For four straight years, faculty members at Mississippi State University have gone without merit pay raises. This year, for some, a financial boost came from an unlikely source: the athletics department.
Last week, 406 faculty members—nearly a third of the university's full-time teachers—received bonuses of $2,500 each. The awards were backed by $750,000 from the Bulldogs' annual share of the Southeastern Conference's lucrative TV deal.
In all, thanks to matching funds provided by donors, roughly $2-million has been set aside, with half for the faculty bonuses and half for student scholarships.
Mark E. Keenum, the university's president, said he dreamed up the partnership shortly after taking office at the institution last year. Like most public universities, Mississippi State has seen its state support plummet in recent years. The athletics department, meantime, receives about $5-million annually from the SEC's media-rights deal with ESPN, which provides the league with $2.25-billion over 15 years.
"This arrangement we have with ESPN is bringing significantly more resources to our athletics department," Mr. Keenum said in an interview Thursday. "I felt like there needed to be some of that to come back and support the campus—to support our students, through scholarships, and our faculty."
The program is part of a four-year, $100-million fund-raising campaign, StatePride, intended to raise money for endowed scholarships and professorships. (So far, the university has raised $44-million toward that goal.) Mr. Keenum said the partnership with athletics was distinctive because of its emphasis on "spendable" dollars rather than endowments.
The recipients of the awards were selected based on recommendations from leaders of the university's eight colleges and its library system. (Adjunct professors, along with faculty members who hold department-chair positions or higher, were not eligible.) The university plans to give another round of bonuses next year.
Scott Stricklin, Mississippi State's athletic director, said the partnership could continue beyond 2011.
"It's hard to speculate where it might go," Mr. Stricklin said in an interview. "But I would like to think that athletics is always going to be able to support our own operation and do so in a way that allows us to give something back." (The Bulldogs receive $4-million annually in institutional support from student tuition.)
It's not unusual for major athletics programs to give a portion of their revenues to academics: This year, for instance, the University of Georgia's athletics program donated $2-million to support professorships and scholarships. Mississippi State's athletics budget, at $37-million, is roughly half that of Georgia's—and is the smallest in the Southeastern Conference.
Comments
1. 11152886 - October 01, 2010 at 05:22 am
It is outrageous that adjuncts are not included. They are TEACHING and merit these increases as much as full time faculty not holding administrative positions, perhaps even more. In addition, when I was a department chair for 17 years, I was TEACHING as well, and the chair stipend was a token. Very inequitable distribution of funds.
2. cmsmw - October 01, 2010 at 06:42 am
11152886: I rolled my eyes at that as well. All too typical.
3. 22228715 - October 01, 2010 at 08:41 am
Glad to see this. One small quibble: if the athletics program uses the institution's name, works with university staff, employs and engages admitted students on teams, holds events on university property, benefits from university counsel and leadership... they are not "donating." They are part of the university, and appropriately sharing the good times. They might have a separate budget, but they are still a subunit of the university. The only way I can see "donated" to be an appropriate verb is if they are a completely separate legal entity, private, and in that case they should be paying the university rent, a fee for legal counsel and administrative guidance, use of identity, and some sort of cost-offset for access to information about students, etc. Then, anything on top of that would be a donation.
4. dlws8607 - October 01, 2010 at 08:45 am
"It's not unusual for major athletics programs to give a portion of their revenues to academics: This year, for instance, the University of Georgia's athletics program donated $2-million to support professorships and scholarships."
Two examples out of how many universities? I would not classify that as "not unusual."
5. tdr75 - October 01, 2010 at 09:12 am
Did anyone else note that the Bulldogs (presumably the athletic department) already receives $4 million in support from student tuition? So is this a "donation" or is it basically a reimbursement? If they are self-sufficient, why not return the $4 million in tuition set-asides that they already receive?
6. ggazoo69 - October 01, 2010 at 12:01 pm
Nice comment by tdr75. Tuition fees have gotten way out of hand. Look and see:
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/2010-09-21-student-fees-boost-college-sports_N.htm
7. texasguy - October 01, 2010 at 01:31 pm
When you get $4 million from the university and give back $2 million to them, it is a reimbursement.
8. 22250655 - October 01, 2010 at 03:10 pm
Nice if you can get it. At my university, the athletics department gets funds from the general and instruction dollars and research overhead. I'd settle for not losing instructional lines.
9. sld1543 - October 01, 2010 at 05:10 pm
A refreshing move...years ago, when I was employed at another state institution in Mississippi, I spent part of my year-end holiday working on university interests. I was horrified when the chancellor announced that the members of the university athletics department would receive bonuses from the team's trip to the Gator Bowl because "they had to work during their holidays." It created a bitter resentment among many in the faculty ranks, and it was not soon forgotten (if at all).
10. eboknows - October 02, 2010 at 06:35 am
And how much of a bonus do the players get -- you know, the ones that are actually responsible for the increased revenue?
11. 11272784 - October 11, 2010 at 04:18 pm
Once again, this makes the point that successful athletics programs can be valuable to an institution. In this case, it's more than generating marketing visibility and alumni support - it's cash.