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University of Alaska Sports in danger of elimination

Re: University of Alaska Sports in danger of elimination

Wolfman said:
Yeah, it is a really sad situation. Basically, it would be ONE University of Alaska with an extension in Anchorage, Fairbanks and Juneau. A friend that works at the University indicated that the combined university would be a Single university in Alaska with your transcripts that would say "University of Alaska" regardless of where you went...(whether in Anchorage, Fairbanks, or Juneau). Duplicate academic programs would be eliminated. Because of Title 9, sports would have to be limited to one location. There is NO WAY athletics could be split under NCAA allowances, unless we get some kind of a waiver. The Board of Regents likes the idea and is likely to pass the initiative in June. I really feel bad for the individual campuses. I don't know what can be done to stop this unless the legislature intervenes with more money. However, now that President Johnsen has a plan, this will move forward. Absolutely 100 percent sad. I would like to be optimistic about his too, but it is real hard.
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If cost cutting is the real issue, I doubt the UA leaders would be interested, but one way to save varsity sports at both campuses would be to have one of them join the NAIA. The University of Michigan-Dearborn gets around the one school, one athletic department rules of the NCAA by having their teams play in the NAIA (with the hockey team currently at the club level and playing in the ACHA). With the rumors of a possible return of NAIA hockey in the near future, it could be the best way of preserving both programs at the varsity level (albeit at a much lower level for one of them). The NAIA still allows athletic scholarships. With one in the NCAA and the other in the NAIA maybe Fairbanks and Anchorage could at least still play exhibition games against each other at the beginning of the season. I know many of the satellite campuses in the Ohio state school system (OSU-Lima, OSU-Mansfield, OU-Zanesville, Miami-Hamilton etc.) offer varsity sports and compete in what's called the Ohio Regional Campuses Conference. Alaska could maybe organize something like that. The BCIHL, a five team hockey league with four teams in British Columbia and one in Washington also allows varsity programs (four of the five teams are club programs. One, Trinity Western University, is varsity). So there are options to save both hockey programs if combining the schools is inevitable. Its not ideal, or very likely, but its better than nothing.
 
Buckeye22 said:
If cost cutting is the real issue, I doubt the UA leaders would be interested, but one way to save varsity sports at both campuses would be to have one of them join the NAIA. The University of Michigan-Dearborn gets around the one school, one athletic department rules of the NCAA by having their teams play in the NAIA (with the hockey team currently at the club level and playing in the ACHA). With the rumors of a possible return of NAIA hockey in the near future, it could be the best way of preserving both programs at the varsity level (albeit at a much lower level for one of them). The NAIA still allows athletic scholarships. With one in the NCAA and the other in the NAIA maybe Fairbanks and Anchorage could at least still play exhibition games against each other at the beginning of the season. I know many of the satellite campuses in the Ohio state school system (OSU-Lima, OSU-Mansfield, OU-Zanesville, Miami-Hamilton etc.) offer varsity sports and compete in what's called the Ohio Regional Campuses Conference. Alaska could maybe organize something like that. The BCIHL, a five team hockey league with four teams in British Columbia and one in Washington also allows varsity programs (four of the five teams are club programs. One, Trinity Western University, is varsity). So there are options to save both hockey programs if combining the schools is inevitable. Its not ideal, or very likely, but its better than nothing.
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There's no way both drop down to NAIA, especially considering how successful UAA has been at their Division II sports.
 
Re: University of Alaska Sports in danger of elimination

Jimjamesak said:
Actually what it really is UAF forcing UAA (and UAS) into their control and taking their budget in an effort to save themselves. Watch as most things will end up in Fairbanks: the marquee programs like engineering, education, and business, the research money, the marquee athletic team etc. Like I said, this is people in Fairbanks saving their skin and forcing it down other people's throats. If the UA system really wanted to consolidate they do it properly: UAF keeps the research and science related programs while everything else, business, education, engineering, aviation, and yes athletics, goes to UAA along with massive cuts at the administration level (as in the system doesn't need four billion Vice Chancellors and Regents). But since the majority of the mucky mucks in the UA system are in Fairbanks that's where they want things.

tl;dr It's basically "UAA gets the students, UAF gets the funding" just being codified.
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If Men's Ice Hockey goes to _airbanks, all the other A D'S in the WCHA will vote for _airbanks to pay not only plane tickets and rooms that they now pay, they will pile on about all the fee's they can make up until they can all receive a check from the league for a 100 G's. ...just like the old day's

Or they will just tell _airbanks. ............ Don't leave the porch light on cuz we ain't coming.
 
Re: University of Alaska Sports in danger of elimination

Jimjamesak said:
There's no way both drop down to NAIA, especially considering how successful UAA has been at their Division II sports.
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That's what I'm saying. One would stay in the NCAA and the other would move to the NAIA. Thus allowing both campuses to keep varsity athletics even though its technically one school, just like UM and UM-Dearborn. As for which stays NCAA and which moves to the NAIA, that would be up to you guys. I don't know enough about the history of athletics at either school, especially outside of hockey, to decide which one deserves to stay in the NCAA. Obviously this is all hopeful speculation on my part which likely has no basis in reality... but as a college hockey fan (and former accepted applicant to UAA) I'd hate to see either school lose its hockey team. From the sounds of things, it looks like you guys will be lucky if either school has any kind of varsity sports at the end of the day.
 
