Student Athletic Fee

[UNT15]

This is an honest question.

I've noticed the topic of the student athletic fee come up several times over the past few years while I've been following this board and I've never quite been able to fully understand how it works. Please don't personally attack me too much for my inquisitiveness...because I do realize this topic stirs up emotion in some of our beloved posters.

- I've read on this board before that the student athletic fee was raised by RV. I've read that the student athletic fee was raised by a poster on GMG.

- I've read that the student athletic fee covers just the stadium ($78M). I've read that the student athletic fee is for $30M.

- I've read that the student athletic fee ends at a certain point. I've read that it goes on indefinitely unless the fee is terminated by vote, board, etc.

- I've read that we have the lowest fee in the state. I've read that our fee should be raised to the state maximum. I've read that it can only be raised once for $1.

As you can see, many times I've read conflicting statements and it was hard for me to know the "truth" so I decided to do some independent research before asking those with a much better memory and grasp of the situation here on GoMeanGreen.

From my research, I found that only 14% of students voted at the time, and the majority of those students never paid a dime of the fee because it kicked in three years later. This article http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth145624/m1/1/was one of the best resources. It states that the fee is for "half" of the stadium costs - Q1: is that $30M (half of the originally projected $60M) or $39M (half of $78M)?

Q2: "After the stadium is paid for, the fees will continue to pay for other athletic programs." This statement is located in article above. Does the fee end after the stadium is paid? or will it continue to pay for "other athletic programs"?

Q3: from my research it appears that Texas and Texas A&M students do not pay a dedicated athletics fee, so it doesn't appear that we have the lowest fee in the state. Is ours the lowest of the other schools? (Texas Tech, Houston, UTSA, UTEP, Texas State)

Q4: Also, we're currently at $10 (stated as $7 because a student services fee was cut by $3), can we really only raise it to $11? or is the raise to a maximum possible? (It appears that the maximum allowed is $15, is that correct?)

It's a very interesting topic, and if anyone can answer any of the questions it would be greatly appreciated. This is just for my personal edification and knowing the "truth" about the student fee.

[untjim1995]

This is an honest question.

I've noticed the topic of the student athletic fee come up several times over the past few years while I've been following this board and I've never quite been able to fully understand how it works. Please don't personally attack me too much for my inquisitiveness...because I do realize this topic stirs up emotion in some of our beloved posters.

- I've read on this board before that the student athletic fee was raised by RV. I've read that the student athletic fee was raised by a poster on GMG.

- I've read that the student athletic fee covers just the stadium ($78M). I've read that the student athletic fee is for $30M.

- I've read that the student athletic fee ends at a certain point. I've read that it goes on indefinitely unless the fee is terminated by vote, board, etc.

- I've read that we have the lowest fee in the state. I've read that our fee should be raised to the state maximum. I've read that it can only be raised once for $1.

As you can see, many times I've read conflicting statements and it was hard for me to know the "truth" so I decided to do some independent research before asking those with a much better memory and grasp of the situation here on GoMeanGreen.

From my research, I found that only 14% of students voted at the time, and the majority of those students never paid a dime of the fee because it kicked in three years later. This article http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth145624/m1/1/was one of the best resources. It states that the fee is for "half" of the stadium costs - Q1: is that $30M (half of the originally projected $60M) or $39M (half of $78M)?

Q2: "After the stadium is paid for, the fees will continue to pay for other athletic programs." This statement is located in article above. Does the fee end after the stadium is paid? or will it continue to pay for "other athletic programs"?

Q3: from my research it appears that Texas and Texas A&M students do not pay a dedicated athletics fee, so it doesn't appear that we have the lowest fee in the state. Is ours the lowest of the other schools? (Texas Tech, Houston, UTSA, UTEP, Texas State)

Q4: Also, we're currently at $10 (stated as $7 because a student services fee was cut by $3), can we really only raise it to $11? or is the raise to a maximum possible? (It appears that the maximum allowed is $15, is that correct?)

It's a very interesting topic, and if anyone can answer any of the questions it would be greatly appreciated. This is just for my personal edification and knowing the "truth" about the student fee.

