Intercollegiate Athletic Advisory Council (IAAC) Meeting
December 5, 2011
3:15 PM
McLeod Center ~ Alumni Suite
Present: Ronnie Bankston, Jean Berger, Jess (Nissen) Betts, Kyle Burns, Russ Campbell, Troy Dannen, Forrest
Dolgener, John Fritch (for Joel Haack), Tim Gilson, Mark Jacobson, Lisa Jepsen, Jacqui Kalin, Rex Karsten,
Daren Koudele, Kara Park, and Kay Weller
Recorder: Lisa Jepsen
1.
Minutes from October 3, 2011 and November 7, 2011 were approved. (LJ Note: I edited the list of people present to indicate that on November 7 Steve Wartick represented Rex Karsten.)
2.
Athletic Director Report – Troy Dannen a.
UNI will be hosting the Jason Aldean concert in the UNI Dome. We have the potential to net
$200,000 in revenues. The facilities budget is separate, so the money will help them make their margins. b.
Troy thanked the facilities people. About 110,000 have been through UNI facilities beginning with the Missouri Valley Conference volleyball tournament on Thanksgiving and running through Saturday’s football, basketball, wrestling, and volleyball matches. The football crowd was disappointing because we marketed the game aggressively. Fewer than 1,000 students attended the football game, despite the fact that UNI paid their entrance fee ($10). c.
Football will depart late Wednesday evening for the Friday evening game at Montana. UNI could host the following game if we win and if Sam Houston State loses this weekend. d.
UNI’s men’s basketball is ranked 4 th
in the country in RPI (Ratings Percentage Index, an NCAA ranking system based on wins and schedule strength) this week. e.
Women’s basketball is also off to a good start.
3.
Recertification update – Jean Berger a.
Our final responses will be submitted to the NCAA on December 16, 2011. b.
Jean, Troy, and committee chair Cliff Chancey met with President Allen to discuss the third issue of how UNI will monitor diversity issues among student-athletes and athletic department staff. President Allen does not want athletics to have a separate committee from the rest of campus. Rather, he wants athletics to use the existing campus-wide resources such as the
Diversity Council and the Diversity Advisory Committee. Leah Gutknecht is drafting the response. c.
We are also working on the enhancements (the recommendations that were encouraged but not required by the peer review team).
4.
Compliance Officer report – Daren Koudele a.
Daren handed out a new brochure that is a guide for faculty and staff regarding athletics.
Brochure is also linked to athletics web page. b.
UNI signed 34 students to National Letters of Intent (NLI’s).

5.
Faculty Athletic Representative report – Lisa Jepsen a.
UNI will be nominating Ben Boothby (football) and Alex Uding (women’s soccer) for NCAA postgraduate scholarships. Both are exercise science majors with strong GPAs and numerous volunteer activities as well as accomplished athletes. Ben is applying to medical school, and
Alex has been accepted to Washington University’s (top ranked) physical therapy program.
6.
Old Business a.
Exit interviews summary – Mark Jacobson
Mark distributed a handout showing a summary of the exit interviews questions and an aggregate count of the number of student athletes who participated. The response rate of 38/108 is historically high, although committee members discussed ways to increase the rate in the future.
In the future, we need to distinguish between men’s and women’s track/cross country athletes.
Only the faculty members who administer the instrument know the names of the students who participated; the names are not written anywhere. The faculty members summarize the responses, type the comments from any face-to-face interviews, and provide the summary to Troy, Jean, and Lisa. Troy reported that the athletic department has already acted on some of the comments from the most recent survey. Troy, Jean, and Lisa look for trends in the responses, but the small sample sizes are problematic in drawing strong conclusions. Some student-athletes may use the instrument simply as an opportunity to vent. Committee members had a lengthy discussion about the purpose of the interviews and the wording of the instrument with specific input from
Kyle and Jacqui. The general consensus was to remove the word “confidential” because the comments are anonymous but are reported to the Athletic Director, Senior Women’s
Administrator, and Faculty Athletics Representative to ensure that they are aware of studentathlete concerns. Mark mentioned that the email he will send to eligible student-athletes will be based on the one sent last year by Eugene Wallingford that outlines the purpose of the exit interviews – to improve the student-athlete experience for future participants.
Mark, Kay, and Russ will administer the fall exit interviews shortly. They will offer early morning and late afternoon/early evening meeting times and locations that are convenient to student-athletes.
Many members expressed thanks to Mark, Kay Weller, and Eugene Wallingford for their excellent work on last year’s exit interviews.
7.
New Business a.
Jean Berger announced that UNI will be hosting a regional round of the women’s NCAA basketball tournament at the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines on March 24-26, 2012. UNI will have media personnel and trainers involved. Volunteers are welcome – please see Jean.
Meeting adjourned
Next meeting: February 6, 2012