Proposing A Student Athletic Fee

[UNTflyer]

I know people will make the argument that we don't need a new stadium since we don't fill the one we have. I'd make the counter argument that Fouts sits on land that could be used for parking/academic buildings. The administration and athletics leadership need to stress that Fouts is sitting on land near the nucleus of the campus.

Excellent point. The students are always complaining about parking.

[UNTflyer]

I want to thank everyone for their input, both on this thread and in PMs. It has been mostly positive. I guess this is ONE topic where we have overwhelming agreement.

That being said, I will tread carefully over the next few weeks as I figure out how best to go about this. I don't want to muck up any plans that the AD and BOR may be working on behind the curtains, but I am also of the opinion that we, the students, should not simply wait around for the administration to do what needs to be done. I am still waiting on email replies from RickV, Dr. B, and my student senators. I am also going to schedule some meetings with some board members here who are in the know and have advice based on the failed atheltic fee referendum.

In the meantime, I took an unofficial straw poll of some students in my classes today. Of the 10 students I spoke with, 8 were just fine with an incremental fee over the next several years. of course, I'm not a music or arts major.

[filmerj]

That may be, but it wasn't true in my case. I looked at UT-Austin, SWT (as it was called in those days), Texas Tech and North Texas. I ruled out UT, because I didn't want to go to college in my home town, SWT seemed too "small time" in those days, and Tech (ugh!). The only logical choice seemed to be North Texas, which seemed to have more of what I was looking for in a university. I never regretted the choice.

I chose to come to North Texas, from deep South Texas. For several reason's... and Island Eagle I agree that NT seemed to have what I was looking for in a university, and I too never regreted it. What I do regret is when I tell people to join the exes and donate money, I always get this standard response, "Why Should I? They never gave me a scholarship. What do I get out of it." That's the mentality that has to change and I agree with FFR earlier "rant." I say to him Preach on Brother, and I know you do. It seems to me the problem is we are preahing to the choir, we need to help spread the good that UNT does for the student and how athletics can improve the "worth" of our degree. Thanks for your efforts as well flyer.

Edited February 26, 2008 by filmerj

[THOR]

excellent work flyer!!!! keep it up!

[BonfireBrian]

excellent work flyer!!!! keep it up!

Yes, great job. Keep up the good work!

[Daddy Dumpsalot]

I too came from Austin and didn't care to go to TU or TTU and SWT was too close to home. I was looking at SFA or SMSU until someone had mentioned the University of North Texas to me, sadly, I had never heard of it before and I was 20 at the time. I decided to give it a try and to be honest it was a tough adjustment coming from so far away.

Thanks for grabbing the bull by the loins on this project. I would definitely visit the greeks and sororities as most of them are the ones that have come from further away that are more committed to their university since they cannot go home every weekend. As far as the housing is concerned I would be careful because many students in housing would also reject such a proposal. I have many friends that are assistant hall directors and I hear different things from them about issues like this. I would set up some booths around the stadium during the first few games with a video/poster or something detailing what the new stadium would look like. I think the reason this failed before is because it didn't target people that would be interested in such a thing. If you set up at the game, then you know you're targeting people that have an interest in athletics or at least UNT. If you can catch them on the way in and show them what a new stadium would look like, while they're sitting there watching the game in Fouts maybe they will realize how bad it is and want a new one.

[UNTflyer]

If you can catch them on the way in and show them what a new stadium would look like, while they're sitting there watching the game in Fouts maybe they will realize how bad it is and want a new one.

Thanks for your input! That's a great idea, and I'd probably even like to expand that to the student tailgating area. I have an extra tent and think setting up something similar in that area would get us more positive exposure.

[yyz28]

Alumni -

Let's make a pledge to the students of today. If the proposal is $3 per semester hour, and assuming most of us had aobut 120 semester hours to graduate, who is willing to throw $360 into the Stadium Fund in exchange for the students voting yes?

...we're saying "We're willing to have made that sacrafice too, and will put our money where our mouths are..."

Seeing former students step up in mass might push them in the right direction? ...I'm just thinking out loud here...

[Stan R]

Alumni -

Let's make a pledge to the students of today. If the proposal is $3 per semester hour, and assuming most of us had aobut 120 semester hours to graduate, who is willing to throw $360 into the Stadium Fund in exchange for the students voting yes?

...we're saying "We're willing to have made that sacrafice too, and will put our money where our mouths are..."

Seeing former students step up in mass might push them in the right direction? ...I'm just thinking out loud here...

We had this exact same conversation when the first vote was held a few years ago. Everyone said we would match blah blah blah but in the end the vote did not pass. A second vote was (at least the way I saw it) snuck in and a smaller increase amount passed.

