The University of Akron announces it will cut baseball

The University of Akron (Ohio) announced today it would cut baseball as part of a three-year program to address the school’s financial troubles.

No other details were provided, and as of now it appears baseball is the only athletic program affected by the strategic plan. University officials said the plan was created after a nine-month review of the school’s finances. Overall, the program reduces expenses by $40 million, raises graduate tuition and undergraduate fees by $10 million and projects profitable enrollment growth in the third year of the plan by $10 million.

“The University of Akron’s future is bright, but first we need to fix its finances,” President Scott Scarborough said in a news release. “Our review indicates UA has a $60 million financial problem, and we have developed a three-year plan to solve that problem.”

There has not yet been word on coaching positions or the student-athletes, but this message was posted from the Zips’ Twitter account:

We would like to thank everyone who has ever supported Akron Baseball. Please keep our players and coaches in your thoughts.

— Akron Zips Baseball (@ZipsBB) July 10, 2015

According to the university, the $40 million in reductions include:

• Eliminating 215 positions via a planned reduction in workforce.  No faculty layoffs are occurring.
• Eliminating baseball.
• Eliminating non-academic programming in EJ Thomas Hall, except for rentals.
• Outsourcing dining services.
• Renegotiating healthcare plans.
• Increasing the cost share of retiree dependent coverage.
• Changing the University’s retire/rehire policy.
• Centralizing course scheduling.
• Reducing central costs, such as legal fees and University memberships.

Click here to read the complete statement from the university.