Ohio University's 35 club sports will undergo an overhaul next fall as the department steers funding toward more active clubs and away from inactive ones.
We looked at other universities and found that a significant amount of schools had a tiered structure within their club sports organization
said Nicholas Brigati, assistant director of Intramural and Club Sports.
The new four-tier system will rank funding priority based on clubs' competitiveness, service hours, leadership workshop attendance and fundraising, he said, adding that the university has not set funding ranges for the tiers.
Clubs will be divided into the green, white and red tiers, with a separate tier for instructional, non-competitive clubs such as martial arts and fencing that require minimal university funding, Brigati said.
Rather than differentiating between clubs' requested funds, earned Administrative Compliance Points and fundraising, the new tier system will place top priority on the most competitive clubs and those which meet and exceed tier standards.
The department will also undergo budget cuts as part of the university-wide push to ease shortfalls, but the amount of the cuts has not yet been announced, Brigati said.
Brigati said that the most travel-intensive clubs, which would be classified in the top tier, require the most funding and have highest participation standards.
Clubs that do not manage to keep up with tier requirements can be dropped as far as the red tier, where they could potentially lose all university funding.
Brigati said clubs are biennially re-evaluated, but red tier clubs can attempt to raise rank annually.
The community service requirement will be 20 hours per person for the green tier, 10 hours for white and five for red and instructional clubs.
The best way that a club can get more money is to do additional fund raising work he said. The community service requirements are just to stay in the tier they are placed into.
Dave Blaushild, a junior studying marketing and president of Paintball Club, said he has no complaints about the new system, as long as his club's funding does not decrease. It's always an issue - the money thing Blaushild said. Paintball is one of the most expensive clubs there is.
As most clubs under the department have their facility rental covered, instructional-type clubs such as fencing are not likely to undergo many changes in funding appropriation, Brigati said.
Elizabeth Nalepa, a senior studying math and French and fencing club president, said her only concern is how the department will define active participation so fencing can remain a funded club sport.
The way we've defined it in our constitution is you're an active member for a quarter
not a year
because that's how our dues are paid
Nalepa said.
Brigati said the new system will require club presidents to re-evaluate and consistently update their rosters to differentiate between active and inactive members, and average the number of club members annually when tallying service hours. He said the hours are bound to each club, not individuals.
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Olga Kharitonova
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