Curators have opportunity for greater oversight

~ They will consider an executive order that addresses some of their concerns about the university system's athletics departments.

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Continued fallout from Quin Snyder's forced resignation as the University of Missouri-Columbia's men's basketball coach has led to a plan for greater -- but limited -- oversight of athletics by curators.

Responding to the curators' call for more involvement, University of Missouri system President Elson Floyd has crafted a proposal that would preserve the authority of the chancellors at the system's four campuses to oversee athletics, while also increasing the reporting requirements to Floyd and the curators, a group of 10 political appointees.

Curators will consider the proposed executive order at their regular meeting Friday in Kansas City.

Under the proposal, the chancellors at the Columbia, Rolla, Kansas City and St. Louis campuses would be required to submit annual reports that track graduation rates by sport, list exceptions to admission requirements and detail the athletic departments' financial health.

Contracts for head coaches and athletic directors -- including beleaguered University of Missouri-Columbia athletic director Mike Alden, whose job status remains a source of public speculation -- will include required annual performance reviews.

Such contracts would not exceed five years, and any buyouts would be limited to "the annual base salary the individual would have earned under the remaining terms of the contract," although curators could approve any exceptions to those proposed employment rules.

"It codifies even more clearly the reporting requirements between the athletic departments and the chancellors, and where the president would be involved," said Joe Moore, a spokesman for the University of Missouri system.

If approved, the plan would replace a one-paragraph executive order from 1997 that merely requires chancellors to "report periodically to the president" on the status of varsity sports.

By contrast, the new proposal calls for chancellors to keep the president "advised at all times of major issues affecting intercollegiate athletics, including those that have the potential to engender a high degree of public interest."

Curator David Wasinger, of St. Louis, who at an earlier board meeting called for a task force to investigate intercollegiate athletics, on Tuesday called Floyd's proposal "a step in the right direction."

"It does address some of the concerns," said Wasinger. "It's a good step to take the [Columbia] athletic department from good to great."

The curators' concerns about the University of Missouri-Columbia athletic department came to a head after Snyder quit. Snyder said he was forced out by Alden and received the news from Gary Link, a Tiger broadcaster and Alden assistant.

Alden has denied that account and subsequently apologized for his handling of the affair. Two university investigations stopped short of verifying Snyder's version but subjected the campus to intense public scrutiny and criticism.

The scrutiny only increased after the curators met behind closed doors to consider whether to fire Alden -- even as they were completing contract details for Snyder's replacement, Mike Anderson.