Alvarez in Wisconsin power struggle

There is no doubt the past 20 years have been the golden age of University of Wisconsin athletics. But at what cost? The battle brewing on campus regarding the level and method of control that should be exerted over the UW Athletic Department is a sign that the brainiacs who run the university have once again failed to strike a proper balance between handcuffing the department and giving its administrators the power to operate as they please. The latest debate began when the UW Athletic Board, which is charged with overseeing the athletic department, unanimously endorsed the recommendation of a self-study committee that significantly altered the relationship between the board and the department by reducing the board’s role in personnel matters. Their reasoning was that the department, which has grown into an $85-million-a-year business, needs the flexibility to make timely decisions on hiring and firing coaches and that such matters should be left to the athletic director and chancellor. Opposing that viewpoint is a group of faculty members led by Bruce Jones and Jeremi Suri, former athletic board members who took issue with the self-study when it was presented to the UW Faculty Senate in April. They say the faculty policies and procedures document, which dates to the 1930s, stipulates that personnel decisions involving UW coaches must get athletic board approval. Some saw the whole thing as a power play by athletic director Barry Alvarez to gain even more authority. Alvarez has rarely heard the word “no” since he arrived in Madison as UW’s football coach in 1990 and even ignored state laws — with the approval of then-chancellor John Wiley — in 2005 when he named Bret Bielema his successor in football without following proper hiring procedures. There are further indications Alvarez has been operating without adult supervision. Jones was chairman of the athletic board when Bielema was hired, yet he didn’t learn about the hiring until about two hours before the press conference to announce the news. Some faculty were also concerned in 2007 about the board’s lack of input regarding UW’s contract with the Big Ten Network and again in 2008 when Alvarez announced that embattled women’s basketball coach Lisa Stone would have her contract renewed without even discussing it with the board. – Wisconsin State Journal