President Kennedy Message on Athletics

[Siouxperman8]

35 minutes ago, AJS said:

Here's my best guess. This is going on the assumption that Kennedy has numbers on different scenarios that could either (1) Save money (2) Add Revenue to get to the $1.4 Million (captain obvious, I know). The only thing that would make sense to me, is something happened the week In-between when the Coaches / Athletes gave their speeches and yesterday, that led him to believe that the savings would be there. This is all pretty obvious stuff, but whatever it was (league affiliation, ect) he must have a much better feeling on it as of today, then he did two weeks ago. I just can't imagine there being anything else, other than that. You wouldn't march coaches / athletes for the fun of it, if you knew that wasn't an option.

It's either that (hoping) or the guy has absolutely no spine and when push come to shove he folds.

The first paragraph makes the most sense to me.   Obviously he can't share all that he knows immediately.

[geaux_sioux]

 

[Vegas_Sioux]

4 hours ago, Blackheart said:

Let the gathering of pitchforks and torches commence.

[cowboys5xsbs]

I am glad we drug our athletic programs through the mud to wind up in the same place we started at.  

[geaux_sioux]

Kenedy going with the whole grinder today at the Pepper. Not sure I ever saw Kelley at the Pepper. 

[petey23]

19 minutes ago, geaux_sioux said:

Kenedy going with the whole grinder today at the Pepper. Not sure I ever saw Kelley at the Pepper. 

If Kelley went to the Pepper he would bring his own fork and knife.

[UND-1]

28 minutes ago, geaux_sioux said:

Kenedy going with the whole grinder today at the Pepper. Not sure I ever saw Kelley at the Pepper. 

Did he ask a student to pay for it?

[Vegas_Sioux]

5 minutes ago, petey23 said:

If Kelley went to the Pepper he would bring his own fork and knife.

Well you know forks are for dorks. 

[supersioux]

Maybe we could fully fund all of our sports scholarships if we quit giving away free tution to a fan at some of our sports.  I think this decision reveals that we will be switching conferences and the leadership believes that their will be enough cost savings to cover the deficeit.  They also identified was to raise aditional revenue (increase ticket prices, renegoitate contracts, etc.), I call that a win win.

Keep in mind if we cut Swim and Dive, Softball, Soccer, thats close to 100 students, most of who are on partial scholarship.  I don't think that would help the university overall..

[tnt]

17 hours ago, Cratter said:

Pretty dumb statement to make....is his tenure going to be a short one? Otherwise it would be more wise to say "we might take a look at options down the line if we find sponsoring 20 sports isn't a long term solution, but right now we are dedicated to making it work."

Nah, instead it was basically,  "I'm not going to look at this issue ever again, as far as I'm concerned while at UND."

If he isn't going to be forthcoming on fixes, then I don't mind him at least giving our current teams a fighting chance by not burdening them with the possibility that their sport is continually on the chopping block, enabling opposing coaches to use that as a negative recruiting pitch against us. 

[NoDakFan]

3 minutes ago, supersioux said:

Maybe we could fully fund all of our sports scholarships if we quit giving away free tution to a fan at some of our sports.  I think this decision reveals that we will be switching conferences and the leadership believes that their will be enough cost savings to cover the deficeit.  They also identified was to raise aditional revenue (increase ticket prices, renegoitate contracts, etc.), I call that a win win.

Keep in mind if we cut Swim and Dive, Softball, Soccer, thats close to 100 students, most of who are on partial scholarship.  I don't think that would help the university overall..

That only works if attendance doesn't drop because of the raise. I think at best it would stagnate, but I have a feeling attendance would drop. And again with negotiations, can we really renegotiate a deal that actually makes a difference to us, or does it just become drops of water? 

[gfhockey]

I use to see faison at the China place across from simplot

 

always by himself 

[homer]

22 minutes ago, NoDakFan said:

That only works if attendance doesn't drop because of the raise. I think at best it would stagnate, but I have a feeling attendance would drop. And again with negotiations, can we really renegotiate a deal that actually makes a difference to us, or does it just become drops of water? 

