The University of Maine’s Gender Equity Plan, its road map to achieve a more equitable environment in athletics, still must travel over a bumpy road to reach its goal of Title IX compliance by 1998.

On Tuesday, the university released an optimistic two-year progress report on its plan, which began in 1995, along with the announcement that women’s ice hockey would be upgraded to varsity status, increasing participation and scholarship opportunities for women.

UMaine President Fred Hutchinson requested the status report several months ago and the university began discussion on whether to upgrade women’s field hockey last winter.

The university release noted that the report is not related to the federal complaint filed on June 2 by the National Women’s Law Center against UMaine and 24 other universities for discriminating in awarding scholarships to women.

However, Deborah Brake, senior council for the National Women’s Law Center, was not impressed by the university’s news. Brake said while the university plans to make headway in satisfying Title IX over the next year, that’s not soon enough.

Title IX requires achieving “substantial proportionality” in funding and participation, which means the proportions in those areas must match the percentage of undergraduate men and women.

“From the face of it, it’s inadequate. There is still a huge gap between the participation and the scholarships,” Brake said. “I notice their adding a sport for women in ’97-98, but they’re waiting a year to begin scholarships. I don’t think there is any reason to wait.”

Brake said she is aware of budgetary constraints, but said the issue of gender equity was more pressing than the concern to cut costs.

When told UMaine plans in the next year to bring scholarships from 33 percent to 40 percent – just short of the 43 percent enrollment percentage that is the university’s gender equity marker – Brake said the gap should be closed quicker.

“The gap should have been closed 25 years ago,” Brake said. “There are ways to close it faster. They’re waiting a year to give scholarships to women’s ice hockey. I don’t know why they’re waiting a year. Title IX is a problem [now].”

Still, Tuesday UMaine officials resounded with pride in their success and hope in their ability to cut costs in the years ahead.

“Athletic gender equity continues to be an institutional priority,” Hutchinson said in the release. “It is the law and it is the right thing to do. I am gratified to note the progress that has been made in this improvement area, especially in the last two years.”

UMaine Director of Athletics Sue Tyler said in the release that the university has made “every effort to enhance our programs without the need to eliminate opportunities for male or female students.”

Tyler was out of town and could not be reached for comment.

The revised budget included in the progress report allows for growth for women’s sports, but it also forces men’s sports to work on cost containment. University officials said the end result will be a more equitable environment for women athletes.

“We planned to stop and reassess at this point, to take a snapshot of what we’ve done. I feel really good about it,” said Sue Estler, UMaine’s director of equal opportunity and the plan’s author.

“Women’s ice hockey is a substantial new piece, one that ties in with the others in a significant way. It allows more women to compete and allows for more scholarships, a concern of Title IX, and it fits into Maine culture.”

Estler said internal reallocation of funds was inevitable.

“For years men’s sports benefited from the limited funds committed to women’s sports. Women’s sports were subsidizing men’s,” said Estler. “This will even that out a little.”

Give and take

According to the progress report, women’s sports have gained ground, from receiving 28 percent of the financial pie in 1995 to a projected 33 percent this year.

The percentage of scholarship money provided to women has also risen, from 26 percent of the total in 1994-95 to a projected 39 percent in 1997-98.

The proposed goal is to provide women sports with 38 percent funding and 44 percent financial aid by 2000. To achieve that, women’s sports are expected to get a boost in financing over the next three years while men’s sports take a cut.

Five women’s sports will lose funds next year, while ice hockey, track, and cross country gain funds. Then, in 1999, every women’s sport but ice hockey is expected to receive increases ranging from $3,000 to $10,000.

Meanwhile, eight of nine men’s sports will see cuts next year.

If UMaine sticks to its projected budgets, the men’s ice hockey team will be hit the hardest, losing an estimated $32,500 next year, while basketball takes the next biggest cut, $16,700.

The plan also proposes keeping the budgets of all nine men’s sports the same over the next three years, which doesn’t allow for inflation.

UMaine baseball coach Paul Kostacopoulos was not concerned by the cuts – or surprised. Kostacopoulos is confident the quality of his program will not suffer. He said the change will be in an increased effort to be frugal.

“In my humble opinion, we have to tighten our belt and be more creative in how we spend money,” Kostacopoulos said. “The overriding issue is making sure players have a good experience. Our administration is not going to diminish the experience for our kids.”

Kostacopoulos said he will find creative ways to save by looking for support from the team’s Easton bats and balls contract and finding the best shoe deal for his program, if it doesn’t aleady have it.

Dino Mattessich, UMaine’s senior associate athletic director, said meeting the projected budget figures will be difficult, especially considering Maine’s location and conference obligations. However, Mattessich said that with the university’s commitment to providing an equitable environment for women athletes, UMaine had little choice.

“The key from an operating budget standpoint is to make sure we are enhancing women’s sports through the levels they need to be enhanced. It’s not about reducing the men’s budgets,” Mattessich said. “It’s more about making realistic projections and then inflating women’s budgets accordingly. Obviously, the question is, is it built in for inflation?”

The answer is no. But Mattessich said the combined efforts from coaches and university administrators will help to overcome the crunch. He said UMaine’s focus will be on cost containment, while increased funds will be expected from both the academic and athletic sides.

“By no means will this address one department, one sport, or one individual. It’s a collaborative effort,” Mattessich said. “Gender equity is an institutional issue – not an athletic one. Funding will have to come from several different sources, one being the university.”

That reality is a divergence from the first principle listed in the 1995 Gender Equity Plan: that the intent is to fund the plan “without impacting the budgets of the university’s academic units.”

Hutchinson approved giving $160,000 from institutional funds to women’s ice hockey to start the program. Hutchinson also noted in the press release that “like gender equity efforts in general, funding for the women’s ice hockey would come from a combination of sources.”

UMaine chief financial officer Larry Kelly said the amount of institutional support going to the women’s ice hockey program was unusual, but, given the funds were for implementing a new program, there was no other choice but to look to institutional funding.

“It is [unusual]. But we don’t have anything in the recent past to compare to a new sport starting up,” Kelly said.

Future funds

Stacey Livingston, who coached the UMaine women’s hockey club team last year and helped lobby for its varsity status, said having a varsity team will fuel the present hockey craze in the state and, in time, result in a new stream of ticket sales.

“The core interest right now is around college women. That will draw younger kids who want to strive to be in the Olympics as well,” Livingston said. “I think over time when the sport grows, when the Olympics come, there will be a great explosion and girls will play who never thought they could.”

Livingston said when women’s hockey is played in the next Olympics for the first time, it will educate the country. She sees women’s hockey eventually drawing more than the few hundred who now attend league games.

In 1996, fund raising at UMaine wasn’t what the university hoped, Estler said. In 1997, fund raising was a boom, allowing the university to achieve its goals in funding women’s sports.

However, university officials are counting on growing revenues from fund raising, ticket sales, and corporate sponsors to continue improvements in women’s sports.

“Now we have corporate sponsorship programs in place. That wasn’t in the picture before,” Estler said. “And the adjustment in the gifts and the overall balance of endowment income is now showing [an increase] of dollar flow.”

Mattessich expects there to be a steady growth of income from gate receipts, corporate sponsorship, and fund raising.

“The hope is that men’s basketball will take off and start producing more revenues. We’re excited about those prospects,” Mattessich said. “Our eye is on a combination of growth and reduction, cost containment. By no means is this a situation that is well-funded. We’ve identified what our needs are and now it’s a matter of finding support to make it happen.”