Updates to faculty layoff plan and other stuff

General Campus News, Updates, Discussion
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Tere North
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GV Dad wrote: Tue Jun 05, 2018 10:02 pm
$89 Million dollars for a performing arts center is wasted money. Talk about athletics not supporting itself, How long will it take to recoup that investment? 300 years? Ever?
With a max performance with 1100 seats, it will never pay for itself. If you charge $20/seat, people won't pay to see it. No way can you get any kind of professional performance for what we could take in. Except for the practice rooms and small ensemble performances, I don't think the PAC will ever see much use. That's money wasted as it more money at the QC were they barely manage to get 1000 students. Combined, that $150M+ could be used so more more wisely on other campus projects.
Purple Grandma
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I completely disagree that a PAC is a waste of money. As someone who moved to Macomb in the 70's when we lost out on a PAC the first time around, this is LONG overdue. I'm sure I'm not the only one who grew tired of watching BCA stage performances in Western Hall. Not to mention that some productions refused to come here if they had to perform there.

I am also ashamed of the the west side stands and totally agree that they need an improvement - both for safety and aesthetic reasons.
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sealhall74
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Here is what I would do. First, scrap the track and field program because we aint ALL IN with it plus it frees up some land north of Hanson for other things. One of those other things is the PAC. I would design the PAC and new west side/footbal facility to share a few essential elements like access to parking, HVAC and utility infrastructure, ticket booths, restroom, concession areas, conference and meeting rooms, etc. The facilities are physically connected but so well designed and sound-insulated that the folks inside the PAC listening to a performance would never hear the roar of the crowd when the Leathernecks score a TD and Mick Jagger over in the PAC (sorry I am dating myself) could scream all he wants and blow the dust off the rafters and would never be heard by football fans with game is in progress. Since the track program is gone, so too is the track and the football fans will be moved closer to the action. This integrated approach is maybe not ideal but it does get more bang for the buck than could be done with separately funded and designed facilities. If the PAC does not fit in here in peoples minds, no matter. I would still design it this way with the intention down the road that a replacement for Western Hall could just as easily reside in that space as well. Hey, go easy and dont kill me. I am just a software person who strives for code reuse throughout all endeavors.

Jack's statement makes the PAC sound kind of iffy at this point. Exactly where was it going to be built in the original plans. North of Corbin? In a perfect world, you would probably need to build a parking deck nearby to host any sort of crowd. Walking from Q would be unthinkable.
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GV Dad
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Purple Grandma wrote: Wed Jun 06, 2018 12:47 am I completely disagree that a PAC is a waste of money. As someone who moved to Macomb in the 70's when we lost out on a PAC the first time around, this is LONG overdue. I'm sure I'm not the only one who grew tired of watching BCA stage performances in Western Hall. Not to mention that some productions refused to come here if they had to perform there.

I am also ashamed of the the west side stands and totally agree that they need an improvement - both for safety and aesthetic reasons.
I don't think the PAC is a waste of money, but it shouldn't be the entire amount. That would be a waste of money. You should be able to get a pretty nice new Center for $20-$30 million.

Re-Reading the post from Scott, the quote did say $89 million for the PAC and other Cap improvements. So maybe that is the idea. Upgrades to Hanson Field for sure. $20,000 to the baseball and softball complexes would also increase the fan experience, and in return attendance, to a point where they could charge for admission. They need to find ways to invest the $$ to bring in revenue
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Tere North
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sealhall74 wrote: Wed Jun 06, 2018 5:09 am Scrap the track and field program because we aint ALL IN with it plus it frees up some land north of Hanson for other things.
That would knock out 6 sports. Men's/Women's Outdoor Track, Men's/Women's Indoor Track, and Men's/Women's Cross Country. From 19 we would be down to 13, 1 too few for D1.

All told, our track program has had some pretty significant success, and we would be throwing away our Lee Calhoun history. What other sport has 2 Olympic Gold medals to show for it (1956 and 1960 110m hurdles).
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sealhall74
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Tere North wrote: Wed Jun 06, 2018 9:35 am
sealhall74 wrote: Wed Jun 06, 2018 5:09 am Scrap the track and field program because we aint ALL IN with it plus it frees up some land north of Hanson for other things.
That would knock out 6 sports. Men's/Women's Outdoor Track, Men's/Women's Indoor Track, and Men's/Women's Cross Country. From 19 we would be down to 13, 1 too few for D1.

All told, our track program has had some pretty significant success, and we would be throwing away our Lee Calhoun history. What other sport has 2 Olympic Gold medals to show for it (1956 and 1960 110m hurdles).
Keep Cross Country for both and I think we would be fine. Probably cheaper than tennis to operate. We aint all in in track and field right now, cant even host a freaking meet on campus worthy of note. Getting in a bunch of D3s and JUCOs for the Lee Calhoun Classic has him rolling over in his grave IMHO.
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wiu712
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President Thomas said yesterday that his leadership team will "consider all options that provide cost-savings."

You would have to think that everything will be on the table, including Athletics and the viability of the Quad Cities campus where there were 894 students for Fall 2017.
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Neckfansince71
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712, you can be sure that the athletic department is aware of the budget situation. You can also be sure that the Summit League office is very very aware of the travel costs that come with being a member of the league!

That being said, it just so happens that WIU will be hosting the outdoor conference meet next May which means that some track upgrades are coming Hanson Field's way. We have also talked about keeping or dropping some of the Olympic sports for money savings. WIU already dropped Men's Tennis. And as Tere pointed out, there are always Title 9 issues that need to be addressed. Besides that though, track and field and swimming really only have limited funds for athletic support, the rest the students themselves pay for which means that dropping them makes little financial sense. It took WIU a while to get into this mess, its going to take a while to get out of it too. ;) jc

ps. For the last couple of years, cross country and T&F seemed to lack a little energy. The new head coach is very very very into it and you will see significant improvement next year and years to come!
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sealhall74
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Neckfansince71 wrote: Wed Jun 06, 2018 11:42 am 712, you can be sure that the athletic department is aware of the budget situation. You can also be sure that the Summit League office is very very aware of the travel costs that come with being a member of the league!

That being said, it just so happens that WIU will be hosting the outdoor conference meet next May which means that some track upgrades are coming Hanson Field's way. We have also talked about keeping or dropping some of the Olympic sports for money savings. WIU already dropped Men's Tennis. And as Tere pointed out, there are always Title 9 issues that need to be addressed. Besides that though, track and field and swimming really only have limited funds for athletic support, the rest the students themselves pay for which means that dropping them makes little financial sense. It took WIU a while to get into this mess, its going to take a while to get out of it too. ;) jc

ps. For the last couple of years, cross country and T&F seemed to lack a little energy. The new head coach is very very very into it and you will see significant improvement next year and years to come!
Maybe it's just me but I would be damn sure to schedule a dual or triangular or two during the outdoor season to get the facility kinks worked out before then. Takes a lot of people to work a track and field meet. ;)
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Neckfansince71
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Is the term "triple dual" meet still used today? Sure did in the late 60's early 70's! We had a triple dual against Elgin and Crown, against Libertyville and North Chicago, and Zion Benton and Barrington as I recall. Of course I am dating myself but then I had to date myself for all three years in junior high school cause nobody would go out with me! :? jc
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