Editor’s Note: This is the second installment in a series of articles addressing the resolution proposing to phase out the appropriated funding the intercollegiate athletics department receives.

After about an hour of debate Tuesday, the Faculty Senate tabled the resolution to phase out the $1.6 million in appropriated funds that the athletics department receives.

Grant Sterling, a philosophy professor, formed the resolution in order to reallocate the athletics department’s appropriated funds, which makes up about 15 percent of the athletic budget, to academics by hiring more Unit A tenured or tenure-track faculty members.

Appropriated funds come from a combination of general revenue funds from the state and tuition monies. In Fiscal Year 2011, the $1.6 million allocated to athletics was about 1.4 percent of the total $115.2 million appropriations.

Andrew White, a mathematics professor, said most of the $1.6 million goes toward paying athletic salaries, and the athletics department would still have to find a way to fund salaries and trainers, along with keeping facilities updated.

David Viertel, a professor in the geology and geography departments, said he is hesitant to open the door to going after non-Unit A faculty members, and the interests of Unit B faculty, consisting of adjuncts, should not be ignored.

“What would stop the Staff Senate from putting forward a resolution saying they have suffered more cuts than the faculty has, so why don’t we decrease faculty salary,” Viertel said. “Once we start cannibalizing one another like that, then that won’t help anyone in the university because that would be pitting one group against another.”

Jeff Stowell, a psychology professor, said he did not think he could adequately make a decision until more information was gathered so he moved to charge a committee with researching different variables involved in the sustainability of the athletics department.

Kiran Padmaraju, an education professor, amended the motion to apply to all non-academic programs so it would not just be the athletics apartment on the chopping block.

The Faculty Senate then tabled the resolution until the fall semester so the Budget Transparency Committee could have enough time to gather data.

In his resolution, Sterling suggested possibly moving down to Division-II or -III athletics to offset the $1.6 million that would be phased out.

He said it would be better to go down to a different division instead of deciding to cut sports and scholarships.

“Intercollegiate athletics has said that we need to build a new football stadium because our football stadium is not up to the standards of the other Division-I schools that we are competing against for football recruits,” Sterling said. “My suggestion is to return to Division-II where there wouldn’t be the pressure to upgrade our facilities to Division-I standards, and coach salaries could be reduced.”

Daniel Nadler, the vice president for student affairs, said he does not think the assumption that a lower division would be cheaper is accurate.

It would not be possible to cut $1.6 million from athletics without cutting programs and moving to a lower division, he said.

“If you cut that $1.6 million, then that means cutting jobs, cutting programs and maybe even cutting the athletic department,” Nadler said.

About 430 students compete as athletes at Eastern, and most if not all of them would not have come to the university if they were not able to compete at the highest level of athletic standing, he said.

Jason Waller, a philosophy professor, said he thinks most students decide to attend Eastern because of its academic programs, so reallocating the money from athletics could potentially boost enrollment.

Nadler, however, disagreed.

He said the university may possibly risk losing hundreds of students from downgrading to Division-II or -III athletics, and they would lose Division-I funds gained from conference money, sponsorships and advertising.

“This is not the time to be messing with enrollment, and the best thing we can do right now to become more financially stable is to get enrollment up,” Nadler said. “Anything we do that affects it is going to affect all of us.”

Rachel Rodgers can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].