UNO suspending 7 sports programs

[MeanGreen61]

Not football, but concerns a conference member reducing sports programs. Wonder how the Katrina aftermath will also affect ULM and ULL along with La. Tech?

"But I know one thing: UNO needs to take a long look at staying in the Sun Belt Conference. When you have a conference that includes schools in Denver and Miami, that's a lot of money devoted to travel. If we're worried about saving money, UNO needs to consider playing in a conference that is more regionalized."

UNO will suspend 7 sports as part of cost-cutting

Friday, February 24, 2006

By Brian Allee-Walsh

Staff writer

UNO's track and field program and women's golf program will be suspended at the end of the spring semester as part of a university-wide cost-cutting measure brought about by reduced enrollment at the Lakefront school after Hurricane Katrina, two Privateers head coaches said.

Women's golf coach Jimmy Headrick and track and field coach Willie Randolph said they were informed this week by UNO athletic director Jim Miller their programs no longer will be funded, beginning in the fall.

The cost-cutting measure affects seven sports and eliminates 34.5 scholarships -- in men's and women's indoor track, men's and women's outdoor track, men's and women's cross country and women's golf. Each scholarship for an out-of-state student-athlete is valued at $18,000.

Eight sports will remain in operation, leaving UNO six below the NCAA required 14 to maintain its Division I rating. Unless UNO meets that requirement by the fall of 2010, it will forfeit its Division I standing.

The four remaining women's sports are volleyball, basketball, swimming and tennis. The four men's sports are basketball, baseball, tennis and golf.

Miller declined comment. An official announcement from UNO chancellor Tim Ryan is expected soon, several university sources said.

UNO has 11,860 students enrolled this spring, down from 17,250 last year before Katrina. About 60 percent of the school's $5 million athletic budget comes from student activity fees.

Last December, Tulane, the only other Division I program in New Orleans, suspended eight of its 16 sports programs to save approximately $2 million per year in operational costs. It's unknown how much money UNO will save by suspending the seven programs.

Randolph said the news could not have come at a worse time. His men's and women's indoor track and field teams are preparing for this weekend's Sun Belt Conference championships at Middle Tennessee State in Murfreesboro.

One university official said the decision was made now to allow student-athletes a chance to save a year of eligibility if they decided not to compete this spring.

"My programs have been loyal to this school and are still loyal," said Randolph, who is completing his third season at UNO. "My heart goes out to these kids who've been through a lot since Katrina. I understand how the university has to balance the budget, but I don't understand how one program can be cut in such a large way.

"It's hard for me to say it's fair. It's like a slap in the face. Shouldn't we have been saying to them before they came back after Katrina that maybe the best thing for them to do is go somewhere else before the cuts came? I would have been fine with that. Now many of these kids will have to start all over somewhere else."

Randolph said the university's decision affects 43 student-athletes in his program and casts a cloud of uncertainty on the upcoming outdoor track and field season.

"I guarantee we'll have some kids who won't compete because of this," Randolph said. "The question now is how many kids are going to feel they can really compete for the school after all of this.

"I told my (indoor) team that they have been through too much not to give themselves the gratification of their hard work, their sweat and their tears. They deserve this weekend."

Senior heptathlete Nadia Bell, who also competes in the 110 and 400 hurdles, said she and many of her teammates feel betrayed.

"It hurts," a tearful Bell said. "It makes me really angry. Why would they do something like this now? Why would they get us all riled up to come back to school and make us so welcomed and than turn around and tell us, 'Oh by the way, we're going to cut your program.'

"It hurts because Coach Randolph and his assistants were very supportive. If it weren't for them keeping us together, I'm sure a lot of us wouldn't have returned."

Headrick said losing his program is a "sad day for college golf" and praised his team of six women for being "true ambassadors" for UNO as they competed during the fall semester.

Headrick said his top priority in the coming weeks is to find scholarship opportunities for two freshmen -- Theunette Van Der Walt of South Africa and Mariale Camey of Guatemala.

"They came to UNO with a dream and I want to make sure that dream continues," Headrick said. "It won't be at UNO, but it will be somewhere else."

Headrick said he was told the university would honor the scholarships of current juniors Matilda Forsstrom and Josefine Danielsson, both from Sweden.

"I know in my heart if Jim Miller could have saved golf, he would have saved it," Headrick said. "It's all about economics, and I understand that completely. These are tough times and tough decisions have to be made.

"But I know one thing: UNO needs to take a long look at staying in the Sun Belt Conference. When you have a conference that includes schools in Denver and Miami, that's a lot of money devoted to travel. If we're worried about saving money, UNO needs to consider playing in a conference that is more regionalized."

