Division 2

[sealhall74]

At some point we have got to shake off the fear and negativism and approach the situation at WIU in a positive manner! jc

Which would happen much faster if the administration would quit burying its head in the sand and hiding the issues, but rather confronted them head on and told us and showed us what they were doing.

The fate of WIU and a few others is more in the hands of the state legislature than it is with any current or future administration.

[Neckfansince71]

And it is truly going to take the next two years to reach any type of conclusion basically because I think we are going to have two different governors to work with. Sorry but I am hoping that Gov. Rauner is gone at the end of this year! jc

[Neckfansince71]

Outside corporate is very very important! jc

[GV Dad]

GV Dad, have no fear! Things pertaining to the westside are moving forward! And WIU is not going D2! jc

Great to hear! I love the drawings I've seen.

[Tere North]

The fate of WIU and a few others is more in the hands of the state legislature than it is with any current or future administration.

So what, we just continue to complain? And why only a "few others" than WIU? There are 12 public universities. How are the majority then doing it? For example, why did EIU have increased enrollment last year, projecting even more this year, and doesn't have faculty unrest like we have at Western? That is definitely a leadership issue, not a state legislature issue.

[leatherneckcountry]

The fate of WIU and a few others is more in the hands of the state legislature than it is with any current or future administration.

So what, we just continue to complain? And why only a "few others" than WIU? There are 12 public universities. How are the majority then doing it? For example, why did EIU have increased enrollment last year, projecting even more this year, and doesn't have faculty unrest like we have at Western? That is definitely a leadership issue, not a state legislature issue.

Or maybe the faculty chose to be part of the solution instead of part of the problem not sorry but I lost all respect for the faculty who chose to threaten to go on strike right before finals.

[Tere North]

Why did EIU have increased enrollment last year, projecting even more this year, and doesn't have faculty unrest like we have at Western? That is definitely a leadership issue, not a state legislature issue.

Or maybe the faculty chose to be part of the solution instead of part of the problem not sorry but I lost all respect for the faculty who chose to threaten to go on strike right before finals.

Exactly! At Eastern, their faculty was on board early with furloughs/salary cuts. They have the same UPI union as Western. But at Western, the December 2015 BOT meeting say Western's UPI leadership blatantly refuse to be part of the budget solution, only to later have some of their membership force the issue. Alas, they still re-elected the same UPI chapter president who demands that faculty be considered the most vital element of the university. The faculty my be the engine, but without student fuel, it doesn't run.

[wiu712]

The Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) announced on Thursday that Southwest Baptist University has been admitted to the Conference for full-time membership, following a unanimous vote of approval by the GLVC Council of Presidents.

Southwest Baptist will officially become a GLVC member upon receipt of initiation fees, entitling the institution to voting privileges, and will begin regular season competition and be eligible for GLVC Championships in 2019-20.

The GLVC last expanded in 2012 with the addition of Truman State as its 16th member. The league dropped to 15 member institutions last year when charter member Saint Joseph’s College suspended operations. On June 30, 2018, UW-Parkside will formerly resign from the GLVC to join the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

Adding Southwest Baptist will return the GLVC to 15 members.

[wiu712]

The dollars and "sense" just haven’t added up for Savannah State athletics.

Citing it wasn’t financially feasible for the Tigers to continue playing in NCAA Division I, the school intends to reclassify all athletic programs to Division II. Savannah State is a current member of the MEAC.

According to a NCAA study, schools participating in the Football Championship Subdivision had average athletic budgets of about $10 million. A Division II school that offers football had an average athletic budget of $5.3 million.

FCS schools play with a maximum of 63 scholarships. Schools with Division II football compete with a maximum of 36 scholarships.

[LocalYokelFan]

At some point we have got to shake off the fear and negativism and approach the situation at WIU in a positive manner! jc

Which would happen much faster if the administration would quit burying its head in the sand and hiding the issues, but rather confronted them head on and told us and showed us what they were doing.

I agree! I'm not necessarily blaming this administration, because I think they're acting how most others in their position would, it's just not enough to keep D1 athletics afloat here anymore. I go back to what I said earlier -- Open up the books -- the numbers are all there! Show what we need to run a D1 program adequately (similar schools, conference rivals, etc.), show where we are at in terms of funding (you'll see we disproportionately rely on student's who don't seem to really care / support D1 athletics), and tell us what we need to do to stay here.

"We need X more LNC donors at the $10,000+ level"
"We need gameday revenues to increase by Y"
"We don't want student support to exceed $Z, so in order to do that, over the next 5 years we will need to raise an additional $XY."

Be up front about it. I think we'll all see that the best of marketers won't be enough to make this D1 sustainable. I hope I'm wrong, but I hope this or the next administration is at least transparent about it.