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College trustees expected to approve cuts on Tuesday.
By CHRIS WHITE
cwhite@lakecityreporter.com
n This is the final article in a series of three about those affected by Lake City
Community College’s decision to drop its athletics program.
Lake City Community College’s decision to
disband its athletics
program is surreal — even three weeks later.
“I just didn’t think it could actually happen,” said Russell Carpenter, whose son was offered a scholarship to play at LCCC next year. “There were a lot of kids who
wanted to play there, and (LCCC coach Tom Clark) had a lot of kids lined up.”
So Carpenter set off on a ninth-inning rally of sorts.
With the college board of trustees meeting to approve the cuts on Tuesday, less than two weeks after Carpenter even learned of the open meeting, he’s been putting together local support for the athletics programs.
Carpenter’s son, Dakota, and his Fort White High
teammates will be playing a game at Bradford County High on Tuesday, but Carpenter will split from the Indians to attend the meeting at the Gilchrist County School Board offices — carrying a petition players and parents circulated over the week.
“Everyone who saw it outside of Wal-Mart (on Friday) seemed to support it,” Carpenter said. “A lot of people didn’t know about it and said they wanted to do anything they can.”
If that will translate to a showing at the meeting, Carpenter said he does not know. But he said he
hopes the hundreds of
signatures, including the ones other players and local
businesses were still
circulating, will make an impact on the board.
“I’m just hoping there’s a chance,” he said. “That’s all I can ask for.”
Uphill battle
Despite Carpenter’s plan to present his case, the board is unlikely to waver in its
decision, LCCC President Charles Hall said. And
even if they do, the
administration has the
authority to continue with
the proposal anyway.
The trustees, however, showed they were on board with the plan last year when they approved Hall’s proposed cuts.
In a memo Hall sent to the members of the board on March 11, titled Update and Request for Support, he
outlines the college’s financial predicament and breaks
down the pros and cons of dropping athletics.
The expected reduction in state funding was listed
as the main reason for the cuts. Other main reasons
listed in the memo include the shortfall of enrollment and cash after the Department
of Corrections pulled its
training programs and the continual struggle to
reach national gender-equity
compliance, dormitory usage and food service requirements for the athletes.
Despite recent news that the state may actually
boost available funds for
community colleges, Hall said he still views the program cuts as the college’s best option.
“It’s still too early to assume the money that state is
giving back won’t have
earmarks,” Hall said. “Even if the budgets change this year, we’ve been told that next year and the year after that, we’ll have to cut an equal amount or more.
“We had to do something to get prepared for that, and our goal was not to hurt the
academic part of our college.”
The athletics program is currently home to 47 athletes, with 21 on the baseball team, 19 on the softball team and seven on the golf team. While no golfers are on scholarship, 18 baseball players and
19 softball players are. But tuition is hardly the most expensive piece of the puzzle at LCCC.
Forty of the athletes live in on-campus dorms, which entail the cost of maintenance and more than $35,000
annually for a dorm director.
Between coaches for the teams and the time
the administrators spend
meeting with players, the college paid $162,454.51 for athletics department
personnel last season.
The three fiends are
maintained every three days year-round, which often entails overtime for employees.
And because there are
students living in the dorms, the college provides a
cafeteria that serves three meals each day. The
management fee charged by the food service company that runs the meal program,
MMI, alone is $48,000
annually.
Combined, the memo put operating costs at nearly $120,000 last year, and just over $1,500 for new equipment. Before tuition is factored in, LCCC spent nearly $300,000 in 2006-07.
In total, $578,945.97 was spent on the athletics program that year.
“We’re taking this money and putting it toward
scholarships and programs in the future,” Hall said. “We want to help people go to
college, so we’re putting it toward scholarships,
putting it toward new programs and we’re doing some new
hands-on programs.”
The most alarming
statistic in favor of cutting the
programs, however, is the graduation rate.
Since the 2004-05 seasons, only 29 of the college’s
181 athletes have graduated.
Some transfer credits to a four-year college, where they plan to continue playing. Others sign pro contracts and never look back. But a mere 16 percent graduation rate was tough to overlook when the college began considering its options. Coupled with the costs, it was a choice that had to me be made, Hall said.
“This was an area we had looked at cutting for more than a year, and we knew we had to make cuts,” Hall said. “It wasn’t about win-loss or how good the players or coaches were. It was about what was best for the college.
“I hope everyone knows how tough of a decision this was for us to make.”
Too late to turn back?
The decision makes sense to most, but does not mean there are no alternatives,
former LCCC baseball player and current Columbia High varsity baseball coach Andy Bennett said.
“There are a lot of guys who wanted to play here, and it seems unfair to just cut it all,” Bennett said. “If we put our heads together with the
college, it seems like we should be able to find a way to keep the program running.”
