.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... It wasn’t a mess of their making, but new University of New Mexico President Garnett Stokes and first-year Athletics Director Eddie Nuñez deserve credit for stepping up and making a truly difficult recommendation to start cleaning it up. And UNM’s regents deserve credit for backing Stokes and Nuñez. Although it would have been preferable if they had delayed their vote to give the community a meaningful opportunity to digest and comment on the recommendations, the university needs a president who has the support of the regents, even when making such wrenching decisions. It can’t afford the revolving door of top leadership it has experienced the past 20 years. No one is happy with the decision to cut men’s soccer, men’s and women’s skiing and women’s beach volleyball in the 2019-2020 school year. But based on the multimillion-dollar Athletics deficit, the 22 UNM sports compared to the 17-18 Mountain West Conference average, UNM being out of compliance with Title IX, and the fact the MWC requires football and basketball, the elimination of programs was likely inevitable. In addition to finances, Title IX, the federal law requiring institutions receiving federal funding to provide equal opportunities to both men and women, drove the controversial decision to eliminate Lobo soccer. The only other real options available appeared to be axing baseball or men’s track – also among UNM’s most successful teams. (Many are calling for the elimination of football, but that’s a nonstarter if UNM wants to remain in the MWC.) ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ At a news conference following Thursday’s regents meeting, Stokes was effectively asked whether she had doomed her presidency by recommending the cuts. “It is really one of the toughest things in the world to be a brand new leader at this institution and have to make such an unpopular decision. I will tell you that that’s what leaders are required to do,” she responded. “… I don’t expect most people to fully understand how it is possible that we would get to this point. But I’m going to do everything in my power to educate at every level how it is that we got where we are.” That’s crucial. Many UNM supporters still have legitimate questions not answered in the report – we trust Stokes and Nuñez can, and will, answer them. Because they will need all the support they can muster for the hard decisions ahead – and there will be many. Eliminating the four sports programs will save the department an estimated $1.2 million in 2019-2020. There is still a $2.2 million gap before it balances the department’s budget and gives it a sufficient cushion that year. (Although close to $1 million of that will likely come via university subsidies for tuition and dorm expenses for student athletes.) The university sums up its situation in the report it released last week. The highlights include: • Athletics has been spending money it doesn’t have over the past 10 years. It is currently $4.7 million in the hole – not counting the $2.1 million emergency subsidy it received last fiscal year – and has been tasked with repaying $500,000 a year, beginning in July 2020. The report suggests that the university forgive at least part of that debt. • The report warns that some UNM coach and staff salaries have fallen below the mean for the Mountain West, suggesting it will need to increase salaries. • In outlining UNM’s Title IX woes, it doesn’t delve into how they were allowed to happen. It only says it must now comply by improving proportionality – meaning a large increase in women and a decrease in men so they match the student population. And that women-to-men student population ratio is expected to increase. • The report raises questions about the adequacy of some facilities, and cites the “growing costs of maintaining” them. • The Lobo Club, which raises money from private donors for Athletics, is being restructured. That can’t happen soon enough given recent scandals and a report by the state auditor describing the Athletics Department’s financial accounting system as an “ungovernable ball of organizations” that improperly mixes public and private money. • Ten years ago, the Athletics Department borrowed $42 million to cover the cost of the $60.6 million Pit renovation. It is having to pay nearly $1.8 million a year toward that debt. Despite repeated assurances from UNM officials the Pit debt would be covered by Athletics, the department is now recommending the university pick up the tab. • The report also tries to build a case for more support from the university, students and the Legislature, arguing it doesn’t receive as much financial support from the university and students as other schools in the Mountain West and doesn’t get the same support from the state that New Mexico State University receives. The situation Athletics finds itself in was years in the making under former Athletics Director Paul Krebs, outgoing finance “guru” David Harris and the various UNM presidents and regents whose kick-the-can and stars-in-their-eyes leadership drove UNM Athletics to this point. Revenues rarely lived up to projections, yet expenses were built on those inflated expectations – year after year. But no longer. Stokes and Nuñez have