UNIVERSITY NEWS Athletics Budget

[MTFAN61]

I like your wording that we people are confused in our anger. What we have is a beef with the political appointees of the "commission", not THEC the state agency.
Question? Doesn't the "C" at the end of THEC stand for "commission"?
Isn't it 9 district "lay" appointees, the state comptroller, secretary of state, treasurer & students you mentioned that in essence is the "THEC state agency" making up its composition?
They seem one in the same.
This state commission cumulatively came together to vote 8 to 5 against MTSU.
And yes we all appreciate Chairman Evan Cope supporting the move. However it wasn't up to him. It was the other "political" members of THEC angering us.
You called it a "State Agency", & right you are.
The 5 state THEC representatives supporting MT included: 1 from Murfreesboro, Johnson City, Chattanooga, Gallatin, & also the treasurer you mentioned. See the trend?
The 8 THEC representatives opposed:
3 from Memphis, 2 from Knoxville (including the student), 1 from Nashville, also the secretary of state & comptroller you mentagain. Once again a definite trend. Am I not correct that the above individuals make up the THEC State Agency?
Anyone looking can see the political division. The large metro cities already had the aforementioned law schools. They simply didn't want a smaller state school competing with them.
In this case the commissioners comprising the THEC certainly did work closely with the institutions. But it was strictly for the institutions they supported, not for the state as a whole.
I truly wish this state had the educational unity that other states in the south pursue.

 

[sWiley]

How much money does MTSU get from the State of Tennessee anyway ? And I'm not counting HOPE Lottery scholarships (These are EARNED by students and can be used anywhere). How much actual, direct, money per student or money per year does MTSU get from the state?

It'd be great if that number was a small figure, and the University could find a way to tell the state to go F themselves. Doesn't most of the $$$$ come from Pelgrants, federal loans, private pay, etc? Does the state of Tennessee really give that much $$$ directly to the University? Enough $$ to have such significant control over it?

 

[MT01]

It is not the job of THEC to prioritize MT.

I think you people are confused; there is a commission made up of political appointees, including the Secretary of State, comptroller, treasurer, and other government appointees, and one student member. Do you know who the chair of the commission was during this time? His name is on the building where McPhee’s office is.

Then there is the state agency, THEC, that works with the institutions closely.

The commission denied the law school, mostly because McPhee didn’t take it seriously and gave an all time bad performance in his presentation to the commission. McPhee also never attends commission meetings, when every other president is routinely in attendance.

Your beef is with the political appointees of the commission, not THEC the state agency.

My beef is with all of the aforementioned people and entities you referenced including the agency which has a history of denying approval of programs at MT in favor of other institutions preferences instead of our own.

 

[THEBLUERAIDER]

My beef is with all of the aforementioned people and entities you referenced including the agency which has a history of denying approval of programs at MT in favor of other institutions preferences instead of our own.

THEC, the state agency, doesn’t deny programs. They work with schools to get them in front of the board (commission). Every university and community college follows the same process. If a school doesn’t get a program proposal in front of the board, the school didn’t do a good job with the requirements. The commission approves or denies programs.

I promise you, no one in the state agency is out to get MTSU. That’s an asinine statement.

 

[MidTennMtneer]

How much money does MTSU get from the State of Tennessee anyway ? And I'm not counting HOPE Lottery scholarships (These are EARNED by students and can be used anywhere). How much actual, direct, money per student or money per year does MTSU get from the state?

It'd be great if that number was a small figure, and the University could find a way to tell the state to go F themselves. Doesn't most of the $$$$ come from Pelgrants, federal loans, private pay, etc? Does the state of Tennessee really give that much $$$ directly to the University? Enough $$ to have such significant control over it?

Going by the latest financial report posted for 2022, state appropriations were $117m.

Financial Statements | Middle Tennessee State University

Financial Statements

www.mtsu.edu

 

[MT01]

THEC, the state agency, doesn’t deny programs. They work with schools to get them in front of the board (commission). Every university and community college follows the same process. If a school doesn’t get a program proposal in front of the board, the school didn’t do a good job with the requirements. The commission approves or denies programs.

I promise you, no one in the state agency is out to get MTSU. That’s an asinine statement.

You’re splitting hairs with me. THEC is one entity not two.

 

[MidTennMtneer]

THEC, the state agency, doesn’t deny programs. They work with schools to get them in front of the board (commission). Every university and community college follows the same process. If a school doesn’t get a program proposal in front of the board, the school didn’t do a good job with the requirements. The commission approves or denies programs.

I promise you, no one in the state agency is out to get MTSU. That’s an asinine statement.

I'm sure deep down that is true. They aren't here to stop us. But you can't blame those of us who feel that way. I'm a firm believer we should be around the state. I compare us to Marshall. Yes WVU is all over the state, multiple small campuses like UT does with Martin etc. They have the largest hospital system in the state running 23 of them.

But Marshall has its own health system with 4 hospitals, an amazing med school, a campus in the capital city of Charleston, two other campuses across the state, distance learning offices, etc.

There is zero reason we can't be that way. Am I saying we need a location in Kingsport, or even a med school, no. But mid-state, 100%. Shelbyville is a start. But we should be the university of the mid-state with locations and affiliations all over the place.

