ANNUAL REPORT OF THE ATHLETIC COUNCIL UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST

Transcription

1 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE ATHLETIC COUNCIL UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST Presented at the 759 th Regular Meeting of the Faculty Senate May 5, 2016 MEMBERSHIP LIST Representing the Faculty Tim Anderson Samuel Hazen Nelson Lacey (Chair) Anne Moore Tracy Schoenadel (Fall semester) Libby Sharrow (Spring semester) Patricia Vittum Nefertiti Walker (Spring semester) Rod Warnick (Secretary) Representing the Alumni Robert Goodhue George Richason Ed Ward Faculty Senate Designees JC Schnabl (Alumni Association) Michelle Whitcomb-Borkhuis (University Advancement) Representing the Students (Graduate and Undergraduate) Samantha Kolovson Emily Hajjar Ex-Officio Members Diane Barstow (voting, University Advancement Designee) Ernest May (non-voting, Faculty Senate) John McCutcheon (non-voting, Director of Athletics) Rebecca Spencer (voting, NCAA Faculty Athletics Representative)

2 IN MEMORIAM Sen. Doc. No The Athletic Council paused for a moment of silence at its last meeting of the Spring semester to honor the life of George Richason, Professor Emeritus in Chemistry, who died at the age of 99 on April 14, He was an alumnus whose nearly 70-year career was intricately intertwined with the university in a variety of aspects, including being honored in the UMass Athletic Hall of Fame and serving on the Athletic Council for most of his professional life. He was a key member and unofficial historian of the Athletic Council s role in college athletics. George brought insight, honor, respect, and a pure sense of history of the tradition, significance, and role athletics played in the transition from a college to a major research and academic institution of higher learning. I. ATHLETIC COUNCIL OVERVIEW According to Section 3: paragraph of the Bylaws of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst s Faculty Senate, The Athletic Council... shall implement the Statement of Athletic Policy adopted by the Board of Trustees on February 14, 1957, and any resolution which the board may adopt thereafter. Consistent with present policies on admissions and academic standards, the Intercollegiate Athletic Program shall be developed to a point where it is representative of the best efforts of the University, with aims and ideals of achievement comparable to those expected of the academic departments. This development shall proceed in accord with policies and regulations of the NCAA, and all athletic conferences in which the University maintains membership. The Intramural Athletic Program shall be staffed and equipped to meet the needs of all students who desire to participate, and the University shall encourage participation through a varied program including sports with carry-over value for life after graduation. All athletic accounts shall be open to review by the President of the Student Government Association or a designee. This council shall submit an annual report both to the Faculty Senate and the Undergraduate Senate, which shall include a detailed breakdown of all athletic program budgets. A. Introduction. In accordance with its mission, the Athletic Council (hereafter the Council) held seven regularly scheduled meetings during the academic year Five of the six subcommittees (Finance, Facilities, Compliance, Academics, and Equity) met at least once outside the regularly scheduled meeting times to focus on issues within their purview. Each subcommittee report appears as part of this report. The Vision subcommittee did not meet, as the group felt more detail was needed regarding the direction of the department with the beginning of Ryan Bamford s tenure as Athletic Director. The Council s meetings were organized around an agenda that included such things as (1) brief overviews from representatives of the Athletic department, (2) discussion of items of current interest to the Council, (3) reports from the subcommittees, and (4) reports from invited guests. Last year s Athletic department representatives included Athletic Director John McCutcheon, Associate Athletic Director of Marketing and Sales Todd McDonald, Senior Associate Athletic Director and Executive Director of Development Rocko DeLuca, Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations John Sinnett, Associate Athletic Director for Academics Joan Hopkins, Campus Recreation Center Director John Blihar, and Associate Athletic Director for Compliance Kim Callicoatte. John McCutcheon left the University of Massachusetts Amherst in late January to become Athletic Director at UC-Santa Barbara. Bob Goodhue served as Interim Athletic Director from January through April until Ryan Bamford was hired as the new Athletic Director. Bamford came to UMass from Georgia Tech University, where he had served as Associate Athletic Director. He is a graduate of Springfield College and Ithaca College. Bamford met with the Council at the April meeting before he began his formal duties as the new Athletic Director. During the academic year, the Council met with the following head coaches: Bob Newcomb (Women s Swimming and Diving), Russ Yarworth (Men s Swimming and Diving), Derek Kellogg (Men s Basketball), Mark Whipple (Football), Sharon Dawley (Women s Basketball), Kristi Stefanoni (Softball), and Judy Dixon (Women s Tennis).

