Big Goals For UNH Athletics [Archive]

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February 21st, 2010, 12:13 PM

The report was commissioned by university President Mark Huddleston after the UNH Student Senate unanimously rejected an increase in the $840 athletic fee required of undergraduates. Though the university has not ruled out increasing the student fee, officials know it cannot support the program’s goals, said David Proulx, assistant vice president of financial planning and budgeting.

Those goals include replacing Cowell Stadium, built in the 1930s with money from the Works Progress Administration of the New Deal. The 6,500-seat stadium has been largely untouched, except for the installation of a new track in 2000 and artificial turf in 2008. Scarano has said he would be glad to see it go. The Wildcats have made it to national quarterfinals of the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA) in five of the last six seasons, and the NCAA has moved several of those playoff games out of state because it felt Cowell reflected poorly on its program, according to the report.

Scarano said his priority among facilities projects is building a 12,000-seat football stadium, where the university could host night games and high school state championships. He said UNH has the fan base to justify the enlargement: More than 14,850 people attended the 2009 homecoming football game, according to the report. ...

The university must also change its budgeting so athletics is considered a central, not auxiliary, function, the report said. It said fundraising alone could not sustain the program, which had accumulated a deficit of $1.3 million at the end of June 2009.

Ring that bell!! University budget increase and fundraising seem to be the keys here.