U of Hawaii Coaches Considering Pay Cuts

Several University of Hawaii coaches said they will consider whether to participate in voluntary salary reductions proposed by the athletic department.

At a 15-minute coaches-only meeting Wednesday, athletic director Jim Donovan asked coaches, who are under contract and cannot be compelled to accept cutbacks, to consider reductions of 1 to 5 percent over two years.

“I guess they have tried everything else to save money, so I suppose I would consider it,” said track coach Carmyn James. Softball coach Bob Coolen, who was recruiting on the mainland, said he was “awaiting some more information before I make a decision.”

The reductions would begin July 1, 2011, and run through June 30, 2013, Donovan said.

Approximately 40 percent of coaches participated in one of the voluntary reduction plans that began Sept. 1, 2009, and will run through June 30, 2011, saving the department approximately $250,000. The athletic department has finished in the black just once in the previous nine years.

Donovan and associate ADs Carl Clapp, John McNamara and Marilyn Moniz-Kaho‘ohanohano are among more than 200 in executive and managerial positions at UH who receive mandatory 5 percent reductions under a policy adopted by the UH Board of Regents last month.

Donovan said salary reduction forms were distributed to coaches at the meeting and athletic department administrators are not told which coaches elect to decline or participate in the salary reduction plan.