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NIC to cut sports budget by $1.8 million

NIC to cut sports budget by .8 million


COEUR d’ALENE — In addition to eliminating the men’s and women’s golf teams, North Idaho College will cut budgets for all remaining athletic programs in an effort to reduce athletic spending by approximately $1.8 million over the course of the next two years.

University leaders detailed their plan to rein in NIC’s athletic budget — which grew from $2.2 million to $6.2 million over the past two school years — during the regular meeting of the board of directors on Wednesday evening.

NIC President Nick Swayne said administrators “looked at all scenarios” to cut the athletics budget to a point of sustainability without cutting any programs, but it proved impossible.

“Cutting a million dollars from next year’s athletics budget involves making tough decisions, and tough decisions usually involve people,” he said. “It’s not that no one likes the golf team. It’s not that we took this decision lightly. »

The multimillion-dollar increase in NIC’s athletic budget is tied to the college’s return to the National Junior College Athletic Association, as well as the decision by former administrators Todd Banducci, Greg McKenzie and Mike Wagoner to have the NIC covers tuition, fees, books, room. and boarding and one roundtrip flight for all student-athletes playing sports associated with the Scenic West Athletic Conference, regardless of the student’s residence.

These decisions have “imposed a multimillion-dollar burden on NIC’s budget and a substantial hidden tax on NIC’s academic and student support services,” according to a recent report from NIC’s accrediting body.

Swayne said all remaining programs would see significant budget cuts.

“Every sport pays a price,” he said.

In FY 2026, NIC plans to reduce the athletics budget by $1.5 million by doing the following:

• Reduce tuition and fee funding by 33% for all remaining teams ($478,720)
• Cut housing funding by 33% for all remaining teams ($408,000)
• No student trips home for all remaining teams ($81,600)
• Eliminate golf ($601,184)

NIC will cut an additional $296,000 from the athletics budget in FY 2027, reducing tuition and fees funding by 9% and reducing housing funding by 17% for all teams . The college will also stop covering the cost of books for all student-athletes, saving $81,600.

Returning to the Northwest Athletic Conference to cut costs is not an option, administrators said.

“When we left NWAC, it was made clear to us that we were not welcome back,” said Alex Harris, NIC dean of students. “It was not a possibility for us to go back.”

In the two weeks since the NIC announced the decision to cut golf, more than 70 people have emailed the board expressing support for the program, administrator Tarie said Wednesday Zimmerman.

During the public comment period Wednesday, 17 community members urged administrators to step in and save golf, including NIC golf coach Russell Grove.

“It’s been a great program and has touched a lot of different lives,” said Grove, who has been coaching golf at NIC for 10 years. “It’s really hard to see this go away. I feel like not enough time and effort was put into this decision, and it was a bit spontaneous and left us coaches in a bind.

Grove declined to comment on the matter after Wednesday night’s meeting and did not respond to multiple requests for comment Thursday.

Bill Goyen said he thought the college treated the decision in a “cold manner.”

“They weren’t looking to come from all over the world to NIC to get a top-notch education,” he said of NIC golf players. “They wanted to learn more about the golf business from one of the best golf teachers in the Northwest, Russell Grove.”

Coeur d’Alene resident Cole Jaworski played Division I golf as a student and now works at Avondale Golf Club. He said the NIC golf program is important to local youth.

“I remember growing up and seeing all the golfers at NIC, and it gave me something to strive for,” he said. “It seemed possible that a kid from Coeur d’Alene could go play golf.”

Of the 24 student-athletes playing golf for NIC, only one is from Kootenai County. Two others are from southern Idaho. The rest are international or foreign student-athletes.

At most community colleges, Harris said, coaches allocate most of the scholarships they have to a few high-level athletes, then fill out the roster with local and regional athletes. But by fully funding all student-athletes, NIC eliminated any incentive for local recruiting.

“It is not customary to fully fund all tuition, room and board for each athlete,” Harris said. “It just doesn’t happen.”

Zimmerman said the decision to eliminate golf at NIC is “heartbreaking,” but the current athletics budget is unsustainable.

“Taxpayers have had, for probably a year now, a heavy and overweight budget for athletics,” she said. “We have to bring him down.”

She suggested that NIC should prioritize recruiting local and regional student athletes.

“I don’t think, in many ways, it’s fair for Kootenai County taxpayers to pay for athletes to come here from so far away,” she said.

NIC President Nick Swayne
Russell Grove
Tarie Zimmerman