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Posts tagged as “athletics subsidy”

Pres Schill’s Track & Field Championship construction boom adds $15M a year to UO costs, UO credit rating goes negative

In June 2015 UO projected that debt expense payments for 2021 would be about $43M a year: Now in June 2020 they are projecting debt expense payments for 2021 will be about $58M a year – a $15M increase: Why the increase? Mostly for 30 year bonds sold to build…

The Ducks have $63M in cash. Will Pres Schill let them keep spending it on their raises and bonuses?

VPFA Jamie Moffitt has noted that UO’s operating reserves are about $60M, for a general fund budget of about $650M. After it’s gone, it’s not clear how UO will meet payroll. Meanwhile the Ducks are sitting on $63M in their “Legacy Fund”, for an annual budget of about $125M. This…

Altman’s heavily subsidized Duck BBall gets new coaches offices

Some buckets are more equal than others. From Carrington Powell in the Daily Emerald: The University of Oregon is updating the Matthew Knight Arena with new enhancements, such as a rebranding and new coach offices, nine years after its construction. … “It’s areas that haven’t been updated from a graphic…

Pres calls for athletic department to pay 25% of TV revenues to academic side

That would be OSU’s new President F. King Alexander, reflecting on his successes and failures at LSU, on a piece from the Sambla Sweden blog today: … Another area where Alexander wishes he could have been more effective was convincing the leadership of other SEC institutions to join him in…

Rob Mullens negotiates porkalicious deal with Nike for Duck athletics cash

12/7/2017: All the cash and apparel goes to the Duck Athletic department, except for a cut of the royalties for the academic side. Academic Departments will have to contract with Nike if they want to sell t-shirts. More details in the Register Guard here: Stanton said that the additional money from…

Why are UO students’ health fees paying for the Duck’s Team Doctor?

9/20/2017: I don’t know. Here’s his job description, explaining that his duties are split between the Ducks Department of Athletic Medicine, and the University Health Center, followed by his salary report showing all his pay comes from the UHC, which is funded by student health fees:

But at least he’s board certified in Sports Medicine. In fact it was a requirement for the job, although his boss doesn’t have it.

9/7/2017:  Duck Director of Athletic Medicine Greg Skaggs is not board certified in Sports Medicine

The American Medical Association / ABMS website notes:

My Doctor is Board Certified. Is Yours? You want quality care for your family. That’s why choosing a Board Certified doctor is so important.

Board Certification is a voluntary process that goes above and beyond licensing requirements – it’s a commitment to continually expand knowledge in a medical specialty.

Presumably that knowledge would include concussion treatments, rhabdo, exercise during low air quality, and perhaps some CTE on medical ethics and conflicts of interest while working as a team doctor. This 2010 UO job announcement for a University Physician notes:

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:
Graduate of accredited medical school
M.D. or D.O. Licensure by the Oregon Medical Board – (or license eligible)
ABMS-approved board certification in Internal Medicine, Family Medicine or Pediatrics
Successful Completion of Sports Medicine Fellowship
Board Certified or Board Eligible in Sports Medicine

Dr. Skaggs’s Sports Medicine certification lapsed in 2009: https://www.theabfm.org/diplomate/find.aspx?ts=636403559

9/2/2017: Duck Physician Greg Skaggs delays Utah game over unhealthy smoke levels

Southern Utahns crush Ducks in body-bag game records release

8/25/2017: While the Ducks are so broke they can’t pay for tutoring their student-athletes, they’ve got no problem paying Southern Utah $500K to show up and lose the football season’s opener next weekend. The contract is below.

10/13/2015: It’s not really a fair contest. While for years the UO administration has used its Public Records Office and their $300K budget to delay, redact, and charge excessive fees to frustrate the intent of Oregon’s public records law, the PRO’s at most other universities are in the business of making public records public. Here’s the latest example.

Monday morning I emailed identical public records requests to UO and Southern Utah University, asking for copies of the contract for the football body-bag game scheduled for September 2017:

Date: October 12, 2015 at 10:14:21 AM PDT

To: Lisa Thornton <[email protected]>

Subject: public records request, football game contract with SUU

Dear Ms Thornton –

This is a public records request for a copy of the football game contract between SUU and UO, for the game to be played in the fall of 2017.

A sample of the sort of contract I am looking for is here: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/971644/uomatters/IAC/Football%20contract%20-%20Georgia%20State%20(Final%20Executed%20Version).pdf

I edit a news and opinion blog about the University of Oregon, and I ask for a fee waiver on the basis of public interest.

I would appreciate it if you could send a pdf copy of this contract to this email address.

Thanks for your assistance

This sort of request typically takes UO a week or two. But SUU responded in less than 24 hours:

From: Jennifer Oberhelman
Date: October 13, 2015 at 9:13:01 AM PDT
To: [email protected]
Subject: GRAMA Response

Good morning Mr. Harbaugh,

Attached is the contract between Southern Utah University and University of Oregon for a football game set for 9/2/17 in Eugene, OR requested 10/12 in the form of a GRAMA request.

Please contact me if you have any additional questions.

Thank you.
Jennifer Oberhelman
Exec. Asst. for Administration

“We don’t quit playing because we grow old, we grow old because we quit playing.”

Not bad, though the record is still the 50 minutes it took Georgia State to provide their contract, and Eastern Washington’s General Counsel only took 3 hours.

So Rob Mullens will pay SUU $500K to come to Eugene. Presumably AAD Eric Roedl will get the cash by raising the price he charges ASUO for “free” student tickets  to these body-bag games:

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9/14/2015: Georgia State Panthers whip Oregon Ducks in football public records release

Athletic Director to pay University $5M for academic scholarships

That would be Athletic Director Shawn Eichorst at the University of Nebraska: Nebraska Athletics will provide $5 million in scholarships to nonathletes, potentially providing additional aid to hundreds of students each year at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. … “We’ve worked very hard and very strategically over the course of the last…