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Volume 71, Issue 94,
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
News Athletics makes case to SFAC Department head outlines needs to
committee, discusses goal
by REBECCA DAOUD
Officials from the Department of Athletics met with the Student Fees Advisory Committee on Monday to discuss the 2007 Athletics Student Service Fees Request. Rising utility costs, tuition and the addition of two new athletic programs were among the topics of discussion. Dave Maggard, director of athletics, presented a proposal to the Committee detailing where the desired funds will go in Fiscal Year 2007. From 2004 to 2005, scholarships increased to $15,500 from $15,200 mostly because of tuition increases. There are nine women's teams and seven men's teams, totaling approximately 400 student athletes. More than 300 of those students receive athletics financial aid. The first objective of the department is to cultivate and expect academic success, Maggard said. The athletics department has 40 coaches, 72 full-time staff, 183 student or graduate assistants and interns, and 19 administrative divisions. "We want to create an environment that supports academic excellence as well as life skills," said Maggard. Student athletes are held accountable for their eligibility for scholarships. Students who are ineligible to play sports for the season lose their scholarship until they are in good academic standing. Ensuring the success of the student athletes means monthly progress reports, weekly meetings with academic counselors, rooms for individual and group study sessions, classrooms for team study hall, career counseling, drug and alcohol education and faculty and staff mentoring programs for student athletes, Maggard said. "Our goal is to assist each student athlete in maximizing his or her academic and physical ability," Maggard said. UH women's soccer and women's softball teams are two relatively new intercollegiate sports offered at the University. The two Title IX programs will cost approximately $1 million. In addition to student fees, the department relies on funding from alumni organizations. The department formed Cougar Pride, an organization of alumni, fans, coaches, and friends in March 2003. In 2005 Cougar Pride raised $1.8 million. "We are beginning to see an increase in student attendance at the sports events, and the more people you get on campus, the better the University," Maggard said. The department also promotes University exposure and publicity, Maggard said. There were 85 sport-related events in the 2004-2005 academic year, totaling approximately 261,225 visitors. UH games were televised six times in Fall 2005, featured in about 50 radio broadcasts and in local newspapers and Sports Illustrated magazine. "We want more positive visibility and that means excellence in our program," Maggard said. Zack Coapland, director of campus activities, represented several student organizations, including Greek Life, at Monday's hearing. Coapland requested a base augmentation of $20,000 for campus activities to be used to continue the group's work in developing leadership. "Our program is very diverse and very unique," Coapland said. "We want to make sure we're meeting the needs of all the organizations who participate." The Activities Funding Board also met with the committee to discuss a $50,000 funding increase. Apportions money will be used to the spirit organizations such as the marching band, cheerleader and dance programs to help cover shortfalls in the organization's budgets as needed, UH band director David Bertman said. He also said the spirit programs foster loyalty to the school and provide valuable services to the University. The $50,000 increase will be used to create a more effective travel budget that will be used for a large trip or several small trips to allow the spirit organizations to attend away games, Bertman said. -- With additional reporting by Kelsie Hahn
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