The University of Arkansas Board of Trustees on Wednesday agreed to provide additional funding for the school's athletics department.
According to Whole Hog Sports, the resolution "requires the university give up the annual transfer from the athletics department to campus, which was an average of $4.4 million per year in the past three fiscal years; asks athletics director Hunter Yurachek and chancellor Charles Robinson to create a plan for the university to provide $6 million annually in new operating resources to the athletics department; and directs the athletics department to “create an additional $5 million annually through either operational efficiencies or new revenue” to be invested into a football-specific 'All-In Fund.' "
In total, the components of the resolution combine to provide roughly an additional $15 million for the athletics department on an annual basis with no expiration date. The amount can be adjusted in future years for inflation.
While the resolution doesn't require any new student fees, chancellor Charles Robinson admitted one may be necessary.
“I just don't know where I would get the $6 million from,” Robinson said. “There's just no magic budget bucket out there, so I'd have to figure that out.”
Such a fee would have to be voted on by the board of trustees.
Emails between Robinson, president Jay Silveria and athletic director Hunter Yurachek — obtained by Whole Hog Sports through a Freedom of Information Act request — revealed that Robinson was previously "staunchly opposed" to any additional students fees.
“I remain unconvinced that the university needs to do more than it is currently doing to support Razorback Athletics,” Robinson wrote to Silveria on Nov. 21. “I have shared with you the fact that we support Razorback Athletics in several ways that either reduce their expenses or enhance their ability to generate revenue....Although I cannot completely shield our students from increasing tuition and fees costs, I have a responsibility to mitigate those increases with sound fiscal management.
“Football is very important, and we should work harder to make it successful. However, we must look at the full landscape of university needs and fund appropriately. And we must never unnecessarily tax students and their parents for costs that we can and should manage better.”
