Resolution US06/07-14 – Scheduling restrictions for football games during weekdays and final exams period

 

Sponsored by:                 Nathan Tublitz, Biology

For Senate action:            May 9, 2007

 

 

Resolved that,

 

The University Senate reiterates the principle, originally stated and approved in two previous Senate resolutions (US00/01-4 and US06/07-12), that the academic calendar shall be the primary consideration in scheduling athletic events.

 

Specifically, the University Senate resolves that football games shall not be scheduled on the weekend between dead and final exam weeks.

 

Furthermore, football games shall not be scheduled on weekdays during fall term including exam week unless approved in advance by the Intercollegiate Athletic Committee, the Faculty Advisory Council and the Senate Executive Committee.

 

 

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ISSUE

 

The University of Oregon recently revised the football schedule for the 2007 season to accommodate a television request by CBS/ESPN. The Oregon-Oregon State Civil War game was moved to the Saturday prior to exam week and another football game was moved from its normal Saturday slot to a Thursday night.

 

BACKGROUND

 

1) Moving the Civil War game to the Saturday of exam week was originally discussed by the 2000/01 University Senate. The University Senate passed the following resolution ( US00/01-4) on April 11, 2001:

“The growth of intercollegiate athletics has made the scheduling of athletic events more complex, and conflicts with the academic calendar are almost inevitable. A recent scheduling decision causes special concern: the Civil War football game for 2001 has been scheduled for the Saturday before Fall final exams. Such conflicts may be unavoidable, but we should not lose sight of the principle that the academic needs of our athletes and other students are always our top priority.

The combined University Senates of UO and OSU therefore make the following recommendation to our Presidents and Provosts: In the future, the academic calendar should be of paramount consideration in the scheduling of athletic events. In particular we suggest that major events should not interfere with dead week and final exams; in general we urge a heightened sensitivity to the academic calendar by the Athletic Departments of our two universities.“

2) The above resolution ( US00/01-4) was apparently ignored by the University Athletic Department when they rescheduled the 2007 Civil War football game for the Saturday prior to exam week. In response, the University Senate passed the following resolution ( US06/07-12) on March 14, 2007:

“Be it resolved that the University Senate reaffirms the suggestion that major sports events should not interfere with dead week and final exams. The decision to schedule major sports events at this time should only be made in exceptional circumstances, with the academic needs of students remaining the top priority. 

Further, the decision to schedule major sports events that conflict with dead week or exam week should only be made in consultation with the Intercollegiate Athletics Committee, the Faculty Advisory Council, the Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, the Provost, and the President of the University. All parties should be informed of University Senate resolutions relating to this matter.”

3) The University of Oregon University Senate is a member of the Coalition on Intercollegiate Athletics (COIA), an alliance of 54 Division IA faculty senates whose aim is to promote sports reform. The COIA’s 2005 Academic Integrity in Intercollegiate Athletics White Paper specifically addresses this issue in Section 4.3.6:

“ 4.3.6. An institution shall not schedule athletics competitions during final exam periods on that school’s campus; conferences shall develop their schedules to accommodate the final exam calendars of all member institutions.”

4) The COIA’s 2005 Academic Integrity in Intercollegiate Athletics White Paper also addresses the issue of weekday athletic events in section 4.3.3:

“4.3.3. In recent years athletics schedules have expanded in at least the following additional two ways, which impinge on the academic schedule: 1) seasons have been expanded at the beginning and at the end, particularly with regard to the proliferation of post-season conference tournaments, 2) athletic events have increasingly been scheduled on weekdays.  The Coalition urges the NCAA and the conferences to begin reversing these trends. We recognize that for some universities and in some sports, this goal may remain elusive and that the process may require as long as a decade to accomplish.”

 

FISCAL IMPACT

 

Calculating the fiscal impact of this resolution is difficult, in large part because of the unique aspects of each individual scheduling situation. The Athletic Department clearly uses revenues from televised football games to bolster its financial position. Passage of this resolution may, in some situations, reduce the maximum possible revenue available from televised football games. Any potential fiscal impact should be viewed in the larger context of the primacy of our institutional mission and our responsibility to provide the best possible education for our students.