FSU once had an outdoor pool by the Union!

 

This #FlashbackFriday takes us back to when there was once an outdoor pool by the Union! pic.twitter.com/I9Akk0TfBb

— Oglesby Union (@OglesbyUnion) November 20, 2020

$350,000 bonus for President John Thrasher

Interesting timing given FSU cuts and layoffs.

$350,000 bonus for President John Thrasher 

Florida State University’s Board of Trustees Friday are expected to approve a $350,000 performance bonus for President John Thrasher.

Thrasher, who started as president in November 2014, is retiring when a new president is named sometime next year. His contract expired earlier this month, but he has agreed to stay on until his replacement is on board.

Trustees chairman Ed Burr told the board’s Governance Committee Thursday that trustees gave Thrasher an overwhelmingly favorable evaluation.

FSU's first-year retention rate places among top 15 nationally

 

FSU's first-year retention rate places among top 15 nationally

According to the most recent data reported to the Florida Board of Governors, Florida State University is retaining first-year students at a record rate.

Roughly 95% of FSU’s newest students who enrolled in summer and fall 2019 stayed for their sophomore year, serving a new record for the university. Also important to note, last year’s freshman class of about 7,100 students was the largest and most diverse in university history.

Over the past several years, Florida State has been proud of the virtual elimination of disparities in retention rates among its undergraduate population, which is historically very diverse. Nearly a third of these students are Pell Grant recipients and/or first-generation college students. Additionally, students who are enrolled in the Center for Academic Retention and Enhancement (CARE) program, a program that provides first-generation and underrepresented students the necessary resources and support networks that they could possibly need to flourish in a collegiate environment, outperformed FSU’s general student population, posting a 96.2% freshman retention rate.

The U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics reported that the 95%mark ranks in the Top 15 among national public universities and is well above the most recent national average retention rate of 81% for 4-year public institutions.

Last year's freshman class of about 7,100 students was the largest and most diverse in university history.https://t.co/iUz5OaHVLH

— FSView & Florida Flambeau (@FSView) November 20, 2020

After 3 plus years of cuts, FSU athletics still in the red

 

After 3 plus years of cuts, FSU athletics still in the red

Coburn said administrators have reduced the operating budget by roughly $20 million. Some expenses have hurt the bottom line, including coronavirus screening, cleaning of facilities and modifications to buildings due to the pandemic. “We’re still substantially in the red,” Coburn said.

FSU recently had 13,000 boosters but that number is now down to 9,000. The goal is to get back to 13,000, new boosters CEO Michael Alford said.

ESPN details the fall and dysfunction of FSU Athletics

 This board has been doing the same for many years.

'They're in a deep, deep hole':

Florida State's downturn is similar to those of other blue blood programs such as Michigan, Texas and Nebraska, but the details are unique to a place that prided itself on being the last successful mom-and-pop shop in the sport's new era, caught between the homespun success of Bobby Bowden's 34 years at the helm and the increasingly high-stakes demands of the big-money enterprise college football has become. It was a program defined by history with no clear vision for the future.

ESPN spoke with more than 50 people, including former coaches, players, athletic department employees and Seminole Boosters members, to explore what went wrong. While many key people spoke on the record, numerous sources asked for anonymity in order to be able to speak more candidly about the program. Sources close to Fisher and Willie Taggart wanted to "correct the narrative" they believed the school created to shift blame, while other longtime administrators and boosters said they simply wanted to see changes made to get the program back to where they believe it belongs.

The Winston debacle was the latest in a string of battles Fisher waged with the athletic department. The coach viewed Wilcox as "a basketball guy," hired from Duke in 2013, without the experience needed to lead an elite football program. Fisher also volleyed with Andy Miller, then-president of Seminole Boosters -- an external entity that had significant control over FSU's spending -- about money he wanted for staff and facilities. (Miller retired in 2020 after 45 years with the Boosters.)

Miller's power over the purse strings, according to numerous athletic department officials, also prevented Florida State from hiring more established candidates for the athletic director job. Many officials said Wilcox was ill-equipped to maneuver the entrenched network of local power brokers unique to Florida State and lost support when the man who hired him, FSU president Eric Barron, left for Penn State within a year.