been tasked with bringing expenses in line with expenditures beginning in the 2019-2020 school year. A big part of that solution should be eliminating duplicative back-office operations and right-sizing staffing levels, all of which are on the to-do list. The report also points out it’s rare that schools raise sufficient money to cover all their costs. But that has never been addressed head-on here. Instead, UNM has been allowed to have a running deficit while making promises it will “do better” when it gets new facilities or hires a new coach. It has regularly made promises it couldn’t keep and then asked for a bailout. It’s time for UNM Athletics to be up front about the support it needs from the main campus and lawmakers to be successful. But it is also essential it not be allowed to spend money based on promised funding that may or may not materialize. And Stokes must be transparent about all subsidies going to Athletics – especially if it’s money that otherwise would be going to main campus . It’s double overtime for UNM Athletics. Stokes has shown she has the mettle to make tough decisions. Let’s hope this truly is the first step toward putting the Athletics Department’s house in fiscal order and she will back it up with smart austerity moves, a revamp of the Lobo Club and accountability from the top down. Otherwise, these first cuts – which have upended the immediate plans and dreams of some of UNM’s most promising students and potential leaders in our state – will have been in vain. This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers.<doc-sep>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... Copyright © 2018 Albuquerque Journal Facing both financial problems and Title IX compliance issues, the University of New Mexico administration is advancing a plan to eliminate four sports effective next summer – men’s soccer, men’s and women’s skiing, and women’s beach volleyball – and significantly tweak rosters for men’s cross country and track and women’s swimming and diving. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ And those measures will not entirely cure the athletic department’s budget challenges; filling the shortfall could still require more support from main campus, students and/or the state. UNM President Garnett Stokes will present the recommendation to the UNM Board of Regents at a special meeting at 9 a.m. Thursday. The board will make the final decision, though athletic director Eddie Nuñez on Wednesday notified the teams that would be affected if approved. In a report outlining the plan, UNM called the measures “truly the last, best options to ensure the long-term success of UNM Athletics.” Athletics has busted its budget repeatedly, and a consultant’s Title IX review of the department earlier this year noted a significant disparity in participation opportunities for male and female athletes. In a meeting with Journal reporters and editors Wednesday afternoon, Stokes and Nuñez said they arrived at what they described as a difficult recommendation by evaluating each program on a number of criteria. However, they said the decision-making process prioritized three factors: finances, Title IX implications and the Mountain West Conference affiliation. Of UNM’s 22 sports, only the four facing elimination do not compete within the Mountain West. Men’s soccer, the skiing programs and beach volleyball had a combined 66 athletes in 2017-18. Those programs would be phased out July 1, 2019, under the proposal, and UNM says it would honor the scholarships of any affected athlete who chose to stay until graduation. “We’ll work with every one of these student athletes to help them in whatever avenue they choose,” including possible transfers, Nuñez said. He said he’s spoken to the NCAA, which determines a player’s eligibility, and he’s optimistic those who transfer before the school year starts would be granted a waiver to play immediately at another Division I institution. The proposal would also mean “roster management” for nearly every other sport, though some would change more significantly than others. UNM would scuttle the diving portion of its women’s swimming and diving program, in part because UNM lacks a facility with diving platforms. But the program would open more spots for swimmers. Many other women’s teams would also gain slots. Men’s cross country would lose six participant spots, men’s indoor track would lose 11 and men’s outdoor track would lose 12. Stokes called cutting sports “really, really difficult” given the impact on athletes, coaches and the community as a whole. But the president – who, like Nuñez, inherited the athletics issues as newcomers – said the time has come to take action to fix the immediate problems and improve the department’s long-term outlook. “People have been saying we needed to do this for some time. It’s so hard to do, and I think it hasn’t been done because it is so difficult. (But) I’ve looked at this, and I believe we have to position ourselves for success in the future,” she said. Notably, the plan only achieves $1.15 million in savings out of the $1.9 million necessary to meet a deficit-reduction plan passed by regents for 2020. UNM expects to somehow bridge the difference through other means, including cutting costs and raising revenue. The