TUCSON - The Arizona Board of Regents unanimously approved an additional $200,000 to renovate the University's baseball stadium on Friday.
The extra money has come from gifts to ASU and will bring total renovation costs to more than $3 million. The regents approved the use at their meeting in Tucson.
Improvements to Packard Stadium on ASU's main campus were first approved by ABOR in April 2001. Since then, the playing field and electrical system have been upgraded, and a "walk of champions" has been completed.
Intercollegiate Athletics will pay for those changes, but the extra money approved Friday won't add to the department's $1.3 million debt.
This is another win for athletic director Gene Smith, who is still struggling with the remains of a $2.5 million deficit that accrued before he came to ASU in 2001.
After the 2002-03 academic year, the department's debt was slightly more than $1.3 million. ICA has projected a $125,000 drop in debt to less than $1.2 million following this academic year.
The evaluation of ASU's athletic debt was introduced to the regents as part of an annual review of all three Arizona universities' athletic programs.
"The Knight Commission released a report in June 2003 criticizing intercollegiate athletics on several fronts," said UA President Peter Likins. "Regents were concerned and asked athletic directors to come back [to report] once a year."
In January, Likins was appointed as the Pac-10 representative to the NCAA's Division I board of directors.
Likins told board members they needed to concern themselves with student-athlete welfare, though it could be difficult because of a time demand on students.
"It's difficult to regulate because the students don't want to be regulated," he said. "A really serious student athlete who's trying to make the Olympics as a swimmer wants to spend time in the pool, and when the NCAA or a bunch of regents tells them to get out of the pool, they don't want to get out of the pool."
Likins' position has him on the same team with ASU and NAU, working to improve graduation rates of student athletes and minimize athletic department debt.
Smith said the department's graduation rate following the 2002-03 year was the highest it has ever been: 65 percent. At NAU, that number is 61 percent and at UA, 60 percent.
Financially, some universities are more stable than others. The UA department is able to stand on its own without money from the state or tuition money.
"That's possible at the University of Arizona because of the financial success of the basketball program," Likins said.
"Also, we have 19 sports," he added. "At ASU, you have more sports, and so at ASU, the financial challenges are more difficult."
NAU is part of the Big Sky Conference. Its athletic programs are given less recognition and raise less money from donations and endorsements.
Reach the reporter at michael.miklofsky@asu.edu.
