Issue date: 2/22/07 Section: News

Media Credit: photo by Katy Hartwig/Alestle, photo illustration by Andy Rathnow/Alestle

As the Southern Illinois University Board of Trustees prepares to vote whether to reclassify SIUE athletics to NCAA Division I, the SIUE community has raised questions about conferences, budgets and benefits.

Chancellor Vaughn Vandegrift has recommended that the board approve the reclassification to Division I. Vandegrift based his decision on the findings of an intercollegiate athletics task force, commissioned in August 2005.

Gary Giamartino, interim vice chancellor for university relations, was head of the task force. The task force's responsibility, Giamartino said, was to gather information and present its findings to the chancellor.

Now that the taskforce has completed its work, Giamartino said his role is to gather people together in support of DI athletics.

"I think the chancellor's decision was a well-reasoned one," Giamartino said. "SIUE has a tradition and track record of performing at the highest levels, and I think we're going to do it here, too."

Giamartino reviewed some of the changes the SIUE community could expect to see if the university made the move to DI.

"We will be attracting a different type of student athlete," Giamartino said.

He added that SIUE would recruit against other DI schools for athletes.

Spectators would also recognize changes.

"As a spectator, you would see a different level of competition," Giamartino said.

Giamartino said the competition would be at a higher level of athleticism, but he expected SIUE to play with the same intensity as before.

Economics professor John Meisel was also a member of the task force. Meisel is the faculty athletic representative to the NCAA and president of the Great Lakes Valley Conference, SIUE's current Division II conference.

Meisel said that in the final report, several benefits were listed, including increased enrollment, more media exposure and increased community perception.

SIUE is not the first school to reclassify its athletics.

Kennesaw State University in Kennesaw, Ga., officially joined the DI Atlantic Sun Conference last year.

Dave Waples, Kennesaw State's athletic director, offered advice to SIUE.

"Number one, get in a conference before you declare yourself DI," Waples said. "And number two, bring a lot of money."

Waples said Kennesaw's budget for DII athletics was $3.2 million. After reclassifying, that budget rose to $5 million.

Continued...

Page 1 of 2 next >

Article Tools