Manoa Faculty Senate Committee on
Athletics Meeting Minutes
October 8, 2008

Members in Attendance:
Bryan Cook, Martha Crosby, SEC Liaison, Daphne Desser, Roseanne Harrigan, Peter Nicholson, FAR, Stephen Olson, Eric Thau, Russell Uyeno, Co-Chair, Julie Maeda, Co-Chair

Background on formation of Committee on Athletics (CA) and Athletics Advisory Board (AAB) (P. Nicholson)

CA:

• Comprised of UHM faculty senators who voluntarily select this committee when elected and/or are nominated by the Committee on Faculty appointments
• Actual role of the committee can be determined by the committee relative to how involved it wants to be (P. Nicholson)
• May develop resolutions for potential decision making via the executive committee and UHM faculty senate (M. Crosby)
• CA has a route to potential change to be made whereas AAB currently does not.

AAB:

• Bryan Cook was appointed to sit on this board as a representative from CA

• Members are appointed by the Chancellor and comprised of UHM faculty and professionals outside the UHM community.

• No decision making authority except for Gender Equity committee which works on compliance with Title IX and alignment with institutional plan

• More of a discussion oriented group

Direction for CA to take this year:

• Peter Nicholson shared recommendations from his report as well as from the Coalition on Intercollegiate Athletics (COIA) report
• Several areas are open for the committee to target this year; discussion primarily surrounded two areas identified by Peter Nicholson: Standards – i.e., admissions and Academic Performance – i.e., eligibility standards as one way to motivate student athletes (SA) to do well academically
• The committee discussed background for both areas with the conversation becoming more focused on admissions standards – first year students from high school vs junior college transfers; predictors for academic performance at UHM. Clearer view for junior college transfers than high school graduates.
  • Low academic performance of SAs in three sports provided some grounds for examining this issue further, though improvement is happening. Further evidence to be presented in P. Nicholson’s report due later this term.
  • Data were requested by the committee from P. Nicholson for admissions in Fall 2008 for JC transfers and percentage of non-qualifiers for three sports, Football, Men’s Basketball and Baseball. These three sports have had the lowest Academic Progress Rate (APR). APR is one means to measure graduation rate among SAs.

Respectfully submitted by: Julie Maeda

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