Many eligible players from within the state have
scholarships like Bright Futures, which provides tuition for in-state students based on their grades. The college is already low on
in-district athletes — only four are from the five-county
area — and keeping a
competitive programs
requires recruiting from outside, accord to LCCC Athletics Director and
baseball coach Tom Clark.
“There are always going to have to be kids from outside the area if we want to stay at this level,” Clark said. “It’d be nice to have a team of all district kids, but you just can’t do it and play at the level our teams play at.”
Almost ironically, while some colleges are finding
athletics an easy area to cut, some junior colleges are
finding it easier to attract
students with more sports
programs.
According to a 2007 article published in the Chronicle of Higher Education, more than 40 junior colleges added
athletics programs in the four years preceding publication.
In an effort to attract
what students considered a more traditional college experience, these schools joined the National Junior College Athletic Association, of which LCCC is one of more than 500 member schools. By offering athletics,
local athletes have an opportunity to play while enrollment grows. The cost and out-of-state recruiting, however, often present problems, such as in LCCC’s case.
But the NJCAA will have to scratch one member after this season, and likely for good.
The process of resurrecting an athletics department would be difficult, especially if the college continues to face the financial woes it expects. And there is no longer a quick fix, Hall said, even if the college turned around its decision. The current athletes, who will be allowed to stay enrolled at LCCC and use what is left of any scholarships the school offered, likely will leave after the spring semester, and the only traces will be the empty fields.
“Even if the board did change its mind, I doubt we could field a team next season,” Hall said. “All the players have been released to talk to other teams, and even if this was turned over, I doubt we could put together a team for next season since we already gave notice to all the students.”
Taking a loss
When listing the cons of dropping the program, Hall mentions what he believed to be the some of biggest losses the school will take by
dropping sports.
The college’s publicity in the sports section of the
newspaper will cease to exist. The loss of the
program means the loss of
athletic history at LCCC, which includes eight softball state titles, seven slowpitch softball national titles, one fastpitch softball national
title and several baseball
conference titles and records.
But Clark, who was well known for his ability to place players at the next level in his 14 seasons at LCCC and softball coach Donna Howard, who has worked to bring the team back to national
prominence in her three
seasons there, might be the biggest loss if they chose to coach somewhere else, according to Carpenter.
“The coaches are the ones who really made the
difference,” Carpenter said. “Look at Coach Clark and all he’s done in his time at Lake City. A lot of people won’t realize what they’re losing in him until he’s gone, and some other school is going to get a real gift if he goes there to coach.”
Community College’s decision to drop its athletics program.
Lake City Community College’s decision to
disband its athletics
program is surreal — even three weeks later.
“I just didn’t think it could actually happen,” said Russell Carpenter, whose son was offered a scholarship to play at LCCC next year. “There were a lot of kids who
wanted to play there, and (LCCC coach Tom Clark) had a lot of kids lined up.”
So Carpenter set off on a ninth-inning rally of sorts.
With the college board of trustees meeting to approve the cuts on Tuesday, less than two weeks after Carpenter even learned of the open meeting, he’s been putting together local support for the athletics programs.
Carpenter’s son, Dakota, and his Fort White High
teammates will be playing a game at Bradford County High on Tuesday, but Carpenter will split from the Indians to attend the meeting at the Gilchrist County School Board offices — carrying a petition players and parents circulated over the week.
“Everyone who saw it outside of Wal-Mart (on Friday) seemed to support it,” Carpenter said. “A lot of people didn’t know about it and said they wanted to do anything they can.”
If that will translate to a showing at the meeting, Carpenter said he does not know. But he said he
hopes the hundreds of
signatures, including the ones other players and local
businesses were still
circulating, will make an impact on the board.
“I’m just hoping there’s a chance,” he said. “That’s all I can ask for.”
Uphill battle
Despite Carpenter’s plan to present his case, the board is unlikely to waver in its
decision, LCCC President Charles Hall said. And
even if they do, the
administration has the
authority to continue with
the proposal anyway.
The trustees, however, showed they were on board with the plan last year when they approved Hall’s proposed cuts.
In a memo Hall sent to the members of the board on March 11, titled Update and Request for Support, he
outlines the college’s financial predicament and breaks
down the pros and cons of dropping athletics.
The expected reduction in state funding was listed
as the main reason for the cuts. Other main reasons
listed in the memo include the shortfall of enrollment and cash after the Department
of Corrections pulled its
training programs and the continual struggle to
reach national gender-equity
compliance, dormitory usage and food service requirements for the athletes.
Despite recent news that the state may actually
boost available funds for
community colleges, Hall said he still views the program cuts as the college’s best option.
“It’s still too early to assume the money that state is
giving back won’t have
earmarks,” Hall said. “Even if the budgets change this year, we’ve been told that next year and the year after that, we’ll have to cut an equal amount or more.
