The Leader

There is no denying that athletics have performed well in the past few years. Both men and women's sports have improved to division title levels in multiple years as players, coaches and administrators have worked night and day improving the overall performance of many sports.

I'm here to say well done, but also to say that there is more work to be done-not in coaching, not in player's academic skills or ability, but in the way that the organization as a whole spends its money.

I actually started this topic a few weeks ago. I read in the UWM Post that athletics was in the hole-owing hundreds of thousands of dollars-and that the main problem was ticket sales. I was so motivated to correct this inaccuracy that I went straight downstairs to the UWM Post office to talk to the staff and tell them about the history of athletic funding for the past several years.

CORRECTION: Athletics has been in the hole for several years, going back to 1999-2000 when the department had a negative working capital of $247,100. The Post article had many of us believe that this was a more recent problem and that ticket sales are the main problem. The problem is actually more complicated than that. This negative position is the result of funding for the Engelmann Field renovation being included in the Athletic Department's budget. Renovating the field costs $200,000. There were problems with delays in the project and as a result another $47,000 was paid to relocate all home games during the 1999 season. This negative working capital was carried over into each fiscal year since. Now, they are $683,000 in debt.

Athletics has a budget problem with the soccer field and that continued in the way money has been planned for future years. Athletics had a fundraiser position but was unable to bring in enough revenue to cover the salary so the job was eliminated.

I do not want to say that the coaches or staff members are being paid too much. Salaries need to be competitive to keep talented people in our program instead of looking for another job. Most of these positions are paid through a combination of segregated fees, private donations and other sources of money.

There are a few things that I would also like to highlight in fairness to athletics. Students do pay a larger fee for athletics every year, but those fees represent a smaller portion of their overall budget. Segregated fees moved from 47% to approximately 40% of total funding. When you look at tuition on the other hand, students pay a larger and larger portion-supporting the universities they attend.

Athletics is obviously doing well, so why should I care? The problem is that their debt can affect the funding for other campus services. The Student Association could just raise segregated fees to give away millions to help all campus services, like U-Park, U-Pass, multicultural resource centers, BOSS etc., but there are realistic limits-we can only afford to pay so much. Most campus services ask for a funding level for the next fiscal year, but athletics is funded three years out. For example (a fake one), the Human Resource Center asks for an increase of $0.20 for 2006-2007. Not a problem. Athletics has an advantage because they can ask for an increase multiple years out, often first to the theoretical pot of money. For example, Athletics will receive $71.75 per student per semester for 2007-2008, and they will receive a $2.25 increase to $74.00 for 2008-2009. Other services could ask for an increase, but they must receive what is left over without driving fees up too much.

Senators need to consider what kind of an advantage this gives athletics when they can ask for funding multiple years out-when they are in debt.

What I plan to do is introduce a proposal asking for a written plan from Athletics on their debt reduction with measurable goals that can be followed up in future months when they ask for funding for 2009-2010. We can all support campus spirit, but also a reasonable cost for the experience.

Do you want to get involved? There are several Senate seats open. Please take a look at the SA website www.sa.uwm.edu

Do you have any questions or comments for Ray? E-mail The Leader at leader@uwm.edu

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