Re: University of Alaska Sports in danger of elimination

Alaska Hockey said:
If Men's Ice Hockey goes to _airbanks, all the other A D'S in the WCHA will vote for _airbanks to pay not only plane tickets and rooms that they now pay, they will pile on about all the fee's they can make up until they can all receive a check from the league for a 100 G's. ...just like the old day's

Or they will just tell _airbanks. ............ Don't leave the porch light on cuz we ain't coming.
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That's OK I guess. At least we won't guarantee them four points which is obviously your current arrangement.:rolleyes:
 
Wolfman said:
On the UMaine situation, I read in the Bangor times that the system would be combined with USM and the other "branch campuses." But, the Orono campus would maintain the sports programs. Maybe I didn't understand the article. I know UTRGV though has merged as one campus.
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USM is part of the UMaine system. As are all of the UMaine-Hyphen schools. But they are all separate universities.

There was at one time talk of merging Fort Kent, Presque Isle and Machias into a University of Northern Maine. It didn't pan out. There is no talk of making all the campuses into one school.
 
Re: University of Alaska Sports in danger of elimination

I think a re-organization would be possible under a single accreditation to maybe have the " The University of Alaska" which would be headquartered in Fairbanks, and a branches in Anchorage and Juneau. But the Anchorage campus would be "University of Alaska at Anchorage" and University of Alaska at Southeast." They still would be UA as a single accreditation but just be "at Anchorage" or "at Southeast." as far as sports, Hopefully we could still maintain a separate identity for sports.
 
Alaska Hockey said:
If Men's Ice Hockey goes to _airbanks, all the other A D'S in the WCHA will vote for _airbanks to pay not only plane tickets and rooms that they now pay, they will pile on about all the fee's they can make up until they can all receive a check from the league for a 100 G's. ...just like the old day's

Or they will just tell _airbanks. ............ Don't leave the porch light on cuz we ain't coming.
Click to expand...
They don't pay for all the plane tickets and rooms. They pay the rooms, plus a set stipend. Last year UAF covered less than half the cost of our trip.
 
Re: University of Alaska Sports in danger of elimination

AMC said:
That was shut down very aggressively to the point where the seven campuses' existence as separate entities are now codified in state law.
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Maybe Alaska should do that too!
 
Re: University of Alaska Sports in danger of elimination

Buckeye22 said:
If cost cutting is the real issue, I doubt the UA leaders would be interested, but one way to save varsity sports at both campuses would be to have one of them join the NAIA. The University of Michigan-Dearborn gets around the one school, one athletic department rules of the NCAA by having their teams play in the NAIA (with the hockey team currently at the club level and playing in the ACHA). With the rumors of a possible return of NAIA hockey in the near future, it could be the best way of preserving both programs at the varsity level (albeit at a much lower level for one of them). The NAIA still allows athletic scholarships. With one in the NCAA and the other in the NAIA maybe Fairbanks and Anchorage could at least still play exhibition games against each other at the beginning of the season. I know many of the satellite campuses in the Ohio state school system (OSU-Lima, OSU-Mansfield, OU-Zanesville, Miami-Hamilton etc.) offer varsity sports and compete in what's called the Ohio Regional Campuses Conference. Alaska could maybe organize something like that. The BCIHL, a five team hockey league with four teams in British Columbia and one in Washington also allows varsity programs (four of the five teams are club programs. One, Trinity Western University, is varsity). So there are options to save both hockey programs if combining the schools is inevitable. Its not ideal, or very likely, but its better than nothing.
Click to expand...

NAIA doesn't allow branch campuses of one university to have separate athletic programs. UM-Dearborn, UM-Flint, and UM-Ann Arbor are separate universities under the U of Michigan system, like the U. of Minnesota-Twin Cities vs Duluth, etc... They have separate accreditation, etc...

If the UA schools stay separate, a drop to NAIA would save some money but the UA schools are already NCAA DII in most sports so the savings wouldn't be like a major NCAA DI athletic program dropping to NCAA D2 or NAIA which would cut 100s of millions. NCAA D2 is generally more expensive than NAIA but comparable. Also it would basically be the same travel costs between their current D2 conference, the Great Northwest Athletic Conference and the NAIA's Cascade Collegiate Conference.

Ohio State's campuses are branch campuses that are all overseen and accredited under The Ohio State University. The regional Ohio campuses are more focused on continuing education and associate degree's with small bachelor degree programs, although it's possible to graduate from one of the local campuses, they also funnel students to the main OSU campus after 2-years of gen-eds similar to community colleges
 
Re: University of Alaska Sports in danger of elimination

sbkbghockey said:
NAIA doesn't allow branch campuses of one university to have separate athletic programs. UM-Dearborn, UM-Flint, and UM-Ann Arbor are separate universities under the U of Michigan system, like the U. of Minnesota-Twin Cities vs Duluth, etc... They have separate accreditation, etc...

