New UNO President Will Have Input On Future Of Athletics
October 31, 2011
In response to continued discussion and debate about the future of University of New Orleans athletics, Interim Chancellor Joe M. King reaffirmed the position that the newly appointed president of UNO will have input and be the final decision-maker on the direction the athletic department pursues.
"The president at UNO will have a number of consequential decisions to make,” King said. “One of those will involve helping to craft a long-term plan for our athletic program. As we have said stated before, the president must evaluate what is best for the University and act accordingly.”
UNO is currently operating as a Division I Independent program. In April 2011, UNO received approval from the NCAA to begin the transition from Division I to Division II. The program currently offers ten sports: baseball, basketball (M&W), golf (M&W), cross country (M&W), tennis (M &W) and volleyball. NCAA Division II requires a minimum of ten sports, with at least one men's and one women's team in each of the three seasons. Plans are in place to increase the number of offered programs in the coming years.
In the 2011 regular legislative session, Senate Continuing Resolution 68, authored by Senators Appel and Murray, was passed requesting UNO suspend the reclassification to Division II process.
On September 15, the UNO Presidential Search Committee outlined the search process and a timeline in its inaugural gathering. On November 15, the search committee will hold its second meeting during which committee members will review applications and choose semifinalists. The committee has said that it would like to select a president by December 9, 2011.
Earlier this year, Governor Bobby Jindal signed legislation transferring UNO from the Louisiana State University System to the University of Louisiana System. The transfer is expected to be approved by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges at its December 2011 meeting. In the UL System, the chief executive of a university is a president, not a chancellor as is the case in the LSU System.