Before we get into answering these questions, how do you feel about that fee being on your tuition bill? Is that something you support or do you feel like it is a waste of money to be used only on athletics here at UNT?

[UNT15]

Before we get into answering these questions, how do you feel about that fee being on your tuition bill? Is that something you support or do you feel like it is a waste of money to be used only on athletics here at UNT?

$10 per hour really isn't that big of a deal. I roughly pay $150 per semester for season football, soccer, volleyball, basketball, and softball tickets. Perhaps a bit steep for the current product... On the free market I might only be willing to pay $125 for football, $30 for men's basketball (in our current set up), $50 for soccer, and maybe $0.50/game for women's basketball and softball - but that roughly breaks even if I were to go to every women's basketball/softball/men's basketball game.

I have WAY more of a problem with the $16.50/hour library fee, especially since the only thing I use the "library" for is non-library computer labs (which is already covered under the $13/hour technology fee).

[Ryan Munthe]

$10 per hour really isn't that big of a deal. I roughly pay $150 per semester for season football, soccer, volleyball, basketball, and softball tickets. Perhaps a bit steep for the current product... On the free market I might only be willing to pay $125 for football, $30 for men's basketball (in our current set up), $50 for soccer, and maybe $0.50/game for women's basketball and softball - but that roughly breaks even if I were to go to every women's basketball/softball/men's basketball game.

I have WAY more of a problem with the $16.50/hour library fee, especially since the only thing I use the "library" for is non-library computer labs (which is already covered under the $13/hour technology fee).

You for real right now?

Libraries are the cornerstone and heart of a university.

Edited November 4, 2014 by Ryan Munthe

[MeanGreenWithEnvy]

Something else that would factor into the discussion right now is the overall price tag of a college education. It's going to be almost impossible to get any kind of fee raised right now what with tuition what it is and the likelihood that tuition will need to be raised further.

[MeanGreenWithEnvy]

I'd caution against framing this as a library fee vs. athletics fee discussion, too. That's a guaranteed loser for an athletic fee increase.

[Ben Gooding]

ATM and UT's athletic fee is around 300. The other schools you mentioned have an athletic fee larger than ours. UTSA has has a football program for 4 years and their athletic fee is larger than ours. P5 schools could raise that athletic fee as high as they reasonably wanted and attendance for the universities wouldn't dip a bit. G5 programs, such as ours, use the student fee as a large part of their athletic budget. Athletic fees don't once something is paid off, they are continuous. Unlike most, if not all all P5's North Texas doesn't charge their students a dime for attendance whereas the P5 still charges their students the athletic fee and a discounted ticket price.

In a nutshell, our student fee is minuscule and embarrassing. If we want to ever be a program of worth it has to start with the student fee. It must be raised.

As far as the other fees go such as the library, The University of North Texas is already one of the most inexpensive D1 universities in the state. Raising the student fee is not going to bankrupt any one student. This is an issue that when at all possible needs to be addressed by the President, AD and BOR.

Endowment is an entirely different monster, but again North Texas struggles in this area as well because the lack of financial, educational and athletic commitment. Our leadership is afraid to "go big" if you will because it may blow up in their faces and they would be held accountable, or should be. Our research capabilities at North Texas are quite frankly a joke and that's a big reason why we can't get to tier 1 status or a growing endowment. However, the current Prez has put this as a major emphasis to change/improve.

[curtisdaa]

I always spent more time at The Library (bar) than the library (Willis). The old timers understand.

[oldguystudent]

That didn't work. I can't format. Disregard.

Edited November 4, 2014 by oldguystudent

[UNT 90 Grad]

I always spent more time at The Library (bar) than the library (Willis). The old timers understand.

. Ah yes. Bring back the Gravity Room.

