BROOMFIELD, Colo. -- University of Colorado president Betsy Hoffman spoke before the panel investigating the CU sexual assault and recruiting scandal Monday and said she is looking for guidance about whether to keep suspended football coach Gary Barnett and about how to get the athletic department more financially, socially and philosophically aligned with the university's structure.

She said she will make a decision about Barnett by the end of May, after the panel issues a report on its findings.

"There is no way to make this decision without making a large number of people extremely angry with us," Hoffman said.

A small group of football players' parents watched from the audience, and in the parking lot, a car bore a bumper sticker reading, "Forget Tibet, Free Barnett."

She said she also wants to know about any more allegations of sexual assault that they may uncover.

At least eight women have accused CU football players or recruits of rape since 1997. No charges have been filed, but Gov. Bill Owens ordered the attorney general to look into the claims in addition to the university probes.

Hoffman told the panel that what is important now is re-establishing the school's credibility with prospective students and recruits and that the new rules that the university implemented are there to help with that by restricting recruits' activities.

"I think that what has happened this spring has taught us all that we need to talk a lot more. We need to have a lot more communication about what is happening, what we're thinking, what we're going to do and we have to forget about things like competitive advantage because it's not important anymore, right now," Hoffman said. "The reputation and the integrity of the institution is really the only thing that's important right now."

Hoffman said the new recruiting policy will make the university a national model for recruiting and make a statement to future students that when they come to CU, they come to be a student first and an athlete second.

She said the one major problem continues to be getting sexual assault victims to come forward but she won't change any of the school policies about sexual assault if it means that a victim's confidentiality is compromised.

She said she is looking for more oversight and more accountability and promised to be more vigilant and continue to ask more questions of athletic department officials and football coaches.

Hoffman said she expects the panel to offer some guidelines about how to move forward. The panel will issue a preliminary report at the end of the week and their final report is due in the middle of May.

A group of students also testified before the commission Monday. They say they are concerned that panel members think that women who drink are opening themselves up to being assaulted. They say that is an unfair double standard.

Stacy Kellogg said women are usually blamed for drinking too much, not men, and that discourages women from reporting assaults.

The student victims' rights group, Students Advocating Fair and Equitable Treatment, told the commission that to prevent sexual assaults at parties, students need to be taught that drunken people can't consent to having sex.

Three women have sued the school in federal court, saying they were raped at or just after an off-campus party in 2001. All three are seeking unspecified damages for what they say was the school's failure to protect them under gender-equity law.

Barnett was put on paid leave over comments he made involving two of the women, including former kicker Katie Hnida, who says she was raped by a teammate in 2000. Barnett called her an "awful" player as he answered questions about why she left Colorado to later enroll at the University of New Mexico.

Next week, the commission expects to talk to Air Force Academy Vice Commandant Col. Debra Gray, who was appointed in the wake of that school's sexual assault scandal.

The commission will also hear from a woman who once worked in the CU athletic department who is expected to talk about how women are treated.

The commission's tip line has received at least 20 calls volunteering information, but commission members haven't been briefed about them yet.