I'm thinking the administration is thinking that if Olympic sports move to the Summit , with regional opponents along with Denver, they will be able to justify raising ticket prices and attendance will increase.   Travel costs would also decrease with bus trips to Fargo, Brookings and Vermillion.  Not sure if teams would bus to Omaha but that's likely.

we are already doing a home and home with Fargo, try to schedule something with Vermillion and stay in the Big Sky. Drop a couple programs to make up the difference. 

[UNDBIZ]

Is the BSC Presidents' meeting today?

[BobIwabuchiFan]

I'm thinking the majority of the ticket price increases will be felt in the Men's Hockey program...They could raise it significantly with little loss on numbers but a whole lot of bitching.  You could not do the same for the football program because its just digging its Brand out of the Mud and if they did do it you would effectively damaging what Bubba is trying to do with the largest scholly sport we have....

I've suggested this before, but utilize Fee increases instead of messing with tuition...The legislature loves to use price fixing economics on the tuition stream and UND probably on has the fee increase option left if it can get the Student Body to agree.  Note, $ for $ the ND Colleges are an extremely inexpensive degree when compared to other counterparts and asking for $300-$500 more a year to help out sports isn't going to lead to a massive exodus of students from the campus or from the on-line course employers primarily pay for...

[UNDBIZ]

One issue with raising men's hockey ticket prices.  Do any of those hockey season ticket holders drop their football or, more likely, basketball season tickets as a result?

[jdub27]

1 hour ago, supersioux said:

Maybe we could fully fund all of our sports scholarships if we quit giving away free tution to a fan at some of our sports.  

Keep in mind if we cut Swim and Dive, Softball, Soccer, thats close to 100 students, most of who are on partial scholarship.  I don't think that would help the university overall..

The only time that this has been done this year is for football games and the $25,000 for that promotion were privately donated, it has cost UND nothing.

There are reasons to keep non-revenue sports. Using the argument that spending an average of $21,500 per student athlete per year in the sports you mentioned to prop up enrollment by 100 student athletes is not one of them. The math doesn't work out on that one.

[Cratter]

2 hours ago, tnt said:

If he isn't going to be forthcoming on fixes, then I don't mind him at least giving our current teams a fighting chance by not burdening them with the possibility that their sport is continually on the chopping block, enabling opposing coaches to use that as a negative recruiting pitch against us. 

The damage he did is probably already way worse and will be used against for a long time regardless.

[BobIwabuchiFan]

2 hours ago, UNDBIZ said:

One issue with raising men's hockey ticket prices.  Do any of those hockey season ticket holders drop their football or, more likely, basketball season tickets as a result?

I think it will have that effect and that's why they should focus on having the students take the brunt of the increase...Say a $150 fee increase for all students yields about $1.6 million revenue stream only for athletics...

[UNDBIZ]

4 minutes ago, BobIwabuchiFan said:

I think it will have that effect and that's why they should focus on having the students take the brunt of the increase...Say a $150 fee increase for all students yields about $1.6 million revenue stream only for athletics...

Students, parents, the board, and legislators will love that.

[Vegas_Sioux]

16 minutes ago, BobIwabuchiFan said:

I think it will have that effect and that's why they should focus on having the students take the brunt of the increase...Say a $150 fee increase for all students yields about $1.6 million revenue stream only for athletics...

Undergraduate Students

Residency	Amount Per Credit	Full Time Enrollment
ND Resident	$339.04	$4,068.50
MN Reciprocity	$372.43	$4,469
Contiguous	$478.19	$5,738
WUE	$478.19	$5,738
MSEP	$478.19	$5,738
Non-Resident	$803.78	$9,645.50

• UND Student Fees - $590.52 per semester (max)
• Technology Fee - $72 per semester (max) 
• Connect ND Fees - $66 per semester (max)
• NDSA Fee - $0.48 per semester (max)

One Roommate Housing/year

3100

Meal Plan/year

Unlimited plus 12 guest passes

4750

Unlimited plus 3 guest passes

4530

Sure whats another 150 bucks a semester for athletic fees

 

[Blackheart]

4 hours ago, geaux_sioux said:

Kenedy going with the whole grinder today at the Pepper. Not sure I ever saw Kelley at the Pepper. 

Did he order his own grinder or did he form a committee to decide what kind to get?

