Rutgers AD Julie Hermann enters her second year in leading an athletic department that "faced its share of adversity" in her first year, and "faces a similar set of challenges in the year ahead," according to Keith Sargeant of the Newark STAR-LEDGER. Hermann said that the biggest issue continues to be "how to improve the Rutgers athletics department from a financial standpoint." For the third time in four years, Rutgers "topped all other athletic departments nationwide in subsidies received," needing $36.3M to balance its $76.6M budget during FY '13-14. Hermann said that her "primary focus this past year was to raise money to support her department's operational budget." Sargeant notes Rutgers President Robert Barchi on Thursday is "scheduled to unveil" the '15 Rutgers Physical Master Plan, part of which is "expected to include details of how the school intends to upgrade" its athletics facilities. Hermann acknowledged that once the concept is presented, it will "make her job easier to raise the funds necessary to support the various construction projects." Hermann: "You have to go out to your donors and show them what your concepts are.'' She added, "We've got a 5-to-10 year plan on what we have to build around each and every sport. ... You don't just jump into a league, especially the Big Ten, and say, 'Poof, we're successful.' In fact, it's totally the opposite. You've gotta build the infrastructure and that fosters an opportunity to compete at that level. We've got a big on-ramp into the Big Ten to get that done" (Newark STAR-LEDGER, 6/16).
