University budgetary support for the Athletics Department at the University of Colorado at Boulder will be reduced by about 5 percent this year, according to a budget request summary presented Monday, June 2, by athletics Director Dick Tharp.
The 1997-98 athletics budget is part of the overall Boulder campus budget request to be presented by Chancellor Richard L. Byyny at the ¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ Board of Regents budget and planning retreat June 3-4 in Estes Park.
The Athletics Department also will make a contribution of $65,000 to the Boulder campus from departmental revenues in support of undergraduate education programs.
Byyny said, “I am pleased with the departmentÂ’s response to ¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ-BoulderÂ’s budgetary challenges. Dick Tharp and his staff have demonstrated a commitment to fiscal accountability in an era of fewer and fewer resources.”
“I believe this budget request is consistent with campuswide efforts to streamline operations and focus on priorities within the framework of strategic planning,” said Tharp. “We are working hard to continue improving our program while recognizing the limited availability of institutional resources.”
Highlights of the athletics budget include:
• University and campus support will be reduced from about $2.2 million to about $2.1 million, continuing a downward trend in institutional support. This is the ninth year of reductions in university support.
• The 1997-98 athletics budget totals about $22 million, compared with about $21 million last year. The reported increase is due primarily to the transfer of financial responsibility and management of the Coors Events Center and increased costs associated with additional projected promotions and marketing revenue.
• The pool for salary increases will be 3.8 percent, consistent with faculty and unclassified staff increases on campus.
• The budget includes more than $230,000 in increases designed to help bring the department into compliance with Title IX.
• No new positions are budgeted, other than those mandated for Title IX compliance.
• Aside from Title IX obligations and other extraordinary costs, direct costs of projected program growth including inflationary factors are limited to less than 3 percent.
• The student athletic fee will be held at the 1996-97 level.