UW-Eau Claire’s Athletic Department will get more student money next year to cover rising costs, while a decade-old budget deficit looms.

 
Athletics has been running about $90,000 in the red since 2002, but will be granted nearly a million dollars next year to keep up with costs that Director of Athletics Scott Kilgallon said are imminent.

 
Kilgallon pitched a three-year plan to Student Senate that could clear the deficit, although he said it may take longer than three years to break even.
“We haven’t continued the debt cycle that was there in previous years,” Kilgallon said. “We do the best we can, with the understanding that we’re trying to make the department work.”

 
Senate Finance Commission director Tyler Will said although there’s a long-standing deficit in the athletic department, Senate will grant athletics about $950,000 this year — $5,000 less than their request — up from last year’s $912,000 grant.

 
“We were impressed with the way they presented it,” Will said. “They’re not trying to hide their deficit. It’s there, they’re aware of it. It’s the cooperation, which helps a long way.”

 
This year’s funding increase will cover three football graduate assistant positions, university-mandated salary, benefit increases and increased officiating fees,
Kilgallon said.

 
Athletic funds come from three main streams — state, segregated fees and fundraising.

 
Each Eau Claire student pays segregated fees, a charge tacked on to tuition going towards campus organized activities, including the athletic department, which Student Senate doles out.

 
The athletic department also relies on fundraising to cover about a quarter of its budget. Kilgallon said because fundraising has held steady over the last few years, surplus fundraising money will be spent on working down the deficit.

 
Eau Claire men’s track head coach Chip Schneider requires each of his athletes to send out three brochures asking friends and family for money to support campus athletics. These efforts rake in about $10,000 per year, he said.

 
Schnieder said most track expenses are constant. But this year, he wants to buy a new pole vaulting pad, which could cost upwards of $15,000. Even hurdles are expensive. A low-end hurdle can cost as much as $350.

 
Though he’s used to fundraising and tight budgets, Schnieder said he’s still able to attract good coaches, although he can’t pay them much. Athletes are a different story.

 
“If anything, less funds affects our ability to recruit high-caliber athletes,” Schneider said.

 
Head coach of the Eau Claire men’s hockey team Matt Loen holds an annual golf outing fundraiser, and is planning a beer and wine tasting for next year.

 
Coaching a national championship-winning hockey team helps pull in more money, he said, but he still expects athletes to sell sweatshirts and other apparel to raise funds.

 
One of the biggest obstacles to a balanced budget is rising travel costs, Kilgallon said.

 
Wisconsin mandated safety checks on buses in 2005 after a vehicle carrying a Chippewa Falls marching band crashed on its way back from a school event, killing two teachers and three students. Each school must pay for these inspections, Kilgallon said.

 
The UW System also requires universities to use the same bus company on trips, which increased travel costs by 30 percent at Eau Claire, Kilgallon said.

 
“Travel is what really eats up your budget,” Kilgallon said. “Thirty percent increase is huge and you’re really dealing with the same budget.”

 
Sports teams are required to fundraise to cover trips outside non-adjacent states. Kilgallon said he also outlawed overnight trips to save money.

 
Schneider said track teams take trips to Florida to practice, but travel is only open to students who can pay out of pocket.

 
These measures make giving money to a department that’s running in the red easier, Will said.

 
“They have fundraised more than what they’re planning for,” Will said. “That would show they’re planning on working their deficit down. I am confident they’ll work it down. I’m not sure it will be in the next three years.”