report cites a number of possible channels, such as moving more athletic department functions to main campus through a “shared services” model that could reduce spending in areas like academic support and communications. It also says UNM “must look” at possibly boosting its own financial support of athletics, saying it is lower than most of its peers, and also recommends transferring annual debt payments for the Pit remodel from athletics to the main campus. The average annual payment is about $1.76 million. A potential increase in student fees would also help athletics, the report says. Recurring problem UNM has had recurring financial problems in athletics. The department has consistently finished over budget, a problem often linked to failures meeting lofty ticket sales projections for football and basketball. The department had accumulated a $4.7 million deficit to the university’s reserves by the end of fiscal year 2017, having missed budget eight times in a 10-year span. Officials have sounded warning bells for years. Former athletic director Paul Krebs told regents in 2016 the department was unsustainable given its revenue stream and that difficult decisions – including possible program cuts – loomed unless more funding came through. It struggled again in fiscal year 2018, which ended June 30. The regents last November approved giving the department a $1.3 million boost from reserves, but did not add the sum to the department’s running tab. Athletics still needed about $800,000 more in university assistance to finish the year. The constant issues prompted New Mexico Higher Education Secretary Barbara Damron to intervene last October. She placed UNM under an enhanced fiscal oversight program, demanding that UNM conceive a plan to resolve the deficit and put the department on a financially stable path. Having not seen such a plan by March, she warned that she could stanch the flow of state money into the university. UNM’s regents in April approved a multi-faceted plan that included a “reduction in sports” effective in fiscal year 2020 that would reduce costs by $1.9 million. The board tasked Nuñez with making recommendations about how to reach the $1.9 million in savings. Nuñez spent the past few months evaluating his department – which boasts more sports than any other team in the Mountain West Conference except the federally funded Air Force Academy – and gave his recommendation to Stokes for her review. She sent it to the regents Wednesday afternoon. The regent-approved deficit-reduction plan for athletics already has various forms of university assistance. UNM will this year give the department $885,435 from “land sale proceeds,” another $641,000 in unspecified institutional support and $750,000 in tuition waivers for student-athletes. Athletics’ revenue also includes about $3.7 million in student fees. The legislature also appropriates about $2.6 million for UNM athletics – $500,000 less than it allocates for New Mexico State University sports. Even before the recommendation was announced, some public officials offered input, including Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller and U.S. Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham, also a gubernatorial candidate. It is likely to garner reaction from others (see sidebar). Stokes said she hopes that cutting sports would not threaten future funding for the athletic department or UNM as a whole. “I’m new to New Mexico. I hear that these things happen,” she said. “I hope that we have sufficient support among leaders in the state who care about UNM and who care more about the success of our university that we can manage any one who might hope for a little vengeance.” Complying with Title IX But the department’s problems extend beyond finances. In May, UNM released a Title IX assessment report indicating the athletic department was not compliant with federal gender equity laws. Essentially, the university is not providing male and female athletic opportunities at a rate aligned with the ratios of UNM’s general student enrollment numbers. At UNM, where women accounted for 55.4 percent of enrollment in 2016-17, the female participation in athletics was at 43.8 percent. Athletic departments can demonstrate Title IX compliance through adequate participation proportionality or one of two other tests. Adding beach volleyball in 2015 ensured UNM’s compliance for a few years. But its failure to provide enough resources or an adequate playing facility for the team no longer allowed UNM to remain Title IX compliant. The present recommendation to achieve compliance means the number of men athletes would decrease from 311 this past year to 234 by fall 2019. The number of women athletes would increase from 259 to 313.<doc-sep>Hide Transcript Show Transcript WEBVTT MEETING. >> PEOPLE AT TODAY’S MEETING WERE NOT HAPPY. THERE WAS ABOUT 3 HOURS OF PUBLIC COMMENT. BUT ULTIMATELY THE BOARD WENT WITH THE RECOMMENDATIONS TO CUT SEVERAL SPORTS FROM THE UNM PROGRAM. >> IT WAS VERY DISAPPOINTING. >> THAT WAS THE FEELING ACROSS THE ROOM. DISAPPOINTMENT. 