If the UA schools stay separate, a drop to NAIA would save some money but the UA schools are already NCAA DII in most sports so the savings wouldn't be like a major NCAA DI athletic program dropping to NCAA D2 or NAIA which would cut 100s of millions. NCAA D2 is generally more expensive than NAIA but comparable. Also it would basically be the same travel costs between their current D2 conference, the Great Northwest Athletic Conference and the NAIA's Cascade Collegiate Conference.

Ohio State's campuses are branch campuses that are all overseen and accredited under The Ohio State University. The regional Ohio campuses are more focused on continuing education and associate degree's with small bachelor degree programs, although it's possible to graduate from one of the local campuses, they also funnel students to the main OSU campus after 2-years of gen-eds similar to community colleges
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as of Aug. 2015, there was contact for interest in NAIA hockey through Lawrence Technological Univ. in Southfield MI.
http://www.naia.org/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=27900&ATCLID=210260624
not that it would matter much to Alaska.

In Ohio, and far as I know...Shawnee State is the only one of the 14 public universities current in the NAIA. so yeah, all 14 are separate universities.
as far as branch and regional campuses, many more tied to each of the 14 public universities... Cincinnati, Kent, Miami, OU, BGSU, Wright State, OSU...all run there own regional campuses. so looks like the Ohio Regional Campus Conference has there own some sort of regional independent sports organization.
 
Re: University of Alaska Sports in danger of elimination

sbkbghockey said:
NAIA doesn't allow branch campuses of one university to have separate athletic programs. UM-Dearborn, UM-Flint, and UM-Ann Arbor are separate universities under the U of Michigan system, like the U. of Minnesota-Twin Cities vs Duluth, etc... They have separate accreditation, etc...
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Are you sure they're separate? I always thought they were branch campuses like OSU. I know their diplomas are dated at Ann Arbor, and all three schools operate under the Board of Regents of the University of Michigan. If I'm wrong and they are indeed separate than I take back what I said. Just looking for other options for our UA friends. Can't blame a guy for trying.
 
Re: University of Alaska Sports in danger of elimination

blackswampboy said:
In Ohio, and far as I know...Shawnee State is the only one of the 14 public universities current in the NAIA. so yeah, all 14 are separate universities. as far as branch and regional campuses, many more tied to each of the 14 public universities... Cincinnati, Kent, Miami, OU, BGSU, Wright State, OSU...all run there own regional campuses. so looks like the Ohio Regional Campus Conference has there own some sort of regional independent sports organization.
Click to expand...

Ya the Ohio Regional Campus Conference is apparently an independent sports governing body for the regional and branch campuses in the University System of Ohio. I imagine this is necessary because the NCAA doesn't allow branch campuses to have separate athletic departments. There doesn't seem to be a website, so I can't be sure, but according to Wikipedia the ORCC currently includes satellite campuses from Ohio State, Ohio University, Miami University and the University of Akron. Maybe Alaska could come up with a similar arrangement between their various campuses out there if worse comes to worse. Travel would be be tougher.
 
Re: University of Alaska Sports in danger of elimination

Buckeye22 said:
Are you sure they're separate? I always thought they were branch campuses like OSU. I know their diplomas are dated at Ann Arbor, and all three schools operate under the Board of Regents of the University of Michigan. If I'm wrong and they are indeed separate than I take back what I said. Just looking for other options for our UA friends. Can't blame a guy for trying.
Click to expand...

No worries Buckeye, hope my last RE didn't come across rude or biting. I think at this point, any options to keep the UA hockey programs operating are good- as inconvenient it is to go up and play the UAs, no one wants to see our sport shrink.

I wanted to double check my knowledge and it looks like the two UMich satellite campuses are indeed separate, and currently similar UA org structure with a Board of Regents on top, then System President, then School Chancellors.

https://www.alaska.edu/orgcharts/
http://spg.umich.edu/org-charts/753000


Most importantly to the org structure, they also have separate accreditation by the HLC:
https://www.hlcommission.org/compon...titution=Michigan&lang=en&state=ANY&submit=Go!
 
Re: University of Alaska Sports in danger of elimination

sbkbghockey said:
No worries Buckeye, hope my last RE didn't come across rude or biting. I think at this point, any options to keep the UA hockey programs operating are good- as inconvenient it is to go up and play the UAs, no one wants to see our sport shrink.
Click to expand...

Oh no, not at all! Thanks for the info. :)
 
Re: University of Alaska Sports in danger of elimination

davyd83 said:
They don't pay for all the plane tickets and rooms. They pay the rooms, plus a set stipend. Last year UAF covered less than half the cost of our trip.
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Those cheap ********. ..... How did you let them get away with that.............
 
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