MIAA to expand to 20???

[Predatory Primates]

This ^^ One of the reasons that higher ed is in the state it is in is the keeping up with the Jones' mentality. X school has this, we need it too. Let's be honest though. Many students choose the name-brand state school because they think they will have a better chance to get higher-paying employment from those schools, accurate or not. Sure some of that institutional status seeking is (using a professional wrestling analogy) "talking them into the building." This is a bigger problem than athletics (although especiallly at the P5 level is where it is the most obvious.)

Can we honestly say that this posturing increases the value of education or the college experience? The students today pay far more than students 10, 20, 40 years ago. Even with inflationary and cost-of-living adjustments it is so much more difficult for students to graduate without student loans even while working. Yes, the cost of providing an education, maintaining buildings and grounds, updating facilities to code, buying access to databases, and making sure the campus is wired for high speed internet access have risen, However, it is not to the extent tuition has. Meanwhile, university bureaucrats create a new under VP for toothpick selection, another seemingly redundant office because the University of Our Neighboring State-Main Branch has one. Not to mention building more facilities despite declining enrollments. Someone needs to fit the bill, either now or after bond issues. Rubbing shoulders and the chess game of posturing "to grow the universities" stature also plays a role.

I find myself talking out of both sides of my mind because I also don't necessarily want UCO in the GAC so... (I honestly didn't know how small NWOSU was until I looked it up. I assumed they were the same size as SOSU, SWOSU, ECU... nope.) Why are so many on this board against teams that "can't compete?"

Why does the Sun Belt and C-USA have the same footprint, yet the teams move between conferences? Why are so many teams moving up to Division I when they shouldn't? There are a few small schools in D-II that should probably be D-III. Why is there conference realignment at the D-III level? Southwestern (TX) and Trinity (TX) are leaving the Texas based SCAC to the SAA which is based in the SEC region with no other teams in Texas or even Louisiana? Status. Status. Status. Many colleges will close in the upcoming decades, and academia will blame everyone else.

Yeah. The empire building on campuses has been haywire for a couple of decades at least.

Don't get me wrong, I like nice things, but sustainability has to come calling at some point.

[ctrabs74]

This ^^ One of the reasons that higher ed is in the state it is in is the keeping up with the Jones' mentality. X school has this, we need it too. Let's be honest though. Many students choose the name-brand state school because they think they will have a better chance to get higher-paying employment from those schools, accurate or not. Sure some of that institutional status seeking is (using a professional wrestling analogy) "talking them into the building." This is a bigger problem than athletics (although especiallly at the P5 level is where it is the most obvious.)

Can we honestly say that this posturing increases the value of education or the college experience? The students today pay far more than students 10, 20, 40 years ago. Even with inflationary and cost-of-living adjustments it is so much more difficult for students to graduate without student loans even while working. Yes, the cost of providing an education, maintaining buildings and grounds, updating facilities to code, buying access to databases, and making sure the campus is wired for high speed internet access have risen, However, it is not to the extent tuition has. Meanwhile, university bureaucrats create a new under VP for toothpick selection, another seemingly redundant office because the University of Our Neighboring State-Main Branch has one. Not to mention building more facilities despite declining enrollments. Someone needs to fit the bill, either now or after bond issues. Rubbing shoulders and the chess game of posturing "to grow the universities" stature also plays a role.

I find myself talking out of both sides of my mind because I also don't necessarily want UCO in the GAC so... (I honestly didn't know how small NWOSU was until I looked it up. I assumed they were the same size as SOSU, SWOSU, ECU... nope.) Why are so many on this board against teams that "can't compete?"

Why does the Sun Belt and C-USA have the same footprint, yet the teams move between conferences? Why are so many teams moving up to Division I when they shouldn't? There are a few small schools in D-II that should probably be D-III. Why is there conference realignment at the D-III level? Southwestern (TX) and Trinity (TX) are leaving the Texas based SCAC to the SAA which is based in the SEC region with no other teams in Texas or even Louisiana? Status. Status. Status. Many colleges will close in the upcoming decades, and academia will blame everyone else.

You should see the D3 re-alignment chaos in the Northeast. Conferences merging, conferences and schools disappearing, and schools moving at an insane clip. Probably more so than in the South.