There is not yet an official athletics budget, the intercollegiate athletics committee announced at the Board of Trustees meeting Friday. While there is a budget under normal circumstances ready to be brought to the board, it has not been due to the uncertainty with COVID-19.
“Because of all the uncertainty out there, ranging from limited to no football to a full schedule of football to a half-full stadium to a quarter-full stadium, the actual revenue and expenses are too far a range for us to bring a budget for approval at this time,” board member Mack Whittle Jr. said.
A final decision should be made regarding a budget in the next 60 days, Whittle said.
Athletic Director Tanner broke down sources of confidence that football will return, starting with Williams-Brice stadium’s renovation.
“It’s a great project. I think that, that our fans and our donors and people will be really pleased with the outcome,” Tanner said. “We hope to be putting carpet down in those stations of amenities by the end of June.”
Additionally, predictive models are being utilized for a wide range of scenarios, Tanner said.
“So we have models from no games, which is not, not a pretty sight, to, you know, having a pretty normal situation and every range in between,” he said. “We have looked at, certainly, a number of cost-cutting measures.”
The academic affairs and faculty liaison committee also met Friday and discussed difficulties in the university’s technology.
The university has “inefficiency” in its IT systems, said Chief Information Officer Doug Foster, with 84 programs being used to complete 10 tasks.
“That is just way too many,” Foster said. “And all of this can have a very negative impact on the student experience because they have to jump from solution to solution.”
Foster explained how faulty tech can affect faculty as well.
“We have nine people supporting about 400 classrooms. The support ratio is about 47-to-1, which is really a challenge because if you’re in a class that you’ve taught, you’re standing in a class, and you get a delay of five or 10 minutes in class, that can mean cancelling the class,” Foster said.
Finally, the university’s shuttle system has implemented changes to fight COVID-19. These include limited seating to promote social distancing, as well as only allowing entry through shuttles’ rear doors.