UT cuts athletic costs by eliminating jobs

Posted: Friday, April 20, 2012 7:00 pm

KNOXVILLE (AP) — The University of Tennessee is eliminating 17 full-time positions in the athletic department as part of a reorganization designed to save about $2.5 million.
The school said in a news release earlier this week that the previously separate men’s and women’s athletic departments will be consolidated.
The 17 positions will be dropped effective June 1, saving $1 million. A school spokesman did not return a phone call asking how many full-time employees will be left in the department.
The university said it will also save some $850,000 by eliminating unfilled positions, resignations, retirements and other terminations. It said another $625,000 will be saved through reductions in the number of student employees: managers, graduate assistants and interns.
“It is important to note, however, that none of the financial decisions made will have a negative impact on the competitiveness of our individual sport programs,” the news release said. “If anything, an efficient and financially sound athletics department will rise to meet the needs and challenges of our sport programs and their student-athletes in a more effective manner.
“These decisions will not cut into the fiber of our pursuit of comprehensive excellence.”
The school said consolidating the men’s and women’s departments is designed to provide “a clear direction.”
The statement from the university said the school has more employees in the athletic department than those at peer institutions in the Southeastern Conference and elsewhere. It also acknowledged that some functions in the past had been duplicated.
The restructuring plan has been studied for several months.

Published in The Messenger 4.20.12