#10: Fontbonne’s plan for Sprint Football to boost enrollment has not fully come to fruition after half of the team’s student-athletes either failed out or lost their financial aid packages, per the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Blythe Bernhard and Steph Kukuljan, who add that 73% of football student-athletes failed at least one course. A quarter of last year’s freshman class were on the upstart team, which coincided with the university’s decision to drop standardized testing and minimum GPA requirements. Athletics did increase academic support for FB student-athletes this year including tutoring and a free credit-recovery program over winter break. While university officials stated the program is revenue positive, freshmen enrollment this year fell 13% “nearly wiping out gains made the previous year.” As Fontbonne is set to cut a number of degree programs, Bernhard and Kukuljan point to sources who questioned if adding the sport was an effective strategy and “expressed concern that the team’s poor performance and high rate of dropouts will lower the university’s graduation rate, which can affect school funding.” (link)
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#9: Birmingham-Southern will “better likely than not” be open next fall should the city provide BSC with two $2.5M loans, one of which would be forgiven if the college opens in the fall and another repayable over 20 years. (link) |
#8: Bard partners with ARI Athletics for recruiting and athlete management. (link) |
#7: Nazareth Field Hockey HC Tarah Christensen is no longer with the department. (link) |
#6: Middlebury Field Hockey makes it six straight national titles with a win over Johns Hopkins. How dominant have the Panthers been? They’ve won more national titles than games they’ve lost during this run. (link); Washington College will face St. Olaf and Amherst will face Washington & Lee in the Men’s Soccer semifinals. (link); The Women’s Soccer semifinals will feature Cal Lutheran-Tufts and Messiah-WashU. (link); The Women’s Volleyball quarterfinals are set. (link)
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#5: Misericordia’s multi-purpose athletics dome, which features an artificial surface lined for Football, Soccer, Field Hockey and Lacrosse, is near completion. (link) |
#4: Baldwin Wallace’s financial situation is more dire than believed as the university’s new CFO alerted leadership last month that the believed deficit of around $3M was actually over $20M. BW has brought in a consultant who has recommended an additional $8M in cuts, beyond the $3.9M earlier this semester, but no actions have been put in place. (link)
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#3: McDaniel promotes Asst. AD for Internal Operations Jeremy Shepherd to AD, succeeding AD Adam Hertz who retired earlier this year. Provost Flavius Lilly: "He distinguished himself during a competitive national search with his impressive background and experience, which make him exceptionally qualified to lead our athletics program. As Provost, I look forward to partnering closely with Jeremy to support our student-athletes and to elevate the athletics department." (link)
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#2: The Empire 8 will add SUNY Poly from the NAC as its 12th full member, starting next year. E8 Executive Director Chuck Mitrano: “SUNY Poly is an ideal fit for Empire 8. A strong academic institution with competitive teams that fits perfectly into our geographic footprint. This is consistent with our goal of adding quality institutions while supporting fiscally responsible athletics competition.” (link)
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#1: We offer our deepest condolences to the Wisconsin-Platteville community following the passing of AD Kristina Navarro-Krupka. Chancellor Tammy Evetovich: "She was an enthusiastic champion for the entire University of Wisconsin-Platteville, especially our student-athletes, coaches, and athletic staff. I offer my condolences to her husband Nick, her family, her friends and the many, many people she impacted during her time at UW-Platteville. She will be greatly missed." (link)
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