FB: American Rivers Conference

[Phred]

Pat,

I enjoy the D 3 board so much.  Great innovation .

Question however.........why is the IIAC pick'ems site often not available?  There is no second page when I look for it and our site is very often not listed.

Only an inquiry not a criticism.

I suspect you are  clicking on the "new" button.  It will only show updates posted since you last looked.


Yes, that solved the puzzle.  Thanks.

[BandGetsToPlay]

In an article on college tuition costs, USA today noted that Central College of Iowa had a precipitous drop in enrollment this year.  (Probably the freshman class.)

That has to effect athletic recruiting as well.  Anyone heard anything about Central's enrollment?

New president has raised admission standards they say.

Simpson didn't have any problems getting 400 or so...Central barely could flush out 320...

[Willie University]

In an article on college tuition costs, USA today noted that Central College of Iowa had a precipitous drop in enrollment this year.  (Probably the freshman class.)

That has to effect athletic recruiting as well.  Anyone heard anything about Central's enrollment?

New president has raised admission standards they say.

Simpson didn't have any problems getting 400 or so...Central barely could flush out 320...

I am going to call BS on "the raised admission standards". That is a common excuse for schools that don't reach enrollment goals. Kind of like Loras claimed last year that their drop in incoming enrollment was directly correlated to an increase in retention. A way to save face in the public and give their admission staff some self esteem back.

I would probably more realistically blame the drop in enrollment on 2 factors: 1.) Demographics beyond their control & 2.) Not adjusting their strategic recruiting plan to get the numbers regardless of demographic factors which falls on leadership (this is within their control)

[Floyd in Iowa City]

Augie Luther story from the Luther Football website:

https://www.luther.edu/sports/men/football/headlines/?story_id=493766

It would be a lot of fun to go back to the 1930s and see how good some of these players were that we really can't find film on. 

[Floyd in Iowa City]

After watching a lot of the Luther-St. Olaf game on the website earlier in the week, I was very happy with the openings and the ease that the Norse moved the ball at times against the Oles.

The optimist in me hopes that perhaps this style combined with recruiting and really knowing how to coach the details can make the Norse more consistent than they have been.

Turnovers perhaps made both defenses in the game look better than they perhaps are, but the Norse Defense made plays and clearly had a lot more energy than when I last saw them in person late last year against Coe.  The Norse Defense was usually solid under Coach Durnin, so hopefully they keep it going this year.

It is just good to win again!

Special teams still scares me even though the blocked punt helped to win the game.

My thoughts remind me of the Cornell fans in recent years though as schemes and coaching them up really do matter, but so does recruiting and roster sizes.  The Norse need to get back to 115 players or so.

[hazzben]

In an article on college tuition costs, USA today noted that Central College of Iowa had a precipitous drop in enrollment this year.  (Probably the freshman class.)

That has to effect athletic recruiting as well.  Anyone heard anything about Central's enrollment?

New president has raised admission standards they say.

Simpson didn't have any problems getting 400 or so...Central barely could flush out 320...

I am going to call BS on "the raised admission standards". That is a common excuse for schools that don't reach enrollment goals. Kind of like Loras claimed last year that their drop in incoming enrollment was directly correlated to an increase in retention. A way to save face in the public and give their admission staff some self esteem back.

I would probably more realistically blame the drop in enrollment on 2 factors: 1.) Demographics beyond their control & 2.) Not adjusting their strategic recruiting plan to get the numbers regardless of demographic factors which falls on leadership (this is within their control)

I think it has a lot to do with the economic outlook. Students and their parents are much more cautious than they were even 10 years ago to take out massive loans for an undergrad degree. Say what you want, but spending upwards of $100k on an undergrad degree and then struggling to find employment is making admissions recruitment difficult, especially for private schools. Across the board students/parents are much more reticent to go deep into debt for an undergrad degree. And I can't say I blame them.

[doolittledog]

In an article on college tuition costs, USA today noted that Central College of Iowa had a precipitous drop in enrollment this year.  (Probably the freshman class.)

