CEDAR FALLS – In an effort to balance a budget shortfall that is expected to exceed $1 million resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, the University of Northern Iowa Department of Athletics is implementing several cost-saving measures which began July 1.
UNI Athletics staff and coaches will take temporary salary reductions for fiscal year ’21, as part of expense saving measures. Additionally, all contract incentives for head coaches and Director of Athletics David Harris have been suspended for the fiscal year.
“We understand that these temporary reductions will be challenging for our staff and coaches, and we feel fortunate to have a team of staff members that understand the unprecedented situation that we face,” Harris said. “Our goals are to minimize the impact to our student-athletes, protect our human resources and emerge from this pandemic on strong fiscal footing. Our staff has proven that we can adapt and overcome challenges in previous years, and this year will likely be our most significant challenge to date. However, we will face this challenge together and help our student-athletes succeed. We look forward to another successful year in 2020-2021.”
Salary reductions impact all employees making over $41,000 annually. The reductions begin at 12.5% for the highest-paid employees to 5% on the lowest tiers.
Estimated revenue reductions include NCAA and Missouri Valley Conference distributions, university general fund and student fee support as well as ticket and concession revenue based on reduced capacity in arenas because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The department will release information on guidelines and protocols for fans attending games during the upcoming year in the near future.
