CSUN Official Will Evaluate NCAA Status : Colleges: Vice President Ron Kopita expresses concerns about the school’s ability to fund its Division I athletics program.

Citing concern over a lack of financial support, Cal State Northridge Vice President Ron Kopita said Friday that he will evaluate the athletic program’s NCAA Division I status.

Kopita, the dean of students and vice president of student affairs, has been charged with determining the direction of the athletics program by Blenda J. Wilson, the university’s new president.

“Frankly, I don’t have an opinion on Division I or Division II,” he said Friday. “There are compelling arguments on both sides of the fence. These things were discussed long before I arrived, but I’m the type of individual who feels that I must do my own determination of the program.”

Northridge moved to the Division I level in all sports except football in 1990. At the time, a group of faculty members protested the move and questioned the CSUN Foundation’s 10-year financial commitment to athletics, a commitment that includes payments of $475,000 this year and $500,000 next year.

Kopita expects to finish the evaluation process before the end of the academic year. The evaluation will include an analysis of corporate donations, the use of CSUN Foundation money, and a comparison of the cost of the current program versus the cost of the program when it was at the Division II level.

Kopita said corporate donations so far have fallen short of expectations.

“Where are the dollars going to come from?” he said.

In CSUN’s last year at the Division II level (1989-90), the athletic budget was $3.25 million. The budget for the current school year is $4.02 million, which ranks among the nation’s smallest for Division I schools.

Kopita also said he would explore the possibility of providing funds for student athletes, particularly junior college transfers, who have fallen far shy of graduation requirements after their eligibility has expired.

Because many of them cannot afford to stay in school in order to graduate, they contribute to the school’s poor graduation rate for student athletes.

According to the most recent statistics provided by the Chronicle of Higher Education, the graduation rate for Northridge athletes is 16.9%.