Rutgers President Plans To Name CFO For Athletics Department
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Rutgers Planning On Hiring CFO
For School's Athletics Department |
Rutgers Univ. (RU) President Richard McCormick last Friday said that he "expects to name within two weeks a new [CFO] for the athletics program and acknowledged the transition to big-time sports could have gone more smoothly," according to Ana Alaya in a front-page piece for the Newark STAR-LEDGER. McCormick "detailed steps [RU] is taking to address problems in the athletics department, including a new manual for policies and procedures and new rules covering sponsorship agreements and contracts." McCormick: "It is clear that our success, moving into the big time, has brought growing pains. There are areas where we should have done things differently and more transparently." McCormick said that the "'intense focus' on sports in past months, including fundraising shortfalls for the expansion of the football stadium and a secret contract for [football coach Greg Schiano], have been a time for reflection 'and a time for considering afresh how [RU] is perceived and where it is going'" (Newark STAR-LEDGER, 9/20).
ATHLETICS AID: In Newark, Sherman & Margolin in a front-page story reported New Jersey state lawmakers over the past four years "have steered $2.25[M] in special grants to the [RU] athletics program, even as academic aid ... was being slashed." The funding of around $500,000 per year was "tacked onto the state budget without public scrutiny," and the money was "channeled directly to [RU's] football team and athletics department and kept separate from the school's annual aid package." While there is "nothing illegal about the grants," critics "question the secrecy surrounding them." Critics also have said that the special grants "raise more questions about the impact of big-time college football" at RU. State Sen. Kevin O'Toole: "I'm a big supporter of [RU] athletics. I understand the need for money. But when tuition is going up 10[%], you have to think twice before adding it to athletics" (Newark STAR-LEDGER, 9/21).
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