#10: East Texas Baptist has received a $2.2M five-year grant from the Department of Education, funds from which will support new academic coaches for student-athletes. (link)
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#9: Mount Holyoke AD Andrea Ricketts-Preston joins D3.ticker’s Anthony Grassi to discuss her first 90 days in the chair, managing the transition, the vision for athletics and lots more. Ricketts-Preston began her tenure with the Lyons remotely as her wife had just had a baby when she accepted the position at the beginning of the year. The combination of personal and professional transitions allowed her to have three different “first 100 days” remotely, over the summer and then to start the fall semester. On what that transition may have meant for her staff: “I think that that showed the staff that I was transparent and honest from the beginning. They needed someone, based on the transitions that they were going through as a department and a college, to be somebody who was all in and they absolutely deserved that.So I made the commitment to actually travel to South Hadley twice a month until we were able to actually move. […] They were going through a lot of transitions too and they needed somebody who was invested fully and I think by showing them who I was as a person helped them build their trust and faith in me that I was the right person. While this was serving a personal piece for me that was very important, I felt that, like I said, that just showed some genuine commitment on my part where they could feel that reciprocated.” As part of the college’s new strategic plan, athletics will see more investment with full-time ACs for all NCAA teams. “One of the reasons that this position was so appealing to me was that growth potential and being able to chart a new path. I think in combination with President Holley's vision and the support that she's given so far and also the CFO has given so far, we have amazing opportunities that hopefully we'll begin to see payoff in the next couple of years.” Full conversation on BOSCA. (link)
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#8: WashU secured the program’s second national title capping off its undefeated season with a win over William Smith. (link)
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#7: TCNJ removes the interim tag from AD Liz Shatkus, effective January 1. VP for Student Affairs Sean Stallings: “After careful consideration of Liz's extensive background in athletic administration, deep familiarity with TCNJ's athletic programs, and breadth of knowledge of NCAA regulations, I feel confident she will lead the department into a new era of success, while supporting her students as both scholars and athletes. Her tenure at TCNJ has equipped her with a comprehensive understanding of the department's operations, strategic goals, and the needs of student-athletes. She has garnered the full endorsement of coaches and administrators alike, who recognize her commitment to excellence and her ability to foster a collaborative environment. Her efforts in cultivating team development and supervising multiple varsity programs have been instrumental in creating a positive and competitive atmosphere for student-athletes.” (link)
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#6: Lake Forest President Jill Baren is no longer with the college effective immediately. Long-time trustee Rob Krebs will serve as interim president. (link)
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#5: Catholic is facing a $30M structural deficit, as President Peter Kilpatrick wrote in an email last week: “The core of our financial challenge lies in the revenue we earn from tuition, which has declined by 24% since 2018. During this same period, our costs have continued to rise, with instructional expenses increasing by 12% and student services by 53% (this latter number includes not only student life and athletics expenses, but also enrollment management, admissions, and marketing and communications). Over the past decade, we have used financial reserves and special endowment draws to maintain operations as we saw our revenues decline and our expenses grow. These reserves are now depleted, and we can no longer rely on them or large special endowment draws to address our structural challenges.” Kilpatrick says CUA is exploring new revenue opportunities including online or hybrid offerings in addition to cutting salary increases next month from 4% to 2.5%, a selective hiring freeze and $8-9M in spending reductions. (link)
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#4: Luther AD Renae Hartl will step down from leading the Norse after a new AD is hired in the spring, at which point she will transition to a new role as Assoc. AD for Facilities Development in addition to her Softball HC role. President Jenifer Ward: “From the time of my arrival at Luther, I've had tremendous respect for the work Renae has performed in her dual appointment. On behalf of Luther College, I want to express our thanks to her for her tireless work leading the Norse while still providing championship-level coaching to our softball team. Higher education, including Division III collegiate sports, is in a state of rapid change and increasing complexity. Going forward, a program as large and robust as the Luther Norse will have an administrator with undivided focus, and our softball team can continue to build on its extraordinary reputation with its accomplished and long-serving coach at the helm.” (link)
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#3: The Football quarterfinals are set after a number of upsets last weekend. (link) |
#2: A trio of researchers from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia have released a new model for predicting institutional closures and those at the greatest risk. The machine learning model that most accurately predicted closures between 2002 and 2023 was used to predict what may happen with the looming enrollment cliff that could see a 15% decline in enrollment between 2025 and 2029. If the drop-off is immediate, “there could be as many as 80 (142 percent of the average annual closures) additional closures. On the other hand, a gradual decrease in enrollment equivalent to the demographic cliff would result in a predicted annual increase in the rate of closures of 4.6 (an increase of 8.1 percent over the average annual closures).” Full report. (link)
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#1: Coming out of SACSCOC’s annual meeting, Lynchburg’s has been placed on probation and warning and Guilford will remain on probation for good cause. (link)
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