3 Additional special invited guests included Kumble Subbaswamy, Chancellor; Cleve Carrens, Project Manager of the Champion s Center; Phil Buttafuoco, Gillette Stadium Representative; Joe Balzano, Project Manager for Football Performance Center; Ted Fay, Consultant for College Athletic Facilities; and John Blihar, Director of Campus Recreation. In addition to issues that faced the Council on an ongoing basis, several topics dominated the agenda over 2014/2015: 1. NCAA landscape Power 5 conferences 2. Conference realignment 3. Pro-forma financials and athletic budget reports 4. Facilities - benefit of adding a field house B. Council Structure. The membership list of the Council includes eight faculty members (appointed by the Faculty Senate), three members appointed by the Alumni Association, four ex-officio members (Director of Athletics, NCAA Faculty Athletics Representative, Secretary of the Faculty Senate, a designee from the office of the Vice Chancellor for University Advancement, a designee from the Alumni Association, and eight student members (with one student slot reserved for the SGA president or designee, and one student slot reserved for the president of the Graduate Student Senate or a designee). The full roster of the Athletic Council appears on the cover page of this document. Each member of the Athletic Council is also appointed to two or three of five subcommittees. These appointments are listed at the end of this report. C. Attendance Records: Attendance records for the year (meetings attended/meetings eligible as member) for each member of the Council: Faculty (F), Alumni (A), and Ex-Officio (X) Anderson (F) 7/7 Barstow (A) 5/7 Borkhuis (A) 4/7 Goodhue (A) 5/7 Hazen (F) 5/7 Lacey (F) 6/7 May (X) 4/7 McCutcheon (X) 3/4 (left UMass in January) Moore (F) 0/7 Richason (A) 5/7 Schnabl (A) 6/7 Schoenadl (F) 3/3 (left UMass before Spring semester) Sharrow (F) 2/3 (joined Council in Spring semester) Spencer (X) 6/7 Vittum (F) 6/7 Walker (F) 2/3 (joined Council in Spring semester) Warnick (F) 7/7 Ward (A) 7/7 Student Representative Attendance (Student appointments began in October) Fellows 5/6 Hajjar 3/6 Kolovson 6/6 D. Meetings Schedule Academic Year. Meetings took place on: Fall Semester 2014: September 26, October 31, November 21 Spring Semester 2015: January 30, February 27, March 27, and April 29

