Faculty Senate resists million-dollar commitment to athletics
Money would account for 10 percent of this year’s deficit; no data for student retention based on intercollegiate athletics
Faculty Senators have been concerned about WSU paying Pac-12 annual membership fees starting in fiscal year 2022.
December 11, 2020
WSU Faculty Senators expressed concerns during a meeting Thursday that a proposed $2 million to $3 million commitment to help resolve the Athletics budget deficit could harm academic quality.
Budget cuts have already affected faculty members because many positions are not filled, said Von Walden, senator for the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. This detracts from professors’ ability to teach effectively.
The $2 million to $3 million would be used to address Athletics’ projected $22 million to $30 million net revenue loss for this fiscal year, according to a presentation from Stacy Pearson, WSU vice president for finance and administration. The current year proposal includes money from a Pac-12 loan program. In future years, the monetary commitment would come from WSU, if the university is able to cover the expense.
That money would account for about 10 percent of this year’s deficit and about 2 percent of Athletics’ cumulative deficit, Walden said. Athletics has incurred a multi-million dollar annual budget deficit every year for the last decade. On top of that, its budget has been negatively impacted by COVID-19.
Senators have also been concerned about WSU paying Pac-12 annual membership fees starting again in fiscal year 2022, Pearson said.
The proposal to move the $2 million to $3 million to Athletics was presented to the Board of Regents before it was presented to the Faculty Senate, Walden said.
“Membership in the Pac-12 has clearly shown to be financially unfeasible for WSU,” Walden said.
Walden said senators are worried this is just the beginning of Athletics receiving money that could potentially be used for academics.
WSU President Kirk Schulz said the university chose to invest in intercollegiate athletics before his arrival in 2016. The current leadership inherited debt and has tried to make up the deficit.
The proposed budgetary plan is based on the assumption that participation in intercollegiate athletics increases WSU’s “institutional visibility at a national scale,” which benefits students, faculty and staff, according to the presentation.
“What proportion of our graduating seniors … list, of their own volition, Pac-12 athletics as one of, say, the top three reasons for why they were ultimately successful in graduating?” said Luke Premo, College of Arts and Sciences senator.
That data is not available for WSU, Schulz said.
Glen Duncan, Spokane Regional Campus senator, said there is no compelling data to support the assumption that funding for intercollegiate athletics increases student enrollment or retention to a greater level than that same funding going to academics.
“Our mission is teaching, research and service — we want to do it to the best of our ability,” Duncan said. “It takes resources to do those three things.”
Editor’s note: This article has been updated to reflect that the proposal for WSU to contribute $2 million to $3 million to Athletics is for future fiscal years, not the current fiscal year.
Mark l Hilgert • Dec 18, 2020 at 2:03 pm
By Jason Krump
During a winter morning, Washington State University student-athletes begin their training regimen.
For WSU student-athletes, a workout at 6 a.m., a time when the sun hasn’t yet risen, is a daily routine.
Amid the noise of weights clanging and feet pounding the floor; nearby, the sports nutrition personnel, who arrived a half hour earlier than the student-athletes training next to them, are busy preparing the fuel for the student-athletes.
This is also a daily routine.
On a counter is a variety of snacks prepared by the staff, including homemade oatmeal, granola bars, yogurt parfaits, veggie-protein packs, and smoothies.
Above the counter, three words overlook the activity happening below.
Fuel. Train. Dominate.
That evening, inside the Gray W Legends Lounge at the Cougar Football Complex, dinner is served to the student-athletes.
On the menu this night is mixed green salad, roasted vegetable soup, twice baked potato, beef tenderloin medallions, seared catfish; broccoli, rice and cheese casserole, and BBQ pulled chicken, just to name a few of the dining options.
This meal, as all dinners are, is served under the Fuel, Train, Dominate mantra, as well.
Building a Program
“Our plan is to recruit and develop the finest talent there is,” Director of Athletics Bill Moos said, “and to effectively do that we need to fuel them properly.
“As we develop our student-athletes we are working to get them bigger, faster and stronger,” Moos added. “This requires nutrition to make sure that this formula is carried out properly.”
Moos designated nutrition as a priority when he became Director of Athletics in 2010.
“It’s my belief you can’t put two-bit gasoline into a sports car and expect it to perform,” said Moos. “The same holds true with fueling our young student-athletes, who face a lot of demands, both in the classroom and the field of competition.”
And like the construction of facilities that have occurred since Moos arrived at WSU, the building of the nutrition program took place from the ground up, and it continues to evolve.
As the Cougar Football Complex was being constructed, the Gray W Legends Lounge and the Gray Hub, which provides snacks to student-athletes training inside the football weight room, was a focal point.
“It was vital we had a good plan in place that is functional because once it’s built, it’s built,” said Lindsay Brown, Coordinator of Sports Nutrition.
Brown, who is in her fourth year at WSU, was charged with developing the nutrition plan for the student-athletes.
“Our major focus is facility development and implementation of a program,” Brown said, regarding the initial priorities.
In addition to the facilities inside the Cougar Football Complex, the Crimson Hub inside the Strength and Conditioning Complex at Bohler Athletic Complex was developed.
The Crimson and Gray Hubs are open at the most optimal time for the student-athletes, based on workout and practice schedules, from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday.
“It’s important to have these windows of hours available,” said Brown. “Not every team has the same schedule and you have to make sure you hit everyone’s schedule. If you’re open limited hours you’re going to be missing athletes.
