Casteen sets up planning task force on athletics

By Carol Wood

U.Va. President John T. Casteen III has announced the formation of a Strategic Planning Task Force for Athletics to develop long-range priorities and aspirations for the Department of Athletics.

The task force has been charged with addressing three areas: programs and facilities, academic and student life, and finances and fund raising. It will focus on planning and goal setting, particularly in areas that have not yet achieved eminence.

This past year the athletics department was honored for the first time with a top 10 ranking in the Sears Directors' Cup, a respected measure of achievement among the nation's colleges and universities. Both in the classroom and on the playing field, U.Va.'s student athletes have long achieved at outstanding levels. But, like the rest of the University, athletics cannot afford to stand still, Casteen said.

In 1998, the University embarked on a long-term planning initiative -- Virginia 2020: The Agenda for the Third Century -- in order to remain competitive with its peers and to fully address the many facets of its educational mission. The process of setting long-range aspirations and priorities has focused thus far on four key areas -- the fine and performing arts, international activities, public service and outreach, and science and technology.

"The Department of Athletics has emerged as an area deserving of attention," Casteen said. "Just as the University seeks excellence in its academic programs, it also seeks excellence in its athletic endeavors. Having achieved some measure of success during the course of the current capital fund-raising campaign, it is now necessary for athletics to undertake long-term planning and goal setting."

The task force will be asked to establish clear goals for the department for the next two decades; to build an appropriate budget for accomplishing those goals; to identify funding sources to support the goals, and to recommend a management structure to oversee these efforts.

"Our athletic program has benefited greatly from our academic excellence and our academic programs have benefited from our athletic excellence. Continued achievement in both areas makes a great university," said M. Terry Holland, director of athletics.

The core group of the athletics task force comprises 16 faculty members, administrators, student-athletes and alumni from across the University. Carolyn M. Callahan, a professor at the Curry School of Education, will lead the effort. Callahan is U.Va.'s faculty athletics representative, serving since 1997 as the liaison between the faculty and the athletics department. In that capacity, she also is the University's faculty representative to the National Collegiate Athletic Association and the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Strategic Planning Task Force for Athletics

Chair: Carolyn M. Callahan, Curry School professor

Margaret Boutilier, alumna and former All-American in women's lacrosse and field hockey

Gordon C. Burris, special assistant to the president Earl C. Dudley Jr., professor of law

Mark E. Fletcher, associate director of athletics

Henry B. Frazier III, alumnus Harry Y. Gamble Jr., professor of religious studies

Ahmad R. Hawkins, Class of 2001

Paula D. McClain, professor of government and foreign affairs

Jane Miller, associate athletic director

Mary Frances Scott, Class of 2000 V. Shamim Sisson, associate dean of students

M. Rick Turner, dean of African-American Affairs

Keith D. Vanderbeek, associate director of athletics

Andrew M. Virga, alumnus

Carl P. Zeithaml, dean, McIntire School of Commerce

Ex-officio members: Henry L. Valentine II, chair, Board of Visitors Committee on Student Affairs and Athletics; M. Terry Holland, director of athletics, and Amy D. Cronin, assistant to the president.