Intercollegiate Athletic Committee (IAC)

NORTHERN ARIZONA UNIVERSITY
Revised 2011-12

Printable Version of Charter (Word)

The 2011-2012 IAC Charter and Bylaws is a proposed revision to the 2009-2010 Anatomy/Charter that considers the 1998 IAC Charter and the Association of Governing Boards (AGB) Statement on Board Responsibilities for Intercollegiate Athletics (2009) document distributed to all IAC committee members during the 2010-11 academic year.

Scope and Purpose

The charge of the IAC is to serve in both oversight and advisory capacities to the Athletic Director (AD) regarding athletic departmental operations.  It serves as liaison between the Athletic Department and other academic, administrative and service components of the University community. This committee reports to the President of the University and provides an annual report to the Faculty Senate.

Participants

The IAC is lead by the chair and is composed of voting and non-voting members. A chair is an elected, faculty member in the first or second year of their term, elected by voting members the fall semester one year before taking charge, and serve as the past chair in the year following serving as chair. If the past-chair status results in a 4^th year on the committee, and the past chair was not elected by their college to serve on the IAC during that year, the person serves as a non-voting member. 

Voting members include:

• Two (2) faculty representatives from each of the six colleges
• The Faculty Athletic Representative (FAR)
• The Faculty Senate representative
• ASNAU student representative
• A representative from the Office of Undergraduate Admissions
• A representative from the Office of Financial Aid
• A representative from the Office of Student Life. 

Non-voting members include:

• A representative appointed by the President
• The NCAA liaison,
• Athletic Department representatives,
• The Skydome Manager
• Two Student Athletic Advisory Council (SAAC) representatives. 

IAC Executive Committee

The IAC Executive Committee consists of the IAC chair, the chair-elect, the FAR, and the chairs of the six subcommittees (excluding the Code of Conduct subcommittee).  The executive committee acts as a steering committee and writes end of the year reports.  The committee meets as needed with a minimum beginning and end of year meeting.

IAC Subcommittees

Each IAC member serves on at least one subcommittee with core responsibilities for each subcommittee detailed below.  All subcommittees are chaired by a voting member of the IAC who is responsible for holding meetings and providing annual reports to the IAC.  The AD appoints a member of the Athletic Department to serve as liaison for each subcommittee.  The chair of IAC will identify a faculty representative for each subcommittee in order for subcommittee work to begin.  Chairs will be selected upon first meeting of subcommittees.

The IAC contains seven (7) subcommittees.

1. Academic Integrity
2. Code of Conduct
3. Communication
4. Diversity Issues Group
5. Equity and Student Athlete Well-Being
6. Fiscal Integrity
7. Governance and Compliance

Academic Integrity

Members of this subcommittee include a faculty-chair, the FAR, athletic academic coordinator(s) and representatives from Undergraduate Admissions and the President’s office.

The first responsibility of this subcommittee is to provide oversight and development of the policies that directly affect student athletes’ successful progress through their academic program. These include attendance policies, online course policies, and academic advising policies. The second responsibility of the sub-committee is to examine the policies and ensure that they are in line with NCAA policies. Included are: oversight of the academic progress of student-athletes, and oversight of the availability and effectiveness of academic support services to student-athletes.  The athletic liaison is the academic services coordinator.

Code of Conduct

Membership of this subcommittee include the Athletic Director, the Far, the IAC chair, the IAC chair elect, and one other IAC member appointed by the IAC chair.

This subcommittee does not regularly meet, but will make every effort to meet within one week upon receiving notification from the Athletic Director regarding a Code of Conduct infraction. Response to the student-athlete will be in the form of a letter sent to the student-athlete by the Athletic director within one week of a decision being made.  The notice will also be forwarded to the Chair of the executive board committee.  (This includes over the summer).  To ensure all related athletic areas are examined thoroughly, subcommittee members request and review relevant data.  It also asks incisive questions, demands good information and analysis of trends, and communicates effectively with appropriate constituencies.

• Request that accurate, appropriate, and unfiltered data be provided regularly and in a timely manner on such topics as admissions, academic achievement, graduation rates, finances, and athletics conference matters.
• To ensure that their input is substantive and timely, meeting agendas appropriately consider matters concerning intercollegiate athletics. This is particularly important in matters relating to fiscal and admissions policies.
• Ordinarily, the president speaks for the institution on matters concerning intercollegiate athletics policy. In the event the board’s views are solicited, it should be clear that the board chair is the designated spokesperson.

Communication

The Communications subcommittee consists of a faculty-chair, faculty representatives, a student-athlete representative, and an athletic representative from Media Relations. 

The responsibilities of the Communication subcommittee include oversight concerning:

• Effectiveness of the outreach programs;
• Effectiveness of relationships with other units of the University
• Marketing and promotional efforts;
• Success and appropriateness of annual special events such as Hall of Fame Dinner, awards banquets, etc.
• The athletic liaison is sports information director

Diversity Issues Group (DIG)

This subcommittee includes a faculty-chair, currently the Faculty Senate representative, the AD, the SWA, a representative from the President’s office, the VP for Diversity, Multicultural Center Director, a student-athlete representative, a representative from the Office of Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity, a faculty representative, and a head coach.

The responsibilities of this committee is to provide oversight and document progress on the 2008 NCAA plans for improvement, ensuring diverse populations, both staff and student athletes, are included and supported in their roles at NAU. The committee also has the responsibility to examine diversity policies and ensure that they are in line with NCAA policies. Finally it is a goal of the subcommittee to distribute understandings of successes and failures with the entire campus so as to promote diversity throughout the campus community.

