BOWLING GREEN — Bowling Green State University, which is projecting a budget gap of almost $27 million on its main campus for the next school year, said it is targeting a reduction goal of 10 percent for its auxiliary budgets, which includes athletics.
BGSU has not yet finalized its plans to cut costs, but plans to do so in May.
In a message sent to staff on Thursday, BGSU president Rodney K. Rogers said the university was “in a strong financial position prior to this crisis,” but it still needs to look at long-term and short-term cuts, the latter of which "include furloughs, where legally allowed, a hiring freeze, operating budget reductions, and savings in utilities, travel, and supplies."
BGSU is targeting a 12.5 percent reduction for its administrative divisions and 8.5 percent for its academic colleges.
According to Bowling Green's Equality in Athletics Disclosure Act filing for the fiscal year 2019, the most recent year for which data is available, a 10 percent reduction would require the department of athletics to eliminate about $2.6 million from its operating expenses.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine indicated that most entities that receive state funding should prepare for decreases of up to 20 percent through the next fiscal year, and two of Bowling Green's Mid-American Conference peers already have announced steep reductions for the fiscal year 2021.
Kent State University is cutting the university budget by 20 percent, while the University of Akron announced a recommended 20 percent decrease in the athletics budget as part of its austerity measures.
Ohio University's president and provost took 15 percent pay cuts as the school faces more than $18 million in lost revenue from the cancellation of its spring semester.
The University of Cincinnati cut its men's soccer program, but so far, no one in the MAC has eliminated a team. The NCAA mandates schools must field 16 varsity teams to be considered Division I.
Bowling Green's budget will be smaller than in previous years, though the university's departments remain in the fact-gathering stage about where to make reductions. Through a spokesman, Bowling Green director of athletics Bob Moosbrugger declined to comment.
Further complicating matters is the fallout from the end of the 2019-20 seasons. The NCAA has allowed schools free reign to allow another year of eligibility for spring sports athletes who had their seasons ended by the spread of coronavirus, but left the next course of action up to the schools themselves.
Bowling Green has not committed to a decision publicly, though the entire Ivy League rejected a one-time exemption for fifth-year seniors, and Wisconsin also said it will not extend another year of grant-in-aid to its spring sports seniors.
In March, Moosbrugger estimated that if every spring sports athlete were to return to BGSU, funding just spring scholarships across the next four years would cost about $1.3 million.
Enrollment also will play an outsized role in what comes next for every university, but especially those in the Group of Five conferences like the MAC, in which the school-sponsored sports teams are heavily reliant on mandatory student fees that are collected with tuition. Half of BGSU’s sports revenue comes from student fees.
In addition to a 20 percent reduction in state subsidies, BGSU also is bracing for a possible enrollment decline. College enrollment tends to increase with high unemployment, currently in double-digits and climbing, but the pandemic's impact on university enrollment — and whether students prefer close-to-home options or resume in-person instruction next fall — remains to be seen.
In March, Moosbrugger said the final changes to state funding and enrollment "are big pieces of information we don't have.”
The university's board of trustees plans to meet remotely on May 15.
First Published April 30, 2020, 9:20 p.m.
