Cal State Fullerton Plans Cutbacks in Budgets of 16 Sports

The Cal State Fullerton athletic department, battling an ongoing financial crisis, has called for budget cuts in 16 of 17 sports, leaving only baseball untouched.

In a move that Athletic Director Ed Carroll called “a one-year solution,” a total of about $100,000 has been trimmed from the various programs, including $50,000 from football, the hardest hit.

The cuts are a stopgap solution to a problem that has kept the department in suspense for months as administrators sought a way to meet the crisis. Even this budget, which is for the fiscal year that began Friday, still is awaiting final approval from the university president, Jewel Plummer Cobb.

Faced with a potential deficit of $200,000 on a budget of $2.5 million, Fullerton considered dropping several sports, including men’s and women’s gymnastics, sports in which the Titans have won national championships.

Cobb, rejecting that proposal, then called in outside consultants and formed a budget and planning task force.

But with the fiscal year under way, the department couldn’t wait for a long-term solution.

“This is a one-year solution,” Carroll said. “It’s not something that’s going to work the following year. . . . I think we have a budget that enables us to meet all the commitments we had next year in terms of scholarships and travel. . . . It’s a livable budget that will enable us to remain competitive. . . . (But) if we don’t find ways to substantially increase our revenue next year, we’ll have serious problems.”

In addition to the budget cuts in the various sports, Fullerton eliminated a built-in $50,000 reserve and postponed a $50,000 loan payment, said Steve DiTolla, associate athletic director and business manager.

Precisely what effect the cuts will have is difficult to determine, because coaches are seeking to replace the lost funds by raising additional money themselves.

But the cuts are likely to be felt in scholarship levels and travel arrangements, DiTolla said.

Fullerton coaches already were required to raise a substantial portion of the funds for their budgets. The soccer and baseball programs, for example, each raised about $95,000 last year.

The football program, with an operational budget of $650,000, receives only $175,000 in department funds, with the balance coming from game revenues and fund-raising.

But unless the football program can raise enough additional money to replace the money cut from its budget, Coach Gene Murphy may find himself with fewer scholarships available, a prospect that causes him concern for the Titans’ ability to compete.

“If you start eliminating grants, that just goes against what you have to do on Saturday afternoons,” he said. “This isn’t good. But it’s something we’ve dealt with in the past and we’ll have to deal with. . . . I’m almost to the point where I’m resigned to it.”

The football program may lose “about four” scholarships, DiTolla said.

The Titan basketball program received a cut of $8,000 from its budget of $180,000.

The baseball program, which has won two national championships and made it to the College World Series for the fifth time this season, was not cut because of its high level of success, DiTolla said.

Financial troubles are not new to the Titan program, which has made ends meet in recent years by taking out a $150,000 loan, and, most notably, scheduling lucrative away football games. Games against Louisiana State and Florida last year brought in $200,000 each and resulted in two lopsided Fullerton losses.

But Fullerton was unable to find a way out of the budget crunch this year without the cuts, and administrators agree that more changes will have to be made.

“Our main problem is that we’re trying to maintain something we can’t afford,” DiTolla said.