Future of Division III

[Kuiper]

An article published today by The Chronicle of HE (based on a link from the Philadelphia Inquirer) reported that 10 prominent Pennsylvania liberal arts colleges are going to explore ways to collaborate to save money and improve academic programs. They have an $800,000 grant from the Andrew Mellon Foundation. 

Last year a group of private colleges in the I-79 corridor (including W&J) explored joining together to set up an entity to perform some common back-office functions.  That failed to materialize, but I thought it was a great concept and was disappointed when it fell apart.

I give this new plan a much higher probability of success for two reasons, first they have $800,000, and second the schools have much more in common than the I-79 group. 

This sounds like a grant that was made from the Mellon Foundation in 2014 to almost exactly the same institutions (The original list included Ursinus) for exactly the same amount ($800K) to do what sounds like the same things by creating the Pennsylvania Consortium for the Liberal Arts.  Are they just getting around to figuring out how to use the $800K after 10 years (which is a really small grant today considering Mellon has given many of those organizations $1m+ grants in the last year or so for a variety of things) or is Mellon giving additional funds to the group?

https://www.pcla.info/about

Who are the members of the PCLA?

The consortium was formed in 2014 by the presidents of Bryn Mawr, Dickinson, Franklin & Marshall, Gettysburg, Haverford, Juniata, Muhlenberg, Swarthmore, Ursinus and Washington & Jefferson Colleges. Lafayette College joined in 2015 bringing our current membership to eleven.
Where does the consortium's funding come from?

The consortium's founding was made possible by a generous grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Additional funding has been provided by The Teagle Foundation, Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, and the Booth Ferris Foundation.

The consortium's operating budget is supported by dues collected from our member institutions.
What is the PCLA's mission?

The PCLA strives to enhance cross-institutional knowledge among our members in order to improve the quality of our institutions and programs as well as to create opportunities for cost efficiencies. The consortium's activities will contribute to the national conversation about how America's liberal arts colleges can address concerns such as increasing access and opportunity.

https://www.washjeff.edu/pennsylvania-liberal-arts-colleges-form-consortium/

WASHINGTON, Pa. – Ten liberal arts colleges in Pennsylvania have received an $800,000 grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to create the Pennsylvania Consortium for the Liberal Arts (PCLA), an entity designed to help each institution create new cost efficiencies, improve the quality of academic and co-curricular programs, and enhance inter-institutional knowledge and collaboration. The consortium also plans to contribute in important ways to national discussions about improving access to higher education and improving affordability for families.

The 10 Pennsylvania colleges are: Bryn Mawr College, in Bryn Mawr, Pa.; Dickinson College, in Carlisle, Pa.; Franklin & Marshall College, in Lancaster, Pa.; Gettysburg College, in Gettysburg, Pa.; Haverford College, in Haverford, Pa.; Juniata College, in Huntingdon, Pa.; Muhlenberg College, in Allentown, Pa.; Swarthmore College, in Swarthmore, Pa.; Ursinus College, in Collegeville, Pa.; and Washington & Jefferson College, in Washington, Pa.

The grant, which will be expended over three years, will provide seed money for collaborative programs among the various participants. The member colleges, each with its individual assets, will contribute and benefit in ways distinct to their institutional strengths and needs. In pursuing the Mellon grant, the leaders of the institutions asserted that their first priority as a consortium "is to enhance the strong liberal arts preparation we provide our students while controlling associated costs."

"Liberal arts colleges across the country face serious challenges – shifting demographics, student access, affordability and the pressure to keep up with new technology," said Tori Haring-Smith, president of Washington & Jefferson College. "Bringing Pennsylvania liberal arts colleges into a consortium helps us leverage our collective strengths to better serve our students."

[Ron Boerger]

$800K is chump change, but those names give hope that the effort will be a success. 

[Ralph Turner]

$800K is chump change, but those names give hope that the effort will be a success.

...but 3 consultants for 12 months providing a workflow change for all schools that might save "X" amount of FTE's per school for 5-10 years? That is what I would expect that Mellon is "buying" with the grant.

[Kuiper]

Interesting article on the demise of Wells College and an effort by alums to raise funds to consider possible legal options.  I thought the part at the end of the story about how the town of Aurora was actually dependent on Wells College for water was particularly interesting.  That's when you know that the town basically is the college.

As Wells College prepares to close, some alumni say there is more to the demise of the 156-year-old institution than meets the eye.

"There's a lot of suspicion and there's a lot of rumor, and the challenge is trying to get to the truth here," says Caolan MacMahon, a 1985 graduate of the college.

