Angelo State University decided to explore a move to Division I athletics in April, smack in the midst of draconian budget cuts by the 82nd Texas Legislature. ASU supporters defended the hiring of consultants, citing the bill will be footed by the Athletic Foundation.
Jack Cowan of the Standard Times shared a projected budget increase for a DI move:
Funding the athletic program probably would triple to $12 million a year.
That's an increase of $8 million per year, $16 million for DI over a two year period. ASU President Rallo wrote in May regarding budget cuts from TL 82.
We now know that the final reduction to ASU is $7,088,248, a decrease of 10.1 percent for the biennium. Although our state representatives were successful in replacing one-time funding for our nursing program, there still are no Texas Grants for incoming students and our overall loss in Special Items remains at 25 percent.ASU cut academic muscle, increased fees, put more classes online, even doubled class sizes in many cases.
Despite the budget pain, the University hired expensive consultants to help educators put courses online. They did so after eliminating the Center for Innovation in Teaching and Research, an internal resource in this regard.
President Rallo is excited about a $300,000 work of art that "won't look like aliens dropped it from space." Rallo believes his magic statue will attract students. Will the statue entice intra-solar system students?
A friend reacted to this idea:
Rallo would need to create several new positions to recruit from space. In fact, he will probably use student tuition to fund a shuttle expedition to recruit from space. There is so much evidence and research that supports the notion that statues attract and retain students. Yep, you can find this information in "Everyone Thinks We Are Insane Academic Journal."Vision drives innovation.
Maybe Uncle Sam will fund ASU's 10,000 head student drive.
Round up the space cowboys!
(Click on the above images to make them larger)
Update 8-17-11: It seems CITR pulled an Honors Program and got a last minute reprieve! It's a day to day thing in ASU's administration madhouse. Shaking the black 8 Ball for CITR reveals ...."You;ll live to see another day."
2 comments:
"Maybe Uncle Sam will fund ASU's 10,000 head student drive."
Too bad for ASU and the College of Business that Uncle Sam has a hold on Federal Earmarks - the sole source of funding for the CSS. So now ASU picks up the tab for what Rallo created with the help of Uncle Sam to the tune of $1.7 million in new salaries alone (not including benefits).
Here's the breakdown:
-Director & Deputy: $220,000
-8 new Professors: approx $650,000 (several are so new that they are not in the public salary database; three who are in the database are getting 91K, 71K, and 70K)
-6 new support staff positions: $296,849
Grand Total: $1.169 million each and every year.
Wow, can the athletics department payback the bailout ASU gave them for the coaches contract buyouts? (around $300K+) Or is it our money is our money and your money is also our money? Really Division 1? Give me a break!
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