PUBLICATIONS Inside Illinois Vol. 20, No. 8, Oct. 19, 2000

Big Ten reps serve as liaisons, more

Becky Mabry, Assistant Editor
(217) 244-1072; mabry@illinois.edu

Photo by Bill Wiegand Rose Mary Cordova-Wentling

Rose Mary Cordova-Wentling and Fred Delcomyn are the two UI faculty representatives to the Big Ten, roles that carry many responsibilities and a heavy commitment of time.

Cordova-Wentling’s appointment became effective in August, and Delcomyn was named to the position last year. The previous faculty representatives were David Chicoine, dean of the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, and Mildred Griggs, who recently retired as dean of the College of Education.

Cordova-Wentling is a professor of human resources education and coordinator of the Human Resource Development Program; Delcomyn has a joint appointment as professor of entomology and of molecular and integrative physiology. He also is director of the School of Integrative Biology.

The responsibilities of the faculty reps are little known, even among university faculty members, Delcomyn said.

Photo by Bill Wiegand Fred Delcomyn

One of their primary responsibilities is to serve as liaisons between the NCAA and the campus. They also serve as liaisons between the Big Ten Conference and campus.

"So any formal communications between the campus and the NCAA (or Big Ten) goes through the faculty reps," Delcomyn said. "If there are petitions for exemptions to rules, such as student medical waivers, those petitions would have been filed by either Rose Mary or me."

They attend frequent meetings with the Division of Intercollegiate Athletics and within the Big Ten and NCAA, and serve on several committees for each organization, according to Cordova-Wentling. They are responsible for certifying the eligibility of student athletes and reporting violations of all Big Ten rules and NCAA bylaws as required by NCAA.

Faculty members fill these positions as go-betweens to the NCAA and Big Ten to ensure that athletics on campus remains under faculty control, he said.

"The athletic department is not supposed to be an organization that runs and polices itself," Delcomyn said. "It’s supposed to be under faculty control. That’s why there’s a majority of faculty on the athletic board and that’s why there are faculty representatives to the Big Ten and NCAA."

The athletic board Delcomyn referred to is a committee of the faculty-student senate that oversees all operations in the Division of Intercollegiate Athletics. Ron Guenther is director of athletics, and in many functions the athletic board is advisory to him. But the athletic board also has statutory authority. The athletic board is empowered to deal with issues of students’ academic progress and eligibility and a sub-committee monitors the academic progress of all athletes on campus.

Faculty members of the athletic board are nominated in the senate and the chancellor picks from among those nominees to fill the positions.

The chancellor also selects the two faculty representatives from throughout the campus.

The responsibilities of Delcomyn and Cordova-Wentling outweigh most faculty committee work, they agreed.

"It’s a very big commitment," Cordova-Wentling said. "I looked back at my calendar in September, and I think I had something almost every day of the month – meetings to go to or letters to write or signing eligibility lists for athletes. It takes a lot of time. And it is a big responsibility."

They attend four Big Ten meetings a year, and the annual meeting of the Faculty Athletic Representatives Association. They also frequently attend sporting events and even travel to bowl games and tournaments
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"These are opportunities for us to meet coaches on a more personal level," Delcomyn said. "When issues come up it always helps to know the individuals – what their values are, what their issues are and how you can talk with them.

"I will say that one of the reasons I agreed to accept this position is because I have the highest regard for Ron Guenther," Delcomyn said. "I don’t think there’s a better athletic director in the United States."

"And that makes our jobs a lot easier," Cordova-Wentling said.

"What he’s done is bring in coaches that really are interested in the academic success of the athletes. It’s not just lip service."

Both Delcomyn and Cordova-Wentling participated in college athletics. He ran track and field and cross-country and she was in competitive gymnastics. They have maintained an interest in sports too. But more important, they said, they are committed to academics and seeing that the athletes abide by the academic standards.

"You need a love for sports and academics," Cordova-Wentling said. "If you’re just a sports fan, then this is not an appropriate role for you. You have to love both and understand how they are interrelated."

The two can serve as faculty representatives for up to 10 years. The chancellor asked that they make a commitment of at least three years.

"It takes a while to be a full contributor," Cordova-Wentling said. She attended meetings and conferences for eight months prior to assuming the position as a way to "apprentice" for the position.

Delcomyn said in his first year he’s learned there is an enormous amount of misinformation about athletics and the university and the relationship between the two.

He cited, for example, letters to the editor in the local newspaper that complained about the university spending money on the new indoor football practice facility, rather than the library. He pointed out the football building was built with private donations.

"State dollars don’t go toward that sort of thing," he said. "They don’t go toward Ron Guenther’s salary, or any of the high-profile, high-salaried individuals in the major sports. None of that money comes from state funds."

He also wishes more faculty members had a better understanding and attitude toward college athletics. Some faculty, he said, have a misconception based on half-a-dozen cases of high profile athletes in football or men’s basketball who misbehaved or who weren’t accomplished academically.

"They are ignoring the 95 percent of the athletes who do well, the 95 percent who do graduate," Delcomyn said. "There are people like Josh Whitman, the starting tight end on the football team, who’s an engineering major and carrying a very high GPA. If you mention him, they will say that’s an anomaly. But it’s the problem cases that are the anomalies. There are whole teams of athletes that have GPAs better than 3.2," he said.

Anyone with concerns or questions about athletics at the UI can contact the faculty athletic representatives at delcomyn@life.uiuc.edu or rmcwent@illinois.edu.