ARTICLE

http://www.nola.com/sports/t-p/index.ssf?/...76572939890.xml

[MeanGreen61]

More on $$$ problems for Louisiana schools.

http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/2362761.html

Colleges say raise tuition

Officials raise alarm: Save higher education

By JESSICA FENDER

Capitol news bureau

Published: Feb 24, 2006

College leaders want to charge students more and said Thursday they need higher tuition to save higher education.

At a gathering of decision-makers, officials planned their tack: enlisting alumni to convince lawmakers to approve a tuition plan in the upcoming legislative session.

Legislators rejected a proposed schedule of increases when they convened in spring 2005.

A handful of officials said raising tuition would be unfair unless colleges and universities look at consolidating, closing and restructuring in the wake of hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

“We can’t accomplish this just by raising tuition. I know some other board members feel that way,” said Pat Strong, a member of the Board of Regents. Strong made his comments at a forum of chancellors, university system presidents and members of various boards of supervisors.

Public colleges are out $229 million when lost tuition, lost revenue and state-imposed budget cuts are added together.

Coastal schools also face between $400 million and $500 million in damages from the two storms, at least 10 percent of which must be paid for by the state.

Campus heads have been told to brace for another 8 percent cut in the upcoming legislative session.

As state funding continues to dwindle, schools have not been allowed to boost tuition and guarantee themselves a stable source of income, Commissioner of Higher Education Joseph Savoie said.

Louisiana ranks last in its amount of funding per student thanks to a combination of lukewarm state support and bargain-basement tuitions, Savoie told the group.

Under the current post-storm pressures, the situation becomes even more dire, University of New Orleans Chancellor Timothy Ryan pointed out.

He said UNO is making drastic plans to cut costs.

Like many other higher education leaders, he doesn’t see an end in state cuts in sight, he said.

“If we don’t see some change in the overall philosophy, we’re going to be right back here in three or four years.But we will have lost significant faculty resources,” Ryan said. “Faculty are not going to stay on a ship when they see it’s not going in the right direction.”

Several others echoed Ryan’s sentiments.

A group of higher education leaders tried unsuccessfully in spring 2005 to win approval for a plan that would allow their campuses to raise tuition to just below regional levels within six years.

That plan would have allowed tuition increases of $437 at LSU in Baton Rouge every year for several years.

It would have increased LSU tuition to as much as $7,042 per year if LSU charged the maximum increases.

Other schools faced far less steep increases.

Lawmakers rejected the idea in the 2005 legislative session, so education officials need to take a different tack, LSU Board of Supervisors Chairman Bernie Boudreaux said.

He said if each college system can get its alumni to put pressure on lawmakers, a tuition increase policy will be more palatable.

“I believe we can pass a tuition bill if we marshal our collective alumni power,” Boudreaux said. “We are too often without sufficient force.”

But some education officials said tuition increases alone are not enough.

Strong and Regents Chairman Roland Toups, whose organization oversees all of higher education, said the state can’t stop working on larger restructuring efforts.

Combining schools, starting joint programs and even closing some campuses will be necessary to cut down “bricks and mortar costs,” Strong said.

University of Louisiana Board of Supervisors member Michael Woods agreed.

“I hope we can get beyond the territorial battles of ‘What is our name going to be,’ ” Woods said. “I hope we lay aside turf battles and realize what we’re here to do: Serve students.”

[Guest GrayEagleOne]

Although they will likely get a two or three year waiver, eventually UNO will have to drop out of Division I due to not having the required number of sports.

Even though they are minor sports, it will still be difficult and costly to resume that many sports. I wish them luck though and hope that they can keep their standing as an academic institution.

[VideoEagle]

I'm curious at to what conference IS more regionalized than the Sunbelt. At least that is centered on New Orleans!

[buff64]

By cutting eight sport programs, you have to wonder if Tulane will drop out of the SEC , due to the lack of 14 athletic teams.

[Guest GrayEagleOne]

By cutting eight sport programs, you have to wonder if Tulane will drop out of the SEC , due to the lack of 14 athletic teams.

←

Hey Buff, they dropped out of the SEC about 50 years ago. I'm sure that you meant CUSA.

Tulane, being a private school with a large endowment, is a different breed of cat. However, they have taken a hard hit, and unless they get some federal funds to rebuild, just might do away with sports or drop to Division III. It's ironic, because the president of Tulane led the fight to equalize Division 1-A. That also means that he is very cost conscious and will carefully measure the sports that he reinstates.

[ArkansasEagle]

I would think that UNO will join the Southland Conference? Good Luck with UNO. My friend is the director of their hospitality program...they had over 700 students...now it's cut in half.....funding and support are horrible. Even though his house was not affected, my friend just started receiving mail last week. I wish them well! GO MEAN GREEN !