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daveinop's picture daveinop
| 9 months 2 weeks # | VT BoV Approves increase of athletics budget by $47.1m this year, growing to a total budget of $212m in 2029

and if VT is left out of the power conferences, there will be cuts in positions in athletics.

but I don't think you make a decision to move forward based on "there doesn't mean there won't be"[future cuts in academics]. that would be a bit like not funding research because you might not find out anything new.

the question is do the potential benefits outweigh the risks? not "why them and not us?"

HokieinFLA's picture HokieinFLA
| 9 months 2 weeks # | VT BoV Approves increase of athletics budget by $47.1m this year, growing to a total budget of $212m in 2029

We've been told there's no money beyond merit increases, no flexibility, etc. For years. Athletics comes asking for hundreds of millions, and tens of millions from the university general fund directly, and within a month there's a plan to approve.

As someone (working in a completely different profession) who lived through a very similar situation---being told "make more with less" year after year and then having the "sexier" division of the company get a massive cash infusion nearly overnight when they "needed it desperately."

Its a bitter pill to swallow and really undermines how you feel about your employer/adminstration.

KingJames's picture KingJames
🥒🥒🥒🥒🥒
| 9 months 2 weeks # | VT BoV Approves increase of athletics budget by $47.1m this year, growing to a total budget of $212m in 2029

As a child of professors that went over a decade with no raise I understand where they are coming from. It increases shady things like requiring a book written by the prof for thr course. But we wouldnt have Newman without athletics, we wouldnt have the increase in applications, which comes with funds without athletics, we wouldnt have a ton of people donating to the university instead of hokie club without the incompetent leadership in athletics.

I agree that the work Sands has helped usher in on the academic side needs rewarded, and Sands needs to figure that out. But I wouldnt have been at VT if the football team didn't player in the Big East, and it sure helped we moved all sports their when I came. I know of more like me, I am not sure how the university will do if we are not P4/P2 when the dust settles, but I dont really think it will be better.

VTJ12's picture VTJ12
| 9 months 2 weeks # | VT BoV Approves increase of athletics budget by $47.1m this year, growing to a total budget of $212m in 2029

UNC is an elite public institution and has no issue throwing absurd sums of money at football and sports in general. Ohio State is a large land grant university that throws absurd sums at football. I'm just genuinely curious why big and elite public universities all over the country are investing heavily in sports, but there's such heartburn and opposition at VT?

IfishVTIam's picture IfishVTIam
| 9 months 2 weeks # | Were we just pranked by Youtube?

Yeah, it's obvious that it's anything goes these days. I do wonder where the radio broadcast was coming from that they used to narrate the entire game.

VTGuitarMan's picture VTGuitarMan
🎸OG LEG KING 🎸
| 9 months 2 weeks # | VT BoV Approves increase of athletics budget by $47.1m this year, growing to a total budget of $212m in 2029

Yep. This is it. "We're not cutting any academic programs to make this happen, we are just going to be less flexible in the future." A very true statement I've heard from several administrators. But that doesn't mean there won't be cuts down the line. And if the landscape changes and $200M is no longer competitive, do we have the money to go to $500M? Should we?

The other issue is faculty salaries. VT faculty are not paid particularly well. Credit to President Sands and the BOV over many years, we are now out of the bottom 25% percentile among peers and we now sit squarely in the middle. We've been told there's no money beyond merit increases, no flexibility, etc. For years. Athletics comes asking for hundreds of millions, and tens of millions from the university general fund directly, and within a month there's a plan to approve. It leaves a sour taste in one's mouth. Applications and enrollment have grown while the football team has remained totally uncompetitive. Faculty grant awards and associated research expenditures are at record highs over the same period. But there's no extra money to reward our efforts. But we need to give buckets of cash to Athletics. There's a dissonance there that faculty are extremely unhappy about.

As a diehard fan, I want to see us compete well and win. As a faculty member, I wonder if we endanger our mission by trying to gamble on the uncertain landscape of athletics. The bubble has to burst soon, and it remains to be seen what happens then.

HT SF's picture HT SF
| 9 months 2 weeks # | Were we just pranked by Youtube?

likely illegal

I'm no lawyer, but it seems (to me) that incorporating actual footage into a different video would fall under the "fair use" protection. Similar to the various fan-created hype videos that stitch together game footage and dub an audio track over top.

HokieAlum6144's picture HokieAlum6144
| 9 months 2 weeks # | Virginia Tech at North Carolina State Game Time, TV Info, and Open Thread

Let's be honest, whoever Florida hires unless they play in the SEC championship in year 2, and play in the NCG in year 3 is going to disappoint that fanbase. I would take the Florida job for $250k a year, if I could have the buyout that they are going to pay Napier to go away.

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