4 II. OVERVIEW OF THE ATHLETIC COUNCIL S 2014/2015 ACTIVITIES Sen. Doc. No The Athletic Council is responsible for making recommendations on policy and providing advice on general operations of the Department of Athletics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The Department of Athletics has long been visible regionally and nationally, achieving success both in the classroom and on the playing fields among its 21 athletic teams and nearly 700 student-athletes. The University maintains its long tradition of balance between academics and athletics. Athletic Director John McCutcheon resigned his position in January 2015 and took a similar position at UC-Santa Barbara. Bob Goodhue graciously agreed to serve as Interim Athletic Director until a national search was completed. Ryan Bamford was hired as the new Athletic Director and began his duties at UMass in April Much discussion occurred throughout regarding the move by the football program to the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) and competing in the Mid American Conference (MAC) as a football-only member. Late in the academic year, the MAC forced UMass to decide whether to continue in the conference as a full member (all sports) or to leave the conference. The Athletic Department ultimately decided that it did not make sense, regionally or financially, to change its conference affiliation for all sports to the MAC, so it declined the invitation to join the MAC as an all-sports participant, and will compete in FBS football as an independent unless or until an invitation is extended to join another conference. The Athletic Department stressed the importance of developing its program and preparing both academically and athletically in such a manner as to be ready for an invitation to a conference opening or affiliation. The Council continued working with the Ad Hoc Committee on FBS Football to make transparent the financial aspects of the football program. In , the Athletic Director John McCutcheon continued to keep the Athletic Council informed of the financial aspects of the move to FBS Football and of ongoing changes to the conference realignment possibilities and the respective challenges. The Finance Subcommittee was provided a detailed pro-forma analysis of the expected financial impacts and the reports were both thorough and open to full transparency and in context of the programmatic changes. Some Athletic Council members were representatives on the Ad Hoc Committee on FBS Football and those activities are reflected in the Committee s report. The Council discussed several topics during the academic year. These include (in no particular order) a new coach in Men's Soccer, new capital projects (most notably the Football Performance Center and a new field for Field Hockey) refurbishing Garber Field, the marketing of UMass Athletics, the construction and anticipated completion of the Champions Center, the current state of UMass athletic facilities, conference realignment, changes in the NCAA governance structure, assessing and monitoring of student athlete health and welfare, gender equity, and the use of the UMass Campus Recreation Center. Highlights from the Academic Year for the Athletic Council included: 1. Continued review of the RAM system (priority registration) for student-athletes in both semesters. 2. Facility presentation and discussions of the final project designs and location of the Champions Center. 3. Discussions on concussion research and how to lessen this risk for student-athletes. 4. Continued discussion about the various conference realignment issues and the impacts on UMass with regard to A10 Conference, MAC, and Hockey East. 5. Review of facilities and the potential role of UMass Athletics as a destination of Boston Olympics Discussion of the need for a field house/"bubble" facility to provide practice opportunities for field sports (e.g., Soccer, Field Hockey, Lacrosse, Tennis). 7. Discussion on campus recreation and the overall increased use of the center. Additional topics of discussion The College Athletics landscape - The "Power 5" conferences have achieved much more autonomy in the governance structure of the NCAA in the past couple years. They have already begun to promulgate changes such as providing full "cost of attendance" for student-athletes. Non-Power 5 conferences and schools can accept and implement the same

5 rules. (It is assumed that some conferences and schools will not be able to cover the financial implications of such rule changes, and therefore will not offer them.) Rebecca Spencer (Faculty Athletics Representative) reported (January meeting) that the NCAA meetings were lacking drama this year, primarily because much of the business was conducted behind closed doors, in meetings that were restricted to Power 5 conferences. She also mentioned that she is working with the Student-Athletes Advisory Committee (SAAC) to generate more school spirit for our 21 varsity sports. The Council heard from Joe Balzano (Campus Planning), Dan Markowski (Associate AD for Facilities), and Ted Fay (Professor of Sport Management at SUNY Cortland) about the need and possible designs for a field house/"bubble" facility (February meeting). Three possible concepts were discussed, and additional discussion ensued regarding the need for a Tennis facility ( bubble ) to provide an indoor practice facility with the expected demise of their current arrangement with Hampshire College. While he recognized the potential benefits of such a facility, Balzano noted that the field house is "not on the radar" at campus planning. Ted Fay described the types of bubble facilities that could be constructed in a variety of different scenarios, which would benefit all of the field sports, and how funding and cost for such facilities might be projected. John Blihar, Director of the Campus Recreation Center, provided an overview of the facility and the intramurals program at the March meeting. He noted that the participation numbers have exceeded original expectations and the facility is showing signs of wear and tear. He added that he expected budget constraints in the coming year, as the increase in the minimum wage will affect his bottom line. In addition, he noted that some of the cardio and weight training equipment will need to be replaced soon, as a result of the heavy use. The Council operates with several subcommittees, with three to five Council members assigned to each subcommittee and meeting with a designee from the Athletic Department. At the April meeting, the Council decided to restructure those subcommittees to the following: Academics, Conduct and Compliance, Equity and Diversity, Facilities, Finances, Student-Athlete Welfare, and Vision, effective September The minutes of the Athletic Council are all posted online at the Faculty Senate site and may be reviewed for more detailed discussion and review of topics, invited guests and vote outcomes of the Council and its recommendations.

