The Art of the Facebook Friend Request

By BudgetCoach on December 11, 2010

It’s creepy to friend request someone a generation younger than you.  I mean, really really creepy.  Don’t do it.  Then you are a creep.

I learned this early in my social media life.  Years ago, when Facebook became an athletic department nemesis, our Director of Athletics gathered the entire department in a large classroom and explained that each coach needed to get on Facebook and see the pictures their student athletes posted and tagged.  14 of our 16 sports had pictures tagged which, if not an NCAA violation, were a violation of our code of behavior. 

They were given one week to clean things up and staff was asked to set up an account and poke around, as well.  I set my account up then forgot about it.  About a month before my son was graduating from high school I got my first friend request.  It was from his best friend.  I only knew because I got an e-mail about his request and that he wrote on my wall.  My wall?

I accepted and took a peek at my account but still had no idea how it really worked.  Within a week at least 20 of his friends requested me and I accepted them all.  My son thought it was the strangest thing and did not want to have any part of me being on Facebook.  I totally respected his feelings and never EVER asked him to include me.  This was his world and I did not want to interfere.

The kids included me in conversation and when they went away to school they kept in touch with a quick post or tag.  Sometime first semester my son requested me and I enjoy being a part of this world. 

Here are my rules:

            I never request anyone a generation younger than me.  That includes my cousin’s kids, my son’s friends and kids in the neighborhood.  If they want me in their timeline they request me.  I am pleased to say I have developed wonderful relationships with many of the “cousins” and respect their invitations by not stalking their wall.

            Unless they are close personal friends, I do not request any co-workers.  I think it is important to recognize that relationships at work are not the same as relationships outside of work. 

            If I do not recognize a name (especially a female who chooses not to use her maiden name) and we have no friends in common, I ignore.  Linkedin and Twitter are the professional me.  Facebook is a peek inside my living room.  I don’t open my door to strangers.  

That little icon pops up and gives me a burst of excitement every time.  Who will it be?  Is it someone I haven’t heard from in years?  High school?  College?  I can hardly wait to click the little red icon and see who it is…

Life is good!

Jude

Twitter: MidMajorMom

Twitter: JudeCaserta

AthleticBudgetCoach.com

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15 Hour Drive for 2 Minutes and 10 Seconds

By BudgetCoach on November 17, 2010

It’s true.  We are THOSE parents and darn proud of it!

I have always been fascinated by the parents of student athletes and now that I am one of them I understand so much more.  Many of the coaches I work with tell me about the wonderful things their parents do for the program and believe me, most of them are not sexy…just a great way for them to save money and to save time.

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of attending a Canisius College Women’s Soccer game on the campus of Fairfield University.  We arrived on campus Friday evening to attend his swim meet at the University of Connecticut the next day.   This was the first time a Canisius event occurred on campus while I was there for a swim meet since my son started there in 2008.

Decked out in my Canisius College Athletics jacket, I found the visitors section by listening for the cheers from their hale hearty fans.  I would venture a guess that the entirety of the visitors section had some sort of DNA match with someone on the field. 

I introduced myself as a member of the Canisius athletic staff and enjoyed meeting nice folks who share the student athlete parent bond.  We talked about the competition in the conference and the frequency of the games.  We compared notes on distance traveled and they commended me for traveling so far each week for our son’s meets.

My favorite conversation was with a mom who wanted to let me know how much easier it was to be the parent of a swimmer rather than one of an outdoor sport.  She supposed it was much easier to sit in a natatorium than to battle the elements.  She thought it more comfortable to be indoors and while she is mostly correct she does not understand how oppressive the heat can be in a pool.  When you are cold you can add layers but when you are in the pool and sweating from the high heat and humidity you cannot take off your skin.

My answer was simple.  I gave her the weather issue and agreed we have it easier to be indoors.  But I left her with a thought.  If their child was a starter or even a top layer substitute they watched them play for 1-1 ½ hours in a game that lasts about 2 hours total start to finish.  But with swimming you could attend a meet which lasts 3-4 hours (including diving but that’s another blog) and your child could potentially compete less than a minute if they are a sprinter.  Whoosh, they are done!