“We had to do something to get prepared for that, and our goal was not to hurt the
academic part of our college.”
The athletics program is currently home to 47 athletes, with 21 on the baseball team, 19 on the softball team and seven on the golf team. While no golfers are on scholarship, 18 baseball players and
19 softball players are. But tuition is hardly the most expensive piece of the puzzle at LCCC.
Forty of the athletes live in on-campus dorms, which entail the cost of maintenance and more than $35,000
annually for a dorm director.
Between coaches for the teams and the time
the administrators spend
meeting with players, the college paid $162,454.51 for athletics department
personnel last season.
The three fiends are
maintained every three days year-round, which often entails overtime for employees.
And because there are
students living in the dorms, the college provides a
cafeteria that serves three meals each day. The
management fee charged by the food service company that runs the meal program,
MMI, alone is $48,000
annually.
Combined, the memo put operating costs at nearly $120,000 last year, and just over $1,500 for new equipment. Before tuition is factored in, LCCC spent nearly $300,000 in 2006-07.
In total, $578,945.97 was spent on the athletics program that year.
“We’re taking this money and putting it toward
scholarships and programs in the future,” Hall said. “We want to help people go to
college, so we’re putting it toward scholarships,
putting it toward new programs and we’re doing some new
hands-on programs.”
The most alarming
statistic in favor of cutting the
programs, however, is the graduation rate.
Since the 2004-05 seasons, only 29 of the college’s
181 athletes have graduated.
Some transfer credits to a four-year college, where they plan to continue playing. Others sign pro contracts and never look back. But a mere 16 percent graduation rate was tough to overlook when the college began considering its options. Coupled with the costs, it was a choice that had to me be made, Hall said.
“This was an area we had looked at cutting for more than a year, and we knew we had to make cuts,” Hall said. “It wasn’t about win-loss or how good the players or coaches were. It was about what was best for the college.
“I hope everyone knows how tough of a decision this was for us to make.”
Too late to turn back?
The decision makes sense to most, but does not mean there are no alternatives,
former LCCC baseball player and current Columbia High varsity baseball coach Andy Bennett said.
“There are a lot of guys who wanted to play here, and it seems unfair to just cut it all,” Bennett said. “If we put our heads together with the
college, it seems like we should be able to find a way to keep the program running.”
Many eligible players from within the state have
scholarships like Bright Futures, which provides tuition for in-state students based on their grades. The college is already low on
in-district athletes — only four are from the five-county
area — and keeping a
competitive programs
requires recruiting from outside, accord to LCCC Athletics Director and
baseball coach Tom Clark.
“There are always going to have to be kids from outside the area if we want to stay at this level,” Clark said. “It’d be nice to have a team of all district kids, but you just can’t do it and play at the level our teams play at.”
Almost ironically, while some colleges are finding
athletics an easy area to cut, some junior colleges are
finding it easier to attract
students with more sports
programs.
According to a 2007 article published in the Chronicle of Higher Education, more than 40 junior colleges added
athletics programs in the four years preceding publication.
In an effort to attract
what students considered a more traditional college experience, these schools joined the National Junior College Athletic Association, of which LCCC is one of more than 500 member schools. By offering athletics,
local athletes have an opportunity to play while enrollment grows. The cost and out-of-state recruiting, however, often present problems, such as in LCCC’s case.
But the NJCAA will have to scratch one member after this season, and likely for good.
The process of resurrecting an athletics department would be difficult, especially if the college continues to face the financial woes it expects. And there is no longer a quick fix, Hall said, even if the college turned around its decision. The current athletes, who will be allowed to stay enrolled at LCCC and use what is left of any scholarships the school offered, likely will leave after the spring semester, and the only traces will be the empty fields.
“Even if the board did change its mind, I doubt we could field a team next season,” Hall said. “All the players have been released to talk to other teams, and even if this was turned over, I doubt we could put together a team for next season since we already gave notice to all the students.”
Taking a loss
When listing the cons of dropping the program, Hall mentions what he believed to be the some of biggest losses the school will take by
dropping sports.
The college’s publicity in the sports section of the
newspaper will cease to exist. The loss of the
program means the loss of
athletic history at LCCC, which includes eight softball state titles, seven slowpitch softball national titles, one fastpitch softball national
title and several baseball
conference titles and records.
But Clark, who was well known for his ability to place players at the next level in his 14 seasons at LCCC and softball coach Donna Howard, who has worked to bring the team back to national
prominence in her three
seasons there, might be the biggest loss if they chose to coach somewhere else, according to Carpenter.
“The coaches are the ones who really made the
difference,” Carpenter said. “Look at Coach Clark and all he’s done in his time at Lake City. A lot of people won’t realize what they’re losing in him until he’s gone, and some other school is going to get a real gift if he goes there to coach.”
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captain obvious wrote on Apr 6, 2008 10:20 AM: