WIAC plans to reduce costs

Oshkosh - Neither the hardwood, nor the grid iron are immune to the current economic climate.

"The biggest problem is trying to find dollars in a weak economy," says UW-Oshkosh athletic director Al Ackerman. "That's the number one issue."

Fundraising will become even more important considering the WIAC's recent announcement to reduce costs by 250,000 dollars.

The conference plans to do that by establishing later start times for contests, limiting postseason tournament brackets, and restricting teams to taking no more than one trip during the regular season outside the Midwest.

"One of the early goals of this cost reduction plan was to implement cuts across the entire conference so that the individual institutions didn't necessarily have to implement cuts on their own that would put them at a competitive disadvantage within the conference," says WIAC Commissioner Gary Karner.

For UW-Oshkosh that means around 15,000 dollars in cuts, but there are things the program is unwilling to shave.

UW-Oshkosh has 11 women's varsity sports teams and 10 men's. Ackerman tells me the main priority in the midst of this cost reduction plan is to keep that number of varsity sports intact.

"We came up with what we feel are budget cuts that won't decimate any of our programs," says Ackerman. "Does it change how we do business? Absolutely."

Should the economy turn around, the WIAC will look to re-institute a bigger budget. However, if the economy continues downward, more cuts could come.