If this seems like complaining, I’m not.  Actually I’m honored to be able to attend so many meets and grateful for the time and means to do it.

This week it will be at least 20 hours…but he may swim a longer event so maybe it will be 4 ½ minutes!

Until next time!

Jude

Linkedin: Jude Russo Caserta

Twitter: MidMajorMom

Twitter: JudeCaserta

AthleticBudgetCoach.com

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Don’t You Dare Say “It’s Only Division III”

By BudgetCoach on September 15, 2010

Being a college athlete is a big deal.  There are only about 400,000 NCAA student athletes out of nearly 8,000,000 college students across the country. 

I just read a very interesting press release http://bit.ly/c7SRyv posted on the website of the National Federation of State High School Associations titled “High School Sports Participation Tops 7.6 Million, Sets Record.”  Think about this: 55.1% of high school students participated in athletics last year – more than 1 in 2 students had a coach, had to juggle academics and athletics and had to learn what it was like to lose.

What struck me, though, is that when you look at these raw numbers still fewer than 5% of these student athletes participate in college sports in one of the three NCAA (www.ncaa.com) divisions.  Even if you assume that half of them participate in two sports and one quarter of them participate in three sports that percentage only goes up to 8%.

Not every student athlete wants to compete at the BCS Division I level.  Many of them know they need to concentrate on their studies to get them into graduate school or into the workforce.  Athletics, to them, is a way to round out their college experience.  My son is a Division I student athlete who gets no money to compete in the pool – his scholarship money (full tuition) comes from academic sources.

Parents, as you help your high school student athlete look for colleges, keep mid-major schools on their radar.  They have the greatest percentage opportunity to combine academics and athletics for a fantastic college experience.

Until next time!

Jude Russo Caserta

AthleticBudgetCoach.com

Twitter: JudeCaserta

www.MidMajorMom.WordPress.com

Linkedin: Jude Russo Caserta

E-mail: judi_caserta@athleticbudgetcoach.com

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5+ Tips to Make This Your Best NCAA “Audit”

By BudgetCoach on August 9, 2010

When is an audit not an audit? When it’s Agreed-Upon Procedures!

Friday concluded the active period of the audit of agreed-upon procedures.  The nice young man from Deloitte and I shook hands and off he went, going back to his office to write up all we discussed and summarize his findings.  All the while he was there, camps continued, folks began moving into their offices and coaches readied their locker rooms for the influx of student athletes arriving on campus this past weekend. 

For nearly two weeks I either prepared materials for the audit or was searching for information requested as part of his testing.  Unlike an independent audit and random testing, agreed-upon procedures transactions are easy to identify.  An auditor needs to “test” each agreed-upon procedure and should have each sport represented.  If you glance at the trial balance detail you can likely find the transactions they will want to see.

Tip 1: Arrange a comfortable space for the auditor to work.  I have heard stories of where institutions will put the auditor in a hot or cramped space with the idea they will leave faster if they do not have comfortable quarters.  This works about as well as giving coffee to a drunk. 

Tip 2: Be sure cost centers are organized in well marked file cabinets.  If you have separate budgets for operating, recruiting, fund raising, camp, etc. group them all in one large hanging file, identified with cost center name and any numeric identification.

Tip 3: Print, print, print.  For one time every year, redundancy is ok!  Have one notebook with the trial balance and one notebook with agreed-upon procedures.

Tip 4: Identify the largest transactions in each cost center, by agreed-upon procedure.  Prior to the audit, go through each cost center and identify the largest transaction in each line item.  Arrange the folder so that these back-up materials are on the top.  This will save a ton of time during selection search.

Tip 5: Identify other folks in and out of athletics who will likely be asked for information.  Each year our Softball coach is asked to provide his camp information to the auditor.  This year, in a fit of exasperation, he asked me why he is always the one chosen to provide camp information during the audit.  Simple answer: he has the largest camp each year.  Be sure the ticket manager, facilities manager and head athletic trainer are available during the audit.  Each of them are usually responsible for large transactions so they will likely have to explain a few of them each year.

