UConn’s plan for cutting $10 million from its athletic budget will be presented Friday and could shape the department for years to come (Amore)

[UConnJim]

Private fundraising isn't an option largely because it is so sporadic and not dependable. Needed to kick the fundraising into high gear like 10 years earlier. All of this could have been avoided.

Totally agree. UConn is a neophyte when it comes to private fundraising. both for athletics and academics. I have an undergrad degree from UConn and a graduate degree from another school and the school where I got my graduate degree runs laps around UConn when it comes to fundraising.

The only way a non-revenue sport can be sustainable by private funding is by endowing scholarships and the coach.

 

[Adios]

UConn has yet to overcome the elitist stigma in the Connecticut/New England educational scene. Pretty damn snobby around here.

A large endowment earns respect in this stupid scene.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

On the surface it looks like more men's scholarships than women's. Was expecting a more even split. And maybe it is, I don't know how many schollies we're talking.
I also think they should have done more given the economic reality. If nothing else, dropping a couple more could allow for some funds to be reallocated to football which, like it or not, is critical to our university. If this thing starts to turn around as the recruiting seems to suggest, we could have a couple more dollars to pay coaches and keep the momentum going.
Who would've guessed that women's rowing cost $1.5M?

I expect it was a dollars and Title IX issue. Rowing can be an expensive sport with a new, 8-man shell fully rigged can be north of $50,000 along with travel costs to local (Hartford, Worcester, Boston) and non-local races (Philadelphia, DC, Sarasota, etc.) for the team and equipment. I also believe the number of scholarships offered by the women's rowing team is high as that team was moved from club to varsity status specifically to counter the increase in men's sports scholarships when the football team was upgraded. The loss of those scholarships likely is part of the reason why there are 3 men's team being terminated.

I also wonder what UConn will do with the boat house. When the women's team was a club (the men still are), the cub rented space from the town of Coventry. I believe UConn now pays Coventry to lease the land that the new boat house was built on, which is adjacent to the original Coventry Boat House (and is rented by the men's rowing club).

Overall, I feel horribly for all of the student athletes impacted by this as they did nothing to deserve this.

 

[gtcam]

Cutting any sport sucks because it hurts at least one student athlete
It's time to look at coaching salaries - not just at UConn - every college

 

[How Sway?!]

I remember reading that the fundraising done by golf, tennis and track was geared towards making some scholarships endowed. Do endowed scholarships count for the total scholarships given and, of not, could this be the reason there will be less scholarships given in said sports?

 

[metsfan2323]

Cutting any sport sucks because it hurts at least one student athlete
It's time to look at coaching salaries - not just at UConn - every college

UCONN is still honoring their scholarships so it's really not that terrible and they can transfer if they still want to compete. If this is the worst thing that ever happens to them they will have lived a charmed life. Covid 19 cancelling all spring sports was much worse for athletes as that is a year they can't get back, especially high school athletes and college seniors. I get it that it's a sad day for those effected but its really not that terrible because they are still on scholarship. On the bright side they still get a free ride and no longer have to "work" for it, more time to study. This day was LONG overdue.

 

[jdb50]

Cutting any sport sucks because it hurts at least one student athlete
It's time to look at coaching salaries - not just at UConn - every college

The unionized faculty have given their answer on helping. This means when their contract is up there has to be hardball played by the school in the next negotiation. I know we are underpaying for football coaching salary wise but do not know about the rest of our sports. I would hazard a guess we are overpaying for men's soccer. I am surprised we did not cut 2 more sports actually. This is not a time for half measures. Our rainy day fund won't last long on the State level which could affect future State funding. And then there is the UConn Health Center which runs a huge deficit yearly and no one can fix it.

 

[Fairfield_1st]

I am surprised we did not cut 2 more sports actually. This is not a time for half measures.

I had proposed cutting more sports, but adding men's lacrosse. I don't know much about the sport, but CT is a good recruiting area and I like it on our resume. I'm still holding out remote help of someday getting an invite. I realize the odds are poor, but I'll never stop wanting the best for my school.
It seems they half-arsed it a bit. It's a time to be decisive. Get down to the minimum sports and keep the ones that you want as the identity of the school. Save more money than planned with maybe a re-allocation of some money for football salaries, if not for now then the future when our next HC will cost more than a million a year.

