UND officials will unveil a financial plan for the university's proposed move to NCAA Division I athletics at a meeting April 11.
The plan will include total dollar figures for different phases of the transition and the costs likely to be borne by student fees, UND Alumni Association donors, auxiliary enterprises and other shareholders in the transition, said UND Provost Greg Weisenstein.
A D-I Commission meeting scheduled for Tuesday evening was canceled because commissioners were waiting on additional information.
Weisenstein heads the commission's organization committee. A report from the committee at a Jan. 24 commission meeting estimated the transition will cost the university about $173,000 in 2008 and about $1.5 million in succeeding years to meet the National Collegiate Athletic Association's minimum D-I standards.
Weisenstein said figures released at the April meeting likely will be revised as the school approaches the beginning of its transition in 2008.
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The $1.5 million price tag released in January includes about $1 million in athletic scholarships. The remaining $500,000 will cover the cost of employing new assistant coaches and support employees and other related costs, said UND Aerospace Dean Bruce Smith, who presented the committee's report.
UND's men's and women's hockey programs are D-I sports, but all other sports are Division II. UND is one of only three state flagship universities that is not Division I in the majority of its sports, according to Bill Carr, a consultant creating the school's D-I action plan.
Marks reports on higher education. Reach him at (701) 780-1105, (800) 477-6572, ext. 105; or jmarks@gfherald.com .
