FB: Southern Athletic Association

[jknezek]

UPDATE ON BSC.............The request for money from the state was for $30 million, half from COVID money and half from the state education fund.  The state voted on the COVID money budget, the state is spending it on infrastructure, medical and rural internet expansion, so no money for BSC.  We are now hoping for all the funds from the states current billion dollar excess in the education fund.  I have a couple questions about that, first off being why do we have a billion dollar excess in our education fund when we need new schools and teachers in this state.  Second being when does that get voted on?  The school BoD has set the end of March as a deadline of a decision being made on the school. So essentially 10 days from now we should know if we still have Birmingham Southern College. 

Time is short, I don't have the most positive feeling at the moment.

We live in Alabama. There are some really great things about this state. The education system, however, by whatever measure you want to use, is not one of them. We consistently rank in the bottom of just about every metric and we will continue to do so because education is not valued in this state.

That education surplus? That won't be used to create long-term liabilities like increased teacher pay and resources or more schools. Those would pay off in the long-term with a better state for employers, better jobs, and better tax receipts. But in the short term? It needs to be funded year in and out with taxpayer dollars, dollars they may have this year, but they aren't going to have every year. And raising taxes in the years they don't? Never going to happen.

Not to fund education, and certainly not to fund a private higher education institution like B-SC.

[awadelewis]

Coach McCollum and assistant coaches Drew Gaither and Mike Pelton were the guests on this week's episode of "Coffee with the Coach" podcast from our Athletic Department.   Introductions and a preview for the spring.

https://sewaneetigers.com/news/2023/3/20/coffee-with-the-coach-head-football-coach-andy-mccollum.aspx

[Ron Boerger]

UPDATE ON BSC.............The request for money from the state was for $30 million, half from COVID money and half from the state education fund.  The state voted on the COVID money budget, the state is spending it on infrastructure, medical and rural internet expansion, so no money for BSC.  We are now hoping for all the funds from the states current billion dollar excess in the education fund.  I have a couple questions about that, first off being why do we have a billion dollar excess in our education fund when we need new schools and teachers in this state.  Second being when does that get voted on?  The school BoD has set the end of March as a deadline of a decision being made on the school. So essentially 10 days from now we should know if we still have Birmingham Southern College. 

Time is short, I don't have the most positive feeling at the moment.

Here is a story from the local PBS station with a few more details; notably

• the excess in the education fund is actually $2.8 billion
• According to B-SC President Coleman "funding from that source for private institutions happens every year in Alabama"
• Coleman also said "the school's board of trustees must decide BSC's future by the end of March".

[Ron Boerger]

Two Birmingham city councilors proposed a "measure of support" (no actual financial commitment) but there was enough pushback that the measure was tabled until next month, by which point the school's future may be a fait accompli:  https://www.cbs42.com/news/local/city-council-pumps-the-brakes-on-birmingham-southern-colleges-request-for-bailout/

Birmingham Mayor Woodfin expresses his support for the school, but doesn't mention any funds coming from the city to support the school in this hour of need:  https://www.birminghamtimes.com/2023/03/woodfin-birmingham-southern-college-is-important-to-our-city-our-state/

The school again requested funding from the state:  https://1819news.com/news/item/birmingham-southern-makes-one-last-push-for-state-bailout

[BSCpanthers]

April 5th is now the decision date for the BoT.  BSC still has some hope in Montgomery after it came to light that the Education Trust Fund budget included $25mil for an over budget, behind schedule whitewater park in Montgomery.  That's a hard pill to swallow when BSC is only asking for $30mil for actual education needs.

[Ron Boerger]

April 5th is now the decision date for the BoT.  BSC still has some hope in Montgomery after it came to light that the Education Trust Fund budget included $25mil for an over budget, behind schedule whitewater park in Montgomery.  That's a hard pill to swallow when BSC is only asking for $30mil for actual education needs.

Unfortunately (and unsurprisingly given her other positions) Governor Ivey said today "[t]he state has no plans to use the taxpayers' public funds to bail out a private college." link

[BSCpanthers]

April 5th is now the decision date for the BoT.  BSC still has some hope in Montgomery after it came to light that the Education Trust Fund budget included $25mil for an over budget, behind schedule whitewater park in Montgomery.  That's a hard pill to swallow when BSC is only asking for $30mil for actual education needs.

Unfortunately (and unsurprisingly given her other positions) Governor Ivey said today "[t]he state has no plans to use the taxpayers' public funds to bail out a private college." link

William Ainsworth needs to be ready to be governor. Memaw needs to go.  She needs to understand it isn't her money, it belongs to the people of the state.  The state is spending $600mil for the University of Alabama and 2/3 of its student body is from out of state.  What I'm saying is that's a lot of the states money that is spent on something that most citizens of Alabama won't use.  Public or private, these schools aren't for everyone.  BSC is a not for profit school, a one time request of funds is not a ridiculous request. 