 

[J187Money]

I think all of the olympic sports really need to start taking fundraising seriously. No reason the cut sports can't come back, but only if they can be funded be an endowment.

 

[huskymedic]

Slow day @ Hearst:

 

[LIUCHusky]

I had proposed cutting more sports, but adding men's lacrosse. I don't know much about the sport, but CT is a good recruiting area and I like it on our resume. I'm still holding out remote help of someday getting an invite. I realize the odds are poor, but I'll never stop wanting the best for my school.
It seems they half-arsed it a bit. It's a time to be decisive. Get down to the minimum sports and keep the ones that you want as the identity of the school. Save more money than planned with maybe a re-allocation of some money for football salaries, if not for now then the future when our next HC will cost more than a million a year.

Fairfield, how much do you think a d1 lacrosse program at UConn would cost annually. I estimate the cost at a minimum would be in the million dollar range. If so it would require an endowment of somewhat north of 20 million to fully support. Care to ante up a large chunk to get the pot started?

 

[huskymedic]

Fairfield, how much do you think a d1 lacrosse program at UConn would cost annually. I estimate the cost at a minimum would be in the million dollar range. If so it would require an endowment of somewhat north of 20 million to fully support. Care to ante up a large to get the pot started?

From 2018 - All someone has to do is write the check.

Jeff Jacobs: Lacrosse at UConn makes sense, but don’t hold your breath

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Yale is playing in its first lacrosse Final Four in 28 years....

www.ctpost.com

>>“If someone came forward who wanted to support lacrosse financially, it certainly would increase the likelihood of it happening,” Benedict said. “That hasn’t happened.<<

>>Benedict said the expectation is to break ground on a new soccer stadium at the end of autumn and men’s lacrosse could be played there. He estimates it would cost between $750,000 a million a year. Lacrosse allows 12.6 scholarships.<<

>>Few things would win over Fairfield County better than adding lacrosse. Evidently it will take some gold from the Gold Cost to make it happen.

“Anybody interested,” Benedict said, “should look me up.”<<

 

[MustangMan]

The unionized faculty have given their answer on helping. This means when their contract is up there has to be hardball played by the school in the next negotiation. I know we are underpaying for football coaching salary wise but do not know about the rest of our sports. I would hazard a guess we are overpaying for men's soccer. I am surprised we did not cut 2 more sports actually. This is not a time for half measures. Our rainy day fund won't last long on the State level which could affect future State funding. And then there is the UConn Health Center which runs a huge deficit yearly and no one can fix it.

The Health Center should have been closed and the various medical related training programs moved to Hartford Hospital.

 

[MustangMan]

UConn has yet to overcome the elitist stigma in the Connecticut/New England educational scene. Pretty damn snobby around here.

A large endowment earns respect in this stupid scene.

Uconn’s endowment is very small for a school it’s size. $462MM (ish) is less than it should be. Back when the CT economy was humming, the school should have been able to build its endowment to at least $1B.

 

[ZooCougar]

No new sports unless someone wants to endow the program. Until we win the lottery and get P5 money we can't grow unless it's sustainable.

Any discussion of adding lacrosse is kind of useless.

 

[noeynox]

I seriously wonder why they stopped at just 4 sports.

 

[Adios]

We can't even get lacrosse started at UConn. Elitist stigma. Being a "public Ivy" don't mean much in New England. Besides beating Ivies for football players.

Kids in Darien don't dream of going to UConn.

 

[ZooCougar]

If lacrosse was actually so damn popular then there would be someone out there willing to fund the program and/or the equipment companies would want to pay UConn to promote the gear.

I used to play lacrosse. It's cool and all but it's an experiential sport like cycling. Cycling fans are cyclists. Lacrosse fans are almost always other lacrosse players.

I think Lax would be sort of like UConn hockey. Yeah, we're in prime recruiting territory but it might not be taken seriously by the community. The sum is less than the parts.