“We want to make sure we are hitting all windows of opportunities to fuel and refuel athletes.”
Green. Yellow. Red.
Developing a nutrition program revolves around the core principle of fulfilling the nutritional needs of the student-athletes.
“The energy requirements for an athlete are greater than the normal population,” Brown explained.
“Athletes are performing two-to four hours of activity level at high intensity.” Brown said. “Their needs are going to be greater so they are going to have to be fueling their bodies more consistently throughout the day than the average individual.”
Check out our Traffic Light System in Cougar Express & CATT to help you make healthy food choices #FuelTrainDominate pic.twitter.com/aIQYjg1g3S
— WSU Sports Nutrition (@CougNutrition) January 13, 2015
To make sure these nutrition needs are met, Brown works with Gray W Lounge General Manager Mike Hayton, and Executive Chefs Howard Campbell and Nathan Child, putting together menus for the student-athletes.
In putting together the menus, they employ the traffic light system.
“When student-athletes come to the lounge, they just want to eat,” said Campbell of the system. “This simplifies it.”
The traffic light system designates food into one of three color categories: green, yellow and red.
“You want most of your plate filled with green foods,” said Brown. “Yellow items are higher in calories so they require portion control.”
And the red foods?
“You don’t want red items every day, maybe a couple times a week,” said Brown.
However, for Brown, it’s important that red foods are included, as long as it’s in moderation.
“Because this gives you life balance,” Brown explained. “Healthy life balance is 80-20. Eighty percent of the time eat an overall balanced nutritious diet and 20 percent of the time it’s okay to have that cheesecake, a burger, or nachos. This is okay to have, but have it occasionally.
“When I tell athletes about 80-20 they feel more relaxed,” Brown continued. “We’re not the food police; however, I’m going to tell them if they are over-consuming the type of food that may be affecting their performance in a negative way.”
On this particular night’s dinner menu, the broccoli, rice and cheese casserole is the only red item served. The baked potato, beef tenderloins and BBQ chicken are yellow items, with the rest, including the seared catfish, green.
An emphasis in preparing the menus is to empower the student-athlete to make their own choice of what they eat.
“We weren’t hammering them over the head with it,” said Campbell. “It was their choice.”
And they are making the right choices.
“I can see the physical improvement in our young men and women across the board,” Moos said.
“Athletes who have had trouble in the past with food availability and finances, and who might not have been able to provide the highest quality of food options, they are the ones who have made significant gains,” said Brown.
And Brown can tell if an athlete is feeding themselves properly.
“If an athlete loses lean mass, they might not be getting everything they need from a nutrition standpoint,” said Brown. “If they gain lean mass they are on the right track. If they gain fat mass their options may not be the best.”
Fuel. Train. Dominate.
As nutrition continues to be forefront in the NCAA’s conscious, the program at WSU continues to evolve.
Education is a key component with the program. Brown manages a twitter account (@CougNutrition) and sends out a monthly newsletter with recipes and tips for proper nutrition.
Brown is one of four registered dietitians on staff, in addition to Ashlee Eskelsen, Joey Yonago, and Toni Tillett, who consult and educate the student-athletes on their dietary needs.
And regardless how the program continues to evolve and progress, the overall philosophy does not change. It revolves around the words displayed at the Crimson and Gray Hubs and the Gray W Lounge.
As Brown explains, the three words make up an equation:
Fuel + Training = Domination
“When you talk about taking care of your body to enhance your performance to the highest level you can reach, then you need to provide your body with the fuel it needs to train.” Brown explained.
And there is a reason why fuel comes before training in the equation.
“You can’t train then fuel,” said Brown, “otherwise you will be injured.
“You have to fuel before you can train and when you maximize training, the chances of dominating your competition will be greater.”
Mark l Hilgert • Dec 18, 2020 at 2:02 pm
FYI……did anyone know the athletic dept. had their own chefs/cooks/dining center/snack center??? Guess the rest of the students are not as important…moos project…how much did this cost plus operating, man hours, staff etc……
Brian • Dec 18, 2020 at 9:11 am
I understand and support not giving more to athletics and the importance of academics coming first. However I went to WSU based on the fact it was a PAC10 school. I wasn’t an athlete and there are other smaller schools out there but being in a bigger conference does have its drawing. Also when I was there we went to the Rose Bowl twice which that alone brings in money and enrollment. If it wasn’t for the PAC 10 or 12 it would really just be a school in the middle of wheat field in a very small town and what would be the drawing? Compare WSU to U of I across the border because WSU would become a similar size school. Oh and good luck on paying for any new upgrades/buildings as WSU has done in the past 20 years because that money would be gone too.
Carey Edwards • Dec 14, 2020 at 5:06 pm
I would like to see what alternatives there could be to leaving the PAC12. Admin should at least be open to exploring alternatives.
Academics have to come first, I don’t see how anyone can argue that.
Mark Hilgert • Dec 14, 2020 at 9:04 am
Athletics made their bed they can sleep in it! Time for a major shut down on their spending from projections and not actual money on hand! School is about Academics NOT athletics!!!!
Mike the Mover • Dec 12, 2020 at 10:06 pm
Here we go again. Athletics again will be the leech that will suck the life blood of the rest of the university. Already Performing Arts has been lost due to budget custs while athletics keeps geeting deeper and deeper in debt. A lot of it due to the over the top football stadium that rarely gets used.
Now they want $2-3 million more. Other departments had to make cuts Before long, there won’t be a university for students to attend.