I'm rambling, but just frustrated with how some of the politicians have responded to the request, including our gov'ner.  Hope she enjoys her whitewater park, I'm sure there will be plenty of educational opportunities there.   

[jknezek]

April 5th is now the decision date for the BoT.  BSC still has some hope in Montgomery after it came to light that the Education Trust Fund budget included $25mil for an over budget, behind schedule whitewater park in Montgomery.  That's a hard pill to swallow when BSC is only asking for $30mil for actual education needs.

Unfortunately (and unsurprisingly given her other positions) Governor Ivey said today "[t]he state has no plans to use the taxpayers' public funds to bail out a private college." link

William Ainsworth needs to be ready to be governor. Memaw needs to go.  She needs to understand it isn't her money, it belongs to the people of the state.  The state is spending $600mil for the University of Alabama and 2/3 of its student body is from out of state.  What I'm saying is that's a lot of the states money that is spent on something that most citizens of Alabama won't use.  Public or private, these schools aren't for everyone.  BSC is a not for profit school, a one time request of funds is not a ridiculous request. 

I'm rambling, but just frustrated with how some of the politicians have responded to the request, including our gov'ner.  Hope she enjoys her whitewater park, I'm sure there will be plenty of educational opportunities there.   

Yeah. That whitewater park is a tough pill to swallow. I've been watching that garbage pile for a year or two as it developed. Kind of ridiculous. Especially how they are tying themselves in knots trying to talk about how it provides education opportunities. But this is about what I expected. B-SC was not going to get money from the state. As for U of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, the number of out of state students doesn't matter. What matters is the number of in-state voters, and that doesn't just include students and alums, that includes football fans.

[BSCpanthers]

Now it has come to light that Ivey's Education Trust Fund budget included $100mil towards the $1.4billion prison construction, that is now a billion dollars over budget.  As well as $5mil to pay off the remaining debt from Birmingham hosting the World Games last year.  But she still demands that no money be given to a private school. 

[Ralph Turner]

April 5th is now the decision date for the BoT.  BSC still has some hope in Montgomery after it came to light that the Education Trust Fund budget included $25mil for an over budget, behind schedule whitewater park in Montgomery.  That's a hard pill to swallow when BSC is only asking for $30mil for actual education needs.

Unfortunately (and unsurprisingly given her other positions) Governor Ivey said today "[t]he state has no plans to use the taxpayers' public funds to bail out a private college." link

William Ainsworth needs to be ready to be governor. Memaw needs to go.  She needs to understand it isn't her money, it belongs to the people of the state.  The state is spending $600mil for the University of Alabama and 2/3 of its student body is from out of state.  What I'm saying is that's a lot of the states money that is spent on something that most citizens of Alabama won't use.  Public or private, these schools aren't for everyone.  BSC is a not for profit school, a one time request of funds is not a ridiculous request. 

I'm rambling, but just frustrated with how some of the politicians have responded to the request, including our gov'ner.  Hope she enjoys her whitewater park, I'm sure there will be plenty of educational opportunities there.   

Having paid "out-of-state" tuition for 2 daughters to go to Auburn 20 years ago (basically 3 times higher than the in-state rate) those students paying a premium to go to an Alabama state university.

This is not the "popular" answer. With respect to Gov Ivey not bailing out a university that has been chronically mismanaged, why should the citizens of Alabama be an enabler of bad management? I am well aware of university boards that have had to correct the bad decisions of a President. Were her bailing out the university to be precedent setting, I would not want that. If this situation were the next descent down the slippery slope, then I don't want her to do it either.

[jknezek]

April 5th is now the decision date for the BoT.  BSC still has some hope in Montgomery after it came to light that the Education Trust Fund budget included $25mil for an over budget, behind schedule whitewater park in Montgomery.  That's a hard pill to swallow when BSC is only asking for $30mil for actual education needs.

Unfortunately (and unsurprisingly given her other positions) Governor Ivey said today "[t]he state has no plans to use the taxpayers' public funds to bail out a private college." link

William Ainsworth needs to be ready to be governor. Memaw needs to go.  She needs to understand it isn't her money, it belongs to the people of the state.  The state is spending $600mil for the University of Alabama and 2/3 of its student body is from out of state.  What I'm saying is that's a lot of the states money that is spent on something that most citizens of Alabama won't use.  Public or private, these schools aren't for everyone.  BSC is a not for profit school, a one time request of funds is not a ridiculous request. 

I'm rambling, but just frustrated with how some of the politicians have responded to the request, including our gov'ner.  Hope she enjoys her whitewater park, I'm sure there will be plenty of educational opportunities there.   