63 ATHLETES WILL SOON BE WITHOUT A TEAM. >> THEIR SENSE OF HOME AND THEIR SENSE OF SECURITY IS KIND OF UP IN THE AIR RIGHT NOW AND >> -- RIGHT NOW. >> LEAVING MANY WONDERING WHY MY SPORT? >> ALL THE SPORTS I JUST FEEL HORRIBLE FOR. >> A UNIVERSITY HAS TO HAVE 4 CORE SPORTS. FOOTBALL, MEN AND WOMAN’S BASKETBALL AND INDOOR VOLLEYBALL. IF UNM WERE TO GET RID OF ONE OF THOSE TEAMS, THEY WOULD POTENTIALLY HAVE TO LEAVE THE CONFERENCE. >> WE HAVE TO KEEP COMING TO WORK AND MAKE SURE WE APPROACH -- SUPPORT OUR ATHLETES AND COACHES. >> BUT WITH THE CUTS ON THE TABLE, THE UNIVERSITY IS STILL NEARLY HALF A MILLION DOLLARS UNDER THEIR GOAL. THEY NEED ABOUT AND THEY ARE $1.9 MILLION SAVING ONLY ABOUT $1.5 MILLION. WHICH MEANS MORE CHANGES COULD STILL COME. BUT FOR NOW, >> THE PLAN THAT HAS BEEN RECOMMENDED TO ME AND THAT I RECOMMENDED TO THE BOARD, WE ARE CONFIDENT THAT WE ARE IN FACT COMPLIANT. >> THE BOARD SAYS THE CUTS WILL GO INTO EFFECT AS OF JULY Advertisement Four athletic teams at UNM get axed Share Shares Copy Link Copy Which sports got axed?The University of New Mexico Board of Regents voted in favor of recommendations to eliminate four sports as the school's troubled athletics department works to control its spending.The four sports are beach volleyball, men's and women's skiing and men's soccer. The unanimous vote came Thursday after dozens of people, from coaches and players to alumni and community members, testified on behalf of preserving the men's soccer team and the skiing and beach volleyball programs.The programs were cut anyway, eliciting boos and heckles from the crowd. "It was very very disappointing," said a former indoor volleyball player for the University of New Mexico. Sixty-three athletes will soon be without a team. "Their sense of home and their sense of security is kind of up in the air right now," the former volleyball player said. Many went into the meeting wondering why the board didn't choose to cut one of the sports who has the most money problem at the university, such as football or basketball. "All the sports, I just feel horrible for," the former player said. As part of the Mountain West Conference, a university has to have four core sports- football, men's and women's basketball and indoor volleyball. If UNM were to get rid of one of those teams, they would potentially have to leave the conference. "How do we deal with it? By continuing to do what we can every day. Come to work. Make sure we support our student-athletes. Make sure we support our coaches. Do everything we can to show them that we do believe in the University of New Mexico," said UNM athletic director Eddie Nunez. But with the cuts on the table, the university is still nearly $500,000 under its goal. It needs $1.9 million and it is saving only about $1.5 million, which means more changes could still come. "The plan that has been recommended to me and that I recommended to the board, we are confident that we are, in fact, compliant," said UNM President Garnett Stokes. The board said the cuts will go into effect as of July 2019.Players and community members react: Hundreds of students, parents and community members showed up to the University of New Mexico campus to give their thoughts on why the university should not cut four sports programs, but several student-athletes felt that their voices went unheard. "I think all of us were just kind of shocked 'cause we were out of the loop, and transparency is what we've always asked for and that wasn't given to us,” said student-athlete Mercedes Pacheco, a member of the beach volleyball team that will be cut from the UNM sports program. Pacheco said she has been playing the sport her entire life. She said it’s the activity that's helped shape who she is. "It's not just the four years that we're here. It's the years that, before this-- missing parties, missing school functions,” Pacheco said. She is just one of hundreds of student-athletes who are no longer going to be able to play their sport of choice, after the board of regents decided to cut the four programs. "It's sad to say that it's not surprising that their first option is to cut sports to try to make up this deficit,” said student-athlete, Katharine Irwin, who’s a member on the women’s Alpine ski team. Even parents and alumni showed up to Thursday's meeting because, they said it's not just about current students. It's about the generations to come. "I thought it was a short-sided decision," said alumnus James Bannon-Schneebeck. “It's something that's going to resonate within the community for decades." As the mother of a high school student-athlete, Lori Finley said these cuts are bigger than UNM. They are a huge loss to the city of Albuquerque, she said. "I think it would be devastating, to just the morale of kids who want to play, who are playing soccer, who have looked up to those athletes,” Finley said.What's next?Other teams are facing changes even though they're not being cut completely. Men's indoor and outdoor track will each go from about 30 athletes to 20. The cross-country team will now has 10 athletes instead of 16. The same sports will be gaining a lot of athletes on the women's side. In order to meet federal requirements, the women's swim team will increase from 21 to 32 swimmers. The football team is also losing three players.Other changes to athletics:According to the recommendations report, UNM plans to merge the athletics compliance, communications, and academic services offices to their main campus. That will save UNM about $600,000 a year. Debt on renovations to The Pit costs athletics roughly $1.7 million each year. Those costs will be passed on to the main campus as well, freeing up resources for student athletes.The Board of Regents also approved cuts to student-athlete accommodations. The Lobos Football Team usually spends the night before home games at a local hotel. That practice will end, saving the school $32,000. Nunez told the regents he plans to reduce student athlete meals.Chris Guardaro, Marissa Armas, Shellye Leggett and The Associated Press contributed to this story.<doc-sep>
