After five years of evaluating the athletic program, Slippery Rock University will eliminate eight varsity sports -- golf, men's and women's swimming, men's and women's water polo, field hockey, men's tennis and wrestling -- at the end of the spring semester.

The University Athletic Council, which started meeting in September and submitted a recommendation report in mid-December, and an external consultant came to the conclusion that cuts were necessary that will reduce the athletic budget by $350,000 per year.

"These have been painful decisions," Slippery Rock president Robert Smith said in a prepared statement. "Even with the reductions, spending on athletics would still exceed what is typical at Division II institutions."

Slippery Rock, according to Smith, will have a five-year moratorium on making any additional cuts.

"This allows our coaches to recruit athletes, our alumni to contribute and our athletes to participate without fear of another catastrophic change in their sport."

Slippery Rock, a member of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, will continue to compete in 15 varsity men's and women's sports. That is a usual number for a Division II school.

Approximately 122 athletes will be affected by the cuts and those on athletic scholarships will continue to receive them for the length of time the athlete would have been eligible provided they meet NCAA and university academic eligibility standards.

Under NCAA rules, a student whose sports has been discontinued will immediately be eligible to play at another school.

Smith said teams that will be discontinued will have an opportunity to be reorganized by students as a non-scholarship club team that will follow university guidelines.

"It is time we need to act," he said. "We will do everything possible to help athletes find a competitive place for their talents if they wish to transfer."