Total Campus Report - Efficient & valuable curated higher ed developments delivered once per week. |
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Publication Update: Total Campus Report will be taking a break until January 8, 2023. Happy Holidays and Happy New Year! |
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NCAA Selects Next President |
SBJ & The Athletic broke the news Thursday morning of the NCAA selecting Massachusetts Governor Baker to succeed President Emmert in the role starting March 1, 2023. Baker, a former MBB student-athlete at Harvard, has served two terms as governor and is credited with bringing bipartisan leadership to the commonwealth. Baker: "The NCAA is confronting complex and significant challenges, but I am excited to get to work as the awesome opportunity college athletics provides to so many students is more than worth the challenge. And for the fans that faithfully fill stadiums, stands and gyms from coast to coast, I am eager to ensure the competitions we all love to follow are there for generations to come.” (link)
+ More from Baker during his intro presser thanks to Sports Illustrated’s Dellenger: “I think it’s worth doing. Yeah, it’s big and complicated, but so have been a lot of things I’ve done in my life. [...] I've always believed sports have tremendous power to bring people together. We are in a bit of a pivotal period for the NCAA. [...] I think the transfer portal is one element of a whole series of elements that needs to be part of the conversation going forward.” (link)
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Insights & Reactions…
+ Knight Commission CEO Perko via the AP’s Russo on a key challenge for Baker: “The NCAA receives zero dollars from the CFP, but it remains liable for the legal and health costs of FBS football. The explosion of revenues, just for FBS football, is at the heart of much of the controversy about the future of all of college sports.” (link)
+ SI’s Dellenger: “The NCAA targeted several former governors in the search. The organization wanted someone politically connected and got it.” (link)
+ The Athletic’s Auerbach: “This hire — and finalist pool — certainly signals the priorities of the NCAA's highest governing body right now. Success in other sectors a plus. Political experience key. The position goes to someone who had not previously worked in college sports (like recent P5 commish hires).” (link) + D1.ticker/Fox Sports’ Fischer: “Charlie Baker turns 67 next year and replaces a 69 year old retiring Mark Emmert. Does not portend to be a long term hire by the Board of Governors, but one chiefly focused on one issue only: getting that antitrust exemption.” (link)
+ The Athletic’s O’Neil: “This is the NCAA’s idea of out-of-the-box thinking. As transformations go, opting for a politician over a university president is like splitting the last hair on a bald man’s scalp. [...] He hits all of the W columns, and no, that’s not wins. He’s White, well-educated and wealthy, thanks to his job running a healthcare company. (He’s also about to get wealthier. His government job paid just $185,000; Emmert made $2.99 million.) [...] The NCAA chose him for one reason: not to transform the NCAA, but to protect it.” (link)
+ Extra Points purveyor Brown: “We're about to enter what should be an especially polarized legislative environment. Will Baker be able to make friends with lawmakers that he could afford to ignore while he was Governor? Could he replicate his governing coalition to ignore extremist types? Is such a thing even possible now? [...] It's still a complicated and quirky industry, but it's clear that the skill sets have shifted. Baker has a lot of experience in delegating and getting up to speed on new industries. How big of a deal will it be that he's never led a university or an athletic department before? Will he be swallowed up by the proverbial system, or will he have the 'juice' to push through any changes?” (link)
+ ESPN’s Thamel and Connelly on Baker’s position, with Thamel noting: “I think the first problem that Charlie Baker is going to have is you don't have control of football and football controls everything. … Also, Charlie Baker, welcome to your job, you have the single worst television contract in the history of college athletics – the NCAA basketball television contract which runs through 2032.” Connelly: “This job matters a lot and could matter and if Charlie Baker can come in and not just basically beg Congress to save all the things that NCAA is doing wrong, right now, if they're going to actually create a path moving forward … It would be amazing if the NCAA actually just sort of with whatever power it had actually stepped in and tried to provide leadership and a vision.” (link)
+ U.S. Representative Trahan (D-MA), a former Georgetown Volleyball student-athlete: “Governor Baker has been an extremely effective leader in Massachusetts, having steered our Commonwealth through some of the most difficult moments in recent history. The NCAA is at an inflection point where athletes and the millions of fans who root them on have largely lost faith in it as an organization. The association desperately needs a proven leader who personally understands the unique needs of the nearly 500,000 college athletes it serves and who is prepared to do what’s necessary to right the ship.” More from Sportico’s McCann & Caron. (link)