On April 29, Wells announced that it no longer had the financial resources to remain open. MacMahon and other Wells alumni are trying to hire a lawyer to help them investigate the college's closure process, and the conditions that led to it. They hope to prevent the school from shutting its doors, or at least delay the closure until they have finished looking into the matter.

[Kuiper]

Fitch Ratings sounds the warning for tuition-dependent private colleges

https://www.fitchratings.com/research/us-public-finance/tuition-growth-not-enough-to-preserve-margins-for-us-private-colleges-02-07-2024

The uphill battle continues for U.S. private colleges and universities despite an uptick in net tuition revenue growth with medians likely under intensifying pressure in the coming months, according to Fitch Ratings in its latest annual medians report for the sector.

"Cash flows and coverage are likely to face continued pressure, particularly emerging from an admission cycle fraught with FAFSA issues this spring casting concerns over fall enrollment expectations," Wadhwani continued.

"Limited increases in tuition will be insufficient to mitigate still-elevated operating costs, which over time will further widen the credit gap between larger, more selective institutions versus their smaller, less selective and more tuition-dependent counterparts," affirms Wadhwani.

[Kuiper]

A proposal to further push DIII out of the halls of power at the NCAA

https://x.com/dennisdoddcbs/status/1813612962965246227

The @ncaa Council was recently presented with a proposed governance structure that would create "two Division I's" per a source. It would be to accommodate the Power 4's desire to have its own governance division to make its own rules. Not a full breakaway but a recognition those commissioners don't want Division III presidents voting on roster caps anymore.

Here's a link to the full article and the context for the quote about DIII presidents:

While the Council presentation during the June 25-26 meeting was short on specifics, it's clear the NCAA is headed toward a further power shift. Such a move would bifurcate the 40-member Division I Council that is responsible for the day-to-day operation of the NCAA. Power conference administrators have long been frustrated at both the composition and voting structure of the Council.

 Currently, only 14 of the 40 members on the Council are from Power Four conferences. The concern among those power conferences is that Council members who had no stake in an issue had the power to vote it up or down.

CBS Sports put the subject to one powerful Power Four administrator this way:

"You essentially don't want a Division III president voting on roster caps."

(Roster caps are a controversial issue involved in the House settlement.)

"Correct," that person said.

The Power Four could conceivably more efficiently address such issues as transfer portal windows and the recruiting calendar, perhaps even establishing its own enforcement process.

[jknezek]

What do you expect? The issues facing D1 and D3 are so dissimilar at this point I think they have a point. A D3 president shouldn't vote on roster limits for the Power D1 conferences.

D3 benefits from their largesse at the moment. But what does D3 give to D1 and why should they have a seat at the table to tell D1 anything about how they run things? In D1 there is no amateurism, they aren't student-athletes in the big 2 sports, D1 is running semi-pro football and basketball leagues. And soon it will be full pro. D3 has almost nothing in common with D1 anymore and we need to stop pretending they should or will have a voice in the near future.

The current setup is an anachronistic problem that cannot and will not last.

[CNU85]

I was thinking about this on the drive to work this morning. Luckily, for me, the drive is less than 5 miles. My initial thought was what if the Power 4 decided to form their own athletic association and leave the NCAA. Immediately I tried to solve the legal battles that would ensue concerning the revenue from television contracts and all the merchandise agreements. I got a headache. But I came to an important question (or a few) in the end. Assume the Power 4 leaves the NCAA and all of the legal battles are settled eventually and we are left with an NCAA without the Power 4.....could the NCAA survive? How would that impact funds allocated to D3? What would D3 postseason look like for all the sports?

So, it's probably a good idea the NCAA does what it can to placate the Power 4 and find a way to keep as much of that revenue stream in house as they possibly can. Carve out the Power 4 and let them regulate and administer their new "division". Just keep the money flowing!

[Ron Boerger]

A D3 president shouldn't vote on roster limits for the Power D1 conferences.

They don't. This was addressed years ago. 

Assume the Power 4 leaves the NCAA and all of the legal battles are settled eventually and we are left with an NCAA without the Power 4.....could the NCAA survive? How would that impact funds allocated to D3? What would D3 postseason look like for all the sports?

Pretty sure the NCAA gets most of its funds from March Madness, not sure how the P4 would pull out of that because a huge draw is the fact is the wide-open field and the risk of upsets.  Yes, they certainly could take their ball and run with it but the event loses much of its appeal and earnings potential.  I guess you could have a replacement tournament with basically everyone in the P4 participating, and if you do NCAA March Madness won't pull in near the broadcast revenue.

[IC798891]

What do you expect? The issues facing D1 and D3 are so dissimilar at this point I think they have a point. 

