee and the Campus
Senate.
Accused
Capitol gunman spent month at UIS
By Brian Mackey
On Monday, Sept. 20, a young man
walked up to the door on the north side of the Illinois Capitol
and fired a single shotgun round into the chest of William
Wozniak. An unarmed security guard working for the secretary of
state, the 51-year-old Wozniak died in surgery a little over an
hour later.
Before the end of the day,
police identified Derek W. Potts as their suspect. Early the
next morning, he was arrested in a neighborhood southwest of
downtown.
 Derek
Potts attended the University of Illinois at Springfield for 25
days. He was a full-time student in Criminal Justice, having
transferred from Olney Central (community) College. On Sept.
13, he withdrew from classes at UIS.
In that time, Potts crossed
paths with many people on campus. Some encounters were
memorable only for how innocuous they seemed in retrospect.
Others were strange right away.
Gwyn Bevel, a graduate student
in the Public Affairs Reporting program, had a typically
unremarkable experience. She spoke to Potts on Sept. 8, when
they were working on neighboring computers in the library.
Bevel was writing a “man on the street” interview story on
Illinois gambling laws. She said Potts had a “well informed
opinion.” Even though her assignment was almost complete, she
ended up using one of his quotes in her story.
Geoff Evans, a Food Service
administrator, remembers serving Potts at the Capitol Perks
coffee bar in the Public Affairs Center (PAC). Potts was a
regular, and quiet. “He said the minimal, what he wanted, and
paid for it,” said Evans.
But on Monday, Sept. 13, another
Capitol Perks barista, Kelsey Dennis, had a different kind of
encounter. Dennis, a junior in the Capital Scholars program,
remembered Potts ordered a Bravé, an espresso with half-and-half
instead of milk. He was “not very nice,” said Dennis, and when
he got the beverage, he complained that there was too much
foam. “I remember him because he was rude.”
According to UIS spokesperson
Cheryl Peck, that was the day Potts dropped his classes.
Four days later, on Friday,
Sept. 17, Potts returned to Capitol Perks. Dennis was behind
the counter again and — remembering how rude Potts had been —
asked her co-worker Mike Cherrone to handle the order. After
paying for an ice mocha, Potts took his drink to the seating
area just outside the doors of coffee bar.
The PAC is shaped like a
triangle, with Capitol Perks on the corner pointing toward the
Health and Sciences Building. An ivy-filled planter is on that
corner and tables are set up along the length of the adjoining
Sangamon Auditorium lobby. This corner is in the center of four
major classroom buildings and is among the most well traveled
areas on campus.
At this point, Potts is alone,
outside, drinking his mocha and smoking a cigarette. Cherrone
went outside to smoke a cigarette himself and was talking to a
friend when he saw Potts suddenly get up, walk toward the
planter, and urinate in the ivy.
Cherrone was shocked. Dennis,
still inside the building, later said, “There’s a bathroom right
here,” as she motioned behind the coffee bar.
There are other examples of
Potts showing a contradictory mix of attitudes and behaviors.
In August, Potts tried to cash a
book voucher at the Bursar’s window in the PAC. Patricia Forgas,
a cashier, explained to Potts that the voucher could only be
used for books and supplies. Forgas recalls that Potts was not
rude, but rather, “a little confused about the procedures.”
Then, on August 18, Potts wanted
to use his voucher in the UIS Bookstore. His total was around
$380; his voucher was for $300. Potts told the cashier he was a
faculty member and was entitled to a discount.
The cashier called the store’s
manager, Brenda Butler, who remembers Potts was “very high
strung” and “quick moving.” He kept insisting that he was a
faculty member, but would not produce a faculty ID. Potts asked
them to just give him the discount, no one would ever know,
Butler recalls him saying. “He threw a fit and was kind of a
pill.”
Though the Journal made several
attempts to speak with faculty and staff of the Criminal Justice
program, where Potts was a student, they all declined to
comment. |