6 Appendices Athletic Council Subcommittee Reports Academic Year Sen. Doc. No Academics Members: Hazen (Chair), Anderson, Barstow, Borkhuis, May, Richason STAFF: Hopkins (Associate Athletic Director for Academic Support) 2. Compliance Members: Spencer (FAR), Warnick (Chair), Schnabl, Schoenadel (Fall), Vittum STAFF: Callicoatte, (Associate AD of Compliance), Ford (Assistant AD of Compliance), Green (Compliance Office Assistant) 3. Equity Members: Spencer (FAR), Vittum (Chair), Barstow, Hajjar, May, Moore, Schoenadel (Fall) STAFF: Callicoate (Associate AD for Compliance) 4. Facilities Members: Ward (Chair), Anderson, Fellows, Hajjar, Kolovson, Schnabl, Warnick STAFF: Markowski (Associate Athletic Director Facilities and Operations) 5. Finance Members: Lacey (Co- Chair), Richason (Co-Chair), Fellows, Goodhue, Tate, Ward STAFF: McCutcheon (Director of Athletics), Goodhue (Interim Director of Athletics) 6. Vision Members: Goodhue (Chair), Borkhuis, Hazen, Kolovson, Lacey, Moore, Tate (This subcommittee did not meet during because of the change in administration, but expects to be involved in development of a strategic plan for the Department of Athletics in the near future.)

7 Athletic Council Subcommittee on Academic Services Academic Year Sen. Doc. No FALL 2014 HIGHLIGHTS The cumulative grade point average for all sports teams at UMass for Fall 2014 was men s teams and 10 women s teams had a semester GPA over a student-athletes had a GPA of 3.0 or above and were named Maroon Scholars. 167 student-athletes earned Dean s List recognition, a 3.5 grade point average or above. 26 student-athletes earned a perfect 4.0 grade point average during the Fall Semester. 58 student-athletes are members of the Commonwealth Honors College. 163 student-athletes were named to the A-10 Commissioner s Honor Roll highest number of all A-10 teams. The men s sports teams had their highest cumulative grade point average (2.944). The women s sports teams had their highest-ever grade point average for any Fall Semester for both the semester (3.238) and cumulative (3.249) grade point averages. SPRING 2015 HIGHLIGHTS The cumulative grade point average for all sports teams at UMass for Spring 2015 was men s teams and 10 women s teams had a semester GPA over a student-athletes had a GPA of 3.0 or above and were named to Maroon Scholars. 161 student-athletes earned Dean s List recognition, a 3.5 grade point average or above. 24 student-athletes earned a perfect 4.0 grade point average. 49 student-athletes are members of the Commonwealth Honors College. The women s teams had their highest cumulative grade point average ever recorded (3.291). TUTORING Tutoring assistance had a positive impact on the GPAs of student-athletes. During the Fall 2014 semester, 80% of student-athletes who worked with a tutor received a 2.0 or higher, with about 65% earning a 2.5 or above, and 40% earning a 3.0 or above. During the spring semester, the numbers were very similar (79% earning a 2.0 or higher, 63% earning a 2.5 or higher), although the percentage of student-athletes earning a 3.0 or higher dropped slightly during the spring at 33%. We employed 17 Educational Assistants (mentor/tutoring program) to work with 41 students during the Fall 2013 semester. There were 11 student-athletes who placed out of the Educational Assistant program due to academic achievement while 4 student-athletes left the program due to leaving the institution. PROGRESS REPORTS We sent out progress reports to professors and teaching assistants through GradesFirst during the fall, winter, and spring terms. We do two rounds during the fall and spring and once each winter and summer term. We ask for them to be returned approximately a week after they are sent out or two days later in the winter and summer. Our return rate has stayed low at a 26-36% return during this academic year. Those reports are invaluable to us in helping our studentathletes to be academically successful. TOP FIVE MAJORS OF STUDENT ATHLETES 2015 Kinesiology Psychology Sport Management Sociology Biology ADVISING Registration Appointment Modification (RAM) allowed all student-athletes to register now at the beginning of their class ranking freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors. Last year, they were only allowed to register with RAM if they were in-season. Feedback was excellent, as students indicated that they were able to sign up for the majority of