[VMeister]

 

5 hours ago, geaux_sioux said:

Kenedy going with the whole grinder today at the Pepper. Not sure I ever saw Kelley at the Pepper. 

Saw Ed there this spring; maybe April.  He fired a few people behind the counter.

[SWSiouxMN]

So I got this e-mail not too long ago

Q: Why did President Kennedy open up the question of how many sports UND should sponsor if the conclusion is to make no changes in sponsorship?

A: President Kennedy did not open the question. It was left open by interim President Ed Schafer. President Kennedy recognized that continued uncertainty would be detrimental to recruiting efforts and moved to close the question by referring it to the Intercollegiate Athletic Committee (IAC), a subcommittee of University Senate. Now that the question has been considered and decided, President Kennedy considers questions of sport sponsorship closed for the remainder of his tenure. This is necessary to facilitate recruiting the best student-athletes to UND.

Q: Why did President Kennedy accept the core recommendations of the IAC when some faculty members disagree with the decision?

A: President Kennedy has stated from the beginning of his tenure that he will regularly seek and give serious consideration to the collaborative governance institutions of the university. The IAC has been long established with a mission to do exactly the task they just completed. It is faculty dominant with half its members being faculty members. Those faculty members with strong views on athletic matters are encouraged to seek to be a member of the IAC or express their views when such members are chosen.

Q: What factors contributed to the decision by the IAC to support all 20 program and increased funding?

A: While each member’s decision was based on factors unique to the individual, information presented to the committee showed that the level of institutional support that UND has historically provided for its athletic programs is below most of its conference competitors. Many recognize the strategic benefits to a university of successful athletic programs. For example, large attendance sports regularly bring prospective students and their parents to campus and cultivate affinity to the school. The scholarships provided to athletes in all programs, which often only cover part of tuition, attract many high quality students to campus.

Q: Will up to $7.3 million more be invested in UND’s athletic program immediately as recommended by the IAC?

A: No. That amount reflects funding all sports at highly competitive levels. Such an increase may never happen. For those sports that are nurtured to achieve highly competitive levels, higher funding levels will only gradually occur as coaches and assistant coaches demonstrate by their performance that the program warrants more investment. President Kennedy has made it clear that he is prioritizing the six high attendance sports (men’s and women’s basketball and hockey, football, volleyball) for such consideration. The other sports will continue to be funded at historic levels, pending increased funding sources from student fees or increased contributions.

Q: Will the increased funding cause a reduction in funding for academic programs?

A:  Our ability to increase funding will be dependent on considerations necessary to stay in compliance with Title IX and during this period of fiscal constraint will be dependent on outside resources.  This is necessary to limit the adverse impact on priority academic funding.  We will pursue options suggested in the IAC recommendation, though it is important to recognize that the ability to generate funding through those avenues depends on the agreement with others, and as a consequence there is uncertainty about whether such hoped for funding will materialize.

Q: Will the additional sources of funding be explored?

A: Yes, every option proposed by the IAC will be explored, though even the most optimistic outcomes would not come close to the $7.3 million recommended by the IAC.

Neither the Ralph Engelstad Arena nor the Alerus Center have any contractual obligation to reopen discussion of established agreements. It must be noted that both organizations must retain sufficient resources to properly maintain these facilities, which are vital to the success of UND’s athletic programs.

The advisability of increased ticket prices when attendance for most sports is below capacity must be carefully weighed against the prospect of fewer fans choosing to attend games instead of watching on television, coverage from which the university already receives revenues.

If approved through a vote of the student body, the proposed student fee increase would generate approximately $1.25 million and would represent an  approximate 7.7% increase in the overall student fee, based on historical student credit hour production. Students and their leaders must carefully consider this proposal, particularly given that students will also be asked to consider a vote on upgrading the Memorial Union.

In the end, the IAC recommendation empowers President Kennedy to work with the athletic department to prudently and selectively support the sponsored programs that contribute to the success of the university as a whole.

[Cratter]

When is someone going to proclaim...."Kennedy had it planned all along. Man is a genius, four steps ahead of us lay people. He now knows and has ammunition to lobby for student fee increases, new contracts, and get more donations ("Don't you want to save jobs?")....what a great leader!"