Having paid "out-of-state" tuition for 2 daughters to go to Auburn 20 years ago (basically 3 times higher than the in-state rate) those students paying a premium to go to an Alabama state university.

This is not the "popular" answer. With respect to Gov Ivey not bailing out a university that has been chronically mismanaged, why should the citizens of Alabama be an enabler of bad management? I am well aware of university boards that have had to correct the bad decisions of a President. Were her bailing out the university to be precedent setting, I would not want that. If this situation were the next descent down the slippery slope, then I don't want her to do it either.

And this is the rub. B-SC has been sickly for over 20yrs. In that time, one administration made good progress, but it didn't last long. I'm fairly neutral on whether it "should" be bailed out, I can see both pros and cons, especially given what will happen to that property if it is shut down. I understand BSCpanthers point on the hypocrisy of using "education surplus funds" for prisons and whitewater rating parks and all kinds of other pet projects, but not an educational institution.

My wife is an elementary school special ed teacher here in AL. She struggles daily to get what she needs for her classroom and we have a monthly portion of our home budget that we use toward buying the things she needs to do projects and repair her classroom, and keep snacks handy for her kids and more. Why? Because the state won't. Instead all kinds of pet projects, and financial debacles like our $1B replacement prison (we were supposed to get 2 for that, we need 4, and we get regularly sued and pay out to prisoners and the Fed Government for our current inhumane and overpopulated prisons) get funded.

But I suspect this happens in all states with discretionary spending, regardless of what the headline is for the money. So we have a headline of Education money, but really, it's whatever can be justified and lobbied for. B-SC has failed to successfully lobby why they should get the funding, so it will go other places.

Frankly though, it they send me a $400-$800 refund check, which is another option for the surplus, I'll just tuck it away for my wife's classroom spending. Anyone else in AL who would like to donate to that account if we get a refund, let me know! (Just kidding, sort of).

[cush]

has the state nixed the idea of making BSC a public liberal arts school ? I hope they have a plan other than being a Scrooge and letting the campus turn into a urban decay wasteland. How about Mercedes Benz make a $50 million donation to BSC and than the state give them some more tax benefits to offset the donation  I mean I read in 1993 the state gave them $253 million in incentives to build a plant.

[BSCpanthers]

has the state nixed the idea of making BSC a public liberal arts school ? I hope they have a plan other than being a Scrooge and letting the campus turn into a urban decay wasteland. How about Mercedes Benz make a $50 million donation to BSC and than the state give them some more tax benefits to offset the donation  I mean I read in 1993 the state gave them $253 million in incentives to build a plant.

There was an article recently that made the case that if BSC didn't currently exist, the state would spend millions to bring it Alabama, but since it's already here, let it die.  I think something slightly more sinister may be happening.  Multiple rumors of different public schools taking over the campus, Auburn and Troy to get a campus in Birmingham, UAB to expand and place something there.  If the state is holding off funding purely to be able to then turn and buy/take over the campus for a public school, that's not cool either. 

[jknezek]

has the state nixed the idea of making BSC a public liberal arts school ? I hope they have a plan other than being a Scrooge and letting the campus turn into a urban decay wasteland. How about Mercedes Benz make a $50 million donation to BSC and than the state give them some more tax benefits to offset the donation  I mean I read in 1993 the state gave them $253 million in incentives to build a plant.

This was never on the table. There is a public liberal arts school about 40 miles south in the University of Montevallo. I said from the beginning the best hope was for UAB to take it over as an honors college or something. I still think that is the best outcome. Ruining a mostly beautiful pre-made University campus by allowing it to become blighted, in an already blighted area is... well, it's stupid, but I wouldn't be surprised if that happened.

I'd be hard pressed to see why Auburn or Troy need a Birmingham area campus with UAB already serving there, but who knows? UAB usually gets the short shaft in favor of Tuscaloosa and Auburn, so maybe Auburn does get it done. It all depends on the proposal. If Auburn or Troy or any other public school can offer something UAB isn't, I suppose it could make sense, but it's hard to say that the area is underserved by public universities when UAB is a pretty broad based public school.

Before that happens though, B-SC is going to be on their own to decide if they can stay open or not. I suspect the answer is "not". If they had any significant success on the fundraising side, they'd be trumpeting it every day as evidence that they just need a little help but they are a supported going concern.

[y_jack_lok]

In related/unrelated (by conference/region) news, Iowa Wesleyan University is closing. As the article below notes, the state refused a request for American Rescue Plan (COVID) funding to help buy time to stabilize even the outlook for the school was actually starting to improve.

https://www.thegazette.com/higher-education/iowa-wesleyan-university-closing-after-181-years/