Reporter Volume 25, No.16 February 10, 1994

By MARK WALLACE
Reporter Staff

Because of the complex rules and regulations that govern NCAA Division
I member institutions, and the "elaborate process" that UB has put in
place because of those rules and regulations, President William R.
Greiner said that when it comes to sports at UB, he has "more of a
handle in a detailed way on a regular basis than for any other area of
UB."
	Greiner made his remarks in a discussion with the Faculty
Senate Executive Committee last week. He said his remarks were
designed to help the Faculty Senate be cognizant of how institutional
control for athletics works at UB, and to take advantage of the
intercollegiate athletic structure.
	"I want to try to sensitize you to how UB works in terms of
athletics," Greiner said. "I want you to know what my special
responsibilities are, and who are the people involved."
	Greiner said that according to NCAA rules and regulations for
Division I member institutions, the president of a Division I member
institution is responsible for "institutional control" of athletics.
In other areas, Greiner said he believed that the president was
responsible for general direction and maintaining a supportive
environment, and shared responsibility for research and teaching with
faculty. But presidential control of intercollegiate athletics as
required by the NCAA was much more specifically defined, he said.
	"I have a compendium of materials from the NCAA that everybody
should know about," Greiner said. "They give rather elaborate
instructions on what NCAA institutions have to deal with, plus other
things such as trustees policies."
	William George of Engineering said that he was "concerned that
the Faculty Senate is doing things outside its reasonable interest."
He suggested that the Faculty Senate "get out of the issue" of sports
"entirely," and perhaps should have only "input on who works in these
areas. It would satisfy our interest but would give us no involvement
in the details," George said.
	Greiner said that "I think we ought to handle appointments to
the Intercollegiate Athletic Board with as much seriousness as other
areas. But the Faculty Senate could also hear about athletics, maybe
through a yearly report by the IAB chair." But, Greiner said, anything
involving athletics "has to be done within the framework of what we
have to deal with" regarding NCAA rules and regulations.
	William Miller of Dental Medicine said that "We're all
relatively new to this interaction. Is there objection to reports
being shared, publicly or with this committee? Things are happening
that we don't know about, and there's a feeling that there's not as
much information coming from you as you say."
	Greiner responded that the annual report of the IAB was
public, and that Robert Wagner, senior vice president for university
services, and Charles Fourtner, UB's NCAA faculty representative,
could also speak to the Senate.
	Samuel Schack of Mathematics said that "People may need some
level of confusion cleared up, as to what the IAB is covering."
	Greiner agreed, but said that such questions should first be
directed to Wagner or Fourtner before getting others involved. "Let's
do these things in ways that maximize output," Greiner said. "Lack of
clarity" both from faculty and from the administration in several
incidents in the recent past has sometimes caused UB "to plow the same
ground two or three times," Greiner said.
	"We've got an elaborate process," Greiner said, "and the
Faculty Senate should use the tools that are here."
	David Banks of Anthropology asked if there was any plan to
make athletics a more central part of UB's mission, in particular in
relation to UB's recent mission statement. Greiner responded that
"Something like that might flow out of our accreditation process with
the NCAA."
	In other FSEC business, Jennifer Crocker of Psychology, chair
of the Senate Budget Priorities Committee, noted that the governor's
proposed budget for 1994-95 contained no lump sum reduction of
finances available for the SUNY system. That was "good news, compared
to the past," Crocker said.
	"We're in the middle of the state budget process," Crocker
told the FSEC. The budget still has to go to the state legislature,
which can make changes in it, Crocker said.
	Crocker said that the main "downside" of the governor's budget
was an attempt to eliminate the tuition assistance for new graduate
students, which would make students who enter graduate school from
this year onward ineligible for TAP, although current graduate
students will continue to receive TAP. However, Senior Vice President
Robert Wagner said that he felt the elimination of TAP for graduate
students was actually "unlikely to pass."