With recent large-scale NCAA scandals that have traumatized Penn State University and other major institutions, the role of administrative control over athletics has come into question.
At MSU, it could be easy to say athletics director Mark Hollis holds complete and total control over the department because of all the high-profile events he proposes, such as playing a basketball game on an aircraft carrier or a hockey game in Spartan Stadium and because of his job title.
But the process of making large decisions in regards to athletics is more complicated than it might seem.
In the end, university officials said MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon holds a large amount of control for the general direction of MSU athletics, despite no specific language in her contract involving athletics, except many perks related to athletic events.
The woman in charge
Simon said she sees athletics as an important factor of the university, and she doesn’t take any side steps, although her contract has no specific terminology regarding control of the department.
Simon said she works to set a general course for the athletics department within the university’s broader mission.
“Part of my role is overall policy and direction, whether it’s athletics or the chemistry department,” Simon said. “(I try) to make sure we have a framework at Michigan State that allows the chemistry department to be successful and athletics be successful.”
Simon’s contract, however, does include complimentary tickets to home football, women’s basketball and volleyball games, and the option to purchase up to four season tickets for men’s basketball.
Within Simon’s contract, she is responsible for “institutional, faculty and educational leadership and management,” and “administration of the personnel and the affairs of the University consistent with Board policy,” among other duties.
Adam Goldstein, an attorney for the Student Press Law Center, said the president ultimately is responsible for what happens during her tenure, regardless of contractual obligations.
“Even if the president didn’t have the awareness, (she has) the authority to fix it,” Goldstein said. “Technically, athletic personnel are her subordinates.”
MSU Trustee Brian Breslin said he thinks it’s important the president has a lot of control over athletics.
“In my opinion, the president has full control and responsibility over every aspect of operations, academics, administration and athletics at Michigan State University,” he said in an email. “She is the president. The CEO. It is self-evident by title.”
Specific powers
Fellow Big Ten institution, the University of Minnesota, has taken a different approach in terms of athletics when compared to MSU.
The Board of Regents, Minnesota’s governing board, specifically laid out what the expectations of the president are.
Minnesota’s policy states that the president or delegate is responsible for the “day-to-day operational aspects of Intercollegiate Athletics, to effect appropriate institutional control” and is subject to faculty governance oversight and participation on numerous matters, including athletics policy and compliance.
The two contracts do share similar qualities, except MSU’s gives Simon the authority to deal with university rules, regulations and procedures.
Unlike many universities, Elizabeth Eull, Minnesota’s deputy chief of staff in the Office of the President, said the school decided to lay out a specific set of expectations for the president after a 1990s scandal at the school.
Minnesota also decided to make the Athletic Compliance office report to the Office of the General Counsel, the university’s legal department, instead of the athletics director to avoid a conflict of interest such as they once had.
“It was unusual to us that you would have them report to the guy they are supposed to be watching,” Eull said of Minnesota’s decision to change the reporting protocols.
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Similar to Minnesota, Breslin said MSU’s compliance office has independent reporting authority in addition to its duties with the athletic department.
Leadership
Although Simon has responsibility over athletics and academics, Hollis said from his experience working with her, she isn’t the kind of leader who tells you exactly what to do.
“She doesn’t tell you what to do, but she helps guide you to things you don’t have toward the front of your mind,” Hollis said. “She is pulling academics and athletics together in such a way that we move in the same way.”
Simon said when she talks to Hollis about each idea he comes up with, some have to be thrown out just because of the feasibility of the idea, but she doesn’t purposely try to flex her muscle too often.
“It’s not about power and if you’re a pretty good leader, you don’t have to use formal power very often,” Simon said.
Avoiding a tragedy
After it was determined this year that former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky had used his position and his foundation to sexually abuse children, many universities, including MSU, have taken a look at themselves internally to try and prevent a large-scale scandal.
“It is a teachable moment to remind people what the policies and practices are and be sure we are as clear as we can be about those expectations,” Simon said.
Simon recently was appointed chair of the NCAA’s Executive Committee, the association’s governing panel — the same panel that, in part, directed NCAA President Mark Emmert to investigate Penn State.
Even with the responsibility the president already has, interdisciplinary studies in social science and human resources and society junior Lauren Stepanski said she believes Simon should have more control to prevent situations such as the Penn State scandal.
“It should be regulated; but sometimes (in) sports, they can just get so caught up in the scene and everything that they want to protect their players just to keep good stats,” she said.
Hollis said he and the president both have full access to all facilities, which came as no surprise for Breslin.
He said having full access gives them the chance to inspect operations more closely.
Simon said she wants to try the best she can to not let the “gigantic system failure” that hit Penn State happen at MSU, and said there are many systems in place to avoid that.
The systems include keeping a running log of crimes on or near MSU’s campus as mandated by law, and conducting external evaluations and internal audits — functions not in place at Penn State, Simon said.
“I don’t see in our culture the kind of systematic Penn State set of issues,” Simon said. “You can have a system of how to handle them, but you can’t prevent a bad person doing a bad thing on your campus.”
Taking into account Simon’s informal power regarding athletics, Hollis said she ultimately has the final say.
“In the end, she’s my boss and has the ability to do whatever she wants,” he said. “(She does) a pretty good job on letting me run the department.”
Check out the details of President Simon’s contract.
