The full UW Athletic Board met Friday at Camp Randall to address current issues facing the athletic board and university community.
UW Athletic Director Barry Alvarez said the Big Ten Network is still on the minds of athletic directors in the conference. He said the network was one of many topics discussed at an athletic directors meeting in Chicago last week.
Negotiations do continue with Comcast - [BTN] are making progress with Comcast,"" Alvarez said. ""They are having talks with Charter, probably not as positive as they are with Comcast.""
Alvarez added Time Warner is refusing to negotiate with BTN.
Alvarez also highlighted the success of Wisconsin's many sports programs including men's basketball, which is currently in first place in the conference, men's wrestling and track and field.
On March 1 and 2, UW-Madison will host the 2008 Big Ten Conference Men's Indoor Track and Field Championships, which it won in 2007.
The men's track and field team was also the first Big Ten team to win the NCAA National Championship in 2007.
The NCAA Division I Academic Performance Rates will soon be announced in which the Big Ten ranks third in graduation rate of its student-athletes behind the Ivy and Patriot leagues, according to Alvarez.
The UW Office of Compliance spoke about its job to protect the institutions of UW-Madison and uphold its integrity.
The compliance office was asked to present because of recent NCAA violations by former Indiana men's basketball coach Kelvin Sampson and a University of Minnesota-Duluth women's hockey player who reportedly played professionally before skating for the Bulldogs.
The compliance office offered the proper steps to addressing situations involving NCAA regulations so the UW athletic department will not face controversies like those at Indiana and Minnesota-Duluth.
John Jentz, UW associate athletic director for finance, reviewed details of the 2008-'09 athletic budget, highlighting the stable prices in ticket sales and the notable decrease in basketball season tickets prices. Several on the athletic board noted that this is the first time UW Athletics has not had to raise ticket prices in several years.
The next full athletic board meeting will be on May 2.
