With so much uncertainty on the horizon, Sam Houston State athletic director Bobby Williams finds optimism where he can as the academic year ends and as the Aug. 31 end to the fiscal year approaches.
Football season ticket renewals, for example, are up 11 percent thus far, and the Sam Houston alumni base is pleased by the school’s new branding campaign, which restores the popular “Walking Sammy” Bearkat logo that the school abandoned in the early 1980s.
Williams also hopes that Sam Houston’s donor base, with its strengths in criminal justice and other market segments, will weather the ongoing economic downturn more readily than other Texas schools.
At the same time, he’s adjusting budgets for the remaining four months of this fiscal year to absorb the prospects of harder times when the 2020-21 budget year begins.
“We were able to save some money from travel (for canceled spring sports), and we will try to do summer school remotely, which will save on stipends (for students who normally would be on campus),” he added. “We’re trying to take as many of the painful cuts as we can this year.”
As is the case with most Football Championship Subdivision schools, the school’s $19.2 million budget for the 2019 calendar year depends on a significant infusion from student fees and direct institutional support, which totaled $13 million last year.
The Texas State University System, which includes Sam Houston, said Friday that member schools plan to resume face-to-face instruction this fall.
As for other decisions with an impact on the bottom line, Williams said 12 of 22 seniors who were unable to compete this spring will return to school this fall for their final year of eligibility. Ten seniors elected not to return.
There have been no layoffs or budget cuts, but Williams said staff members are planning for what could happen if finances dictate action for next school year. He said Sam Houston also could delay plans to renovate its field house, update locker rooms and build a new tennis complex.
Sam Houston is fortunate, he said, in that recent football and basketball venue updates from the 2015-16 era are close to being off the books in terms of capital expenditure adds to the budget.
Williams’ two-decade tenure as athletic director has included seven trips over the last decade to the FCS playoffs and Division I playoff berths in five other sports.
“We’ve had so much growth in enrollment and in athletics, and we’re working hard to be there for our students and for new students,” he said. “We’re looking for ways to save money and still do things we need to do.”
david.barron@chron.com
twitter.com/dfbarron
"save" - Google News
May 02, 2020 at 08:00PM
https://ift.tt/2VUYrHJ
Sam Houston athletics working to save money now - Houston Chronicle
"save" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2SvBSrf
https://ift.tt/2zJxCxA
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Sam Houston athletics working to save money now - Houston Chronicle"
Post a Comment