We are focused on the upcoming 2008-09 academic year and are working hard to prepare ourselves for our most successful year on many fronts. Rather than answer specific email questions, I thought I would provide an update to our great fans on broad topics that are sent to me via email or asked of me while traveling. I will try to limit these topics to areas that I think are of special importance for UW. Check back periodically for updates...

Facility improvements update and timeline

As many of you know who are attempting construction in Laramie or Wyoming presently, stating a timeline is high-risk as construction in Wyoming in today's market is very flexible.

As of July of 2008 finish work to the Indoor Practice Facility is being completed, and we should have all the issues ironed-out by the first of August. The IPF is a fantastic facility that will dramatically enhance our training opportunities for football and soccer in particular, but all sports will benefit.

We have exhausted the state match of $16 million that the Governor and the Legislature provided. This money combined with our donor contributions gave us $32 million, of which nearly 50 percent has been spent on the Madrid Sports Complex, Indoor Practice Facility, Jonah Field, upper concourse renovations to War Memorial Stadium and other projects. Remaining funds will be spent on the next phase of improvements to War Memorial Stadium, which include suites, club seats, entry-way, and lower concourse renovations on the east side. The last phase of the project will be completed by the fall of 2010 and we will begin that phase in the spring of 2009 at the latest.

Due to dramatic increases in construction costs between 2004 and 2010, the $32 million will not cover every project that was included in the original Strategic Plan. At this point we do not have a funding plan for the lower concourse renovations on the west side, as well as the Tennis Facility for Cowgirl Tennis. We are not abandoning these projects, but we will need to develop a different strategy to get them both accomplished. We have exhausted the facility match for athletics at this time.

Budget for athletics

UW Athletics will spend slightly more than $22 million next year. Roughly 50 percent of our budget is self-generated and 50 percent is provided to us from the State of Wyoming. The budget is made of many pieces but the three areas that cover most of the budget are sport services $9.0 million (travel, recruiting, equipment, guarantees, etc), personnel services $8.3 million and scholarships $4.2 million.

For years, the University has attempted to operate athletics with a budget that does not exceed 50 percent state funding.

With respect to where our budget needs to be going forward, I believe that we must move Wyoming Athletics to the $25 million range as soon as possible. The Mountain West Conference average was $28 million in 2007, but based upon the number of sports we offer, combined with our tuition and fee structure, I think we can be really successful in the $25 to 26 million range. We must increase our revenue streams in the areas of annual giving, ticket revenue (suites and club seats revenue), sponsorship, et. al.

The current fiscal year budget will be extremely challenging due to the dramatic increases in team travel and recruiting travel due to escalating fuel costs. The increased costs of travel will also impact our ability to secure non-conference opponents to come to Laramie as teams are looking for bus trips rather than flight and bus trips. We believe that it is realistic to expect travel expenses to increase by 20 percent this year and who knows where and when they will finally stabilize.

MWC 10-Year Anniversary

The Mountain West Conference will be celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2008-09. The MWC has provided a great group of traditional rivals for the Wyoming Cowboys and Cowgirls to compete against. If you go back to the reformation of the Western Athletic Conference and its 16-team membership, we had lost so many traditional games that our fans love to see. The Presidents of the original eight schools had great vision in putting this group together as we have maintained our traditions, but we have also carefully added programs where they thought they could bring some credibility. If you go to the conference web site - themwc.com you will find it interesting to read about the history of the conference.

Two years back, the MWC branched out and "created" its own television package that today includes CBS College Sports, The Mtn. and VERSUS to carry MWC events. The past two years have been difficult for all parties as the conference and its partners have worked diligently to enhance distribution of the three networks, with special focus on distribution of The Mtn. On Aug. 27, DIRECTV will begin airing The Mtn., and that will provide a significant step in securing the type of distribution all members of the MWC need for alumni, fans and recruits.