That has to effect athletic recruiting as well.  Anyone heard anything about Central's enrollment?

New president has raised admission standards they say.

Simpson didn't have any problems getting 400 or so...Central barely could flush out 320...

I am going to call BS on "the raised admission standards". That is a common excuse for schools that don't reach enrollment goals. Kind of like Loras claimed last year that their drop in incoming enrollment was directly correlated to an increase in retention. A way to save face in the public and give their admission staff some self esteem back.

I would probably more realistically blame the drop in enrollment on 2 factors: 1.) Demographics beyond their control & 2.) Not adjusting their strategic recruiting plan to get the numbers regardless of demographic factors which falls on leadership (this is within their control)

I think it has a lot to do with the economic outlook. Students and their parents are much more cautious than they were even 10 years ago to take out massive loans for an undergrad degree. Say what you want, but spending upwards of $100k on an undergrad degree and then struggling to find employment is making admissions recruitment difficult, especially for private schools. Across the board students/parents are much more reticent to go deep into debt for an undergrad degree. And I can't say I blame them.

That's pretty much what that USA Today article was getting at and there is probably a lot of truth to it.  Another thing I wonder about is some schools have a recruiting gravy train from some areas where they don't even have to recruit and kids show up every year from that area.  West Delaware for Wartburg and South East Polk for Central. 

I have friends and family in the South East Polk area and when I would ask them what schools their kids looked they would mention ISU and Central were the only schools kids from their area look at.  They would look at me like I was crazy for thinking they might look at a number of other schools.

I wonder if admissions offices might get to a point where they rely on these areas without putting much effort into it and if all of a sudden that school isn't thought of as the cool place to go, that rush of kids to that college suddenly dries up in a real big hurry?  It's an idea anyway.  Probably not much merit to it. 

[Willie University]

In an article on college tuition costs, USA today noted that Central College of Iowa had a precipitous drop in enrollment this year.  (Probably the freshman class.)

That has to effect athletic recruiting as well.  Anyone heard anything about Central's enrollment?

New president has raised admission standards they say.

Simpson didn't have any problems getting 400 or so...Central barely could flush out 320...

I am going to call BS on "the raised admission standards". That is a common excuse for schools that don't reach enrollment goals. Kind of like Loras claimed last year that their drop in incoming enrollment was directly correlated to an increase in retention. A way to save face in the public and give their admission staff some self esteem back.

I would probably more realistically blame the drop in enrollment on 2 factors: 1.) Demographics beyond their control & 2.) Not adjusting their strategic recruiting plan to get the numbers regardless of demographic factors which falls on leadership (this is within their control)

I think it has a lot to do with the economic outlook. Students and their parents are much more cautious than they were even 10 years ago to take out massive loans for an undergrad degree. Say what you want, but spending upwards of $100k on an undergrad degree and then struggling to find employment is making admissions recruitment difficult, especially for private schools. Across the board students/parents are much more reticent to go deep into debt for an undergrad degree. And I can't say I blame them.

I agree but the conversation started by saying the reason for lower enrollment was because of higher admission standards. The economic factors affect all private colleges pretty much the same. So, back to my orginal thought....when factors beyond your control change, so does your strategic plan need to change. That is why simpson can experience steady or increase in enrollment while central experiences decrease. Why UD can experience steady or increase while loras experiences decrease. Just examples. All private colleges are of similar costs. All experience same demographics and challenges. That is where strategic planning and leadership come into play.

[Phred]

Such interesting comments on the enrollment tensions colleges experience:
1) I don,t think a college prexy asking for higher standards would precipitate a drop suddenly as the article implied.
2) demographics should affect all schools
3) economics DO influence.......but only as a college adjusts the discount rate it offers to new students.  Evidently Central's discount rate is out of whack with their comprehensive fees. 

Wish we could hear from their financial officer.

Second topic.........
I'd like to see comments on why folks make their choices on the pick'ems board.  Just a suggestion to make pick'ems more interesting. 

This is a great interchange.  Thanks guys and Mrs. D.