And honestly it feels we are being prevented from becoming that. Even Memphis has Lambuth. Maybe McP simply doesn't have the grand vision I think we need and as said, isn't good at presenting things for approval. And we certainly don't have any political clout either to grease the wheels. We also don't have major donors like Memphis has though. I mean even Meharry's endowment is larger than ours, as well as Marshall's. But it's the chicken/egg thing as quite often those large donors come from professional degrees such as med, law, etc which we don't have fully in-house.

 

[TrueBlue147]

Yes, a student voice should absolutely be heard in these matters. There is a student rep on almost every higher ed board. The student was not the deciding vote. And MT could just as easily have that rep on the board. There was a community college student in the last couple of years.

No, a student shouldn't have a voice in these adult matters. Doesn't matter what school they go to. An 18 year old having an equal vote on important matters like deciding to give or not give the citizens of Middle Tennessee an affordable public school is insane. The committee is 100% political and that's why they denied the public in Middle Tennessee an affordable option to get a law degree. It would have helped raise MTSU's stature and potentially taken students away from their schools. That's why is what denied.

 

[THEBLUERAIDER]

No, a student shouldn't have a voice in these adult matters. Doesn't matter what school they go to. An 18 year old having an equal vote on important matters like deciding to give or not give the citizens of Middle Tennessee an affordable public school is insane. The committee is 100% political and that's why they denied the public in Middle Tennessee an affordable option to get a law degree. It would have helped raise MTSU's stature and potentially taken students away from their schools. That's why is what denied.

The committee is 100% political is very correct. The state agency is not.

And the reason it was denied is almost 100% McPhee.

And you need a student representative on the board as a student voice for things that impact students, like tuition increases, etc. They are hardly ever the deciding vote.

 

[THEBLUERAIDER]

You’re splitting hairs with me. THEC is one entity not two.

Maybe so, but your angst is misguided. No one is out to get MTSU; they can’t get out of their own way due to leadership. We can’t continuously blame others for our bad leadership and mistakes. It’s not always someone else’s fault.

 

[THEBLUERAIDER]

And honestly it feels we are being prevented from becoming that. Even Memphis has Lambuth. Maybe McP simply doesn't have the grand vision I think we need and as said, isn't good at presenting things for approval. And we certainly don't have any political clout either to grease the wheels. We also don't have major donors like Memphis has though. I mean even Meharry's endowment is larger than ours, as well as Marshall's. But it's the chicken/egg thing as quite often those large donors come from professional degrees such as med, law, etc which we don't have fully in-house.

Other than the first sentence, you are right.

 

[MT01]

Maybe so, but your angst is misguided. No one is out to get MTSU; they can’t get out of their own way due to leadership. We can’t continuously blame others for our bad leadership and mistakes. It’s not always someone else’s fault.

You’re not going to find anyone here who is more anti-McPhee than I am. Yes, he’s failed epically, but THEC is defined by the decisions it makes. You obviously either work for them or have someone close to you who does which is why you are defending it. THEC has done MT no favors across the board and that is a known fact going back decades to my days when I worked at MT back when Dr. Walker was the President. You and I can choose to disagree but you clearly have a reason to be biased - whatever it is. And frankly I really don’t care if you or anyone else wants to separate the organization into two separate components or 50. What you’re arguing is analogous to if I worked in McPhee’s office that I’m not just as much of a part of MTxx as the Board of Directors and decisions they make.

Bottom line is one thing I believe you are wrong about and we can disagree on is THEC has a negative bias toward MT. And the part of it that does is completely and utterly moot. Because it’s the part that matters and I don’t really give two shits about the semantics.

 

[MTFAN61]

Appreciate the effort of our THEC supporter, can tell you're adamant & passionate in your beliefs. I may disagree with someone's beliefs on a subject, but always respect their opportunity to express them. However, this is like 1 passionate political party member trying to tell a room of 50 other opposing party members that their opinions & ideas are basically wrong. It's a tough sale.
Since this is a Middle Tennessee sports based forum all Blue Raiders supporters are of course welcome, but in this instance I don't believe you're going to have much luck getting the support you're looking for.
Other than this one last post I'm moving on to my favorite topic, basketball & football. Enjoyed the discussion though.

 

[Brew_Raider]

As a side, I look at our institutional leadership or lack thereof.

If we had a strong president with a clear vision and mission, that can talk with these politicians and sell MT, then we would be in a better position. The provost handles most of the academics so the president should be selling and promoting MT. A good president is a lobbyist and salesman for the university. The best presidents I ever worked for or saw were essentially politicians.

Look at our revised mission statement for as an example of pisspoor messaging. Our statement doesn’t really say anything. Universities with clear missions and vision can tell you if the school is focused on increasing admission standards which will lower acceptance rates and enrollment but increase scholarship and funding. Same goes for a mission of increasing opportunities to more mid-state students. That mission should increase enrollment while admission standards probably drop. Are we trying to be a regional school, focused on opportunities for midstate students and building ties/relationships with midstate companies.

Same goes for athletics and athletic funding. It’s massaro’s job, but his work plan/direction is McPhee.

This all falls back on McPhee. There are ways to sell MT in a state where the UT system is the flagship and Vanderbilt has the research name. He sucks at doing his job.