UNI AD: Athletics department stable, succeeding despite state funding cuts

CEDAR RAPIDS - Northern Iowa Athletics Director Troy Dannen doesn't see drastic cuts or major changes on the horizon for UNI athletics despite a swift decline in state funding.

This spring, the university trimmed its athletics support $500,000 phased over three years. The athletics reduction is small compared to the university's overall funding issues, yet it's significant for a department that generated $17.2 million - $4.57 million in direct university aid - in fiscal year 2011.

“I've had to be very careful because our faculty wants to see pain,” Dannen said. “Your recruits, your coaches, your fans, they want to see stability. How do you show both? We've had very good success because of our supporters of maintaining the level by them stepping up, whether it's ticket sales or whether it's donating. They control our future. It's never been more true.”

Despite the financial hit in university funding, UNI's athletics department is in better financial shape than it was in 2009, when UNI athletics dropped baseball in response to a $600,000 reduction in university funding. In 2008, UNI athletics showed a $251,000 surplus, according to a document sent to the NCAA and obtained by The Gazette via the Freedom of Information Act. But an independent audit listed a $34,545 loss that year.

In 2011, UNI's revenue exceeded expenses by more than $1.1 million. The athletics department's assets have grown from $3 million to $9 million, according to Dannen. UNI's supporters also have backed the school, raising $875,000 more in donations in 2011 than in 2008.

“I know quite a few people that are supportive of UNI and anything they ask them to do, they try to help out,” said Bill Travis, 86, a former UNI basketball player in 1946-47. “A pretty loyal group of people.”

But even the positive figures can be rocked by financial uncertainty, which has caused school officials to consider doomsday scenarios. Some of the discussions involved altering or even eliminating the football program.

“We examined two years, when we first went to the Board of Regents with the plan to have institutional funding at a certain level for athletics, we looked at going to the non-scholarship model,” Dannen said. “We looked at dropping football. We also looked at moving up to a MAC-level (mid-major Mid-American Conference) of football. The only difference between Drake and Northern Iowa is our $1.2 million scholarship bill.”

Football brings prestige to a campus, and Dannen recognizes that. UNI has a proud tradition and is a national Football Championship Subdivision contender. But balancing the finances includes paydays against much larger schools. UNI will earn $950,000 to play Big Ten schools Iowa and Wisconsin this year. UNI will face either Iowa or Iowa State every year through 2018.

With a 12-game schedule in 2013 and 2014, the Panthers might play another high-major football opponent for a payday.

Dannen said he doesn't want to play those games every year, but they'll help bridge the financial hit from the state.

“I don't want to get to the point where you're relying on $1 million a year on those games just to fund your basic operations,” he said.

“Drake, as a non-scholarship model, is ineligible to play those money games against Wisconsin and Iowa. You have to have 57 scholarships to do that. The average attendance at those games would take our $700,000 (in attendance revenue) and cut it under $100,000. Right away, it's easy to see that financial model isn't there. Non-scholarship football is for private schools to drive male enrollment at a high tuition cost.”

As for moving up to the bowl subdivision, UNI could compete on the field with low-major football programs but the cost dissuades Dannen from trying.

“The longer I'm there, the more I'd like to see us go up,” he said. “The fact of the matter is to go up and be competitive would be an extra $5 million a year to our budget just to be in the MAC, let alone take our other programs and instead of traveling to Drake and Illinois State and traveling to Akron and Bowling Green. So the idea of moving up isn't feasible.”

Dannen said he'd prefer a long-ter financial model that relies more on student fees and less on direct institutional support. He cited fellow Missouri Valley Conference competitors Illinois State and Southern Illinois, which receive more than $800 in students fees but he doesn't support fees reaching those levels.

UNI had to address the success of its men's basketball program, which has advanced to the postseason four consecutive years. Dannen privately raised funds to boost Ben Jacobson's salary from $169,000 to $500,000 and allowed the program to remain unscathed through the cutbacks.

“Fortunately we have not had a negative impact in terms of the resources available to us to do what we've done on a yearly basis,” Jacobson said. “That's a real credit to Troy Dannen and our administration.

“We have not been impacted in a negative way. Because of that, we've been able to maintain and in some cases enhance our performance. I'm hopeful we'll be able to continue to do that.”

UNI has made strides in other areas not related to finances as well. In three years the gender equity gap shrunk from 22 percent to about 7 percent, and UNI is NCAA-certified for the first time. UNI's women's program has advanced to postseason competition a record three consecutive years, including its first two NCAA tournament appearances. The program will post its best finish in the Director's Cup standings for athletics excellence.

“Despite all the cuts and despite all the panic you may have heard, we're at point now where frankly, it's never been better,” Dannen said. “There's nothing on the radar screen that will take that away from us.

“You never know what tomorrow's going to bring but based on what we know right now, as long as we continue to raise money, as long as we continue to support the programs, we'll continue to maintain the programs we have, the scholarship levels we have.”