[hazzben]

I agree but the conversation started by saying the reason for lower enrollment was because of higher admission standards. The economic factors affect all private colleges pretty much the same. So, back to my orginal thought....when factors beyond your control change, so does your strategic plan need to change. That is why simpson can experience steady or increase in enrollment while central experiences decrease. Why UD can experience steady or increase while loras experiences decrease. Just examples. All private colleges are of similar costs. All experience same demographics and challenges. That is where strategic planning and leadership come into play.

Yep, I think that all has merit. The only thing I'd push back on is that all private schools are on the same playing field. When prices go up across the board, certain schools are much better positioned to respond with better scholarship and aid offers. Leadership is certainly important and I'd agree, increased admissions standards shouldn't cause a massive drop in one year.

But if the price keeps going up and the demand side gets tighter, the schools with massive endowments, deeper pockets and better aid packages have much more maneuverability. We've seen this up in the MIAC. Schools like Carleton have over a $1 billion dollars in the bank. They offer tons of aid that drastically offset the sticker shock. And schools like U$T (there's a reason we use that dollar sign on our board) get shall we say, creative, in how they offer aid to athletes. They've got deep pockets and are committed to excellent athletics. The difference between these two examples: Carleton refuses to even nod towards athletics (St. Olaf is similar, requiring potential students to have applied by December I think-kinda makes recruiting tough!) while U$T has lots of funds that they aren't afraid to pour on a kid (Academic, Need Based, Transfer, Leadership, Minority, City of Minneapolis, Engineering, Math/Science Scholarships, etc.)

From their website:

UST scholarships and awards are merit-based funds awarded on academic achievement and contributions made to one's community, school and/or church. UST makes an institutional commitment to students to help provide access to a St. Thomas education. First-time freshmen are automatically considered for these awards by completing the St. Thomas admissions process.

The italicized is a nicely broad and vague category. It leaves a lot of leeway for U$T to dole out the cash. And I can't say I blame them for it. If Bethel had the cash, I'd hope they were equally as creative. But it's tough to recruit against a schools that can offer their prized recruits an 75-90% price break.

[wartknight]

Got my pre-game in @ the W & as I was leaving, the dance team was practicing on the field. Sound system/video board a definite A compared to what we had in the past. Looking forward to the Knights coming out & taking care of business today!

[hazzben]

BVU is an improved team from last year. Might not have shown up in the win column yet, but they seemed better on both sides of the ball today.

Their QB in particular looked good throwing it. The stats don't look great for him, but he was under a ton of pressure. When he had time he showed good accuracy and decision making.

Good luck to Wartburg and BVU the rest of the way.

[notlongago]

Fairly disappointing day for the IIAC, IMHO. I didn't think there was any way DBQ would lose to SP. was there an injury or some other anomaly?

[Willie University]

I was just able to listen to the game and heard a couple injuries but those weren't the reason for the loss. UD first 3 possessions were turnovers and led to 3 uwsp TDs including a defensive one. Then the Spartans only got the ball for 2 minutes in the 3rd qtr. As coach myamoto alluded to at the post game Bradshaw missed some open WRs.

All in all an ugly game. Do I think the best team won of course not but props to UwSp for holding on and especially controlling the clock to keep the spartan offense off the field. I was happy with the way the Spartans battled back after digging such a deep hole and am happy that such an ugly game with 5 turnovers happened during non conference play. And also think the defense stepped up big after the 1st qtr.

Looking forward to the central game. I think the Spartans have a bad taste in their mouth after the last 2 weeks.

[doolittledog]

Last year Stevens Point jumped on UD early and ran away with a 55-14 win over the Spartans. 

This year Dubuque turned the ball over on each of its first 3 possessions and SP was up 21-0 midway through the 1st quarter.  Dubuque then played better and the final score was 31-28. 

I'm upset with the slow start, but encouraged with the fight this team put up to claw their way back into the game.  This is an improved Spartan team from last year.  I'm anxious to see how the conference portion of the schedule plays out.