Opinion: Athletic deficit reduction plan raises red flags

Last week, Rattler Nation raised a simple question: Does FAMU Athletic Director Bill Hayes’ athletic fee budget projection for 2009-2010 consider the likelihood that most students will take smaller course loads next year?

Based on what FAMU shared in its official statement on the athletic department’s deficit reduction plan, the answer appears to be “No.”

Developed in conjunction with the Division of Administrative and Financial Services, Hayes’ five year blueprint to get the department in the black relies heavily on a proposed five-percent per year increase in the student athletic fee.

FAMU’s press release stated: “The student fees projections were based on the 2008-2009 school year credit hours to reach 13,000 students by the year 2010-2011, with a five-percent increase annually in athletic fee, based on the 2009-2010 school year.”

That is very questionable math.

Most of FAMU’s students are in the lower division (less than 60 credit hours). Since 1998, these students have steadily decreased their course loads in response to the rising cost of college. Pell Grant increases have done nothing to reverse that trend.

With the statistics showing that FAMU’s average lower division course load has dropped like a rock over the past decade, what makes Hayes believe that trend will suddenly stop now?

If Hayes bases his future budgets on the assumption that student course loads are going to remain at 2008-2009 levels, and then most students reduce their course loads as usual, it will be mathematically impossible for the athletic department’s budget to balance out.

That could make the department’s $5.7 million deficit grow even higher.

Hayes is off to a bad start in his effort to convince FAMUans that he is taking the right steps to get the athletic department’s finances on the right track.

The student body should be aware that it has no obligation to sign on to this plan. Florida law requires all athletic fee increases to be recommended by a committee that contains at least 50 percent students. The student members are appointed by the SGA president.

Before FAMU students even consider supporting any future increases in the athletic fee, they should demand that Hayes answer the following question:

"Knowing that the athletic fee went up last year, why did the athletic department still amass a $3.1 million deficit in addition to the $2.6 million deficit it already had?"

Opinion: Trustees should ask tough questions about athletic fee budgeting