8 the classes they needed. We continued our system to prompt those who had not registered within 2 hours of their appointment time. With the assistance of sport coaches, we have been successful overall in getting the students to register at their allotted time. This year s numbers were consistent with prior years, as a heightened awareness has yielded considerable attention to our deadlines. The University has purchased access to the Education Advisory Board (EAB) Student Success Collaborative (SSC) and staff attended training on the platform. We recently learned that GradesFirst was acquired by EAB as well. The EAB SSC is a campus-wide platform to help in communicating with and advising students. It will also serve as a system of note keeping, which would replace SPIRE notes. We are happy to be included by the Provost s Office in this initiative. YWS Class We offered seven sections of the class in Fall 2014 with three different choices of times. However, we ended up combining the two 12:20pm sections. Each section had about 30 students. There were a total of five instructors from Academic Services. The class met twice a week for eight weeks. Maroon Connections The mandatory sessions in (Fall/Spring) were: Freshmen: YWS/Power of Being a Student-Athlete w/athletenetwork Sophomores: Resume Boot Camp/ Power of Being a Student-Athlete w/athletenetwork Juniors: Career Forum/ Power of Being a Student-Athlete w/athletenetwork Seniors: Career Forum/Etiquette Dinner CHAMPS CUP The CHAMPS Cup was awarded to Rowing at the end of We did not have any CHAMPS Cup activities in the Spring while we transitioned to an academic-year calendar. STUDENT-ATHLETE ADVISORY COMMITTEE The Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) met 10 times during the school year, five times each semester. There was an average of representatives at each meeting. The major community service events they participated in were: the Shriners Hospital Toy Drive, Crocker Farm Elementary breakfast buddy program, the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Hampshire County Bowl-A-Thon, food drive for the Amherst Survival Center, Ware and Sunderland reading days, Wildwood Elementary s Walk to School Day, and teams wearing pink during competitions for cancer awareness. The campus community involvement events included the MASS Impact Day of Service, the Homecoming Parade, welcoming freshmen to campus at Fall NSO and the Amherst Trivia Bee.

9 Narrative of financial report, Athletic Department, FY 2015 Compiled by Nelson Lacey, Chair of Financials Subcommittee, Athletic Department Revenue: NCAA and conference distributions increased $619,831 from the prior year due mostly to the fluctuation of the number of teams in the University's conferences who participate in NCAA tournaments. Royalties, licensing, advertisements, and sponsorships increased $228,174 due mostly to increased royalties from sales and additional corporate sponsorships. Direct institutional support increase was primarily related to salary increases. Contributions are listed as lower, primarily because of a single large contribution by a donor. If not for that, donations would have increased by $500,000. NCAA/Conference Distributions were combined in FY 14 but separated in FY 15. The amounts increased in FY 15 due mostly to a fluctuation in MBB Tournament conference amounts and bowl distribution funds. Expense: Coaching salaries, benefits and bonuses paid by the University or related entities increased $860,537 from the prior year due mostly to contract negotiations and bonus levels reached in Men's Basketball. Severance payments decreased $867,577 from the prior year due mostly to the buyout in the prior year of the previous football coaching staff. Game expenses decreased $997,938 from the prior year due mostly to a category definition change. Rental of facilities for games and practices is now recorded in athletic facilities for debt service, leases, and rental fees. Direct Overhead and Administrative Expenses increased $1,659,760 from the prior year due to a category definition change for the current reporting period. These costs which include facility rental, utilities, administrative fees, etc. were reported in various other operating expense categories in prior years including Athletic Facilities, team game expenses and other operating expenses. This was done to better define the items.

