("Money - Savings" by 401(K) - 2012 via Flickr)
What is the student vote happening from March 20 to March 22?
There is a proposal to increase the mandatory Intercollegiate Athletics Fee on the student ballot for the March 20 to March 22 spring 2024 election. There is also an election for student government executive officers.
Why is the athletics program seeking a fee increase?
The athletics program is asking the student body to take financial responsibility for its unexpected NCAA Division II expenses after it transitioned to NCAA Division II at the University’s direction without the available funds in 2018. The proposed fee increase is to transfer the financial responsibility to students so the University can spend its current $2.4 million annual subsidy to the athletics program on other priorities. (Patriot Weekly’s summary.)
Why did the athletics program transition to NCAA Division II without a financial plan?
Allegedly, the decision to transition the program from NCAA Division III to NCAA Division II was a “unilateral” decision by former UT-Tyler President Michael Tidwell, according to UT-Tyler Athletics Director Howard Patterson.
Patterson told student government Feb. 6, “I know we didn’t talk dollars.”
Senior Vice President of Student Success told student government Feb. 6 that Tidwell saw Division II competition as a way to elevate the student experience.
Current UT-Tyler President Kirk Calhoun succeeded Tidwell as president in Jan. 2021.
How did the athletics program’s expenses skyrocket after its provisional NCAA Division II transition in 2018?
After it entered its new division, the athletics program’s competitive conference (meaning, the bracket of schools with which it competes) expanded unexpectedly. The addition of new schools meant the program now had to travel over 900 miles to compete, as far west as western New Mexico and as far south as Laredo, TX. Consequently, its travel, lodging and food expenses rose substantially. Its recruiting costs also increased significantly in Division II. Patterson said in 2021 that UT-Tyler now competes with lower-level Division I schools like Sam Houston and Tarleton State which have full-time recruiters in DII. The program also needed to raise staff salaries to retain coaches, Patterson said in 2021. So the program’s costs to compete in DII rose significantly after its transition due to demands from travel, lodging, food, recruiting and staff compensation.
Why is the University paying the athletics program roughly $2.4 million each year from tuition?
The University committed to provide the athletics program the additional funds it needed to play at DII before it transitioned to DII in 2018. When the program’s costs spiked, the University already committed to pay the program’s deficit to enable it to compete in Division II. The institution pays its roughly $2.4 million annual subsidy to the athletics program from designated tuition.
Patterson told a student town hall in 2021: “When we went to Division II, it was clear upfront that we don’t(sic) have the funds to play at the same level at Division II as we did at Division III. So the deal was that whatever the [student athletics] fee projection was, that money goes first to funding athletics and then whatever the deficit is, is made up by the University.”
So, the University knew it did not have the funds to support Division II competition, but launched anyway, without identifying the funds to pay to compete at the new level. The former president allegedly promised to pay the athletics program’s deficit after fee revenue for its new DII costs. Then the University got caught, along with the athletics program, in an expanded conference, with exploding costs, and was left responsible to pay for the new expenses that came with it.
The University has remained in this financial commitment since the DII transition.
Is this the first time the athletics program has tried to get students to accept financial responsibility for its DII transition?
No. Students rejected a previous fee increase proposal in 2021 with record turnout. (43.85 % to 56.15%, 1,106 turnout.)
Why then have I heard that if students pass the proposed fee increase then more money will go to fund student organizations like the Drumline, Greek Life and other extracurricular student activities?
This is because the athletics program currently consumes over $224,000 of Student Services Fee (SSF) money in addition to the money it receives from The Intercollegiate Athletics Fee and its institutional subsidy.
In theory, should student voters approve the proposed athletics fee increase, then the athletics program would have more revenue from the new fee increase and therefore consume less of SSF budget. However, there is nothing binding in the proposed fee increase that requires the program to reduce its dependence on SSF money if students pass the fee increase. Moreover, administrators have not made any public commitments, to Patriot Weekly’s knowledge, to reduce the athletics program’s consumption of SSF money should students approve the fee increase.
In other words, under the current conditions, SSF money would still be available for the athletics program to consume should students pass the fee increase on March 20-22. All that is guaranteed to change if students pass the proposed increase is that students will pay a higher athletics fee. Athletics can still consume available SSF money after students pass the fee increase, making these funds less available for extracurriculars such as Greek Life, Drumline and other aforementioned entities in the future.
If the athletics fee increase passes, then it is guaranteed that more money will go to Greek Life and other extracurricular activities?
No. Senior Vice President for Student Success Ona Tolliver told student government on Feb. 6 that administrators cannot promise that the student services fee committee will reduce its appropriation to the athletics program because ultimately the final decision for appropriating Student Service Fee money is the University president’s. Therefore, they cannot commit to reducing athletics’ consumption of SSF money. In fact, she said they will maintain their support for athletics as a university priority.
Is raising the athletics fee the only way to free up money for extracurriculars like Greek life, and Drumline and others?
Students would have more money to fund extracurricular activities now if the University would stop funding the athletics program through multiple student fees.
What will happen if the athletics fee proposal passes?
Students will accept financial responsibility for the University’s decision to jump into NCAA Division II without sufficient funding. The classmen the fee increase would impact the most will be current freshman and incoming freshman since the proposal calls for the increase to install over the next three years. Most upperclassmen who vote in the election this week will graduate from the University and will not have to pay the full price of the increase in the next three years.
Can I trust the University or the athletics program as my sole source of information about the fee increase proposal?
Student voters should be aware that both the University and the Patriot Athletics program stand to financially benefit from the passage of the proposed athletics fee increase. Therefore, both have conflicts of interest. In ethical terms, both parties have a conflict of interest in testifying about the possible costs and benefits of the athletics fee proposal given that they stand to financially benefit from the referendum’s outcome.
What is the proposal to increase the athletics fee?
The proposal to increase the mandatory Intercollegiate Athletics Fee has three parts: 1) an increase to students’ per semester credit hour (SCH) charge, 2) an increase to students’ required minimum payment per semester and 3) an increase to students’ maximum payment per semester. If the proposal passes, then all three increases would install incrementally over the next three years, according to the following schedule:
Year SCH Minimum Maximum
Fall 2024 $18 $108 $270
Fall 2025 $20 $120 $300
Fall 2026 $22 $132 $330
Spring 2024 $16 $96 $240
Students will vote to either accept (Yes - I approve) or reject (No - I do not approve) the above proposal. There is one vote to cast for this one athletics fee increase proposal.
How can I vote?
Enrolled students can vote via a link that The Student Government Association will send them at 12:00 a.m. March 20 in their Patriot email.
Feature Image: "Money - Savings" by 401(K) - 2012 via Flickr
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