Faculty Council discusses departure of sports medicine faculty

Members decided to take more time in investigating claims against the university.

By Scott Kanowsky

Published Oct. 10, 2008

Faculty Council members decided Thursday to temporarily halt discussion on the recent departure of sports medicine faculty members.

According to a report by council member Eddy Adelstein, MU administrators and the UM system Board of Curators promised MU athletes treatment with non-MU affiliated medicine services.

Adelstein considered this a breach in competitive bidding and "an egregious act" on the university's part.

"It was a vote of no confidence in the department of sports medicine," Adelstein said of his report.

Council member Alan Luger supported Adelstein.

"This is an outrage," he said.

Adelstein said his fury stems from the July departures of sports medicine professor Steve Kane and Jason Calhoun, the chairman of orthopedic surgery.

Adelstein said this type of dealing by university officials has been going on for nearly 30 years.

"Special people made special deals," he said.

In his report, Adelstein said the actions taken by the university have been inappropriate.

"This action has resulted in the resignation of valued colleagues, impairing MU's educational, research and clinical abilities," he said.

To address the situation and enact some change, Adelstein brought the matter before the Faculty Council.

The council, however, decided not to discuss the issue any further until more facts are known.

"It needs to come with actual facts and there needs to be questions asked to the athletic director," council member Steven Neal said.

Neal also asked for the issue to be tabled in order to give the Executive Committee time to look into the issue. Faculty Council Chairman Tom Phillips said the Executive Council has viewed the matter but "not in these words."

Council member Jay Dow also said the matter needs to be further investigated.

"I have had no time to consider this," he said.

The council voted 10-7 to set the issue aside.

Although he did have some support, Adelstein still felt frustrated, using an analogy to Charlie Brown to illustrate his frustration.

"I feel like every time I try to kick the football it gets lifted out from under me," he said.

Even so, Adelstein was not surprised by the council's decision.

"This group is not an activist one," he said. "It is very conservative. I think it reflects on society as a whole. People are nervous when they talk about the truth."

Adelstein's fight is not over. Phillips said the Executive Committee would review the complaint and discuss it next week.

"This is not going away," said Dow, a member of the Executive Council.

In addition, Victoria Johnson, spokeswoman for the subcommittee on Student Affairs, reported to the council fee waivers for all students might be re-organized. The Student Affairs subcommittee will discuss the issue in detail later, Johnson said.

Johnson also said the cost of textbooks, which is around $900, will be investigating various ways to lower the price.