10 Athletic Council Subcommittee on Compliance Fall/Spring Semester Meeting Boyden Gym Conference Room Friday, April 17, 11:00AM to 12:05PM Sen. Doc. No Members: Athletic Department Staff: Kim Callicoatte, Associate AD of Compliance Carol Ford, Assistant AD of Compliance Karen Green, Compliance Office Assistant Robert Goodhue, Interim Athletic Director Faculty and Alumni Representatives from the Athletic Council: Rebecca Spencer, Faculty Athletic Representative Patricia Vittum, Professor and Faculty Representative JC Schnabl, Director of the Alumni Association Tracy Schoenadel, Director of Center for Spectator Sports Research & AC Co-Chair, Compliance Co-Chair (Resigned January 2015 left the University) Rod Warnick, Professor, Faculty Representative and Co-Chair Not Present Vittum and no replacement named for Schoenadel. The meeting was called to order at 11:00AM in the Boyden Gym Conference Room and was completed by at 12:30PM. The following agenda items were reviewed and three staff members from the compliance office were presented to share and review this information Callicoatte, Ford and Green. Agenda Items 1. Compliance Department Update (Callicoatte and Ford) Violation Reports. The Compliance Office has reviewed nine (9) Level III violations during the academic year to date. Two (2) in men s football and women s crew (2) and one each in women s softball, women s tennis, men s track and field, baseball and men s soccer. Institutional action was taken on each case and no action was taken in each of the cases by the Conference Compliance reviews except for men s soccer where the NLIs were voided and re-issued. The full violations report for the period of July 1, 2014 to the present day of April 17, 2015 is available from the UMass Athletic Compliance Office. A brief discussion of the NCAA Reviews in the previous year was held to assure us that there was no carryover in the reporting for this year. Special Assistance Fund. The FY2014 Special Assistance Fund Report was presented by Karen Greene, Compliance Office Assistant for UMass Athletics, and the budget was at $412,325 for the 2014 fiscal year. To date the special needs fund has spent $344,675 with one of the largest expenditures being used to purchase supplemental insurance covering 71 student athletes and involving 37 international student athletes, 31 Pell grant student athletes and 2 summer school student athletes. The clothing and travel fund category accounted for $15,242 for special needs and this portion of the budget has been depleted. An additional emergency fund of $7,500 was budgeted with $3,846 for any student athlete needing assistance with travel costs for medical or sick leave purposes. An additional $20,000 was budgeted for a senior banquet and $19,783 has been spent while the largest budget item of $182,859 being spent on improving the academic support services for the student-athletes. Of this later fund, $124,079 has been spent on computers for study labs, testing materials and fees and student athlete sashes and fees for graduation.

11 The Athletic Department will hold the second annual all-sports award ceremony on Monday, April 28 th and will be presenting the SAMY (Student-Athlete Moments of the Year) Awards including a FAR Award for the top academic performance. Waiver Update. Four waivers have been filed during this period. Two initial eligibility waivers were filed for two men s basketball prospects -- Rashaan Holloway and Malik Hines. Both were partially approved for financial aid only. An additional initial eligibility waiver was filed for men s football prospect Travis Reynolds. This was partially approved for financial aid and practice. A medical absence waiver was filed and approved for men s football student-athlete Rich Queen. Medical Hardship Cases. The waiver update was presented by Carol Ford. She reported the following medical hardship waivers were submitted and approved coming into the academic year: 1 women s lacrosse player, A-10 Conference approval 2 softball players, A-10 Conference approval 1 ice hockey player, A-10 Conference approval (Hockey East does not have a compliance staff) Currently two waivers for track and field athletes were reviewed (1 male and 1 female); however, the medical documentation did not meet the standard for approval. They were not submitted. APR Reports. The APR Reports by team were presented by Kim Callicoatte and will be officially announced and release in late April for the previous academic period of and the moving four year average. Six teams return perfect scores of 1000 for the reporting period men s cross country, men s track, softball, women s cross country, women s lacrosse, and women s soccer. Men s football held an improved year APR rate of 952, well above the 930 cutoff; however, a few proceeding periods in (APR = 928), (APR = 925) had the team slightly below the desired APR rate of 930. Next year may be a difficult year for football and they will need to maintain a rate in the 940s ( ) to keep the program above the 930 average. Currently football has the lowest five year moving average score of 937. Women s soccer struggled in when it lost some international students and scored 880 and men s soccer has struggle with an APR of 849 in the most current year Men s soccer should be fine with the placement of the new coach. Men s basketball currently is fine in its APRs with current year score of 962 and five-year average of 960. Linda Reed has been working with Coach Whipple to identify former players who were short just a few credits to take their remaining courses in order to graduate. Graduating players from the past helps the program achieve bonus points in the report filing. The full APR report is available from the Compliance Office for detailed review. Coaches Meeting Agendas. Kim Callicoatte shared the agendas and handouts from the monthly compliance meetings with the coaches. Kim shared some of the topics with the members and most of the discussions and reviews included new NCAA legislation. Sample agendas and coaches newsletter samples are available from the Compliance Office. New or Newly Implemented NCAA Legislation. The bulk of the discussion centered around the approved legislation from the autonomous/power 5 (ACC, SEC, Big Ten, Big 12 and Pac 12 conferences that cover such topics as cost of attendance, guaranteed scholarship and various proposals coming forth. If adopted by UMass, the additional costs for men s and women s teams would be an additional $1600 per year per full-scholarship student-athlete. Guarantee scholarships were also discussed briefly and new rules that student athletes cannot be denied for reasons of athletic, academic or medical reasons but will not go into affect until August 1, FAR Report and Update. Rebecca Spencer, (UMass FAR) Rebecca Spencer provided a detailed FAR Report (report available upon request). Comments were made regarding her commitment to the position in her second full year. She participated in a variety of student athletic welfare issues

