Budgetary and Philosophical Alignment of Sports For Various Program Models

Presenting Circumstances                  

  • Faced with financial challenges, athletics director or institutional officers desire a comprehensive analysis that investigates restructuring the current tiered funding model or implementing a new athletic program model to preserve current men’s sports participation numbers, increase the number of women’s sports teams and continue to achieve a high level of program excellence in a limited number of priority sports; and/or
  • Desire of an NCAA Division I athletics director to examine current tiered sports program model to ensure that it meets Title IX standards and that all sports within each tier have uniform policies; and/or
  • Athletics department is confronting any of the following challenges:
    • litigation or complaints related to treatment of female student-athletes
    • donor pressure to elevate the status of one or more sports
    • need to establish standards for the elevation of club sports to varsity status
    • need to add more sports for the underrepresented gender with limited financial resources

Overview of Possible Consultant Deliverables                                                    

  • Evaluation of the current sport program model based on an historical analysis with full disclosure of pros and cons of a homogeneous versus a tiered athletics program model
  • Work with the athletics department senior staff to develop surveys to sample staff, student-athletes and other stakeholders to gather data concerning the current  needs of sports programs to achieve at various competitive levels
  • Evaluate the program model as it compares to other institutions in the conference or those that the institution wishes to effectively compete against
  • Develop two or three tiered program options for the consideration of management, with pros and cons for each
  • Based on choice of tiered model, create sample transition plans, including recommended meetings with key stakeholders/donors, and four year budget projections 
  • Identify potential stakeholder or other concerns, possible proactive steps to avoid such occurrences and recommended responses to such developments if they occur
  • Work with sports information staff or school district communications professional to position the philosophical change to a tiered program model in the most positive light
  • Revise department policy and procedure manual and staff/student-athlete handbooks to ensure alignment with tiered sports model
  • Formal presentation, upon request, of results to athletics staff, faculty or school district oversight body and/or executive officers of institution