 

[Hoophound]

UConn Hockey has incredible potential.

UConn lacrosse could be very good but I don’t see lacrosse having the potential hockey does to build a fanbase and support itself.

 

[Fairfield_1st]

Fairfield, how much do you think a d1 lacrosse program at UConn would cost annually. I estimate the cost at a minimum would be in the million dollar range. If so it would require an endowment of somewhat north of 20 million to fully support. Care to ante up a large chunk to get the pot started?

My suggestion was to cut more programs and reallocate funds. At the moment they cut just what they needed to, but there are other programs that don't resonate with the average fan or alumni.
If done correctly with a good hire, we could be recruiting and building ties with Fairfield County. It also adds to the resume since both the ACC and B1G play it.

 

[jdb50]

Slow day @ Hearst:

For some reason people do not understand the idea of revenue potential. We have the facilities to be successful in place. The Universities that have been willing to schedule UConn as well as the TV contract show that other people see this. DB understands this. Hearst is looking for clicks on this one. Yeah, why take it out on the cross country team?

 

[jdb50]

Here is the thing about our yearly UConn Health Center deficits- other schools have medical colleges. Iowa has a children's hospital overlooking their football stadium. Are other State University Hospitals all losing money like UConn's and if not why not?

 

[billybud]

Here is the thing about our yearly UConn Health Center deficits- other schools have medical colleges. Iowa has a children's hospital overlooking their football stadium. Are other State University Hospitals all losing money like UConn's and if not why not?

While I can not answer your question...I lnow that FSU has a large five floor on-campus health center...but it is run like a private facility...students have insurance. Student health fee pays for face to face with doctors...with a copay.

Check out over view below...

https://uhs.fsu.edu/sites/g/files/upcbnu1651/files/docs/Orientation2019_UHS-Presentation.pdf

 

[CL82]

While I can not answer your question...I lnow that FSU has a large five floor on-campus health center...but it is run like a private facility...students have insurance. Student health fee pays for face to face with doctors...with a copay.

Check out over view below...

https://uhs.fsu.edu/sites/g/files/upcbnu1651/files/docs/Orientation2019_UHS-Presentation.pdf

Kind of apples and oranges. FSU looks like a nice on campus clinic facility. UConn Health is a full service hospital.

Link

 

[DarthGrumpy]

Here is the thing about our yearly UConn Health Center deficits- other schools have medical colleges. Iowa has a children's hospital overlooking their football stadium. Are other State University Hospitals all losing money like UConn's and if not why not?

In today’s healthcare market in the US, it’s all about leverage to get reduced supply costs, increased health insurance rates, more patient volume through an expansive network, and brand to attract specialized leaders who then increase patient volume. Public hospitals, such as UConn, do also have to tend to the financial challenge of being a ‘safety-net’ or ‘last-resort’ medical provider, though most public hospitals can make-up some of those loses through Federal Medicare and Medicaid subsidies. But, that again is a volume business and volume is in cities, not lightly populated suburbs (nothing against Farmington, it’s a great town to raise a family) whereas even the neighboring cities have their own hospitals – Bristol, New Britain (Central CT Hospital), Meriden (MidtState), and Hartford (Hartford and St. Francis). That’s a lot of competition and doesn’t even include the 500-pound gorilla in the State, Yale New Haven, nor that fact that world-caliber hospitals in Boston and New York are less than a 2-hour drive from parts of the Connecticut. Most University Hospitals also have a market to themselves – UMass (Worcester), UVM (Burlington), SUNY Upstate (Syracuse), SUNY Buffalo, Penn State (Hershey/Harrisburg), U Pittsburgh, Ohio State (Columbus), etc. Others that succeed in crowded market are a combination of world class (UNC, UCLA), or are in larger markets (Rutgers [thought University Hospital has its own financial issues which in part lead to Rutgers' take-over of UMDNJ], U Minnesota in Minneapolis, U Washington in Seattle, U Texas in Houston). Having a University hospital I believe is important to Connecticut; but, it should have never been established in Farmington. A joint program with Hartford Hospital or another similar arrangement would have been more viable.