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Cougar Ruler

September 9, 2005

SIUE Athletics Task Force Assesses Future Of Program
         A task force has been established to consider three possible scenarios for the future of Intercollegiate Athletics at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, including options to strengthen the existing program, create a program that would compete at the NCAA Division I level, or develop a “hybrid” that would include Division I and II teams.
         According to Narbeth Emmanuel, vice chancellor for Student Affairs, the successes of SIUE’s Athletics program since 1999 have been a result of planning by an initial Athletics committee that was commissioned by then-SIUE Chancellor David Werner. “That original committee was created to consider whether the University should field a football team,” Emmanuel explained.
         “However, it was determined that other alternatives should be explored, and, because of the committees work our programs have been strengthened over the past six years to the point that we are now poised to move SIUE Intercollegiate Athletics to a new level.”
         Emmanuel cited several successes within the program:
        
  • The men’s soccer program has achieved national success;         
  • The men’s basketball program has been ranked nationally for the first time and has achieved conference-level success;         
  • The men’s and women’s track and field programs, as well as the men’s wrestling program, continue to send athletes in increasing numbers to compete at the national level; and         
  • The softball program has grown to a perennial national contender.

             “SIUE Athletics over the years has become a respected program in the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC),” Emmanuel pointed out. “Such success was no accident, but rather the result of careful strategic planning.”
             The new task force—made up of SIUE students, faculty, staff, alumni, residents of the surrounding communities, and chaired by SIUE School of Business Dean Gary Giamartino—will now consider the following alternatives:

            
  • Continue to strengthen the existing Intercollegiate Athletics program to become the very best at this level, utilizing the current tier system, with special emphasis on tier four sports that includes wrestling and men’s golf;         
  • Consider transitioning from an NCAA-II program to NCAA-I with both the appropriate level of financial resources as well as the necessary facilities to be competitive to achieve national recognition; or         
  • Consider a "hybrid" that would include Division I and II teams with the appropriate resources and consistent with NCAA policies.

             The task force also will explore personnel and financial resources needed to achieve one of these recommendations. Giamartino said the entire process will be guided by specific core values, including student-athlete academic and personal welfare, integrity and ethics, commitment to Title IX guidelines, and preservation of academic and competitive integrity by seeking membership in an appropriate conference.
             Giamartino said the work of the task force will be completed by spring 2007. “It is now apparent that SIUE is positioned to develop a strategic plan for the next phase of our program,” he said. “The University is very proud of the athletics programs that have contributed to our recognition and reputation as a premier metropolitan university with national recognition, and the members of the task force look forward to building on that foundation as we explore options for the future.”
             SIUE Chancellor Vaughn Vandegrift, who recently completed a full year as the University’s head, said the work of the current task force will take into consideration planning from the 1999 task force but also the input Vandegrift received at town hall meetings he conducted on campus last year. “I am confident that the task force will provide a comprehensive report that will help guide us in shaping and developing the future of Intercollegiate Athletics at SIUE,” he said.
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