|
Recreation and Intercollegiate
Athletics
August 22, 2001
Scheduled for discussion at Council
on September 12, 2001
During the '00-'01 academic
year the University Committee on Recreation and Intercollegiate
Athletics (CRIA) for was charged with: (1) Working with the
athletics compliance officer, assess whether educational programs
about performance-enhancing drugs are effectively implemented;
(2) Maintaining oversight over the improvement of recreational
facilities; (3) Continuing to monitor the Universitys
compliance with the letter and the spirit of NCAA regulations;
(4) Working with the Committee on Admissions and Financial Aid
(CAFA) in their review of the status of admissions and academic
performance of student-athletes; and (5) Establishing lines
of communication with the coaching staff to better understand their
perspective. CRIA met six times with the Director and the appropriate
Associate/Assistant Directors of the Division of Recreation and
Intercollegiate Athletics (DRIA) for discussions on committee charges.
The subcommittees formed to examine academic support/achievement
and drug education programs met an additional 10 times.
Improving Recreational Facilities.
Dr. Michael Diorka, Director of Recreation, briefed the committee
on upcoming improvements to the Universitys recreation facilities.
Construction will begin on the Pottruck Health and Fitness Center
on, May 22, the day after Commencement, with the closing and draining
of the Gimbel pool for much needed repairs to the pumps and support
structures. During the summer, DRIA has made arrangements for University
students, faculty and staff to use facilities at Drexel University.
While several issues remain to be worked out, CRIA was assured that
no interruption in swimming pool availability would occur as a result
of this construction. Repairs to the pool will be completed and
Gimbel Gymnasium reopened in time for the return of the classes
and the start of the 2001 fall semester.
Dr. Diorka went on to say that
when the students do return in September, 2001 they will find changes
in the Gimbel/Katz setup that were necessary due to Pottruck construction.
The entrance to Gimbel will be moved from its current location on
Walnut Street to Sansom Street. The Katz Fitness Center will move
from its present location to the basketball court in Gimbel and
the Cardiovascular Center will be in a climate-controlled room.
For this temporary inconvenience, the University community will
be rewarded with a state-of-the-art recreation facility in 2003.
Funding for club sports.
Aaron Short, an Undergraduate Assembly (UA) representative on CRIA,
brought an additional agenda item to the committee that was considered
under the committees general charge. During the past fiscal
year, the Student Activities Council had decreased Sports Club Council
budget by over 20%. This loss of support necessitated an increase
in dues and additional unexpected costs to club sport athletes.
In an effort to preserve and strengthen club sports at Penn, UA
advocated a plan that would ensure a consistent amount of annual
funding for club sports. Contained in this proposal is a request
that DRIA would begin to assume at least portion of the financial
support for club sports. This goal was to be achieved via a four-year
phase-in that was outlined in the proposal. CRIA believes that the
club sports program provides a meaningful and worthwhile athletic
experience for over 1000 students each year and voted unanimously
to support UAs proposal to achieve a secure funding base for
club sports.
Educational
programs about performance-enhancing drugs.
At the present time, the NCAA does not require its member institutions
to conduct drug education programs although it has recently issued
guidelines for setting up and conducting just such a program (August,
2000). Currently Penn does not have a formal education program performance
enhancing drugs although it does make student/athletes aware of
banned substances and drug screening procedures by providing each
individual with a copy of the UP Student-Athlete Handbook.
CRIA considered two options
in setting up an educational program to make student-athletes aware
of performance-enhancing drugs. The first option was to use The
National Center for Drug Free Sport, an organization that provides
athletics-specific drug testing program support, to provide speakers
to conduct seminars and lectures for student-athletes about drug-use
prevention and policies that affect their use of substances.
An alternative would be to follow the NCAA guidelines but develop
the program locally. Scripts and/or PowerPoint® presentations
could be developed that would ensure uniformity of content. The
program could be team-taught using DRIA personnel to present administrative
aspects of the NCAA drug testing program and physicians from the
faculty discuss the sequellae of using the various performance-enhancing
substances. This option offers a better learning environment through
small class sizes and schedule flexibility that would allow teams
to arrange sessions at their convenience.
Academic achievement/support
of student-athletes. CRIA and CAFA have worked together on this
charge for the past two years. Professor Warren Seider, a member
of both CRIA and CAFA, has chaired this subcommittee. In the initial
year, much of the CRIA effort was directed toward understanding
the admissions process as it applies to student-athletes. During
the past year, graduation rates and then academic support for student-athletes
were examined. Problems with gaining access and the analyzing the
data slowed the subcommittees work and precluded a discussion of
the charge by CRIA before the end of the academic year. A copy of
the subcommittee report* (Appendix B) is included with this report.
Edward T. Lally, Chair
Committee Members
Chair:
Edward T. Lally (path/dental) Faculty:
Steven Galetta (neurol/med, Richard L. Hodinka (pediatrics), Tracy
McIntosh (neurosurgery/med), James Mullen (medicine), Warren Seider
(chemical engr), Craig Thompson (hemat-oncol/med), Karen Wilkerson
(nursing), Graduate/professional
students: Shan-Wei Ko (NUG), Stephanie Bloom
(NUG) Undergraduate students:
Calvin DaRosa (EAS 02), Aaron Short (COL 03) PPSA:
Julie Lawson (audit & compliance), Ira Winston (Computing, SAS/SEAS/GSFA)
A-3:
Dee Stenton-Schillig (oral surgery/dental) Ex
officio: Steve Bilsky
(dir, rec & intercollegiate athletics), Jim Gardner (repr, presidents
office), John Smolen (vice provost Univ life designee) Lee Stetson
(dean, admissions)
-----
Note: The Report of the Subcommittee, Apendix
B, is on page 4.
Almanac, Vol. 48, No. 3, September 11,2001
|
ISSUE HIGHLIGHTS:
Tuesday,
September 11, 2001
Volume 48 Number 3
www.upenn.edu/almanac/
|