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U officials push plan to merge athletic departments
By Tim Pugmire
Minnesota Public Radio
March 8, 2002

University of Minnesota officials say separate men's and women's athletic departments cost more to administer and offer no clear benefit to student graduation rates or team success. The Board of Regents heard those conclusions in a supplementary report on the university's financial crisis in intercollegiate athletics.

In her latest report to regents, Vice President and Chief of Staff Tonya Moten Brown debunks the claim that separate units is the reason women athletes have a better graduation rate than men.
(MPR Photo/Tim Pugmire)
 

University of Minnesota Regents heard details last December about a projected $31 million deficit in the Intercollegiate Athletics Department. Unlike many Division I schools, Minnesota's so-called revenue sports, such as men's football and basketball, do not make enough money to pay the bill for other men's and women's sports.

A proposal to merge the separate men's and women's athletic units has angered many women's sports boosters. In her latest report to regents, Vice President and Chief of Staff Tonya Moten Brown debunks the claim that separate units are the reason women athletes have a better graduation rate than men.

"There is a 28-point difference between the graduation rate of men and women at the University of Minnesota. But there is also a 28-percent difference in the graduation rate at the University of Michigan. In fact, five of the combined programs have 23-point or higher differentials in the graduation rates between their men and their women," Moten Brown said.

Moten Brown says there's also no evidence to suggest separate athletic departments result in greater team success than in merged departments.

The biggest difference between the average merged departments and the University of Minnesota is found in the administrative costs. Her report shows Minnesota spends $1.8 million more a year than the average among Big Ten schools. Moten Brown says the university spends $1 million more just for marketing and promotions.

"I do believe in my judgement that the excess costs arise because of the absence of a coordinated or unified marketing strategy. We have effectively two separate marketing staffs, two separate marketing strategies that are in no way coordinated or unified. And we staff them and we fund them accordingly," she said.

Moten Brown estimates the annual cost of operating separate departments is an additional $1.4 million.

Women's Athletic Director Chris Voelz disagrees with Moten Brown's conclusions. She says the extra marketing costs could be attributed to the university's urban setting, competition against professional teams for fans or the departments being simply over-staffed.

"If that's the case, all we need to be done is for our supervisors to say 'we've looked at these numbers, they're out of whack, we're going to cut.' And both of us could do so if asked, if expectations changed and service changed, but we certainly could do some and not affect our structure at all," according to Voelz.

The new report also showed about a $10 million improvement in the athletic financial crisis. An updated projection now shows a $21-million shortfall.

Regent Jean Keffeler says the new projection is good news, but she's concerned about the trend of growing university subsidies for athletics, which are currently about $10 million.

"I think we need to have a notion of whether we have a goal truly of self support for the athletic enterprise. Is that a realistic goal here at the University of Minnesota?" Keffeler asked.

The university currently operates 23 men's and women's intercollegiate teams, with 734 participants and a $45-million operating budget.

Regent Dave Metzen says the athletic subsidy should not be viewed as a financial loss for the institution. He says the $10 million is an important investment in the university's quality of life.

"I cannot see us in the foreseeable future looking at a self-sustaining program. Unless we get down to the big two or three and say, 'hey, we'll have hockey, football and basketball and that's it,'" Metzen said.

The Board of Regents is expected to receive detailed recommendations for solving the athletics budget problems at their April meeting.

More Information
  • U of M Athletics Web site