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#10: Chatham announces the addition of Women’s Flag Football starting this spring. Women’s Basketball HC David Saur will serve as Director of Women's Flag Football Operations. (link)
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#9: A modest uptick in fall enrollment will not be enough to stem intensifying pressure for many U.S. colleges heading into next year and likely beyond,” according to Fitch Ratings analysts during a recent webinar. Fitch Ratings Senior Director/U.S. Public Finance Higher Education and Nonprofit Head Emily Wadhwani says some “flagship public institutions, selective private institutions, and HBCUs are achieving record enrollment numbers. Conversely, many smaller, less selective colleges continue to see their enrollment decline.” Lower demand, analysts say, will keep tuition increases in check and have already increased institutional discounting levels. Wadhwani: “Discounting is at its steepest for every incoming freshman class, which then becomes a trailing reference point as those students head towards graduation.” From Fitch: “While most Fitch-rated colleges maintain Stable Outlooks, downward Outlook revisions have risen over the last several quarters. This could indicate more downgrades are ahead, particularly for colleges unable to maintain positive operating performance, as well as erode financial resources. Rating Outlooks vary by geographic region, with far less stress evident in the South compared to the Midwest and Northeast.” Also from Wadhwani: “We do expect the sector to yield generally softer operating margins and continue to show some strains on financial flexibility as we head into 2025.” (link, link)
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#8: Millikin elevates SID Morgan Vogels to Asst. AD for Athletic Communications. (link)
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#7: Johns Hopkins AD Jennifer Baker joins Sports Illustrated/Connect's Bryan Fischer to discuss her reaction to being named NACDA AD of the Year, managing programs in different NCAA divisions, how serving in the Navy for seven years has equipped her for analytically tackling challenges that are taking place in today's landscape, how her background as an aerospace engineer informs her outlook and more. Baker: “Given that I didn’t start here, I'm able to see [the industry] through a couple of different lenses and I'm able to see it and distill it down a little bit more objectively. I certainly love what we would all I think at this point call sort of the legacy model of college athletics. I believe in it, that's what got me in here in the first place. But I also recognize it as it is an industry. We have created a marketplace. I don't think that's a bad thing, I just think if we are going to be CEOs in an industry and CEOs of brands in a marketplace, we need to think about things in a more objective – detached is the wrong word – but just strategic way in that regard. Certainly the way the military works is not the way higher education works in any stretch of the imagination, but I think what the military has allowed me to do and sort of taught me to do is take a limited amount of information and make the best decision possible in a given moment with the bigger picture of achieving a mission in mind.” Lots more on Connect. (link)
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#6: A report by the Virginia General Assembly’s watchdog agency says seven of universities should be monitored more closely and three have “some viability risk” because of declining enrollment and other factors. Christopher Newport and Mary Washington are among the seven to be monitored while Mary Washington is among the three the report identifies as having “some viability risk.” The report pointed to a trio of factors for UMW: pricing power, condition of facilities and financial ratios, with enrollment being marked as a “moderate risk” after enrollment fell 20% between 2014 and 2023 and has slightly rebounded as of last year. UMW President Troy Paino on the school’s finances: “it should also be remembered that Virginia’s funding formula for state aid still benefits schools that do not serve as many Pell-eligible students as UMW.” (link)
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#5: Millikin promotes Asst. AD for Internal Operations Bryan Marshall to Interim AD. (link) |
#4: Alfred’s $30M Saxon Hill Sports Complex project is on track to be completed in December 2025 for athletics to move in spring 2026. To date, more than $10M has been raised. Once completed, the complex will serve as the competition or practice home for many AU programs. The project is expected to help grow student-athlete enrollment by 170 over the first six years. (link)
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#3: Penn State Behrend Women’s Volleyball HC Ryan Laing is no longer leading the Lions. (link) |
#2: SLIAC Commissioner Richard Kaiser announces he will retire at the end of the academic year. Greenville President Suzanne Davis: “Dr. Kaiser has been a hallmark of our conference for many years. His consistency and love for intercollegiate athletics is inspiring. He’s always very present with all stakeholders, from presidents to AD’s to students, and relevant in every circle of influence. He will be dearly missed.” (link)
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#1: The latest NPI rankings are live for Field Hockey (link), Men’s Soccer (link) and Women’s Soccer (link).
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