04/11/08
Part two: BU pays medical premium.<a href="http://media.www.thebakerorange.com/media/storage/paper1028/news/2008/04/18/Sports/Bu.Pays.Medical.Premium-3332596.shtml"> Part two: BU pays medical premium.</a> Part two: BU pays medical premium.
Part three: Equity among teams is top priority.<a href="http://media.www.thebakerorange.com/media/storage/paper1028/news/2008/04/25/Sports/Equal.Sports.Budgets.Top.Priority.For.Bakers.Athletic.Department-3347812.shtml"> Part three: Equity among teams is top priority.</a> Part three: Equity among teams is top priority.
PART ONE: Comparison of coaching salaries.Spending the day at work, and then trading in a tie for a whistle to go spend a few hours coaching a collegiate team doesn’t sound like the ideal situation for most head coaches.
Head tennis coach Rick Walsh is trying to get used to it.
Walsh works as an insurance salesman during the day and turns into coach at night. After putting 20 years into the insurance business, Walsh said he couldn’t pass up the opportunity to do something he’s always dreamed of: coaching at the collegiate level.
“I’m very fortunate because I’ve been in the insurance business for quite some time, so I can be very flexible with my job,” he said.
Considered part time, Walsh is one of the few head coaches at Baker who doesn’t wear multiple hats on Baker’s campus.
Although both head and assistant coaches put in many hours with their respective sports, Athletic Director Dan Harris said to be considered full time, a coach must have at least one other responsibility on Baker’s campus. Many coaches also have the title of assistant professor and teach classes at Baker.
“Not everybody teaches,” Harris said. “Some have other staff responsibilities such as Phil Hannon, who is the director of coordinating outdoor facilities.”
In order to teach and coach on campus, a coach must have a master’s degree. Baker prefers a coach to have some teaching experience along with coaching experience, Harris said.
“If you’re not going to be teaching, a master’s isn’t required, but we recommend it,” he said. “A master’s provides you with the level of education we’re trying to promote here at Baker.”
Along with an average annual salary of $37,500, full-time coaches also receive health benefits, tuition exchange with cooperating schools and meals in the cafeteria.
“Tuition exchange is probably the best scholarship that we offer,” Harris said.
Any of the full-time staff or faculty members can have the tuition fees waived if their child decides to attend Baker or another school in the tuition exchange program.
“It really opens up opportunities for children of employees,” Harris said. “The value of education is unbelievable. If you add up tuition over four years, it’s about the best benefit you can get.”
Although $37,500 is an average of all coaches, Harris said the difference between men’s and women’s head coaching salaries is about $8,200, due to the difference in salaries for football coaches. Football is allotted the most money because of the large team roster and staff.
“There is no women’s sport that is equal to football, which makes it difficult to compare expectations,” Harris said. “Football has the largest staff, largest roster size, the greatest expectations for recruiting, largest budget to manage and a high level of media coverage.”
The difference used to be as large as $14,000 but has changed dramatically over the past four years with the success of women’s teams.
Salaries can fluctuate from year to year after a coach’s end-of-season evaluation. Harris said all coaches go through an evaluation process, which is then used for decisions on increases in salaries. Coaches are not on tenure track as some faculty members are, but instead go by an administrative contract, which only guarantees employment one year at a time.
“You have to be successful to sustain your program and sustain your existence at Baker,” Harris said. “We don’t battle the issue of equity with the rest of the faculty, but let our salary increase stand on their own merit, and if we’re successful, then that person deserves an increase in salary.”
Walsh, a Baker alumnus, said he came back to his alma mater mainly to follow his dream of coaching.
“With the situation I’m in right now, I’m not doing it at all for the money,” he said. “The money is nothing. I’m doing it because I want the experience of coaching, and I want the opportunity to further my career with the university.”
Eventually, Walsh said he’d like to do something full time with Baker.
“As a part time, I’m less expensive for the university, but I don’t think it’s the ideal situation knowing now how much is involved with being the head coach,” Walsh said.
The hours put into coaching may not reflect in the salaries, but Harris said many assistant coaches use their positions as an opportunity to continue being involved in a sport they love. Harris said assistant coaches at Baker make an annual average of $7,000 and also receive free meals in the cafeteria.
Bruce Anderson doubles as the assistant tennis coach as well as an associate professor of political science when teaching on Baker’s campus but is currently teaching abroad at Harlaxton College in England.
“The main reason I do this is that it’s more fun than I could imagine in almost any other circumstance,” Anderson said in an e-mail. “It makes my college experience complete. I learn so much from working with the players, the other coaches and simply being a part of the athletic world. Athletics have always been a part of my life, and this allows me to continue that.”
Many assistant coaches are considered graduate assistants, which are students who do not get paid to coach.
“Our graduate assistant program is one of the best things we do,” Harris said. “It provides an education for the students that can enhance their careers. We really are in the business of developing good coaches. We try to develop their skills and give them opportunities.”
Walsh wants to become a well developed coach and eventually spend all his time concentrating on tennis alone. When that day comes, his tie will make a nice lanyard for his whistle.