FB: Middle Atlantic Conference

[bill]

PBR

I read the full release regarding the Del Val gift. Very interesting. I am not familiar with the parcel of land that was donated, but to an outsider (me) it almost seemed to suggest that Del Val was going to add or expand onto the new campus. I wonder if there is a potential to eventually move all operations to the new campus in the distant future...FDU, one of the bigger (in land size) campuses in the MAC, is 180 acres. This land piece is significantly bigger then that!
I question if this will directly impact athletics, although I'm sure it will help indirectly.

[gordonmann]

Holy moly.  398 acres is a lot.

[PBR...]

PBR

I read the full release regarding the Del Val gift. Very interesting. I am not familiar with the parcel of land that was donated, but to an outsider (me) it almost seemed to suggest that Del Val was going to add or expand onto the new campus. I wonder if there is a potential to eventually move all operations to the new campus in the distant future...FDU, one of the bigger (in land size) campuses in the MAC, is 180 acres. This land piece is significantly bigger then that!
I question if this will directly impact athletics, although I'm sure it will help indirectly.

no need to move all operations there. the new farm is 400 acres and its incredible the pix on dvc's website are impressive to say the least. You can see why it was valued at $15 million. Toll brothers et al would of loved to get their hands on it and stuff their mcmansions on it. Add in the $10 million permanent endowment to maintain it and it definetly could be and will be used (imho) as a classroom. Not sure if they could add classrooms/dorms (zoning considerations as well as what the family deed the land). Plus dvc's campus acreage wise is enormous already, its 550 acres. So could they move the ag part of the school or some of it to the new farm? possible but again not sure what the donating family/local zoning would permit.  If they could that would make room for dvc to grow building wise as they move into university status. Very nice of the family to also donate $5 million dollars for dvc to use basically how they wish, w/ some chunk of it going to pay for the ramp up to university status.  The donated land is about 20 minutes give or take 5 minutes depending on traffic from dvc's campus.  

[AUPepBand]

Holy moly.  398 acres is a lot.

Alfred University has a "sprawling" campus of 232 acres.

[PA_wesleyfan]

   I don't think you will see any new college type buildings going up on the new propety. My son has worked there for years and actually lives in one of the rentals. I think a lot of what's there willl remain the same. The place is kept up beautifully.  I understand that some of the stipulations for the gift were to keep the property pristeen. It will be a great addition to the horticultural dept.

[PBR...]

to clarify yes it is called a  "farm" but the grounds are truly an estate. Very beautiful piece of property. Have driven by it many times and its kept immaculate. Your son and the other keepers do an incredible job of maintaining that property

[Lyco80]

Just a note about construction with all the attendant buzz concerning the DVC endowment.

Facilities are expensive to erect, costly to maintain, and even more challenging to heat - in other words - new construction comes with a very large tail for the out years.

I doubt too many schools will be embarking on anything ambitious during these tough economic times when it comes to facilities - even with a sizable endowment.

Declining birth rates - a population pool that is moving ever-southward - beyond the magical 500 mile range - and increasing tuition and fees are causing many Americans to re-examine a traditional four year undergraduate, on campus, degree path.

It is a shame too since the socialization involved with living away and making your own decisions is just as important as academics and athletics - intercollegiate or intramural.

The real question - is where is all this leading?

I invite inputs from the gallery.  These questions, while not truly football related, will determine if football continues as a sport given the costs associated and pittance in revenue recouped.

ATB

[Pat Coleman]

If you haven't seen the FDU-Florham highlight posted off the front page, definitely check it out.  Go ahead.  We'll wait.

Pep loves the video play of the week feature. Nice addition to D3football.com this year! Reminds Pep of "Hidden Video" that was featured at halftime of the Thursday Night ESPN Games when they were first introduced.

That was exactly our goal, and it's been our goal for a couple years but we hadn't quite had the time to put it all together. The success of Buzzer Beaters on D3hoops last year showed us that enough schools had the video capacity to do this now and make it legitimate.

[AUPepBand]

If you haven't seen the FDU-Florham highlight posted off the front page, definitely check it out.  Go ahead.  We'll wait.

