A vote by the Tennessee Higher Education Commission today would cut state funding from the University of Memphis Athletic Department and developmental classes.
That means each of those departments will have at least $1 million less next year and maybe more than that after details are finalized.
These measures are part of THEC’s 11-part action plan to combat budget shortfalls in state schools. While the commission unanimously approved the basic thrust of each of the 11 components, they did not agree with some of the details. They agreed to take one month to meet with campus officials and regional governing boards to iron out the particulars in question.
“What will come out of that month will be a compromise, not everything we want, not everything the University of Memphis wants, but somewhere in between,” said Brian Noland, THEC director of academic affairs.
What is certain is the athletic department will have to do without the $1 million they were budgeted in state funds, a matter U of M athletic director R.C. Johnson is unhappy about.
“I don’t think it’s the correct thing to do and I don’t think (THEC) is in the position to tell us what to do with student money,” said Johnson.
He also said the act will have a “dramatic” effect on the athletic department - one they are unprepared for. Depending on enrollment, the athletic department usually operates on a $20 million budget. Johnson said one way they could make up the shortfall is to charge students for tickets at games. The last resort would be to drop a sport.
“The bottom line is we’ll have to find a way to increase our funding and decrease our expenditures,” said Johnson. “It’s going to be one long, hot summer.”
Noland said in addition to cutting state appropriations, the plan calls for athletic departments to set up special dedicated funds for the money they receive from student activity fees. Noland said the dedicated fund would work like the technology fee already in place where money taken from student fees for athletics could only be used for athletics. Also, the school would have to let students know that in paying the student activity fee, much of their money would go to athletics.
Noland said this disclosure might anger students during the upcoming months of financial hardships.
“Why are all my classes full and there aren’t as many sections as there used to be and faculty is being cut -- which weakens the core of the academic institution -- yet my money goes to sports? I think students will be asking these questions,” Noland said.
Noland said setting up the special fund does not cost anything and is relatively simple to do. But, if The U of M does not set up the fund, the athletic department will not have access to the $1.5 million dollars of student activity funds they are currently budgeted for.
As for the developmental classes, Noland said a lot of details still remain. The U of M already has some cost saving ideas in mind, like inviting Southwest Tennessee Community College to teach the developmental classes on campus. Also they hope to combine some of the developmental classes, both math and writing, with lower level general education classes from each department.
Other components of the action plan include capping enrollments, researching ways to make admissions standards more stringent, and making the U of M and the University of Tennessee the only schools that can apply for more doctoral programs.