+ Interestingly, per Morning Consult, Baker is America’s most popular governor. (link) |
Here’s the full transcript from yesterday’s intro presser with new NCAA President Baker. Notably: “I’ve always just believed that sports have this tremendous power to bring people together. You just see it over and over again, the way in which athletics can transcend so many other divisions. I really do believe that we are at a bit of a pivotal period for the NCAA, and I really do think that the enthusiasm, the life and professional experiences I've had, the people I've gotten to know, the relationships I have can be a big part of helping all the folks involved in the NCAA, wherever they fit in that very significant organization, benefit from what we can put together going forward if we work together. [...] I think one of the things the job is, is it's an exercise in listening. My father always used to say to me that you will learn a lot more listening than you will talking. I think in my career, both in the public and private sector, one of the things I've done very well is listen. [...] For me, when people talk about the transitional period and the number of different things that are going on at this point in time, the question becomes how do you figure out a way to build a platform and get the support for that platform given where everybody sits and stands that can work going forward to serve the very different elements of the very large NCAA constituency, so that jewel, that opportunity that young people have to be part of a team, to learn about themselves and to build a foundation which in many cases will frame the rest of their lives can happen. That to me is the jewel.” (link)
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Charlie’s Challenges…
+ Sports Illustrated’s Forde: “For now, let’s grant Baker the benefit of the doubt and assume he will have some legitimate influence and stature. If that’s the case, four of the six most powerful people in college athletics will have arrived within the past three years—and from completely outside the space. … Now, the NCAA is going straight politician. The last career campus administrators in the group are Southeastern Conference commissioner Greg Sankey and Atlantic Coast Conference commish Jim Phillips. The pivot away from that profile, which had proliferated for decades, indicates how badly the previous generation screwed things up by being stubborn, tone deaf, greedy and myopic. It also indicates the shifting needs of the constituents. The conferences want deal-makers who can market them to media companies for the highest possible dollar. The NCAA wants someone who can convince politicians to produce legislation that keeps the association viable and out of its current barrage of lawsuits.” (link)
+ The Athletic’s Staples: “If you are relying on the federal government to produce the framework of the rules your business will run by, you’re not doing it right, but that’s what they think they have to do instead of just actually figuring out a solution on their own. … It’s clear what they want to do is have a voice in Washington D.C. and do this politically, instead of just coming up with common sense solutions for how to get their arms around this. It doesn’t mean it is impossible to figure this stuff out, but just thinking ‘Oh we’ll hire a politician and he’ll get Congress to save us,’ it’s not smart.” (link)
The Athletic’s Auerbach joins Connect/D1.ticker’s Fischer to discuss the appointment of new NCAA President Baker. Auerbach, who alongside SBJ broke the news: “I think they expected more of a response when they told me the name, but some people had gotten in my ear recently about politicians connected to Massachusetts and had pointed out that Baker was not running for reelection, so it was definitely a surprise, but it wasn’t totally out of the blue like some of these past hires, like the Big 12, Big Ten or Pac-12 hires. [...] But what I have been told about the finalists pool and others involved, this was not an outlier hire. [...] It really points to what the NCAA believes it needs right now to ensure its future looks somewhat like its past or at least the important tent pole items continue to exist.” On what feedback Auerbach has heard from industry sources: “A lot of people think it’s a good hire. There’s a lot of optimism around it. [...] The idea of having someone with a bipartisan background, even though dealing with this Congress is going to be a different thing, but I think people like the idea of someone who is going to be able to build bridges.” Lots more background on the search & what it means for membership. All on Connect. (link)
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Oklahoma and Texas arriving early? |
