Each year, teams at Concordia University Chicago receive funds to spend for necessities to get through an athletic season, but what is the process for developing a budget at the Division III level? Pete Gnan Director of Athletics, and Janet Wolbert the Assistant Director of Athletics, Senior Woman Administrator, and Director of Compliance, explained the athletic budget process.
The process starts off with coaches proposing a budget and submitting it to Gnan. Gnan then reviews the budget and sends it to Vice President of Student Life and Leadership Services, Dean Jeffrey Hynes, and Vice President of Finance, Tom Hallett, for approval. Budgets must be dispersed amongst teams equally and meet federal regulations, when it gets reviewed those are the corrections made.
If teams do not receive an equal amount of money for the year it can be a potential Title IX* violation. Men’s teams cannot have a larger budget than women teams or else it will be an unfair advantage when purchasing necessities. Budgets are used towards travel, meals, gear, and other necessities.
Budgets can vary depending on the size of a team. An example is the football team with a larger roster than the lacrosse team; therefore, their budget will be larger.
If teams want to buy gear or have travel opportunities that the budget cannot cover, they have to fundraise money. Many teams such as Softball, Women’s Soccer, and Baseball have fundraised to travel out of state for game opportunities.
Athletics teams are not the only one proposing a budget. Athletic training proposes a budget each year as well. A machine shared between athletic training and the fitness center was purchased last year between the athletic training budget and Dean Hynes’ budget, who oversees the fitness center. The athletic trainers who come from Athletico are also included in the budget.
The budget renews in July, each fiscal year. Funds that are left over in the operating budget goes back to Concordia University Chicago. Funds raised by athletic teams go back to them for their extra necessities that the operating budget cannot cover.
* Title IX refers to a section of federal law that, according to US Department of Education website, prohibits the discrimination on the basis of sex.