.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... Copyright © 2018 Albuquerque Journal In the first major program cuts since 1999, the University of New Mexico Board of Regents voted Thursday to eliminate four Lobo sports teams under a plan they say will improve the ailing athletic department’s overall health. The governing board approved cutting men’s soccer, men’s and women’s skiing, and women’s beach volleyball despite more than two hours of public comment by opponents. Athletes, coaches, parents, alumni and other community members delivered impassioned pleas and some withering criticism of the proposal advanced by athletic director Eddie Nuñez and President Garnett Stokes. The two called the cuts a critical step toward addressing long-standing financial problems and newly surfaced Title IX compliance concerns. Their plan also includes phasing out diving from the women’s swimming and diving program, significantly reducing men’s track and field participation slots, and increasing participation opportunities in some women’s programs. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ The regents voted 6-0 to adopt the recommendation, eliciting boos and other taunts from attendees. “You’re not Lobos,” one person shouted at the meeting’s conclusion. All the changes will begin in the 2019-20 season, with the plan for each sport to continue as scheduled for the coming 2018-19 seasons, though athletes might start transferring to other programs and recruiting to fill future rosters is no longer on the agenda for the coaching staffs. The plan — not revealed until late Wednesday — drew a fierce rebuke from the dozens of speakers who took the podium during the special meeting that began at 9 a.m. Thursday. Critics contended the four programs are paying the price for past leadership failures and mismanagement, and described the proposal as unfair and short-sighted. “Decisions made by the governance of this university over the past decade have put us in this position today,” said Associated Students of UNM President Becka Myers, who made clear the student government did not want any sports cut and asked that student athletes not get hurt until a closer examination of how athletics can resolve the problems that brought it to this point. “We need more status quo challengers,” she added. Cleveland High School soccer player Mariano Barreras holds a sign at the regents meeting Thursday. (Greg Sorber/Albuquerque Journal)In a room that swelled with a few hundred people — including a sea of youth soccer players — speakers also repeatedly questioned the wisdom of dropping men’s soccer, given the sport’s popularity both locally and globally. “Soccer is the future. Soccer is diversity. Soccer is progressive. Do you think they’re cutting soccer in Arizona, in Denver, in Salt Lake City. Are they? No. They’re not,” UNM men’s soccer coach Jeremy Fishbein said in imploring the board not to cut his sport. He also asked whether UNM’s leaders understood the community. “I don’t want to get angry, but we have decision-makers who need to know New Mexico inside and out,” he said. But Stokes and Nuñez, who are each in their first year on the job, stressed the urgency of taking action, saying the proposal represented the best available option for stabilizing the athletics budget and ensuring the department meets Title IX requirements. Several regents noted the difficulty of the decision, but said it was a necessary way to solve the athletic department’s budgetary and Title IX predicament. “Why do we keep talking about cutting sports? It’s because it’s long-term. … It’s not a short-sighted decision,” Regent Tom Clifford said. “This was an attempt to make a decision for the long-term well-being of this university.” Athletics missed budget eight times in a 10-year span and had accrued a $4.7 million deficit to the university’s reserves by the end of fiscal year 2017. Financial management issues also prompted investigations or other scrutiny from the state auditor, attorney general and higher education department. Regents approved a budget plan earlier this year that required $1.9 million in savings via sport reductions that would take effect July 1, 2019. But the cuts approved Thursday represent only $1.15 million in projected savings, meaning UNM still must find other ways to fill the gap. Stokes has said she will open up a wider conversation across the campus to determine how to do that, but likely considerations include boosting the university’s financial support of athletics, transferring the Pit remodel debt payments from athletics to the main campus, raising student fees and seeking more state funding. And the department’s challenges don’t end with finances.