What is the difference between student fees and direct institutional support.
We had $16.5M in direct institutional support out of the $33M budget–50% of our budget is direct institutional support.
Keep in mind, the budget does not include RCAF contributions. Our strategy for season ticket sales relies on a higher seat fee and lower actual ticket price.
I’m good keeping athletic scholarships, because something like 90 percent of your college athletes aren’t going pro, and it’s a way that many kids who wouldn’t be able to afford college can get a degree. But that also assumes they’re still being held accountable for the grades and attending class.
We need to get rid of the no-sit transfer portal. I think even with NIL, if we went back to athletes having to sit a year, you wouldn’t see as many jumping ship for just a slightly higher payday. And, I think potential NIL boosters would be less reluctant to fork over money for a kid to have to sit out a year before they see the field or court.
But what we have right now is a reckless Wild West that has no accountability built in.
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The budget cuts are going to be painful for Higher Education and LDH. An individual I collaborate with told me she had to attend a LA DOGE meeting in Baton Rouge and was instructed to find $1 million in cuts to her budget for her agency. “Do more with less” was the messaging in the meeting. I had a similar conversation with a colleague in Lafayette, and she confirmed the messaging and said if the agencies don’t find the cuts, the cuts will be made for them. Tough times are coming,
Point being higher education and healthcare are going to get gutted. UL needs to wake up and stop with the belief that premium pricing is the answer. The casual fans in Acadiana don’t see the value in paying through the nose for tailgate spots. Would you rather empty spots making no money or lower prices and seeing those spots filled?
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That’s been a major failure on their part. They either don’t or refuse to understand their market. Marketing 101, it’s pretty simple.
Imagine going out on The Gulf and you’re trying to catch a whale. You’re searching and searching, in the process you ignore the reds, tuna, and marlins that were available to catch. That is the approach we’ve seen from our Athletics Leadership. They ignore a large segment of the population while searching for the big money donors. Think about the message that you are sending out to the community.
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And I’d rather eat the reds and tunas than the whale.
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But we have premium tastes.
I’ve snagged a couple of whales in my time
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2:00 AM fishing time? Drinking and night fishing leads to catching whales.
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Baw…
Good job reading the title and not the article. It specifically states that using student fees to offset costs would not be allowed.
I read the article, and was expressing my personal opinion on the matter. The article states that currently some schools, including Clemson, have discussed using student fees for payments to athletes.
So it’s a process that currently is not barred.
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If you don’t know the whale’s name, it doesn’t count!
$5,000 tailgate spots along the Cajun walk are just one example of the ways that the people running this shit show have lost the plot. If they can’t be made to see that and adjust accordingly, then it is time for a fresh start. Doesn’t change what they did in the past or diminish those accomplishments, but we cannot continue to function like this.
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Fresh start coming soon
That would be a start, we need it badly, with fresh ideas even though that thought of restarting again is very frustrating.
Care to expand on this?