BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- As part of CSUB’s strategic planning to address current and projected long-term shortfalls in state funding, the University has been guided by four strategic priorities:

1. Serve as many students as possible honoring our academic mission and our role as a regional comprehensive university.
2. Facilitate graduation for current students by increasing access to courses and sections required for graduation, especially for seniors.
3. Ensure all department / program budgets are consistent with available resources, and determine priorities within departments / programs.
4. Support faculty and staff as we work together to address our new reality.

President Horace Mitchell has said the University’s fundamental question is:

“What can we afford to continue offering and / or doing, with quality, given our strategic priorities and current and anticipated long-term funding base?”

As the strategic planning process relates specifically to Athletics, President Mitchell asked the Intercollegiate Athletics Advisory Committee (IAAC) to develop a set of criteria, in consultation with Athletics Director Rudy Carvajal, for determining which sports programs must be protected, if reductions in sports were to become necessary, for CSUB to continue to meet the membership requirements for NCAA Division I and the Big West Conference. The IAAC is advisory to the President on Athletics policies and programs. Its membership consists of faculty, staff, students, campus and Athletics administrators and community members.

Criteria and Recommendation The IAAC developed several criteria. Three of the most important are:
1. NCAA Guidelines: This includes financial aid, sport sponsorship, scheduling, and academic and compliance requirements.
2. Need for Conference Affiliation: With the primary focus on membership in the Big West Conference, the CSUB Athletics program must mirror the conference’s seven priority sports: baseball, basketball (men’s and women’s), soccer (men’s and women’s), softball and volleyball. Scholarships for those sports must be funded at 100 percent for basketball and a minimum of 80 percent for the other five programs.
3. Gender Equity: The university must offer a program that meets federal and state gender equity requirements.

After an exhaustive and agonizing review of the application of those criteria to the University’s sports, the IAAC came to the very difficult conclusion to recommend the discontinuation of four sports programs: men’s and women’s golf, women’s tennis, and wrestling.

Budget Picture
The state budget crisis has had a direct, and previously unforeseen, impact on the Athletics budget.

1. Revenue shortfalls:
Reductions in state funding over the past two years with additional reductions projected for 2010-11 reductions in projected income from student fees

due to curtailments in enrollment growth over the past two years,

planned 6% enrollment reduction for 2010-11

2. Increases in scholarship expenses due to:
a 10% student fee increase in 2008-09
a 32% student fee increase in 2009-10, and
a projected 10% student fee increase in 2010-11

Current budget planning assumes the remaining funds from the 2006-07 Division I fund raising campaign will be available through 2011-12, as previously planned, at approximately $1.2 million per year.

Decision After considering the current and long-term budget picture, and following additional broad consultation, President Mitchell decided to implement the recommendation to discontinue the four sports.

“While this is a very difficult decision and one that others join me in not wanting to make, discontinuing those sports programs is the best course of action for moving forward with a financially sustainable NCAA Division I athletics program. We are proud of our athletics program and the successes our student-athletes and coaches have attained. Unfortunately, there are no easy solutions left,” Mitchell said.

Each of the discontinued sports will be able to complete their current competitive seasons in compliance with NCAA and conference scheduling regulations. The teams will be officially discontinued at the conclusion of the 2009-10 academic year.

“We have absorbed the revenue shortfalls and rising expenses over the past several years through cuts in support staffing and services,” said CSUB Director of Athletics Rudy Carvajal. “We have done our best to mitigate the direct impact to teams and student–athletes, but the unprecedented depth and breadth of the ongoing financial crisis requires extraordinary measures to ensure the long–term sustainability of the Roadrunner Athletics program.”

Questions and Answers

Why is this decision being made now when decisions affecting other areas of the University will not be made until later?

Most specific budget decisions must await further developments in the state budget approval process. Decisions which involve our Athletics program can and must be made now.

1. Decisions can be made now because the state budget approval process will not have any further positive effect on the Athletics budget. No additional funding above the current level of institutional support for Athletics (approximately $5.1 million of the $8.5 million budget for 2009-10) is likely to be available.
2. Decisions must be made now so affected student-athletes and coaches will have timely notice in order to plan ahead.

How much will be saved by discontinuing the four sports?

The move will prevent a projected annual deficit for Roadrunner Athletics of almost $700,000 beginning in 2010-11. The specific savings will be:

Wrestling $249,512

Men’s Golf 88,132

Women’s Golf 104,288

Women’s Tennis 148,013

sub-total $589,945

Fringe Benefits 94,360

Total $684,305

There will be additional savings within general areas such as event management, sports medicine, marketing and development, media relations, equipment, business management, facilities, and insurance premiums.

How many student-athletes will be affected?

The reductions will affect approximately 60 student-athletes. Student-athletes with remaining eligibility will have two options: transfer with immediate eligibility (provided proper NCAA and institutional requirements are met) or remain as students at CSUB. If a student-athlete is receiving an athletics scholarship and chooses to stay at CSUB, the scholarship will be honored for the 2010-11 academic year. Total 2009 fall enrollment for CSUB was just over 8,000 students. There are currently a total of 326 student-athletes.

How many coaches will be affected?

The reductions will affect six salaried coaches. Coaches of discontinued sports will remain as employees of CSUB through the end of their current contract terms, no later than June 30, 2010.

Will other athletics programs be discontinued?

No.

If eliminating sports does not balance the athletics budget, what will make up the difference?

The Athletics department will continue to reduce expenses, increase fundraising, and expand new revenue sources. There are a number of areas, including staffing, scheduling and scholarships, which may be affected by the final budgetary figures for 2010–11.

Will the discontinuation of sports affect the university’s transition to NCAA Division I or admittance to a conference?

No. CSUB will complete the transition to full NCAA Division I status this summer. With 15 sports teams remaining, the university continues to exceed the minimum NCAA Division I requirement.

Through the decision-making process, serious consideration was given to ensuring that Roadrunner Athletics offers a lineup of programs consistent with membership in Division I conferences on the West Coast. Our goal has been and continues to be membership in the Big West Conference, where all nine members are, like CSUB, former NCAA Division II institutions located in California. It is also the most cost-effective option for conference membership. The ability to meet Big West Conference criteria, both academically as well as athletically, provides a solid base from which to operate, regardless of our current or eventual conference affiliations.

Why is CSUB eliminating teams that have won conference and national championships?

The decision to discontinue any program is profoundly agonizing. When the history and broad-based success of Roadrunner Athletics is considered, it is virtually impossible to makes cuts without affecting teams that have a championship heritage. CSUB is not the first school to face such agonizing decisions, and, given the current economic climate, is not likely to be the last.

Will these sports be reinstated when the budget situation improves or if other funding is found?

That is difficult to determine at this time. What would be necessary is approximately $1.4 million to support those four sports over the next two years, over and above the non-institutional funding needed to sustain the other sports. However, this would only address the short-term challenges.