[Guest 97and03]

We had this exact same conversation when the first vote was held a few years ago. Everyone said we would match blah blah blah but in the end the vote did not pass. A second vote was (at least the way I saw it) snuck in and a smaller increase amount passed.

The second vote was in fact a SGA resolution. It was a smaller increase, due to students voting down the initial proposal.

[UNTflyer]

The second vote was in fact a SGA resolution. It was a smaller increase, due to students voting down the initial proposal.

What was the original proposal? Was it a large one-time increase, or was it incremental?

[UNTFan23]

What was the original proposal? Was it a large one-time increase, or was it incremental?

It was a smaller one-time increase. The caveat was that the monies were to go only to women's sports. This has no doubt helped us dramatically improve our women's sports from where they were a couple years ago.

[Stan R]

It was a smaller one-time increase. The caveat was that the monies were to go only to women's sports. This has no doubt helped us dramatically improve our women's sports from where they were a couple years ago.

Well, wait a minute, are you confusing the first proposed increase with the second? I thought the second stipulated monies to go specifically to women's sports, but I thought the first was maybe double the size of the second and had no such stipulation. Am I wrong about that?

[Guest 97and03]

Well, wait a minute, are you confusing the first proposed increase with the second? I thought the second stipulated monies to go specifically to women's sports, but I thought the first was maybe double the size of the second and had no such stipulation. Am I wrong about that?

Correct. He was referring to the second incarnation of the fee.

The first was somewhat larger and had no limitations. The second was for upgrading to reach Title IX compliance.

Edited February 26, 2008 by 97and03

[UNTflyer]

Actually, I was wondering what was the first proposal that failed. The best way to avoid failure in the future is to learn the mistakes of the past.

If the failed referendum was for a large fee increase, that probably won't fly again. This new increase should be small and incremental. I'm thinking $3 per hour per year until we hit the state max of $20/hr. It's easier to get students to vote for an increase if it won't have a big impact on them.

[UNTFan23]

Actually, I was wondering what was the first proposal that failed. The best way to avoid failure in the future is to learn the mistakes of the past.

If the failed referendum was for a large fee increase, that probably won't fly again. This new increase should be small and incremental. I'm thinking $3 per hour per year until we hit the state max of $20/hr. It's easier to get students to vote for an increase if it won't have a big impact on them.

The first proposed fee was larger one-time increase then the first and had no spending restrictions and no expiration date. It had been incorrectly reported that there was going to be a $75 "stadium fee" almost all the way up to the actual election.

When/If this happens, it needs to be communicated from the start exactly what the fee is, how much it will be (and when if it is incremental) and how it will be used. Spelling it out from the start will help eliminate confusion.

You'll want to research how to word an incremental increase for the bill and referendum. Those are always tricky things.

I'd say the one thing that really made the referendum fail was the idea that alumni were really pushing the fee on to the students without any real commitment from the alumni themselves.

[shaft]

A couple issues you might want to address for fee hike campaign:

-Why $3 per hour? How much cash is that going to generate? What do the studnets get for their investment? How do UNT fees match up with other schools?

Talking about how cool football is, and how important atheletics are to the school doesn't answer the real question of why this particular fee hike is needed.

[FirefightnRick]

From another thread:

What Texas State did was institute a program to raise the funding to the state maximum over a period of a few years. It's an excellent way for them to take advantage of their large enrollment to create a quality university from a relatively unknown, little respected regional state college.

The state maximum is $20 per credit hour for up to 12 hours per semester; that $240 per student per semester, $480 per student annually not counting summer terms.

At 34,000 full time students that same deal would generate over 16 million dollars per year at North Texas. A very quality stadium could be bonded immediately and the university pride would increase immediately subsequently increasing the value of a North Texas education.

The days of North Texas being everyones punching bag and punch line would soon be coming to an end.

[UNTSIG]

unless you have support from the athletic department, imho, this is a horrible idea. i might be completely off base with what you are saying but let me make sure that I have this right...

-you are a student

-you want a student fee increase for athletics

-you proposed this fee to student gov. to get it on the ballot

-after proposing the fee you emailed the chancellor, president of the university, athletic director and the NT Daily to talk about the fee BEFORE you even heard back from the AD to find out if he even supports it

-now that you have done all of this, you are coming to the board for support and to figure out a PR plan?

I might not be right. I hope I am not right. How do you even know that the amount of money that you have proposed is correct? This is completely backwards. Maybe the AD has "done nothing" because the timing is not right. We can't afford another defeat on this issue. I was heavily involved in a student leadership position (along with many others on this board) the first time the fee increase was proposed and I can tell you that the biggest mistake made was the fact that they publicized it at all. There shouldn't have been a campaign. People came out to vote against this and rallied against it because they could. Also, it's an election year... people are looking for battles. This is a major undertaking that needs to be orchestrated by someone who has experience with this sort of thing. Please, please, please make sure that you do not venture out at this alone. Make sure that you have the support of the athletic department and that there is a very well orchestrated plan to get this done. I admire the support but please realize that this is a huge issue and if it fails it could be very bad for athletics...