People behind the scenes, however, believe Florida State's downward spiral started two years earlier, when Bonasorte announced he had brain cancer.

"We were just dysfunction junction," one former administrator said. "And it became more dysfunctional when Monk got sick."

In November 2016, Bonasorte died, and 2017 was Fisher's first season without him.

In a place numerous sources said was defined by "good old boy" politics, Bonasorte was universally loved at Florida State. More importantly, people trusted him. Nearly every source we spoke with, from Seminole Boosters to FSU administration to Fisher's camp, pointed to Bonasorte's illness as a turning point.

In June 2016, Fisher had had enough. According to one source privy to the conversation, the coach phoned Thrasher before leaving for a brief summer vacation with an ultimatum: Get FSU a new AD or Fisher would look for work elsewhere. Thrasher, however, was a bigger advocate for Wilcox than Fisher had imagined. Wilcox's push for "comprehensive excellence" dovetailed with Thrasher's vision for the school, even if it stood in stark contrast to how things worked at other football powers. 

https://twitter.com/ADavidHaleJoint/status/1329499271851347969

Clemson cuts T&F and Cross Country

 These are cuts FSU will have to make in the future or FSU will have get comfortable with being a mid level ACC football team.  Leadership at FSU has settled on the latter.  Fan base is not aware of the situation.

Clemson has made the difficult decision to discontinue the Men's Track and Field and Cross Country program at the conclusion of the 2020-21 athletic year.

Read More:

— Clemson Athletics (@ClemsonTigers) November 5, 2020

FSU’s record first-year student retention rate places among Top 15 nationally

 

FSU’s record first-year student retention rate places among Top 15 nationally

Florida State University is retaining first-year students at a record rate, according to the most recent data reported to the Florida Board of Governors.

Ninety-five percent of FSU’s first-time-in-college students who enrolled in Summer/Fall 2019 stayed for their sophomore year — a record for the university. Notably, last year’s freshman class of about 7,100 students was the largest and most diverse in university history.

“This is a testament to the resilience and tenacity of our students, especially during these uncertain times,” said Sally McRorie, provost and executive vice president for Academic Affairs. “It’s rewarding to see them stay on the path to a college degree, despite the tremendous obstacles we’ve all faced because of the pandemic.”

The 95 percent mark ranks in the Top 15 among national public universities and is well above the most recent national average retention rate of 81 percent for 4-year public institutions, reported by the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics.

“I applaud our faculty and staff for the incredible support and encouragement they’ve given our students as they continue on their academic journeys,” McRorie said. “This record retention rate reflects the university-wide efforts Florida State puts into student success.”

One of Florida State’s points of pride over the past several years is the virtual elimination of disparities in retention rates among its diverse undergraduate population, which includes nearly a third who are Pell Grant recipients and first-generation college students.

In fact, students enrolled in the Center for Academic Retention and Enhancement (CARE) program, which provides first-generation and underrepresented students the necessary resources and support network they need to flourish in the collegiate environment, outperformed FSU’s general student population, posting a 96.2 percent freshman retention rate this year.

Why is Florida the only state requiring SAT/ACT for 2021 college admissions?

 

Why is Florida the only state requiring SAT/ACT for 2021 college admissions?

Florida’s popular Bright Futures Scholarship program could be behind a controversial decision that has left the state as the only one in the country insisting students sit for ACT or SAT tests during the pandemic in order to apply for admission to public universities.

Ally Schneider, a member of the board that oversees Florida’s 12 public universities, said Board of Governors staff have told her the state is reluctant to waive SAT/ACT requirement this year because students who want to qualify for the scholarships must still submit scores.

None of the 15 other members of the Board of Governors, most of whom are appointed by the governor, would answer emailed questions about why they refused to lift the standardized test rule. One directed a reporter to Board Chair Syd Kitson and Chancellor Marshall Criser. Neither responded to requests for comment.

Other state universities across the country have gone “test-optional” this year, temporarily suspending the requirement for applicants to submit scores because many exam sessions were canceled during the spring and summer as the pandemic raged on. But Florida has kept the rule, even as parents, students and the admissions directors at the state’s universities, have asked for relief.