Equity and Student-Athlete Well-Being (GESAWB)

The Equity and Student-Athlete Well-being subcommittee includes a faculty-co-chair/administrator co-chair; the FAR, the SWA, athletics academic coordinator(s), two student-athletic representatives, two head coaches, the compliance director and representatives from Fronske, Educational Support, Campus Recreation, the President’s office, and alumni.

The responsibilities of this committee revolve around remaining compliant with Title IX at the university, conference, NCAA, and the federal Office of Civil Rights levels.  Responsibilities include appropriate balance and attention between women’s and men’s athletics as measured by scope of activities, award programs, physical and fiscal resources made available, academic support, recruitment, etc.  To this end, the GESWB committee meets monthly each semester to ensure we comply with Title IX criteria in the following areas:

1. 1. Accommodation of Interests and Abilities.
   2. Athletics Scholarships.
   3. Equipment and Supplies.
   4. Scheduling of Contests and Practice Time.
   5. Travel Allowance.
   6. Academic Support Services.
   7. Coaches.
   8. Locker Rooms, Practice and Competitive Facilities.
   9. Medical and Training Facilities and Services.
   10. Housing and Dining Facilities and Services.
   11. Publicity and Awards.
   12. Support Services.
   13. Recruitment of Student-Athletes.
   14. Evaluation
   15. Organization and Structure
   16. Participation in Governance and Decision-Making
   17. Programs and Activities

The Fiscal Integrity subcommittee is composed of two or more voting members from the IAC, one of whom must serve as chair of the committee, and includes the AD, one head coach, and the Assistant AD for Fiscal Operations serving as athletic representatives.

The responsibilities of this subcommittee include managing human, fiscal, and physical resources, effectiveness of fund-raising efforts, and financial success of marketing and promotional efforts through:

• Oversight of institutional revenues and expenditures for intercollegiate athletics.
• Ensuring transparency in the financial and managerial affairs of the Athletics Department, including adherence to commonly accepted business standards.
• Serving as the interface between the IAC and the Athletic Department for issues and questions related to finances and resources.

Governance and Compliance

Membership of this subcommittee consists of the FAR, the Compliance Director, Academic Coordinator, and representatives from Student Life, Financial Aid, Planning & Institutional Research, Residence Life, Sodexho, Gateway Student Success Center, and Student and Departmental Accounts.

The responsibilities of the Compliance & Governance subcommittee include oversight of compliance with all Big Sky Conference, NCAA, and Arizona Board of Regents rules and policies that relate to student-athletes and intercollegiate athletics.  The subcommittee is responsible for reviewing Athletics Department policies relating to NCAA compliance including the areas of recruiting, NCAA violation reporting and official visits.   This committee will assist in reviewing and developing policies at Northern Arizona University which conform and abide by the rules set forth by the above organizations. Finally, the Compliance & Governance subcommittee is dedicated to providing rules education to all areas of the University community, including coaches, student-athletes, faculty & staff, the IAC committee and University booster groups. 

Athletic Department Search Committee

In addition to service on standing subcommittees, at least one voting member of the IAC will be appointed to search committees for administrative, head coach or academic oversight positions within the Department of Athletics. The AD will appoint the chair of the search committee.

2011-2012 Bylaws

Intercollegiate Athletic Committee

(IAC)

Officers

1. The IAC chair serves for a one year term
2. The chair-elect is voted on at the beginning of the fall term
3. The IAC chair-elect serves as the incoming IAC chair unless otherwise noted.
4. The IAC chair appoints subcommittee members and sets dates for subcommittee reports
5. Faculty representative are elected by the faculty and/or administration from their respective college and serve a three-year term

IAC Executive Committee

The Executive Committee meets at the end of each semester, providing overviews from the subcommittees, drafting an annual report.  The drafted annual report is sent to the IAC chair and FAR, who compile a final IAC annual report to be submitted to the President and to the Faculty Senate.

Meetings

1. The committee will meet at least once a month during the academic year.
2. Regular meeting times will be determined by the chair.
3. Meetings are conducted using Robert’s Rules of Order
4. An agenda will be set for each meeting.  Items may be submitted in advance by any member and will be considered in the order they were received.
5. Minutes will be prepared and placed on the Athletic Department web site for review.  A motion to accept/approve the minutes will be made at the next scheduled meeting.
6. Approved IAC minutes will be available on the IAC webpage.
7. Meetings will be generally open to interested individuals but to participate they must be recognized by the chair.
8. The chairs of each sub-committee will update the IAC on their charge throughout the year and create a final report by a specified date at the end of each year.
9. The committee may vote to move into Executive Session.  Attendance at Executive Sessions will be restricted to IAC members and guests approved by the committee.

Voting

1. A quorum must be present for any vote, consisting of one more than half of the total number of voting IAC members.
2. The chair will be counted to create a quorum.
3. A majority vote of members present will be required to pass a vote.
4. The chair will vote only to break a tie.
5. If a voting member is unable to be present, the member may give his/her written proxy to another voting member and copy the IAC chair

Amendments

These bylaws may be amended by a quorum vote of the IAC at any meeting.  A copy of the of the proposed amendment(s) is to be provided to the IAC chair and voting members at least one week prior to said meeting.