By Greta Lieske
IV Leader Editor, Oct.16, 2008
Illinois Valley Community College President Jerry Corcoran recently suggested to the board of trustee’s audit and finance committee to cut men’s and women’s tennis and golf and to hire part-time Athletic Director Tommy Canale as a full-time AD.
By “phasing out” these sports, Corcoran noted that the combined savings to the budget would be $38,793 and that IVCC would still “do [its] best to stand behind the commitments already made to current student athletes in terms of waivers and opportunities to compete.”
Corcoran also noted that if tennis were to be kept on the athletics budget, the tennis courts would have to be taken into consideration as they are now “embarrassing and an eyesore” that would cost “around $200,000” to fix.
IVCC tennis teams presently play home matches at Hegeler Park in La Salle.
Corcoran also wants to change Canale’s position from part-time to full-time.
“The full-time person that held the job at that time left for another career opportunity and Mr. Canale was named to the part-time position,” said Corcoran. “My view on this subject is I believe the person holding the position of AD should be a full-time employee that splits his or her time between athletics and another area of the college that contributes to the betterment of the entire institution, like working in the counseling center as an academic advisor and retention specialist.”
Although three sports would be cut under Corcoran’s proposal, he also wants to try to incorporate soccer into athletics after Canale assesses community interest and because “a survey of 24 colleges done one year ago on this topic showed where there were twice as many Illinois community colleges with soccer rather than tennis,” Corcoran said.
According to an Oct. 8 “Times” article, Trustee Deborah Sweedon, a finance committee member, does not agree with the cutting of three programs and instead would like a five-year plan to access athletics at IVCC and then make such decisions after “careful consideration.”