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Are athletics departments isolated from institutions?

Ohio State University President Gordon Gee takes issue with what he sees as the institutional isolation of athletics departments from the rest of colleges and universities.

He was recently interview by SportsBusiness Daily as part of the 7th annual IMG Intercollegiate Athletics Forum.

Gee said in his interview he believes athletics departments need to be incorporated into the framework of the educational institutions.

"I've seen over my nearly 30 years as a university president we've been engaging in this arms race," Gee said. "What has happened in intercollegiate athletics in my lifetime is that ... it's become isolated, arrogant, it's become distinct from the rest of the institution. What I really do believe is there's going to be a reintegration of intercollegiate athletics so that it becomes fully embedded in the institution."

Five years ago, as chancellor of Vanderbilt University, Gee eliminated the position of athletics director, and made the athletics department part of the Division of Student Life and University Affairs. The goal, Gee said, was to fully integrate athletes into the student body.

Getting rid of the department was a controversial move. Critics said the reorganization would destroy Vanderbilt's ability to be competitive. That hasn't happened. Vanderbilt's athletics teams continue to succeed, -- on the field and in the classroom.

According to an article in USA Today, "The SEC's smallest and only private university -- and the only one without an official, full-time athletic director -- is enjoying unprecedented on-field success, from high-profile sports like basketball and baseball down to tennis and even the 2007 NCAA champion bowling squad. Off the field, the average GPA for student-athletes last spring rose to 3.1, narrowing the gap with other students, while Vanderbilt's NCAA graduation success rate was a conference-best 94 percent."

Gee isn't trying to diminish the importance of intercollegiate athletics, he believes integration will benefit student-athletes and institutions.

"Treat these students as students, let's have the athletic program be just like the Department of Physics or Chemisty," Gee said. "We'll treat them the same. We'll make everyone in the institution accountable for them."

As president of Ohio State, Gee has begun the process of reintegration on campus. He knows there are hurdles to overcome.

"Fear, trepidation, boards of trustees, sportswriters, the fact that there's not a chemistry section in the local newspapers, there's a sports section. There's a constant kind of drumbeat that athletics have this kind of magnified role within the university and I think a lot of that noise gets translated into the way that the integration process works. "

Is there a gap between athletics departments and the institutions they're supposed to represent?

Do you agree with the idea of reintegration?

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