Pressed with budget reductions like other Ohio University departments, Campus Recreation plans to cut hours for student employees and possibly to expand pay-to-play fees.
The department is looking at a $189,000 budget cut from the university, which is compounded by the large amount of Campus Recreation's budget that goes into overhead costs, said Douglas Franklin, assistant dean of Recreation and Wellness.
Campus Recreation is the only major OU auxiliary that pays its own overhead, giving half of its $6.2 million in annual expenses back to the university, he said.
Student general fee money accounts for more than $5 million of the department's budget, while the remaining $1.2 million comes from usage fees.
More than $1 million is tied up in administrative, accounting, purchasing, fundraising and technology overhead costs. The university determined that sharing these costs with other departments is not a cost-effective option for trimming overhead, Franklin said.
Another $1.8 million of the budget is used to pay back annual bond debts on the purchase of recreational facilities such as Ping Center.
In response to the tightened budget, the Campus Recreation will cut facility hours during breaks and times of low student traffic, saving money from student wages, Franklin said. The department does not foresee any student job cuts with this strategy, he added.
Hours this year would not be affected at Ping Center, but hours would likely be reduced next year, said Hafedh Benhadj, director of Ping Center.
We're trying to maintain the operation hours that we set up
unless something else happens Benhadj said.
Ping sees almost 500,000 visits annually. With 520 student employees receiving more than $1.1 million in wages, Campus Recreation is the second largest student employer on campus, according to a presentation to Student Senate in February.
Director of the Aquatic Center Joseph Wakeley echoed that sentiment, hoping that cutting hours would prevent any jobs from being lost.
We don't have too many positions at the Aquatic Center to be cut he said.
The possibility of job cuts was not out of the question if other strategies are not enough, both Wakeley and Benhadj said.
Officials estimate $50,000 will be saved by cutting hours to these facilities.
Recreation and Wellness also intends to offset the cut by increasing fees for certain activities, Franklin said, which he thinks could generate $114,000.
Campus Recreation is also considering introducing a pay-to-play fee for intramural programs while expanding fees for more classes offered by Ping.
OU is one of the only state schools in Ohio that doesn't charge a pay-for-play
Franklin said.
The most favorable option currently on the table is an optional, quarterly fee between $25 and $40, Franklin said. The fee would require approval from OU's Board of Trustees.
Pay-to-play was considered a few years ago to help with deferred maintenance costs for recreation facilities, but now it is a more appealing option, considering the budget situation, Franklin said.
According to the Student Senate presentation, 75 percent of the student body participates in campus recreation programs each year.
Most people on campus will be touched by this
Franklin said.
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Tristan Navera
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Campus Recreation employee Matt Bange, right, a sophomore studying Informational and Telecommunication Systems, works in the Pro Shop ringing up Ben Christensen, who plays in an intramural league at Bird Arena. Pay-to-play fees may be introduced to intramural programs. (Alicia Fidler, Picture Editor)