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The Action Network’s McMurphy reports there is “growing sentiment” and “momentum” for Oklahoma and Texas to leave the Big 12 early and join the SEC in 2024. Sports Illustrated’s Dellenger adds: “Negotiations go beyond money and include TV network inventory, which is a real obstacle.” (link); McMurphy on the potential complications: “How eager is ESPN to pay that increased amount to the SEC in 2024 instead of waiting until 2025? If OU and Texas join the SEC early, that could decrease the value of the Big 12’s final year of its current media rights with ESPN and Fox, which the Big 12 would oppose. Would ESPN be willing to offset those smaller numbers to the Big 12 and also pay more to the SEC? Would OU and Texas agree to pay more than the expected $50M buyout to get out early? Would — or even could — OU and Texas schedule nonconference road games at Big 12 teams in 2024 to help offset the decrease in the media rights for that year?” One source tells McMurphy: “The Big 12 would like it to happen a year early, the SEC would like OU and Texas a year early, but FOX could care less and I’m not sure what ESPN will do.” (link)
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“It’s likely they are leaving early.” That’s an unnamed source with knowledge of ongoing discussions between Oklahoma, Texas and the SEC to The Athletics’ Mandel, Olson and others as rumors swirl about the timing of the Sooner and Longhorn departure from the Big 12. According to a Big 12 official, a delay in releasing the league’s 2023 FB schedule is in part due to the uncertainty, with sources believing a resolution will occur in a matter of weeks. The timing of the move makes sense, posits Mandel and Olson, with the SEC + ESPN deal kicking off in the 2024 season along with an expanded College Football Playoff. Additionally, an SEC expansion to 16 teams would align with the Big Ten’s addition of UCLA and USC. Hurdles remaining: negotiating a reduced buyout, with the remaining Big 12 schools expecting OU and UT to pay a “high enough exit fee to make the remaining members and their network partners whole.” Mandel and Olson: “A noteworthy landmark is fast approaching. Per Big 12 bylaws, a member must give at least an 18-month notice of its departure date. That letter would have to arrive by Dec. 31 if they intend to join the SEC on July 1, 2024.” (link)
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Presidents & Chancellors in the News |
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In a meeting with the Faculty Senate, Missouri Chancellor Choi reiterated his condemnation of racism after a student affiliated with a far right student group shared a social media post with a racial slur. Choi: “The statement was reprehensible. Our team, including Bill Stackman’s team, Maurice Gipson’s team, has been reaching out to various student groups to reassure them that we support them and that we care about their safety and their well-being.” (link)
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Tennessee Chancellor Plowman hosted Harvard professor and best-selling author Brooks on campus to discuss his work on the science of happiness and participate in a workshop with other university and civic leaders on using happiness and related habits to create a more engaged society. Plowman: “Dr. Brooks’s message is one I think we all need to hear: that we are at our best and able to contribute the most when we are happy and fulfilled. When we come to the table with a clear understanding of who we are and our values and lead with a generous spirit, then it becomes much easier to disagree and debate in a productive way.” (link)
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Sports Illustrated's Johnson details what an HC search looks like from an AD’s perspective and notes that search firms can serve a number of purposes. “Sometimes it can just be for the logistics of setting up interviews to keep the process extremely close to the vest. Some other commonly cited reasons to hire a search firm have to do with plausible deniability, confidentiality and to cover your bases on a background check.” Anachel CEO Cecil tells Johnson HCs “are de facto CEOs. Good athletic directors and even general managers understand the importance of having a coach who understands, and is prepared to be that public-facing CEO. It is more than the X’s and O’s. The X’s and O’s are why they’re in the room, however, staying in the room can be impacted overnight by a reputational fumble of their public persona. Progressive ADs or GMs want to do everything that they can to make sure that that their football CEO is not only representing their billion-dollar business but their constituents, which are thousands of student-athletes, [players], alumni, donors, boosters, legislators, and supporters who where their logo across the globe. The business has changed.” Lots more. (link); The Athletic’s Ubben writes on why more (and longer) guaranteed football head coaching contracts are going to hit the market. An unnamed AD: “When something like this happens a few times in college sports, it’s only going to be more and more accepted and the outlier eventually becomes the norm.” Another: “You can say you won’t make a deal like that, but in the new market, not making a deal like that is the difference between getting a coach and not getting him.” Ubben: “Drawing that line and hiring a coach who doesn’t measure up to the success that other big-time candidates surely would have had (imaginary success, it’s worth reminding) is a gamble that could cost an athletic director his or her job. Do the big contract? Write the big check? An athletic director can more easily point to the market rate or the pressure from boosters and pass the blame if it doesn’t work.” (link)