12 both academic and athletic affairs. A great deal of her time was spent formalizing relationships with the coaches and the student athletes as well. She also participated in the Athletic Department search committee for the new AD, reviewed pending NCAA legislation, attended A10 meetings in person and by conference call, attended NCAA meetings, and participated in the A10 post-graduate scholarship meetings (now that each institution in the A10 will receive one post-graduate academic scholarship in the A10 conference). She also attended student-athlete advisory committee meetings (SAAC). 5. Professional Athlete Career Counseling Panel and Transfer Appeals Committee Update. (Spencer) No meetings of the Professional Athlete Career Counseling Panel or Transfer Appeals Committee were held this past year to date. 6. Conference Realignment Mac Conference Compliance. There was nothing new to report on conference realignment. 7. Other Old Business and New Business (Warnick) No old or new business was brought forward at this time. Respectfully Submitted, Rod Warnick, Co-Chair of Compliance Subcommittee

13 Athletic Council Facilities Subcommittee Report Sen. Doc. No The facilities subcommittee met on April 22 nd 2015 to discuss issues regarding athletic and recreational facilities on the Umass Amherst campus. Dan Markowski Associate Athletic Director for Facilities and operations provided an update on facility improvements that were completed or underway between June 2014 and May Projects Completed Football Performance Center-Cost $28M. Project includes locker room,weight room,training room, and coaches offices. Coaches and players love the building and it is expected to improve recruiting. Football Press Box-Cost$8.8M. Project includes chancellor s box, athletic director s box, television and radio boxes, hospitality suite, and work areas for the press. New fencing was added around football stadium to improve traffic control. Cost $67,000. New field turf for football stadium. Cost $550,000. New scoreboard for track and field complex. Cost $300,000. Funded by track alumni. Projects Under Construction Basketball Practice Facility-Cost $29M. $13.5M funded by private donations. Project includes separate areas for men s and women s basketball which contains basketball courts, locker rooms, and coaches offices. Teams will share weight and film rooms. Planning Stages Field Turf for Gladchuck Field-Cost$2.2M. Will contain field turf, stands, scoreboard, and press box. Home field for field hockey. Field Turf for Garber Field-Cost $900,000. $530,000 funded by private donations by laxbackers. Field will be home for men s and women s lacrosse. Project also includes new fencing. New scoreboard planned for next year. Other Issues UMass hosted A-10 Championships in track & field and softball. Also hosted three home football games and high school basketball in the cage. Staffing continues to be tight, but adequate to get work done. UMass continues to host summer camps almost every week from May thru August. Camps include lacrosse, soccer, and basketball. Revenue from camps is approximately $80,000. Respectfully Submitted, Ed Ward