[10Eagle10]

Ben Gooding is wrong again

Texas A&M has $0 in athletic fees.

http://sbs.tamu.edu/accounts-billing/tuition-fees/schedule/#ATHLETIC

There is an optional $290 fee if a student wishes to buy an all sports pass. ...optional

That means a student at Texas A&M who doesn't have any desire to go to sporting events or support the athletic department will pay ZERO dollars in student athletic fees while they are in school. A student at North Texas who takes 15 hours in fall/spring (no summer) will pay $10 more in required fees ($300) than a student at A&M will pay in optional fees for a superior product, with more offerings (20 sports vs 14 sports).

The OP asks us to enlighten them and Ben comes in here making stuff up to suit his agenda.

With all that said, I am 100% on board with raising UNT's student athletic fee to the maximum. Let's just keep the facts straight

[meanJewGreen]

Texas doesn't have a student athletic fee either as well as most programs who make enough money from athletics to self fund the department.

I'm an athletics guy but I've gotta agree with Ben Gooding in that I'm much more concerned about our universities struggle for Tier 1 status than anything else.

[Ben Gooding]

I was referring to the "optional" fee. It'd be interesting to see the percentages on that.

[meangreendork]

You for real right now?

Libraries are the cornerstone and heart of a university.

Seriously. Definitely one of the service fees I never scoffed at when I was a student. In my head it was like, "I might not need this, but there are a lot of people who absolutely do, either for something as basic as a quiet place to study or for as big as getting all of their research materials."

[Ryan Munthe]

Seriously. Definitely one of the service fees I never scoffed at when I was a student. In my head it was like, "I might not need this, but there are a lot of people who absolutely do, either for something as basic as a quiet place to study or for as big as getting all of their research materials."

Want to know what's sad? There was +2 on that yesterday. That means there are at the least 3 people who disagree. SMH. It's a university first.

[oldguystudent]

Hells to the yeah! Raise my fees and charge me more!

[Ryan Munthe]

Well, it depends. Do you think university is incredibly overpriced and beginning to border on scam-levels? I do. So, no, I don't want to be charged more. But do I want fees that help support the university I'm paying absurd amounts of cash to attend? I do, as well.

[untbowler]

The athletic fee and how it go set up, IMO set back Athletics at UNT and is a failure on the part of RV and the BOR to persuade the idiot Chancellor Jackson to fight for what should be a gateway and open door for the University in this case Athletics, but it also shows that UNT will never fully support athletics like our state counterparts, because we have incompetent administration from the top down.

[oldguystudent]

Well, it depends. Do you think university is incredibly overpriced and beginning to border on scam-levels? I do. So, no, I don't want to be charged more. But do I want fees that help support the university I'm paying absurd amounts of cash to attend? I do, as well.

I think all aspects of nearly every university are on a near scam level, fueled by endless and easily obtainable student loans, leading to Hilton level facilities in all aspects of life that I think are completely unnecessary for the eighteen year old student. Part of the nostalgia of college for me is the spartan lifestyle. Now it's club med across the board, be it dorms, classrooms, or athletic facilities, and nobody seems to ever think of why universities exist in the first place, that darn book learnin'.

[Ryan Munthe]

I think all aspects of nearly every university are on a near scam level, fueled by endless and easily obtainable student loans, leading to Hilton level facilities in all aspects of life that I think are completely unnecessary for the eighteen year old student. Part of the nostalgia of college for me is the spartan lifestyle. Now it's club med across the board, be it dorms, classrooms, or athletic facilities, and nobody seems to ever think of why universities exist in the first place, that darn book learnin'.

That is brilliantly put.

[The Fake Lonnie Finch]

Just make the student fee $40 a semester and be done with it. So much whining and bickering over it.

It doesn't matter anyway. We're not a part of the Criminal 5, so we will be shuffled back into the morass of Leftover 5 + FCS once the Criminal 5 eliminate the scholarship limit and start writing paychecks to the players.

Also, make a drop dead bottom level of giving $50, okay? Don't bitch about "looking cheap." Just do it. Money is money is money.

Look, we run a commercial insurance agency, and business insurance goes in cycles. At various times, carrier appetite increases or decreases for any given risk.

For example, six years ago, I could write a Lessor's Risk Only (shopping centers, office buildings, office warehouses, etc. occupied by tenants, not the building owners) policy with any damn company you could name - The Hartford, Travelers, CNA, Zurich, et. al. All standard markets.

