Junior college history leaves some DSC coaches with lower salaries
Whitney Phillips and Tyler Roberts
Issue date: 11/16/09 Section: DSC News
Administrators in Dixie State College's athletic department are still seeing remnants of the school's junior college days in the lack of full-time head coaching positions.
Of the 10 intercollegiate sports teams on campus, only the men's basketball, women's basketball, football and baseball teams have full-time head coaches. The rest of the head coaches serve in part-time positions. Jeff Cluff, coordinator of internal operations for the athletic department, said that fact is largely due to the college's history as a junior college. He said the athletic teams that produced the most income for the college had the most funding and had budgetary allowances to hire full-time coaches. Those budgets carried over as the department went to NCAA Division II athletics.
"In junior college, it's generally the revenue-generating sports that get the most attention," he said. "[Funding for each team] is based on the necessity and history of the program."
Among the four full-time head coaches, there is a significant gap in salaries. Those coaches make anywhere from about $47,000 to about $82,000 annually. The men's basketball head coach is at the top of that scale, and the head coach for baseball is at the lower end. Cluff said that also has to do with the teams' performances in bringing in money.
"Our men's basketball team means more to our department in terms of generating revenue," Cluff said.
Still, the full-time head coaching positions aren't based only on the amount of revenue brought in by the team. Full-time positions are also based on the coaches' additional responsibilities. Cluff said since there is a limit to how many staff members the department can afford to hire, most head coaching positions come with other obligations to athletics.
"If there's one thing we have at DSC, it's our facilities," Cluff said. "If there's something we don't have, it's a full staff."
Specifically, Jon Judkins, the men's basketball head coach, manages all events that take place in Burns Arena. Angela Kristensen, head coach of the women's basketball team, is in charge of DSC's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, through which athletes perform community-oriented service projects. Baseball head coach Mike Littlewood is the groundskeeper for Hurst Field. Ron Haun, the head football coach, is the only full-time coach without additional responsibilities at the college.
Of the 10 intercollegiate sports teams on campus, only the men's basketball, women's basketball, football and baseball teams have full-time head coaches. The rest of the head coaches serve in part-time positions. Jeff Cluff, coordinator of internal operations for the athletic department, said that fact is largely due to the college's history as a junior college. He said the athletic teams that produced the most income for the college had the most funding and had budgetary allowances to hire full-time coaches. Those budgets carried over as the department went to NCAA Division II athletics.
"In junior college, it's generally the revenue-generating sports that get the most attention," he said. "[Funding for each team] is based on the necessity and history of the program."
Among the four full-time head coaches, there is a significant gap in salaries. Those coaches make anywhere from about $47,000 to about $82,000 annually. The men's basketball head coach is at the top of that scale, and the head coach for baseball is at the lower end. Cluff said that also has to do with the teams' performances in bringing in money.
"Our men's basketball team means more to our department in terms of generating revenue," Cluff said.
Still, the full-time head coaching positions aren't based only on the amount of revenue brought in by the team. Full-time positions are also based on the coaches' additional responsibilities. Cluff said since there is a limit to how many staff members the department can afford to hire, most head coaching positions come with other obligations to athletics.
"If there's one thing we have at DSC, it's our facilities," Cluff said. "If there's something we don't have, it's a full staff."
Specifically, Jon Judkins, the men's basketball head coach, manages all events that take place in Burns Arena. Angela Kristensen, head coach of the women's basketball team, is in charge of DSC's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, through which athletes perform community-oriented service projects. Baseball head coach Mike Littlewood is the groundskeeper for Hurst Field. Ron Haun, the head football coach, is the only full-time coach without additional responsibilities at the college.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
paper
posted 11/25/09 @ 5:38 PM MST
This artilce is very interesting.
Post a Comment