Bonus Tip: Rather than copying originals before sending them to institutional business invest in a scanner.  Arrange the scanned documents by month and document number.  When a transaction is requested by the auditor, simply print the document.  They can use this as proof of transaction or bring it with them to institutional business to follow-up.

These are just a few of the tips from The Shadow System © Audit Prep Guide.  It’s not too late to get ready for a great audit.  Please e-mail me for more information.

Until next time!

Jude Russo Caserta

AthleticBudgetCoach.com/blog

Twitter: JudeCaserta

Linkedin: Jude Russo Caserta

E-mail: judi_caserta@athleticbudgetcoach.com

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Basics of a Sport Budget

By BudgetCoach on April 13, 2010

This is a quick primer of what makes up a sport budget.

On the college level budgets are a combination of three main areas: Scholarships, salaries and operating.  I have found that on the midmajor level at a private school they are roughly equal.

Scholarships: the NCAA has maximum numbers for each sport.  The athletic conference may have a different maximum but it will never be higher than the NCAA.  Athletic conferences may also impose minimum scholarship numbers.  Schools can award these scholarships to individual student athletes or give partial scholarships to a greater number of SA’s.  Only Men’s & Women’s Basketball and the largest programs give one to one.  Football and Hockey at the top level also usually award aid one to one.  Most midmajor schools divide the athletic aid among as many SA’s as they can in order to maximize the roster.

Salaries: contracts are awarded to coaches by the institution.  It is rare that a coach is hired without a multi-year contract.  Often, along with base pay, there are performance based incentives for winning as well as student athlete performance.  Some coaches have an incentive for graduating student athletes.  Many coaches at the higher levels have radio and television pay as well as clothing/shoe manufacturing bonuses.  With all of these items it is a real chess game when a coach is let go or leaves for another school.

Operating: the main areas of operating are team travel, recruiting, equipment and clothing, game operation and general operations.  General operations would include things like telephone, postage and printing.  Game operations would include game official costs, the fastest growing expense in our athletic department.

In the future I will write more detailed blogs on the specifics of operating budgets. 

Please let me know if I can be of any service to you or your team as you develop athletic budgets.

Until next time!

Jude Russo Caserta

AthleticBudgetCoach.com/blog

Twitter: JudeCaserta Linkedin: Jude Russo Caserta

E-mail: judi_caserta@athleticbudgetcoach.com

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In Athletics Restructuring Means Cutting

By BudgetCoach on March 3, 2010

I saw something on the NACDA Daily Review under Financial Operations.  “Seton Hall’s Department of Athletics Restructures Sports Programs” describes the need to cut Men’s and Women’s Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field programs. 

http://bit.ly/95uOe1

I am so sad to continuously see schools cutting sports.  In the case of Seton Hall there are 24 student athletes and 5 coaches who will be affected by this.  Scholarships will be honored but there are 24 students who may have made a different choice of schools had they known about this change prior to beginning their attendance at Seton Hall. 

I experienced this trauma to the athletic department earlier in this decade.  It is a very difficult process to navigate and has far reaching affects.  On the positive side, Women’s Golf is being added to their sport lineup.  Don’t cheer too much, however.  They needed 14 sports to comply with NCAA minimum sport sponsorship requirements.

Perhaps the most telling line of the release is that “a portion of that funding will be reallocated to support our remaining athletic programs.”  It is a pity that financial circumstances do not allow them to use this funding entirely in their department.  It is scary out there. 

Mid-major schools suffer even more during the financial climate that has gripped our world.  These school rely primarily on institutional support to run their athletics programs.  Major Football Championship Schools spend millions of dollars on athletics.  Most mid-major schools spend 10-15% compared to FCS schools. 

University of Big Guys may spend $80 million on intercollegiate athletics but with their medical center and other doctoral programs it may be 1.5-2% of the institutions overall budget.  In contrast, Mid-Major College may spend $8 million on athletics and this may be 8-10% of the overall institutional budget.  So, who spends more?  Where is the financial impact more dramatic?  It is Mid-Major College, who has far less revenue generation opportunity.

Good luck to all of the schools who are still discussing “restructuring” and need to make difficult student welfare and financial decisions.

Jude Russo Caserta

AthleticBudgetCoach.com/blog

Twitter: JudeCaserta

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