Posted on 06/17/2003 6:25:56 PM PDT by Diddle E. Squat
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Florida State President T.K. Wetherell reorganized the school's athletic department Friday, moving many responsibilities to other areas of the university to eliminate what the school's inspector general described as a culture of isolation.
Wetherell did not fire anyone, but made it clear he's awaiting evaluations on several department employees by athletic director David Hart Jr., who was singed in the IG's 10-page evaluation of the department and will get his own evaluation later.
The department's reporting system "exposes the university to significant risk and shows lack of forethought and good judgment," inspector general David Coury wrote.
Several areas of the athletic department -- including student services, compliance and sports information -- will soon report to other areas of the university and not to the athletic director's office.
"Somehow or another, over the past few years ... the athletic department and university have separated," Wetherell said. "That is not something that we want. We want the athletic department to be an active part of this university."
The athletic department, criticized for its handling of gambling allegations involving former Seminoles quarterback Adrian McPherson, will immediately refer all legal situations to university police as well as the school's legal counsel.
Whetherell also said he was looking at ways to financially punish coaches who allow excessive disciplinary issues to develop.
McPherson had a misdemeanor gambling trial end last week with a hung jury. His attorneys were back at the Leon County Courthouse on Friday for a pretrial hearing that was then moved to July 9. McPherson's attorney, Grady Irvin Jr. of St. Petersburg, said he's hopeful of working out a plea agreement with the state on the gambling misdemeanor as well as two felony cases on stealing a check and writing back checks.
That IG's report released Friday said Hart failed to encourage communication outside the athletic department.
Wetherell will do Hart's evaluation later this summer.
"There's a new sheriff in town," Wetherell said. "There's a new way to do it now."
He also told the school's trustees Friday that he's reorganizing the school's athletic board.
It is presently comprised of students, alumni, faculty and boosters and chaired by longtime NCAA faculty representative Chuck Ehrhardt, and that will not change as the Atlantic Coast Conference works through an ongoing expansion effort.
But when that is done, no faculty member or administrator could serve more than six years on the new committee.
Among other things, the athletic department and boosters will now have to get approval from Vice President of University Relations Lee Hinkle before it can make decisions on spending money -- similar to the way other parts of the school now operate.
Nearly 60 recommendations for operational changes were included in two reports presented to the trustees. The outside review was done by MGT of America, a Tallahassee-based higher education consultant.
Bob Minnix, the associate athletic director for compliance, will report to the school's legal counsel on matters other than the NCAA or ACC while the associate athletic director for student services, Pam Overton, would report to the vice president of student affairs.
The sports information office would report to the university relations office, which oversees all other media services at Florida State.
The IG's investigation also revealed other communications problems.
Former President Sandy D'Alermberte did not recall being briefed by Hart on a credit card theft charge that athletic department members knew about.
Hart said he included such incidents in regular briefings with the president.
The trustees, who hire the president and sign off on virtually all policy at the university, responded to Wetherell's reorganization of the school's most visible department by extending his contract two years. He is now on a five-year deal that extends to 2008.
I can see how a lack of interconnection between the athletic dept. and academia could become a real hinderance to a university's sound function.
If the proxy Asian student takes the calculus exam for the 3rd string guard rather than the starting tailback, it could really create a problem come Saturday.
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