Throughout the past week and a half, the Ball State athletics rumor mill has been viciously spinning.
Tuesday, it slowed down considerably.
For the first time since the news broke, athletes and coaches alike got to hear first hand what the seven-member athletic committee thought of athletics director Bubba Cunningham's task force's recommendation to eliminate six programs due to budgetary concerns.
In the end, the athletic committee didn't think too highly of the task force's recommendation.
Carma Shawger, instructor in the department of communications studies, was the only of the seven to abstain; five members voted no, and one member voted yes to the program cuts.
The member who voted yes was Dale Umbach, chairman of the department of mathematical sciences.
"We are still in the middle of a long process. This is just the process we have put in place, asking for input," Cunningham said.
Instead, in an effort to find some other solution, the committee voted to meet regularly throughout the summer. In upcoming meetings, the group will try to come up with solutions, including ways to fund-raise while at the giving time for Cunningham's initiative to sell out the first football game to come to fruition.
"I don't know what the implication of that is," Cunningham said of the group's decision to continue to meet. "It would make sense for the athletics director to listen to the athletic committee."
The group did not decide on a date to meet next.
"The scheduled board (of trustees) meeting that we were targeting is July 18," Cunningham said. "I would like to get a recommendation from this board."
One of the most vocal members was Joseph McKinney, chairman of the department of educational leadership. McKinney strongly opposed the idea of cutting six programs.
"We don't have enough data evidence to eliminate six teams and over 100 athletes," he said to the other members. "Why can't we be the model for keeping 22 teams rather than the model for cutting six."
Not only was there some light shed on what the athletic committee thought of the task force's recommendation, but there were also some figures presented to help make sense of it all.
Some of the budgetary concern comes in part from the spending of the core sports. Football and basketball both overshoot their budget by approximately $100,000, Cunningham said. There is an excess of $400,000 in spending from the core sports -- football, men's basketball, women's basketball, women's volleyball, baseball and softball.
Last year, although not quite complete, the athletic department will have operated at an estimated deficit of $250,000.
If the six programs were to be cut, Cunningham said, it would free up approximately $540,000, all of which would be reinvested in the remaining 16 programs, beginning with the core sports and going from there.
Perhaps the biggest number thrown on the table at Tuesday's meeting was $1.2 million. That's how much additional money Cunningham said is needed to properly run 22 programs at a Division IA level.
Cunningham said he and other athletic administrators do not feel they are running their programs on a Division IA level. That perception, according to the written proposal that was on the table at Tuesday's meeting, comes from student athlete exit interviews.
"Many student athlete exit interviews have indicated that their athletics experience was less than what they expected in terms of auxiliary services such as facilities, travel, equipment and lodging," according to the proposal.
McKinney spoke against that argument saying he had received more than 100 e-mails from former and current athletes since last week's announcement. He also spoke of his experience as a teacher.
"I have been here 13 years. I have had student athletes in classes, and I have talked to a lot of student athletes, and I am getting a different response than you are getting from some," McKinney said.
"Sure everybody would like to stay in a hotel the night before a game. But you have to get back to the mission of Ball State," he said. "Are we all about entertainment, commercialism, or are we about participation of student athletes?"
Despite some criticism throughout the meeting, Cunningham said he still thinks positively of the idea of exit interviews.
"I think exit interviews are a great place to learn about your program," Cunningham said. "I do think that over time it can identify where your weaknesses are and lets us see if we can improve."
The next meeting regarding the issue may be the university senate agenda committee meeting to take place at 2 p.m. on Tuesday in the Student Center.
According to the "Faculty and Professional Personal Handbook," the athletic committee must report to the senate, in this case the agenda committee, concerning its activities, operations and recommendations. The athletic committee, like all committees must also submit its minutes to the agenda committee. However, because no recommendation was passed, the only material presented to the agenda committee will be the minutes.
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