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Arkansas removed the interim tag from Assistant Vice Chancellor for Career Services Estes. (link) |
Auburn selected College of Sciences and Mathematics Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Boyd during an internal search to serve as the university’s first assistant provost for institutional effectiveness. In the position, Boyd will oversee the development of evidence-based assessment practices and data-informed strategic planning efforts to enhance institutional operations. (link)
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Sports Illustrated’s Dellenger reports Mississippi State paused its AD search in light of Football Head Coach Leach’s passing. “Final interviews were expected to happen this week and now may not unfold until after the holidays.” (link) |
Missouri Associate Vice Chancellor for Extension and Engagement Higgins will serve as interim chief engagement officer for the UM System and vice chancellor for extension and engagement for MU, effective January 23. (link) |
South Carolina Senators Hembree and Malloy have pre-filed separate bills seeking to restructure South Carolina’s Board of Trustees, including the number of trustees and how they are selected. Other changes included in the bills are limiting terms, staggering elections, and changing how the board calls special meetings. (link) |
The Tennessee Higher Education Commission voted to appoint UT System Special Advisor for Executive Talent and Leadership Development Smith as the commission’s interim executive director. (link) |
Wisconsin held on-campus conversations with two finalists for the open Chief Human Resources Officer position: interim Associate Vice chancellor and Chief Human Resources Officer Sheehan and Tennessee Associate Vice Chancellor for Human Resources Lucal. (link) |
Texas A&M named Nelson D. Durst Endowed Chair in Accounting Sharp as dean of the Mays Business School. (link) |
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The National Science Foundation released its updated data tables on Higher Education Research and Development for FY21. In its list of all higher education institutions based on total R&D expenditures, Texas A&M and Health Sciences Center leads the SEC, ranking 16th nationally with $1.15B, followed by Vanderbilt and VU Medical Center at 24th ($1.02B) and Florida at 27th ($959.97M) in the top 30. Full list in Table 5. (link)
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As part of its $2.36B budget recommendation for the 2023-24 fiscal year, the Alabama Commission on Higher Education proposed an 11.19% budget increase for public colleges in an effort to offset staffing demands and economic inflation. The Commission will also ask state lawmakers for an additional $5M to address deferred maintenance projects and $6M to support reengagement efforts for Alabamans who dropped out of college before completing a degree. (link)
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The National Science Foundation will fund $195.5M over the next five years for the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory at Florida State and administered with partner sites at Florida and Los Alamos. (link) |
The Luther and Susie Harrison Foundation made a $3M pledge to support Georgia’s Poultry Science Building, marking the largest single gift to the project to date. (link) |
Housing and dining rates at Kentucky will increase for the 2023-24 academic year, with the cumulative rate increase for university-constructed residence hall units, as well as break housing and early move-in rates, totaling 4%. Dining rates will increase an average of 8.9%. (link) |
MiddleGround Capital Founding Partner Maze Stewart made a $10M gift to Kentucky’s Gatton College of Business and Economics. The gift will be used in part to establish an endowed MiddleGround Scholarship for a finance undergraduate or graduate student. In recognition of the gift, the UK Board of Trustees approved naming the finance department the John Maze Stewart Department of Finance and Quantitative Methods. (link)
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New Mississippi State FB HC Arnett’s deal is for four years at $3M annually. (link) |
In the state of South Carolina, a new bill has been filed that would allow Division I schools in the state, including South Carolina, that generate $50M+ in athletics revenue annually to pay football and men’s and women’s basketball players stipends based on the time the student-athletes spend on their sport. The annual amount of the stipend is calculated by multiplying the number of hours spent by the hourly rate the school uses for work-study programs. The stipends would be classified as financial aid, not income, and would be in addition to athletic scholarships. There is also a trust fund with a max of $5K added per year for good academic standing, distributed upon graduation (up to $25K). Lots more from attorney Winter, including “So this bill is basically an attempt to create a way for athletes to be paid by schools (beyond their athletic scholarship and Alston payments) without classifying them as employees.” (link)
