MSU prepares to punt five sports

MSU President Michael Nietzel was expected to recommend eliminating five of the school’s 21 intercollegiate teams during a meeting of the Board of Governors on Dec. 16.

“It’s their decision ultimately,” said Paul Kincaid, MSU chief of staff.

The proposed cuts – men’s indoor and outdoor track, men’s cross country and men’s and women’s tennis – were expected to be approved as of press time.

That expectation didn’t stop opponents to the cuts from mounting a rally on MSU’s campus Dec. 14, where affected athletes and the Rev. Larry Maddox, president of the Springfield chapter of the NAACP, said the proposed cuts would hurt student diversity on campus.

Nietzel formed a committee in August to look into ways of trimming the athletic department’s budget, which is currently $11.1 million.

Nietzel announced the proposed cuts at the Faculty Senate’s meeting Dec. 8 and said he expects to save $229,000 next school year, the first year the five teams would not compete.

Nietzel said the action would help the university manage expected budget cuts next fiscal year.

“It is not responsible to allow the future of the athletic program (to) be one that accepts increasing expenses at the same time we anticipate the appropriation from the state to decrease, or at least not increase,” Nietzel said in a news release. “By taking some reductions now, we will begin to save some money, but more importantly we also will slow the growth of expenses in the future.”

Kincaid said MSU and other state universities were warned by the state’s Office of Administration that 10 percent to 12 percent decreases in state appropriations could be on the horizon. Currently, he said, MSU gets about $80 million in state funds.

However, he emphasized that the proposed athletic cuts aren’t a result of the budget warning. He said the cuts have been discussed for years as a way of making existing teams more competitive.

“(Nietzel) formed this committee … long before we talked about potential budget cuts,” Kincaid said. “We were headed this direction regardless.”

Big enough cuts?

MSU economics professor Tom Wyrick proposed a resolution that called for even more aggressive cuts at the Dec. 8 Faculty Senate meeting. The resolution was voted down 22–21.

Wyrick recommended eliminating football scholarships, moving football to a less competitive conference and eliminating other low-priority teams entirely in a report he prepared for the resolution. His estimated saving from those cuts would be $900,000.

Wyrick said football should receive cuts first in the future because the committee Nietzel appointed gave football the lowest evaluation rating of the surviving teams.

The committee assigned ratings to every team based on win-loss record, community support, academic accomplishments and facilities. The teams slated for disbandment were the lowest rated.

Wyrick said he expects more cuts to come.

“Maybe $1 million will fall out of the sky and that won’t be necessary,” he said. “But, the way things have been going about the last five years, it’s kind of been going against our budget, so it seems like it’s more likely that there’ll be bad news down the road than good. I wouldn’t be surprised if in a year or so there’s not another discussion of this issue.”

Nietzel remains adamant in his support of football, though.

“There are many compelling reasons to maintain the football program, and I believe football at Missouri State can be successful at the I-AA level,” Nietzel said in a news release.

Nietzel said football is too important in university fund-raising efforts to eliminate. Last fiscal year, donors contributed $2.2 million to athletics. The university subsidized the department with $4.5 million and ticket sales accounted for $1.8 million in revenues.

This year, the university is contributing $5.1 million from its general fund of $150 million, with the athletics department raising another $6 million through ticket sales, donations, sponsorships, media contracts and other sources.

Wyrick said the 13 percent increase in the university subsidy is too high when staff salaries are only increasing by 2 percent.

“That’s a big growth at a time when the rest of us are just doing all we can to squeak by,” he said.

The big drain

Affected student athletes will have their scholarships honored if they stay at MSU. If they transfer, the school will assist in their efforts.

“I wanted the guarantee (from Nietzel) that I could look (the affected athletes’) parents in the eye and say, ‘We’re not eliminating their scholarship,’” said Athletics Director Bill Rowe.

Once the scholarships are off the books, in four years or so, Nietzel said he expects annual savings of around $350,000.

According to Bill O’Neill, associate director of athletics, scholarships and salaries for coaches and athletic department support personnel account for the bulk of the athletic department’s expenditures.

He said 33 of the 41 affected athletes are on at least partial scholarships. He said 17 are on full scholarships that cost the university either $11,008 per year for in-state students or $15,928 per year for out-of-state students.

“(The costs of scholarships are) going to go up each year, as these costs continue to inflate and escalate,” O’Neill said. “Our tuition … that’s the thing that kills us in athletics.”

The department spent 65 percent, $7.8 million, of its $11.9 million budget last year on student aid and staff salaries: $3.5 million on student aid, $2.4 million on coach salaries and $1.9 million on support staff salaries.

O’Neill said he hopes future cuts aren’t necessary. If they were, he said, the most likely option would be a reduction in scholarships only and not an elimination of entire teams.

The aftermath

Kincaid said the proposed savings would be allocated to next year’s budget by March.

“It will likely be split in some fashion, where athletics will keep part of it and part of it will go back to the university’s general fund,” he said.

At the same time, affected coaches and athletes will decide if they want to stay at MSU or move on. The cuts won’t take effect until June.

Jim Giachino, women’s tennis coach for six years, said he and his athletes haven’t had enough time to make plans.

“Our goals remain exactly the same regardless of what the university has to do,” Giachino said. “We’re going to train and represent Missouri State University as well as we possibly can throughout the winter, into the spring and during our conference season.”

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