BY WATCHING ADAMS STAFF – 2/15/16

According to travel request documents obtained by Watching Adams, Adams State University (ASU) spent $64,861 on five away games for the ASU football team and an additional $7,122 on recruiting for ASU football, totaling $71,983. The individual breakdown in cost for these games were:

$23,398 for travel to Greenville, TX to face Texas A&M University – Commerce (ASU lost 17-48)
$8,821 for travel to Grand Junction, CO to face Colorado Mesa University (ASU lost 16-55)
$19,985 for travel to Chadron, NE to face Chadron State College (ASU lost 0-26)
$6,564 for travel to Las Vegas, NM to face New Mexico Highlands University (ASU won 17-13)
$6,094 for travel to Durango, CO to face Fort Lewis College (ASU lost 10-51)

In total, the ASU football team won three games and lost eight for the 2015 season, according to the ASU Grizzlies website.

 

Because travel requests are made in advance of the activity, actual costs may have varied somewhat from the requested amounts.  While the totals for these travel dollar amounts are reasonable given the number of players and coaching staff who attend, it does call into question the university’s broader priorities in a time of fiscal hardship.

One faculty member reacted by stating, “What I find egregious is the destination of some of the trips. Why does ASU’s football team need to travel to Greenville, TX? What justifies going that far and spending that much money to do so? And all for what? And why 70 people? Is it necessary to take that many? Why not play local teams twice in a year? Or simply play less games?” The drive to and from the this small city outside Dallas is 1470 miles round trip.

Another staff member said, “meanwhile in Academics, professors have to pick and choose carefully ONE conference to attend in one academic year because the funds are so scarce that they have to pay half of it out of pocket! And faculty have ask specifically if they can have a measly $500 to go anywhere.”

The faculty member interviewed concluded by stating, “If ASU is to survive, we need to start making fiscally responsible decision based on the circumstances particular to our institution. We can no longer follow the lead of outside institutions and assume that what others are doing is going to work for us… What we need are innovative leaders willing to adapt to ASU’s unique conditions.”