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Putting the pieces together

Posted on | March 22, 2009 | 109 views |

Ohio State’s Athletics Department is a moneymaker.

It’s one of the few collegiate athletics programs in the country that operate in the black (although it faces a small deficit this year) and it ranked eighth overall in a Chronicle of Higher Education fundraising survey of 55 college programs in the six major conferences soliciting donations during 2007-08.

Were it not for the department’s desire to continuously support OSU programs and projects outside of athletics, it most assuredly would have ranked higher in the survey and not come close to being in the red this year.

But Associate Vice President and Athletics Director Gene Smith said it has long been a departmental philosophy to be involved in the academic side of OSU, even before he arrived here in 2005. And he is always looking for new ways to expand that involvement, whether it be functional or financial support.

“On both levels, we’re unique in the industry because we constantly understand and think and operate with the understanding we’re part of the university and we’re integrated,” Smith said. “We try not to make decisions in an athletic vacuum.

“And while we’re not the only athletics department to support its university, we’re unique among the 300-plus Division I schools. I can’t think of one that is like us relative to the financial support we transfer to the university. There are six to seven schools that are truly profitable, but they don’t search out like we do to try and fund areas of the university that are in need.”

The biggest recent example was the $9 million athletics donated to help the Thompson Library complete its renovation fund drive, which was possible thanks to the increased revenue from the creation of the Big Ten Network and the renegotiated Big Ten television contract with ABC/ESPN. Starting last fiscal year, the department will send $1 million each year to the campaign until its pledge has been met.

But the help didn’t end there; the department refers some long-time donors to other campaigns, such as the library campaign, often resulting in significant gifts.

“We work with different units on campus constantly,” Smith said. “The College of Business, the Medical Center, agriculture - anywhere we know a donor has interest beyond athletics and we’ll make a joint proposal to that donor.”

Another donor approached athletics about funding a communications program to help student-athletes with public speaking and career placement, including teaching interview skills. But instead of hiring an outside firm to develop it, Smith said he partnered with the Department of Communications to come up with a program that would be available to all students. He now sends athletes to the program, which is run by two communications faculty.

“Most athletic departments would try to create a program on their own or spend it outside the university,” Smith said. “But that’s not how we think, and we were able to benefit more than just the student-athletes by keeping the money within Ohio State.”

A little more than 22 percent of the athletics budget for fiscal year 2008 - or $25.8 million - is being returned to the university. The biggest expenditures are $13 million for athletic scholarship reimbursement and $5.1 million for athletics’ portion of OSU’s overhead costs.

But it’s some of the smaller line items that show just how much influence athletics has campuswide.

In FY 2007, athletics paid $50,000 for the Department of Public Safety to train a new police dog and purchase a specially outfitted vehicle for the canine unit.

“That was a huge thing for us,” Smith said, who added with a laugh, “and now we feel like we own our own dog.”

As part of its commitment related to the Big Ten Network this year, athletics paid WOSU Public Media $400,000 to cover production costs to develop campus programming for the network. That programming, however, also can be used by WOSU for its broadcasts as well as Web site content, essentially filling holes in the schedule and saving money for other projects.

“This generous support has allowed WOSU to produce a variety of programs focused on Ohio State research for the first time - from virtual surgery to polar research,” said Tom Rieland, WOSU Public Media’s general manager. ”Not only are we producing quality programming for Big Ten and WOSU distribution, but the segments are streamed online everywhere in the world. A piece we did on aquaculture research had 2,200 views on YouTube the first week we posted it.”

Since 1990 the Athletics Department has been sending the summer revenue generated by the OSU Golf Courses to the library’s operating budget - a much-needed $500,000 annual infusion.

Athletics also supports Ohio State’s student-run radio station, KBUX, with an $8,000 grant every year to help with operations.

And though the OSU Marching Band’s $200,000 operating budget is paid completely by athletics, the department sends another $100,000 to the School of Music in support of the band’s home.

“Culturally and philosophically, we fit that ‘one university’ model, and we fit it more than people realize,” Smith said. “Every opportunity we get, we think of other ways to integrate.”

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