Ajax University has recently been in the news for scandals within its athletics department: the department admits to doctoring athletes’ transcripts so athletes can gain admission or maintain eligibility; coaches have been charged with recruiting violations; and alumni have been found to be providing athletes with cars and illegal cash payments. The current structure of the university has all of the sports programs contained within the athletics department. The head of the department, the athletics director, reports to the president of the university, at least on paper. In practice, because the department brings so much money into the university, the athletics director is given free rein to do whatever he wants within his department. The separate and special status given to the Athletics department makes abuse rather easy. Gordon Gee, the chancellor at Vanderbilt University, in reflecting on the problems at Ajax University, believes that the problems are structural. “For too long, college athletics has been segregated from the core mission of the university, As a result, we have created a culture, both on this campus and nationally, that is disconnected from our students, faculty, and other constituents, where responsibility is diffused, the potential abuse considerable and the costs— both financial and academic—unsustainable.” Ajax University needs a new organizational structure for its athletics department that would help eliminate much of the abuse that has happened. The department currently oversees 14 varsity sports, 37 club sports, and intramurals. The varsity sports are the elite programs. They bring in significant amounts of revenue that not only covers the costs of all of the club sports and the intramurals program, but the revenue also contributes to the general operating budget of the university. One of the problems facing varsity sports is how to recruit students who fit the profile of the university. Ajax athletes are typically admitted with a grade point average of 60 percent, whereas the overall student average for admittance to Ajax is 70 percent.
1. How would you classify Ajax University's structure with respect to the athletics department?
2. Is Ajax University's problem one of poor leadership or inadequate structural design? Explain.
3. If you were a consultant advising Ajax University, what would you suggest to fix the problems noted?