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Tennessee Athletics’ My All Campaign has raised over $164M from nearly 13K new donors giving to the Tennessee Fund and a 330% increase in membership for The Shareholders Society. Total commitments for the campaign, which launched publicly in June 2021 with the goal of raising $500M by Summer 2026, are over $361M. (link) |
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Alabama AD Byrne updates on the status of the proposed $183M new on-campus arena, which was approved in February: “The planning for that is still ongoing. What we’re trying to navigate and still really trying to get our arms around is inflation has been significant, and it’s actually been more significant in the facility-construction arena. … What that final dollar figure is and everything -- I know sometimes people will say, ‘Hey, you’ve got the money.’ And I’m like, ‘Well, I haven’t quite found that money.’ ... We have a fiduciary responsibility for our athletic department, that’s part of what we do.” (link)
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The South Carolina Board of Trustees approved renovations and enhancements to Taylor House and the Jones Physical Sciences Center. (link) |
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Auburn and the Lurleen B. Wallace Community College (LBWCC) signed an MOU formalizing the expansion of UA’s Path to the Plains program. The program, now offered to students at LBWCC’s four sites, provides exploratory and discipline-specific pathways for students planning to transfer to UA and allows them to enroll at LBWCC for two years while completing courses at both institutions at the LBWCC tuition rate. (link)
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The Florida Department of Education and State University System of Florida Board of Goverors met with leaders of nearly every higher education institution in the state in a closed-door meeting on December 7, releasing only this statement from the Board of Governors: “The presidents of the State University System and the Florida College System met on Wednesday to discuss System-wide educational goals regarding accreditation and 2+2 articulation. It is critical the two public higher educational systems in Florida work collaboratively to share best practices on issues which greatly benefit Florida’s students.” Per sources with knowledge of the meetings, the state is in the process of searching for a new accreditor, in part due to concerns raised by the SACSCOC about various issues at Florida and Florida State, and is targeting the Higher Learning Commission. According to reporting by Inside Higher Ed, switching accreditors would cost between $11M-$13M annually with an annual expense of maintaining accreditation running approximately $250K. More. (link)
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The LSU Board of Supervisors voted to honor Black pioneers Payne, Lane and White with the naming of two academic programs and a building: the Lutrill & Pearl Payne School of Education, the Pinkie Gordon Lane Graduate School and Julian T. White Hall. (link) |
South Carolina will launch an interdisciplinary certificate program in Digital Studies, a 12-hour credit program for undergraduates that combines courses from the College of Engineering and Computing, College of Information and Communication and College of Arts and Sciences and will focus on topics such as database management, new media arts and computer networking. The program is expected to launch in Fall 2023, pending approval from the SC Commission on Higher Education. (link)
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Kentucky will continue with the same alcohol policy at home sporting events - it is only available to those in the suite and club areas, not in the general seating area. AD Barnhart: “There are people who say you have clubs where alcohol is available and for people who desire to have a drink, that is the place they are able to purchase an opportunity to do that. There is a separation for those who don’t want that as part of the fan experience. It will continue to be a conversation at an institutional level and we’ll continue to think our way through it.” (link)
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Deals, Partnerships & Collaborations |
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The National Nuclear Security Administration expanded its contract with Texas A&M and Triad National Security LLC to continue managing and operating the Los Alamos National Laboratory through October 31, 2028. Los Alamos currently operates with a $4B annual budget and employs over 15K employees. (link) |
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