debate the future of athletics at UH
by Al Greenwood
Senior Staff Writer
Although the University of Houston now has a new Chancellor/President, Faculty Senators maintain he offers the same prognosis for the hemorrhaging athletic budget that past presidents did.
A heated debate began between System Chancellor/ UH President Arthur Smith and Faculty Senate members when Smith was asked about the athletic deficit at a Faculty Senate meeting Wednesday.
According to the Department of Athletics 1996 Strategic Plan, the department will need a transfusion of $6 million to break even in 1997.
According to the state auditor's office, in 1991, 1993, 1994 and 1995, the Department of Athletics had deficits in its budget.
"(And) it's still heading in the wrong direction," Smith said. "The deficit this year is going to be larger than it was projected."
Although Interim Athletics Director Bill McGillis said he could not determine the deficit so early in the year, he added that the department did miss its target for ticket sales.
"We're raising a pitifully small amount of money in private gifts and donations," Smith said. "We have to do much better in terms of tickets and game attendance." To increase attendance, Smith said he is considering renovating Robertson Stadium so the football team could play at UH instead of the Astrodome.
"You are the fourth president who's said the same thing," said Judy Myers, a faculty senator.
"We know where the problems are," said Angi Patton, Faculty Senate president. "I don't even think, and please disagree with me if you want, that people are against athletics. We just have not seen, for years, anything happen."
Faculty Senator Valentini Brady said, "Is this worth so much energy? There is practically no department that has taken so much money and energy."
However, Smith stated, "I am not ready to declare this an intractable and insolvable problem." After all, most Division 1 athletics programs run in the red, Smith said.
The president also warned, "If we don't have an intercollegiate athletics program that at least provides a focus for alumni and donor community, I don't think our prospects of achieving our academic goals are very bright."
In fact, UH could lose community and donor support for a wide variety of programs, Smith said. "I don't believe for a minute that John and Rebecca Moores would have given us the money for (the music) building if we had made the decision the year before to abandon national, competitive athletics. I think this is true for a number of donors at various levels."
Before UH can develop a game plan for athletics, Smith said he needs to find a permanent athletics director to replace McGillis.
Also, UH needs to determine if "we're going through a temporary period in history ... or are we dealing with a structural problem with funding intercollegiate athletics at the University of Houston," Smith said.
Besides creating more funds, the president said he may also create a new position, the vice provost and vice president of information technology. Right now, Chuck Shomper is the executive vice president of the department.
In another administrative change, the new president said he may move intramural sports from the athletics department to student affairs. "This is the first time I've seen it in the athletics department."
Smith said he also expects new deans for the Graduate School of Social Work and the colleges of architecture, business administration, education, engineering, social sciences and humanities, fine arts and communication.
This will be a national search, said George Magner, the interim provost. "We need to have access to a broad pool of candidates."