Less than a week after watching coaches and student-athletes plead for their jobs and their teams, the University of North Dakota's Intercollegiate Athletic Board recommended the school keep all twenty sports. As encouraging as the news was, the IAB's recommendation is just that - a recommendation - that will now go to UND President Mark Kennedy.
In addition to calling for the preservation of the eight teams proposed for elimination, the committee called on the University to fully fund each sport with the full allotment of scholarships.
The committee was initially charged with the task of identifying teams for elimination to help close a $1.4 Million budget deficit. To overcome this deficit and pay for the new funding, the committee recommended:
- Increasing the student athletic fee by $3.81 to $15.50 per credit hour;
- Increasing the admission of ticked sports by 25% while reducing the number of complimentary tickets; and
- Renegotiating existing agreements with the Ralph Engelstad Arena, home of UND hockey and the Alerus Center where the football team plays.
Committee chair Eric Murphy told the Grand Forks Herald, that the problems faced by the department were the to "be borne by a lot of different stakeholders" including ticket holders, the student body, and the arenas.
"That got me thinking of a way to distribute this among different stakeholders," Murphy said. "And that's not easy. It's a hard sell, but I think this community will step up. They showed it during the flood."
Whlie the proposal passed 15-0 with one abstension, it is contingent upon several things happening - something some committee members question. Committee member Sue Jeno expressed concern at the sustainability of the decision, especially with the prospect of state appropriations dropping 10% in the next legislative cycle.
Now the proposal goes before President Kennedy, who throughout the process has expressed a need to cut sports. Following the vote, the President, who will ultimately make the decision, expressed reservations. In a prepared statement he said:
"Even if agreement from all parties is obtained, it is not clear that such sources would fulfill the increased funding proposed," Kennedy said in a statement. "As several committee members discussed, increasing institutional funding for athletics would require the reallocation of resources from other priorities, including academics."
Prior to last week's meeting, Joel Shinofield, Executive Director of the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America provided committee members with materials detailing the impact of the swimming and diving teams.
"In our experience, the elimination of any well-managed athletic program – swimming or otherwise – rarely provides the anticipated savings," Shinofield explained.
We also want to extend an offer to help UND determine the contribution that each athletic program and stand ready to meet with you personally. As mentioned, we believe that the elimination of athletic opportunities regardless of sport – in most cases – does not help an institution reach its fiscal demands.
