EIU Office of Internal Auditing

#76 - Intercollegiate Athletics

Approved: September 20, 2010

Nomenclature changes: October 26, 2015

Monitor: President

National Collegiate Athletic Association regulations provide that "control and responsibility for the conduct of intercollegiate athletics shall be exercised by the institution itself and by the conference of which it is a member." The regulations further provide that "administrative control or faculty control, or a combination of the two, shall constitute institutional control." At Eastern Illinois University, administrative control is provided through the President of the University who has ultimate responsibility for decisions regarding the intercollegiate athletic program and faculty control is provided through the Faculty Athletics Representative and the Intercollegiate Athletic Board.

Duties and responsibilities of the Intercollegiate Athletic Board, the Director of Athletics, and the Faculty Athletics Representative in connection with the intercollegiate athletic program are set forth below.

Intercollegiate Athletic Board

Refer to Internal Governing Policy 84.

Director of Athletics

In general, the day-to-day administration of the intercollegiate athletic program shall be the responsibility of the Director of Athletics. All policies of the University, the National Collegiate Athletic Association, and the regulations of those conferences to which the University belongs are applicable.

The Director of Athletics shall have a place in the institutional structure comparable to that of any other administrative head and shall be subject to the same institutional policies and controls.

Additional duties and responsibilities shall include:

1. working closely with the various coaches, in order to assure that the athletic program is being conducted within the existing framework of policies and regulations of the University and other regulatory agencies and rectifying any variance from established rules,
2. serving as an ex-officio member of the Intercollegiate Athletic Board and representing the intercollegiate athletic program on the Board,
   
   The proper channel of official communication for coaches with the Intercollegiate Athletic Board is through the Director of Athletics. The Board may, at its discretion, request the opinions of the several coaches, observing the proper channel of communication.
3. working closely with the Faculty Athletics Representative in all matters relating to the intercollegiate athletic program, and
4. taking immediate steps to bring the administration of the intercollegiate athletic program in line with the policies or regulations, when infractions occur.

Faculty Athletics Representative

The Faculty Athletics Representative is appointed by the President of the University and must be a faculty member who is not in any way connected with the administration of the athletic program. Duties and responsibilities shall include:

1. keeping informed of regulations and directives of those regulatory agencies, outside of the University, to which it subscribes;
2. serving as Chair of the Intercollegiate Athletic Board;
3. serving, as required or requested, as the representative of the University to those athletic associations and conferences to which the University belongs and, in those cases requiring an expression of the position of the University, conferring with the President of the University on matters to be considered and apprising the President of impending actions and decisions which have been reached;
4. reporting to the Intercollegiate Athletic Board, for their information, any action which might be taken by an outside organization which would affect the intercollegiate athletic program; and
5. providing a channel of communication between the Director of Athletics and the coaches to outside organizations in matters pertaining to regulations of outside organizations. It is important that proper channels of communication be observed and definite procedures involving problems of athletic eligibility be followed. In all cases, the individual coaches should confer with the Director of Athletics who, in turn, shall consult with the Faculty Athletics Representative.