Athletic Task Force Meeting

  February 14, 2005

Members Present:

Jo Cunningham, Kim Wood Woeber, Bob Botsch, Billy Morris, Jerry Snyder, Neil Berment, Randy Duckett, Connie Pritchard,

Ahmed Samaha and Dru Nix were attending conferences and Dr. Claxon was ill.

The meeting began at 2:05 with a discussion of ho the group would proceed for the day.  Dr. Pritchard facilitated the session and asked if there were any questions regarding the draft that she and Randy had sent to the members. She indicated that the findings and recommendations for the 7 working groups were organized in to 3 fundamental statements.  (After revisions were made the 3 fundamental and organizational statements were:

I.                    We believe that athletes should be successful as students and citizens

II.                 We believe that the athletic department should have the resources to be competitive as a Division II institution in the Peach Belt Conference

III.               We believe the athletic department should be a well functioning administrative unit

The group spent time deciding if the recommendations were placed in the appropriate area, and determined whether or not items could be combined or worded differently. 

Upon completion of this task, the Task Force began the process of establishing priorities within the 3 major areas.   It was decided that there would be 2 levels of distinction regarding the recommendations.    Items that should be given highest priority and the second level being items that should be given priority. This was accomplished and the team agreed upon the priorities.

It was decided that Dr. Pritchard and Randy would edit and send the next draft to committee members for additional comments.  After input is received and final corrections are made, a final copy will be made, distributed to Task Force Members and the Chancellor.  Randy will arrange a final meeting of the committee to meet with the Chancellor, to entertain questions he may have, and to clarify any positions the ATF may have.   All copies of the Task Force findings should be kept confidential and are committee work documents, until after they are presented to the Chancellor.  All committee reports, minutes of meetings, and Action Team reports can found on the USCA Web site.  The final report will also be place there after our final meeting with the Chancellor.

Neil Berment thanked the committee for the opportunity to serve as a student, and indicated it had been a positive learning experience for him.  The committee in turn, thanked him and acknowledged that he was one of the most active student participants that had served on a group of this sort.

The meeting was adjourned at approximately 4:15 p.m.