Tucson Region

Pima CC reshapes athletics program

Pima Community College is trying to field a more streamlined athletics program, one that's focused on local athletes, stresses classroom performance and will operate without taxpayer dollars for the first time. And, coaches hope, remain competitive. Next week the college's governing board is expected to endorse the changes by approving a mission statement that stresses academic achievement, along with principles that include focusing recruitment on Pima County and Southern Arizona. "This is a stand for athletics that everyone in Pima County should be proud of," Chancellor Roy Flores said after he met with most of the coaches Thursday afternoon. "It's clear that our focus is going to be on serving the needs of local folks." The meeting, which was closed to the public, seemed to dispel some early concerns. The coaches emerged after more than an hour saying they could field competitive teams with primarily local athletes. "It's just a clarification of a unique philosophy of athletics and education and how they combine and what their purposes are. I think it's important, anywhere you go, to understand the philosophies of your employers and to support that," said football coach Jeff Scurran, whose team has drawn players from throughout the country in the program's first three years. College officials are still developing next year's budget, but Flores said he hopes the proceeds of a new student services fee the board approved last month could cover the entire cost of the athletic program, which is an estimated $1.2 million. "I'd be surprised if in fact tax dollars are used after July 1," he said. Starting this fall, all students will pay a student services fee of $2.50 for each credit hour that will also help support services like counseling. Flores said tuition would have risen that much anyway to cover rising costs, but the new fee creates a separate revenue for student activities. Board Member Scott Stewart said the fee only makes it easier to account for the money. In voting for it, Stewart said the new fee removed the "lightning rod" of having programs like athletics and other activities that some critics consider not essential to education paid out of the general fund. Stewart described the changes as pre-emptive, rather than in response to a particular problem. "We do not want to go down the road that a number of other colleges and universities have done that sports are more important than the academic performance of their students." The fee wouldn't pump additional money into sports, Flores said. "All we're doing is being upfront with the public that we have these programs, how much they cost and the source of funds," he said. Marc Paley, president of the college's inter-campus council and the Downtown Campus' outgoing student body president, said students should have been consulted before a new fee was imposed. "The idea that more money would be going for counseling is great. I understand the college is strapped for cash," he said. "But I am 100 percent disappointed with the idea that student leaders wouldn't be consulted." Paley, who graduates next week, said he has yet to attend a sporting event. "I think that the people who are interested in sports at Pima represent a niche of the overall population," he said. By July 1, the coaches at the West and East campuses will report directly to an athletic director accountable to Suzanne Miles, the college's new executive vice chancellor for academic affairs. The coaches currently report to deans at their respective campuses. Flores said he couldn't predict any cost savings but said officials would "really understand athletics in a more detailed and profound way" over the next year. Doug Holland, the East Campus' athletic director, said the change should help better define the athletic department's philosophy. "I think one of the things, with East (Campus) separating from West, it's maybe made it difficult to define what we are. I think the drive is to have a central athletic director that would coordinate both campuses, and all the ideas would fall under one leadership. I think that's a great idea," he said. Mary Retterer, the East Campus president who brought football to the college, said the changes make sense. "It's a way of getting control over something that can be unwieldy as the campus gets bigger. This way we're all doing things in the same way," she said. Increased enrollment at the East Campus initially helped pay for the football program because student growth triggers more state funding, she said, but Arizona's budget crisis has dried up that source. She said many other schools across the country use student services fees to pay for athletics and other activities. Retterer sees football as worth the investment. The East Campus, which opened in 1980, had been the county's best-kept secret until the team took the field in 2001. "It helped people know we're here," said Retterer, who is leaving Pima after graduation to lead a Redding, Calif., community college district. "The first year we had Storm Athletics, our enrollment went up by 600 students and our participation in student clubs tripled." Football is also the largest of the college's 17 intercollegiate athletic programs, drawing more than 120 players each summer when training starts. And Retterer said she believes it will draw bigger crowds as the team plays at different high schools, also exposing younger students to the college. Most of Pima's head coaches hold other jobs. Records show most received $4,961 for their coaching duties this year but also held college jobs that ranged from part-time instructor to a division dean earning nearly $80,000. "We don't have TV contracts. It's not about that," Retterer said. "It's about me shaking hands with my athletes at the TCC on May 13 when I give them their diplomas. That's what it's all about."