{"id":72350,"date":"2016-08-18T22:45:02","date_gmt":"2016-08-19T03:45:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.uscho.com\/?p=72204"},"modified":"2020-08-24T17:12:30","modified_gmt":"2020-08-24T22:12:30","slug":"very-very-trying-times-financially-put-future-of-alaska-alaska-anchorage-programs-in-question","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2016\/08\/18\/very-very-trying-times-financially-put-future-of-alaska-alaska-anchorage-programs-in-question\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Very, very trying times’ financially put future of Alaska, Alaska-Anchorage programs in question"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Alaska and Alaska-Anchorage have been together in the WCHA since 2013 (photo: Sam Wasson).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The elimination of men’s hockey programs at Alaska and Alaska-Anchorage were among options presented by the state’s university system to address a budget crisis.<\/p>\n

Alaska-Anchorage athletic director Keith Hackett emphasized at a news conference Thursday that no decisions have yet been made about program changes.<\/p>\n

But Hackett also said the schools are in “very, very trying times” and face “significant challenges” in all campus financing matters.<\/p>\n

In Anchorage, the athletic department is facing a budget cut of $1.7 million in general funding from the state in the 2017-18 fiscal year. That’s nearly one-third of the money the department gets from the state, and 16 percent of the overall $10.5 million athletics budget.<\/p>\n

The budget for the Seawolves’ hockey program last season was $1.9 million, Hackett said.<\/p>\n

Variations on three options were released Thursday as part of the University of Alaska System’s Strategic Pathways reports<\/a> on finding more cost-efficient approaches to higher education.<\/p>\n

They are:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Elimination of one or both Alaska athletics programs.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Combining the athletics programs from the two campuses, which are separated by more than 350 road miles, in a so-called consortium model.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Replacing programs that compete at the Division I level with Division II sports.<\/p>\n

The last option could mean both UAA and UAF lose their hockey programs, or UAF keeps hockey while UAA drops it.<\/p>\n

Hackett said it isn’t certain that the system’s Board of Regents will select one of those options or pick another direction.<\/p>\n

See the full report with explanations of all options here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Hackett said that in Anchorage, 3 percent of the total university budget goes to athletics. It’s 2 percent in Fairbanks. That’s compared to a national average of 6 percent, he said.<\/p>\n

“We’re not nearly as costly as other institutions, but nobody else is in the situation that Alaska is in,” Hackett said. “It’s a very, very troubling and challenging thing we have to talk about. But I know this is what the new Alaska looks like until we figure out our budget circumstances.”<\/p>\n

The state of Alaska has been hit hard by falling oil prices, resulting in a $3.2 billion budget hole<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Athletics is going to feel the pinch, but both campuses as a whole will as well.<\/p>\n

“I think there’s going to be significant change on our campus,” Hackett said. “All programs are going to be affected.”<\/p>\n

Fairbanks has sponsored hockey continuously since 1980 and has been a Division I program since 1985. When the CCHA dissolved after the 2012-13 season, the Nanooks joined the WCHA.<\/p>\n

Anchorage joined the Division I ranks in 1979 and has played in the WCHA since 1993.<\/p>\n

A Board of Regents decision on the future of hockey and athletics isn’t expected until the fall, Hackett said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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