Athletic department facing budget cuts

With the economy not yet improving, many departments on the campus of Washburn University are having to deal with budget cuts. The Athletic Department isn’t any different.

 Budget cuts directly affect the people who benefit from the department taking the cuts. In the athletic department, the student-athletes are going to be the most affected by the budget cuts, unless the department can find away around that happening.

 “We are trying to only let the budget cuts affect the administrative side of our department. Everything we do here is for the student-athlete and we don’t want to cut anything that is going to directly impact their experience here,” said Loren Ferre, the Director of Athletics.

 As of now, there hasn’t been any budget cuts for individual teams because, according to Ferre, the budgets that are in place now are already stretched to the limits. The budget covers traveling, which includes meals, lodging and gas, equipment and recruiting, among other things.

 “We can’t stop traveling because that would give our teams fewer competitions which is affecting the student-athletes experience. And this would also put our teams in jeopardy of not making the playoffs,” said Ferre.

 Budget cuts are going to directly affect the administrative side of the athletic department. There are positions within the department where people have left their jobs and that position has been frozen. They are trying to find little things that will help with the budget cuts and trying to do things with better precision.

 Although fundraising has always been a means of taking in money, now there is a bigger emphasis placed on it. Kerry Dickerson, Assistant Athletic Director, is in charge of fundraising and is working even harder to get money. There are some sponsors that are dropping out, but there are others that are keeping the same amount and new companies starting to give money.

 “We need to try and find different ways to cover the costs of the different teams and administrative responsibilities. We are looking at ways to become more efficient,” said Ferre.

New WTE offered to student-athletes

With little free time in their schedules, student-athletes are finding it hard to complete the Washburn Transformational Experience.

There are many options to choose from when trying to decide on a WTE but a lot of these options can take a long time to complete. Some can even take as much time as a student-athlete spends playing their sport. So, it can seem like an impossibility for a student-athlete to complete the WTE. And this is why the Washburn Student Government Association, the leadership department and the athletic department are teaming together to create a unique WTE for Washburn student athletes.

“We are trying to accommodate the student-athlete in a way that they will still be able to complete a leadership and community service project, while competing at the highest level,” said Loren Ferre´, the Washburn athletic director.

The main part of completing the WTE through athletics would be by taking a specifically designed leadership class created around different athlete leadership roles, such as being a captain, helping coach at camps and being a rep for the Student Athlete Activity Committee. Each WTE would be created around the athletes specific skills and abilities.

“What we want to do is makes this requirement of the WTE easier to fulfill, but still a very meaningful experience. This class will help give the student athlete a proactive mindfulness of what they're doing for their WTE,” said Garrett Love, WSGA president.

Love has first hand perspective on what it is like to be a student-athlete because he has been on the men’s basketball team for the last three years. “I think would be a good step for WTE as collegiate athletics oftentimes is a very transformational experience,” said Love.

As of now, there are two football players in the “pilot program” and they are actively looking for different things student-athletes would like to see in the class. Making WTE customized to student-athletes is just one step in making the WTE something students will enjoy more and stress about less.

“This is one of many steps we would like to take in the direction of a more user-friendly WTE,” said Love.

Athletes participate in community service competition

The Washburn athletic department is teaming up with the leadership department to get student-athletes more involved in the community.

Athletes tend to thrive in competitive atmospheres, so when Lisa Fahey proposed a community service competition between the varsity athletic teams, the rules were set in place. Each team will complete as much community service as they wish and report the information through the Washburn athletic web site. Fahey will keep track of each teams hours.

“I think this is a good opportunity for athletes to get out in the community that supports them and maybe even gain more support through the people they are helping,” said Fahey, a senior, who recently played her last season on the soccer team.

At the end of the spring season the hours will be added up and the team with the most hours will be declared the winner. And among the athletic teams, just being declared the winner and getting the bragging rights is enough.

“We’re all so competitive anyway and are in the environment a lot of the time, that to having bragging rights over another team, like the guys (basketball) team, would definitely be enough,” said Hope Gregory, a junior basketball player.

Fahey provided the teams with some ideas to use including reading at elementary schools, helping at the Boys and Girls Club and doing things for the Lets Help volunteer organization.