D1 is running semi-pro football and basketball leagues. And soon it will be full pro. D3 has almost nothing in common with D1 anymore and we need to stop pretending they should or will have a voice in the near future.

The current setup is an anachronistic problem that cannot and will not last.

This is an excellent post.

There comes a point where things are so dissimilar that they simply aren't existing in the same world.

Seven figure NIL deals for players
Eight figure coach salaries
10-figure conference media contracts

We've reached that point in D1

[jknezek]

Pretty sure the NCAA gets most of its funds from March Madness, not sure how the P4 would pull out of that because a huge draw is the fact is the wide-open field and the risk of upsets.  Yes, they certainly could take their ball and run with it but the event loses much of its appeal and earnings potential.  I guess you could have a replacement tournament with basically everyone in the P4 participating, and if you do NCAA March Madness won't pull in near the broadcast revenue.

Bet it wouldn't. Especially not after a few years. We are about to enter an era where the G5 teams are farm teams for P4. It already has started. After a few years, any talent the G5 has is going to be plucked to P5 and those upsets are going to go away stupid fast. Mainly because the "continuity" of some of those G5 teams that allows them to upset some 5 star baby-baller me first type P5 teams, but also because those G5 teams won't have continuity either. Anyone worth anything is going to be recruited away with money.

Regardless, I think we will see a P3, maybe a full 64-80 team P2 with geographic divisions, which I think makes the most sense, breakaway at some point. Kind of inevitable. The ACC is about to get trashed. They will take the last 2 from the old PAC12 to make up for what they lose to the Big12. Or the rump ACC will transfer to the PAC12 remainder to get out from under their TV contract and just start fresh.

Either way, that leaves us with 3, as the rump ACC will essentially be a G5 football conference. Then I expect the real decisions will be made. The next football playoffs will exclude the G5 teams, preference the SEC and Big10 over the Big12 and rump ACC, who will have 8 years or more of futility at that point in the playoffs and will have much lower tv contract potential.

That will set off a scramble for those teams to join the SEC/Big10, set up an exclusive tournament in both football and basketball, and reorganize into some kind of sensible geographic divisions for travel for all sports except football and basketball. The Big 10 will take the mostly northern and western schools, the SEC will take the southern and either southwest or mid-atlantic schools. Or the Big 10 will take the better thought of academic schools, hoping to keep something of their rep intact, and the SEC will take the rest, which sort of works out the same way with a few exceptions. Anyone who doesn't make the cut will be sorely disappointed and I'm sure there will be lawsuits.

Conferences will have between 30-45 members, and they will each divide up into 4 divisions. Except for football, which may have twice as many divisions and half as many members in each and play more cross division games. You get rid of OOC basically, except one or two games that is done by order of finish of previous year to make for exciting TV.

Anyway, that's how I see all this playing out over the next 10-20 years. FCS, D2, D3, and the G5 better have alternative funding plans. I'd suggest G5 goes to FCS rules and they call it D1, while the breakaway P whatever can be "developmental professional." Then rebuild the NCAA around more iron-clad rules regarding revenue sharing for athletes, sell the rights to a "new" D1 tournament and start over. Let D1 be semi-pro/scholarship, D2 be whatever weird and largely stupid hybrid they want, and D3 remains true amateur except for whatever minor NIL they can get but reform the NIL rules to do away with this collective b.s. and let it be pure pay for NIL.

[scottiedoug]

And the world keeps turning....https://mcscots.com/news/2024/7/18/scots-joining-prestigious-saa.aspx

[Gray Fox]

And the world keeps turning....https://mcscots.com/news/2024/7/18/scots-joining-prestigious-saa.aspx

https://mcscots.com/news/2024/7/18/scots-joining-prestigious-saa.aspx

[Kuiper]

Financial Mismanagement Prompts Pay Cuts at Averett

Something about this story doesn't add up.  Sounds like someone made bad investments and they have a small enough endowment and thin enough margins that they needed to take fairly drastic measures involving the majority of employees taking cuts to try make it up.

Senior leaders at Averett University are taking pay cuts and some employees are having their work week reduced to four days due to financial mismanagement, Cardinal News reported.

Administrators blamed the financial shortfall on an unnamed former employee. While officials told the news outlet that the university had learned of unauthorized withdrawals from its endowment, they said there was "no evidence of embezzlement, theft and the use of funds for non-university purposes." They did not specify, however, how the money was used.

Now Averett officials aim to cut $6 million in costs for the coming academic year. An estimated 125 of Averett's 200-plus full-time employees will be affected by cost-cutting measures.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Some finance guy takes extra from the endowment to cover a shortfall and then tries to pass it off as investment loss?