Dartmouth Athletic Director Josie Harper said that recent budget cuts and a fall in donations has led the department to eliminate the positions of assistant ticket manager and coordinator for the fitness center, and implement an immediate salary freeze consistant with a College-wide plan.
The athletic department's losses are different than those of other departments, because of the department's array of income resources, Harper said.
She explained that since so much of the department's money comes from the Friends of Dartmouth Athletics funds and other alumni donations, the department has suffered a loss from multiple angles.
"All of our soft money, or Friend money, is down, as well as our endowment," Harper said.
Harper would not comment on the exact percentage that has been cut from the budget thus far, but she said that further cuts will be forthcoming as donations to the department continue to wane.
"Right now we're bringing in 25 percent less in donations," she said.
Members of the athletic department have been working hard to rework expenditures, Harper said.
Harper explained that currently, the department is looking at cutting the budget in every way possible. All aspects of sports at Dartmouth, she said, are being considered and reevaluated.
The College will be keeping all of its varsity programs, but Harper did not comment on whether sports at the club and intramural levels would see cuts.
"Everything's on the table, with the exception of eliminating any varsity programs," she said. "President Wright was very clear about that."
The hours of operation of many of the athletic facilities may be subject to change, Harper said.
She said she could not yet provide further information on what adjustments may be implemented.
"I just don't have any more details," she said. "We're looking at traffic patterns and the numbers of people who take advantage of each service before we make any decisions."
Harper said that one aspect the department has already begun to evaluate is team travel.
"[Travel] is one of our biggest expenses," Brian Austin, executive associate director for varsity sports, said in a previous interview with The Dartmouth.
Austin said in that interview that he hoped the budget cuts would not directly affect travel.
"I think there's a way that we can do it having a minimal effect on teams," he said.
Harper stressed that the decision making process for implementing cuts is ongoing.
"We're going to be working with significantly fewer funds," she said. "We have to make significant cuts -- we already lost a couple positions."
Because the department oversees such a large number of activities, the full effect of the cuts will not materialize immediately, Harper said.
"I think it's going to take time for it to roll out and settle," she said.
As the athletic department struggles to keep the quality of Dartmouth athletics consistent with years in the past, Harper said that the budget cuts, in addition to the slowing of donations, are strongly affecting the department.
"A lot of people have the idea that athletics were not impacted "-- we certainly were, but so was the rest of the institution," she said. "We're not standing alone on this one."
Cuts to the athletic department are part of the College-wide budget-reconciliation plan that will cut $35 million from the budget for the 2010 fiscal year, and result in a total reduction of $47 million by the 2011 fiscal year, Adam Keller, vice president for finance and administration, said in a previous interview with The Dartmouth.
The reductions will range from 4 percent to 13 percent across departments, with administrative divisions taking the largest hits, Keller said.
