New IAC chair Dr. Lynn Fisher, a professor of sociology and anthropology, says that the new personalities are working well together but adds that the last batch of personalities was probably not the heart of the problem. The more influential factor was likely the disagreement over the role of the IAC and how much information it should get and when. In most academic concerns, faculty decisions aren’t merely advisory – they have a more direct impact on the direction of the university; however, in other aspects of the university, faculty members play more of an advisory role, she explains.
In the fall of 2009, the IAC changed its bylaws in an attempt to clarify the matter, but whether debate will continue on the role of the IAC remains to be seen. At the very least, communication is improving among the athletic department, administration and faculty.
Faculty leaders are now invited to regular lunches with coaches, have been involved with athletic department hiring and are receiving regular reports on student-athlete discipline and athletics’ fiscal condition.
“So much depends on a mutual sense of trust that I think we have developed now on the basis of the administration having really been forthcoming with communication with its leaders. … That takes you a long way,” Berman says. “Whatever was, was. What about right now?” Asked if UIS was ready to move to NCAA when it did, considering the issues that have since arisen, Berman says, ‘yes.’ “We did the best planning we could, but there also is that reality you face when your dream comes true and then it’s sort of like be careful what you wish for. You can’t possible anticipate all of the reality.”
Thompson says UIS’ readiness to enter NCAA Division II was affected most by the turnover in coaches that resulted from the spring break incident, as well as other personnel changes. “The fact that we had to get, like, four new coaches really didn’t help a lot,” she says. “When you get new coaches coming in … it’s more pressure versus motivation.”
Fisher points to change in general as a difficult force with which to deal, especially for a school of UIS’ size. “I don’t know what it would mean to be ready. It sounds like making the transition before you make the transition,” she says. “I feel as if we’ve had a lot of new things to contend with. … This campus changes with energy and excitement, and that’s one of the things I love about it. I also know that change can be very demanding for the people who work here because, unlike a bigger university, often it’s just one person who’s in charge of something that’s handled by a big office full of people at another institution.”
Contact Rachel Wells at [email protected].