Today, you come to me with an LRO risk, and I'm likely having to stick you with a non-standard carrier (Underwriters at Lloyds of London, Nautilus, USLI, etc.) because the standard carrier are largely out of the LRO game right now because of hail losses incurred from 2010-2013.

With non-standard carriers, my commission is half of what it is for a standard carrier. But, I place the business anyway because the 10% of X (premium) that they pay, though not as much as 20% of X, is more than 0% of X.

So, what I'm saying is, get everyone in the game, even those we currently turn up our nose to because they won't give at the lowest $125 a year level.

Three people signing up at $50 is more than one at $125. Get money! Get the money of the masses.

Where do other programs like Mean Green Club begin. Here is a list that I have compiled because I'm nice enough to do it for you:

Lower than Mean Green Club

OU: $100 - http://www.soonersports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=31000&ATCLID=209224829

Texas: $50 - http://texassports.com/sports/2013/7/29/foundation_0729134356.aspx
TCU: $100 - http://www.gofrogs.com/frog-club/giving-levels.html
SMU: $75 - http://www.smumustangs.com/mustangclub/donor-benefits.html

Houston: $100 - http://www.uhcougars.com/sports/cougar-pride/spec-rel/membership-benefits.html

Texas Tech: $100 - http://www.redraiderclub.com/images/downloads/2014_GivingGuide_lrsmallpdf.pdf
LSU: $50 - https://www.lsutaf.org/LevelsAndBenefits

Arkansas: $50 - http://www.razorbackfoundation.com/membership/member-levels.aspx

UTEP: $50 - http://minerathleticclub.com/sports/2013/1/16/MAC_Benefits.aspx?&tab=1

Kansas State: $50 - http://www.ahearnfund.com/giving/levels/

Alabama: $50 - http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/alab/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/2013-14/misc_non_event/20140114club-benefits-chart.pdf

Ole Miss: $50 - http://www.olemisssports.com/sports/umaaf/membership/levels-and-benefits.html

Missouri: $50 - http://www.tsf-mizzou.com/tsf-annual-fund/giving-levels-donor-benefits

Mississippi State: $100 - http://www.msubulldogclub.com/our-mission/benefit-levels/?DB_OEM_ID=16800

Kansas: $100 - http://www.williamsfund.com/sports/2014/2/11/wef_0211144417.aspx

Nebraska: $50 - http://huskersathleticfund.com/benefits/

Rice: $50 - http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/rice/sports/fb-stadium/auto_pdf/2013-14/misc_non_event/OwlClubbenefitschart.pdf

Higher than Mean Green Club

Texas A&M: $150 - https://www.12thmanfoundation.com/membership/benefits.aspx

Oklahoma State: $150 - http://www.okstateposse.com/contributing.php

Baylor: $180 ($120 for young alumni): http://www.baylor.edu/bearfoundation/index.php?id=96016

Edited November 4, 2014 by The Fake Lonnie Finch

[The Fake Lonnie Finch]

Tulsa, by the way, has a ridiculous 15 levels of benefit for Hurricane Club Members...starting at $50. Most schools have eight or so levels of giving.

Tulsa: http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/tuls/sports/ghc/auto_pdf/2013-14/release/release_final.pdf

[The Fake Lonnie Finch]

I would also throw in a gimmick at the Coaches Roadies to pump up membership: sign up for any level of giving and have your name put into a drawing for your choice of football or basketball season tickets.

Okay? Money in is money in. We are not going to be in the Criminal 5. We are not going to be in a conference with great leverage for a huge television contract or great bowls (once the current bowl contracts expire).

So, we're going to have to love our own. We're going to have to shower the people we love with love; yes, and, show them the way that we feel. Things are going to be much better if we only will.

[LongJim]

So, we're going to have to love our own. We're going to have to shower the people we love with love; yes, and, show them the way that we feel. Things are going to be much better if we only will.

So, are you saying that we should love the one we're with? Is love all we need?

[oldguystudent]

Bunch of hippies.