[Eagle1855]

unless you have support from the athletic department, imho, this is a horrible idea. i might be completely off base with what you are saying but let me make sure that I have this right...

-you are a student

-you want a student fee increase for athletics

-you proposed this fee to student gov. to get it on the ballot

-after proposing the fee you emailed the chancellor, president of the university, athletic director and the NT Daily to talk about the fee BEFORE you even heard back from the AD to find out if he even supports it

-now that you have done all of this, you are coming to the board for support and to figure out a PR plan?

I might not be right. I hope I am not right. How do you even know that the amount of money that you have proposed is correct? This is completely backwards. Maybe the AD has "done nothing" because the timing is not right. We can't afford another defeat on this issue. I was heavily involved in a student leadership position (along with many others on this board) the first time the fee increase was proposed and I can tell you that the biggest mistake made was the fact that they publicized it at all. There shouldn't have been a campaign. People came out to vote against this and rallied against it because they could. Also, it's an election year... people are looking for battles. This is a major undertaking that needs to be orchestrated by someone who has experience with this sort of thing. Please, please, please make sure that you do not venture out at this alone. Make sure that you have the support of the athletic department and that there is a very well orchestrated plan to get this done. I admire the support but please realize that this is a huge issue and if it fails it could be very bad for athletics...

look at you and your logic, coming in and ruining the party! Don't you know the only reason people haven't already done this is because we are the first people to THINK of it? Come on! If RV would have thought of this, he would have done it already. Duuhhhh....

Seriously, good points. Maybe we should focus these grassroots efforts on raising fundage for the stadium... If a certain woman isnt doing a good enough job, maybe we the graduates and students should get the ball rolling...

Just a thought.

Also, I don't like the white helmets as much as the green ones.

[Quoner]

look at you and your logic, coming in and ruining the party! Don't you know the only reason people haven't already done this is because we are the first people to THINK of it? Come on! If RV would have thought of this, he would have done it already. Duuhhhh....

Seriously, good points. Maybe we should focus these grassroots efforts on raising fundage for the stadium... If a certain woman isnt doing a good enough job, maybe we the graduates and students should get the ball rolling...

Just a thought.

Also, I don't like the white helmets as much as the green ones.

Only GMG can raise funds, market items and plan the future... especially with typing being so difficult.

Regardless of what anyone thinks of a certain lady, I'd love to see a few people apply for her old job from this board, if only to realize the amount of work balanced against the much smaller amount of pay. Would one of the heroes of GMG take a sub $40k salary to make the stadium dream a reality?

[SilverEagle]

Only GMG can raise funds, market items and plan the future... especially with typing being so difficult.

Regardless of what anyone thinks of a certain lady, I'd love to see a few people apply for her old job from this board, if only to realize the amount of work balanced against the much smaller amount of pay. Would one of the heroes of GMG take a sub $40k salary to make the stadium dream a reality?

The "certain lady" in question wasn't drafted. She came here of her own free will, knowing full well what the pay was going to be. If she didn't like it (the working conditions), she could have gone back where she came from. And then maybe someone fresh out of the North Texas school of business (ideally marketing), who wanted to make a name for themselves so that they could move on to bigger things, could have taken the job.

[Quoner]

The "certain lady" in question wasn't drafted. She came here of her own free will, knowing full well what the pay was going to be. If she didn't like it (the working conditions), she could have gone back where she came from. And then maybe someone fresh out of the North Texas school of business (ideally marketing), who wanted to make a name for themselves so that they could move on to bigger things, could have taken the job.

Oh sir, sir, sir...I am not making apologies for her. She has worked her way up the ladder and we should all applaud that. All I am saying is let's see one of the people here take the job - or an NT alumnus. Almost everyone in the AD has a master's degree that our school doesn't offer. That will always keep the position stacked against recent NT grads. I would just love to see someone passionate go after that job and thought I'd see if anyone here would do so.

[UNTflyer]

Talking about how cool football is, and how important atheletics are to the school doesn't answer the real question of why this particular fee hike is needed.

There are lots of other reasons to have a student athletic fee, all of which are being considered.

[UNTflyer]

unless you have support from the athletic department, imho, this is a horrible idea. i might be completely off base with what you are saying but let me make sure that I have this right...

I sent emails and a draft bill as a trial balloon to see if any Senator would be supportive. I emailed the school administrators the same thing and asked for their input as well. Nobody is going to march into the Student Senate next week with a bill in hand ready to fly.

I assure you, I am serious about this issue and the people that have already expressed support agree that this should be very carefully planned, with input from RV and Dr. B, so that it is done the right way.