Repeatedly describing it as "audacious" and "aggressive," University of Hawaii athletic director Ben Jay on Thursday outlined the basics of a strategic plan aimed at making UH "an NCAA top-50 (athletic) program."

Jay, who took over the 21-team athletic department eight months ago in the wake of the failed Stevie Wonder concert, said the plan is necessary to "address the urgency of a program in decline" amid "a rapidly changing national landscape in intercollegiate athletics."

Pillars of the plan include raising the annual operating budget to $40 million from the current $32 million in five years, embarking on a $60 million fundraising campaign in collaboration with the UH Foundation and "executing a $40 million capital proj­ects improvement initiative to significantly improve" facilities.

In addition, Jay targeted increasing UH’s NCAA academic performance rate, or APR, and graduation success rate "towards the 90th percentile."

Jay acknowledged it was a tall order on several fronts for an athletic department that was bailed out of a $13 million, 10-year accumulated net deficit in May by Manoa Chancellor Tom Apple, but said, "We have to set high expectations and high goals. (It) will be a heavy undertaking, but we have to succeed in order to be competitive. No one wants mediocrity."

UH was ranked No. 107 in the Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup standings for the recently completed 2012-13 academic year. The standings measure a school’s athletic performance across 20 sports (10 for women and 10 for men). Stony Brook (95), Northern Arizona (96) and New Hampshire (97) were among the schools finishing better than UH.

According to a 2013 report to the UH Board of Regents, athletics has received, on average, $6.2 million annually in donations over the past five years.

A 2006 goal set by then-interim Manoa Chancellor Denise Konan called for UH to aim for "the upper 50th percentile" in the APR. A Dec. 7, 2012, report said, "We remained on pace in 2010-’11 (the last set of available scores) but we didn’t make any prog­ress in closing the gap."

Jay said his plan to transform UH athletics "is aggressive and audacious and everything, but that’s what we’re about right now. We have to be. If we don’t try, where are we gonna be the next three to five years?"

In the short term, Jay said his department is aiming to raise ticket revenue from $5.95 million the last fiscal year to $6.95 million this year and bring in $700,000 in new revenue from donations and entrepreneurial activities.

In the longer term, Jay said "it is going to take a statewide effort to position UH athletics for the future. And, we’re going to be knocking on a lot of doors to seek the necessary funding and support. That’s got to come from all areas of Hawaii, and that includes our Legislature, our corporate entities, the community, alumni and fans."

Several UH coaches, legislators and boosters said they had yet to be briefed on the basics of Jay’s plan. State Rep. Mark Takai (D-Aiea) said, "I think to be successful this needs to be much bigger than Ben Jay and much bigger than UH-Manoa and UH athletics. This is a whole state initiative, I think."

Later this month Jay said he would make a "game plan" proposal to 150 to 160 key stakeholders "basically telling them, ‘This is what we need, and this is what you can do to help us.’"

To kick off his strategic plan at a campus press conference Thursday, Jay announced Hawaii Pacific Health as a major sponsor. UH said HPH’s sponsorship — valued at $425,000 annually, according to associate AD John McNamara — will include comprehensive medical services for its 470 athletes and a sports medicine fellowship at the John A. Burns School of Medicine.

Associate athletic director Carl Clapp said UH has spent an average of $220,018 per year over the past three years on medical attention for its players, money that can now be used in other areas.

In addition, Outrigger Hotels and Resorts, an 18-year sponsor, said it is increasing the value of its sponsorship to more than $150,000.

Strategic Plan for UH Athletics