Pep loves the video play of the week feature. Nice addition to D3football.com this year! Reminds Pep of "Hidden Video" that was featured at halftime of the Thursday Night ESPN Games when they were first introduced.

That was exactly our goal, and it's been our goal for a couple years but we hadn't quite had the time to put it all together. The success of Buzzer Beaters on D3hoops last year showed us that enough schools had the video capacity to do this now and make it legitimate.

In the off-season perhaps you could post video of that Alfred-Catholic fantastic finish from the 90s...

[PBR...]

very nice! DVC coach Clements interviewed in the Philadelphia newspapers about this weeks upcoming game w/ #8 ranked DVC vs. #3 Wesley....solid interview

http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/colleges/villanova/20100916_Mike_Kern_.html?page=2&c=y

EDIT: weird the link works in I.E. but not chrome...imagine that microsoft actually has something working that google doesnt...there is a first time for everything i guess

[bill]

Lyco80

Your points about football's costs versus revenue are a topic of debate in academic courses and among athletics departments and universities.
There may be some merit regarding costs and DI sports, but that is simply not the case among many, many tuition driven DIII schools.
At FDU, we have taken the position that football is a major source of revenue for the school. Like most of the MAC, we are a tuition dependent school. Football provides about 100 students who pay upwards of $40,000 each to attend. The over 4 million dollars that FDU gets a year from the football program is staggering. (Of course, you can make the argument that the school should do more to help this money maker, but that's a different post  )
If we were to drop football, our number of students would decrease. Same for the other 300 athletes who attend FDU. Our internal figures and surveys clearly show, along with anecdotal evidence that these students would not have attended FDU if they were not recruited to play a sport. I would venture that most of the conference schools are in this boat as well...

[theoriginalupstate]

Good luck to DVC this weekend vs. Wesley!!!

[boobyhasgameyo]

I agree Upstate.  That game will go a long way in helping out the East Region if Del Val can pull off the upset. 

[Lyco80]

bill,

I concur with your observation that sports programs are an inducement for students to enroll - bringing with them their parents' checkbooks and hopefully, down the road, their own financial support as successful alumni.

The larger point I was hoping to make clear is that the balance between new construction and the costs associated with the maintenance of the physical plant of any institution is extremely delicate.

While academic leaders may be tempted to build as a means to attract new students - of both academic and athletic pursuits - the fiscal realities are a significant governor to prevent much growth in this area.

It is also possible that some of the 100 FDU football student-athletes may have enrolled regardless.

I was a baseball player in high school but that did not influence my decision to attend Lycoming since the MAC really has no baseball season and Lycoming no hardball team.

Interesting thoughts, though, and many thanks.

ATB

[PBR...]

bill,

I concur with your observation that sports programs are an inducement for students to enroll - bringing with them their parents' checkbooks and hopefully, down the road, their own financial support as successful alumni.

The larger point I was hoping to make clear is that the balance between new construction and the costs associated with the maintenance of the physical plant of any institution is extremely delicate.

While academic leaders may be tempted to build as a means to attract new students - of both academic and athletic pursuits - the fiscal realities are a significant governor to prevent much growth in this area.

It is also possible that some of the 100 FDU football student-athletes may have enrolled regardless.

I was a baseball player in high school but that did not influence my decision to attend Lycoming since the MAC really has no baseball season and Lycoming no hardball team.

Interesting thoughts, though, and many thanks.

ATB

do have to say that for about the last 10 years there has been new construction of buildings classrooms/dorms on all colleges/universities like pbr has never seen before. Barely recognized many schools pbr went to growing up and while in college. Now schools that are dependent on students tuition for making ends meet better hope there isnt a dropoff of students any time soon. Unless you have wealthy donors to underwrite the project (i.e. for example penn state today announced they are doing a div I mens hockey program. A alumni donor just sold his company to shell oil for almost 5 billion so he gave psu $87 million to build a brand new hockey arena and almost 15 million for coaches/scholarships and training facilities.) that can be a slippery slope to head down. Guess it was a keep up w/ the jones mentality for schools, if other schools are building state of the art dorms everyone else better or they wont get students.