UCF students will be happy to read this...

[CyberBull]

....they no longer have the State's highest athletic fees.

FAU's athletics fee: Then: $11.75; Now: $13.75

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Students asked to foot bill to keep programs solvent

 

By Ted Hutton

Staff Writer

August 4, 2005

Florida Atlantic student body president Dan Wilson lost his battle against a $2 increase in FAU's fee charged to students for athletics last month when the board of trustees approved the hike.

The vote means Wilson now has another tough fight on his hands, as he said he will try to get students to support Owls teams by showing up at games.

Wilson hopes he has more success filling the stands than he did trying to persuade the board that the increase from $11.75 to $13.75 per credit hour did not have the support of FAU's 26,000 students.

"Now that we are forced to pay, there is more of a reason to go to the games. The money is coming out of our pocket, so we might as well take advantage of what we are paying for," Wilson said.

FAU students get free tickets to all athletic events, and the administration tried to soften the blow of the increase by also offering free admission to the children of students and providing free bus service to football games from the various campuses.

Wilson is not the first student body president to lose recent battles over fee increases. At Indiana, the student government has opposed a $30 annual fee each of the past two years, and was joined by the faculty senate this year, but each time the trustees have voted to keep the fee to help fill a budget deficit.

And despite student protests, Tennessee-Chattanooga added a $50 per semester athletic fee this spring, on top of a tuition increase.

There have been similar situations around the country, as only 40 percent of I-A schools' athletic departments are profitable, according to an NCAA study, and universities look to students and other revenue sources to fill the gap.

"I think it is clear the widespread mandate that athletic departments be self-sufficient is unrealistic," said Bob Eno, an assistant professor at Indiana and chairman of the Coalition on Intercollegiate Athletics, an alliance of faculty senate representatives working to reform college sports.

"There needs to be meaningful consultation when it comes to funding athletics."

At FAU there has been no protest by the faculty, and Athletic Director Craig Angelos worked closely with a committee that included representatives of the student government that approved the fee increase before it went to the trustees.

But Wilson said he listened to his fellow students and most were against the increase, which is why he cast the only dissenting vote. Several students attended the meeting and joined Wilson in arguing the fee hike.

Angelos said he was not surprised by the students' actions. "I totally respect them doing that, and I don't blame them. No one is interested in paying higher taxes or more for gas at the pump," he said.

Burdened by more than $2 million on debt due mainly to the cost of the football program, which began play in 2001 and is in the process of moving from Division I-AA to I-A, Angelos said the fee increase was needed to get the budget balanced.

The increase will add $1 million to the budget, and means FAU students are funding $7.9 million, or 64 percent, of the $12.3 million athletic budget.

In addition to the $1 million generated by the fee increase, FAU expects to earn $1.25 million in game guarantees, and that additional revenue will make the athletic department solvent, Angelos said. Game guarantees are coming to FAU since it has moved into I-A, and larger schools are willing to pay as much as $400,000 to play the Owls.

Increased paid attendance would also help. FAU averaged 10,784 fans last year, with students making up about half of that. For I-A schools, ticket sales bring in the most money, an average of 27 percent of all revenues, with student fees contributing 6 percent. FAU expects to earn about $330,000 in ticket sales this year, 2.7 percent of its $12.3 million budget.

But FAU still needs help from students, since it must average 15,000 in attendance at least once every two years to remain in I-A. Wilson said he had heard talk about a boycott of games because of the fee increase, but doesn't think it will materialize. "Students aren't happy, but I don't think they will take it out on the team," Wilson said.

FAU is hoping football becomes a moneymaker, as it was at 68 percent of the 117 I-A schools in 2003-04, the latest year reported in the NCAA expenses and revenue report.

Those schools making money on football reported an average profit of $9.2 million in that sport. For the 32 percent that reported a deficit, the average loss was $1.1 million.

Angelos said the increase in student fees may be painful now but will pay off later. "I don't think they are going to regret it," Angelos said. "I think it will be one of the defining moments in the growth of the program."

Copyright © 2005, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

[DawgPound]

FAU is in trouble to keep their football program alive.  I really don't think the stadium will come to fruition.  FAU should take a page from UCF and USF...be patient and don't rush big capital investments.  USF is waiting till a stadium is beneficial for them and UCF has realized that time is now after a long stay in the Citrus Bowl and is taking their time to make sure the planning goes right.

[Guest S.  Bien]

More so Dawg, they should go to UCF and talk with some old administrators.  UCF can tell them what it means to throw good money at bad.  It doesn't always reap benefits, and part of UCF's delayed development had to do with the massive debt your program, and athletic department incurred in the early 80's when the hired over-the-hill coaching legend Lou Saban.  They spent, and Lou spent, and spent, and demanded, and ignored....two years later the results were not close to expectations and the budget was way out of wack.  It wasn't until the mid-90's did things get back on track financially- and now your building an on-campus stadium.

In deed, UCF could bestow many words of wisdom on FAU, unfortunately it's words that they don't want spoken- and their crazy ideas are delusional and expressed only in the minds of a few.  Sorry, but averaging under 7,000 season tickets is not going to cut it, and their student fees are going to make it the most expensive state institution for tuition, without the best education.

[DawgPound]

I agree.  While in a negative light, UCF has shown schools how not to do things with their spending binges.

Today, our spending has been much safer and with more failsafes.  Even after an 0-11 campaign, we still averaged a decent fanbase.  Now, if we can improve the product, we can justify our capital endeavors.