You need a new facility- now what?

Athletics facility construction may be one of the most exciting and time-consuming projects a university undertakes. In less than five years on our campus, we have completed an 80-acre outdoor sports facility that encompasses practice and varsity fields, a 13-court tennis center and buildings that support these areas. Currently we are completing the anchor of this project – a 28,000-square-foot home to Sailfish Athletics - The Rinker Sports Center. This building will house locker rooms, athletic training, strength and conditioning, laundry, equipment storage, coaches’ offices, conference rooms, academic study space and a hospitality room. The process has taken nearly three years from the initial decision to completion. To be successful, you need to get all of your homework done in advance to assure a smooth building process and avoid costly budget overruns.

Determining the size and scope of the project is one of

the most challenging aspects. It all starts with programmatic

analysis. Here are a few questions stakeholders should address prior to embarking on the project in order to determine what type of facility will meet your needs.

• What is the impetus for this facility? What are your pain points?

• Programmatically, what does your facility have to provide? Who does it serve (and consider the number of people) and what must it provide to these constituents?

• In assessing program needs, take into account technology (which is ever-changing), safety and security, ingress and egress, hours of operation, and staffing levels.

• What you can afford vs. what you want - How will the project be funded? If there will be donor involvement on the front end, how much input will they want? Who will handle the relationships with donors?

• Will others on campus want to house something in the facility as well? If so, ask significant questions about that so you don’t have program creep, which ultimately impacts the budget

and can create programmatic headaches in the future.

• How much will the facility cost to operate and maintain per year? How will this capital asset affect your university’s annual budget (look at both the accrual and cost methods of accounting)? How much can you anticipate in deferred maintenance after your ‘new’ building becomes old?

• How can you stay on budget and on time? Avoid change orders! Spending critical amounts of time on getting the plan right will save you in costly change orders during construction.

The best piece of advice is to engage with experts. Partner with a firm who specializes in athletics facility construction. They will know the answers to questions you haven’t even thought about asking yet. They have seen a host of things to do and not do in construction and can provide sage advice – even for the most experienced project manager.

By being proactive and answering these questions, you will get a facility that meets your needs, that your university can afford and makes a statement for your program. Ultimately, no matter what you construct, it will enhance your university and student experience.

In May 2016 the NCAA Division II President’s Council announced that the 24 athletics conferences that make up the D2 CCA would be among several groups receiving grants through the $5.7 million Division II Foundation for the Future initiative. The approved CCA proposal provides a one-time grant of $50,000 for each conference to be used within the next five years in any of the areas which support the DII Strategic Plan: academic support, broadcast support, officiating improvement and branding efforts.

Here are some of the creative projects in progress:

Branding

• Conference Carolinas started a branding evaluation and initiative. Working with 2D Consulting from North Carolina, interviews are being conducted with various stakeholders with an eye on enhancing the Conference Carolinas brand on campus and in the community. Commissioner Alan Patterson noted, “The Foundations grant gives Division II conferences

an opportunity to focus on initiatives previously thought

beyond their means that further enhance the experience

of thousands of students.”

• The NE10 Conference, in conjunction with brand development firm SME, created an innovative new vision for its future with the launch of a comprehensive new brand platform and campaign. Additionally, the Conference unveiled a new identity system, focused on refreshing the existing logo and moniker. Julie Ruppert, NE10 Commissioner, said, “We would not have been able to activate all of the elements if not for the generous support from DII in investing in our division’s collective future.”

• The Heartland Conference is planning a rebranding project which will include website improvements, new promo materials and PSA spots.

Broadcast Support

• The Great Lakes Valley Conference is providing each of its schools funding over the next three years to help defray costs for BlueFrame Technology to stream games on the GLVC

will be used for technology upgrades with the aim of a consistent look to all productions. GLVC Commissioner Jim Naumovich said, “The Foundation Grant is a welcome source of funding assistance for one of our league’s most

important and ambitious initiatives. This project is important as we continue our efforts to expand the visibility and enhance the exposure for our member institutions and teams.”

• The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, PSAC and East Coast Conference plan to distribute funds to members in an effort to create a more consistent streaming production quality across the board.

Officiating Improvement

• The Great American Conference will be conducting evaluation and instruction camps in the sports of baseball, volleyball and softball with the goal of improving current officials and moving prospective officials into the GAC pipeline. The project will also include working with GAC coaches and high school associations to encourage student-athletes into the profession. GAC Commissioner Will Prewitt stated, “Shrinking numbers of officials are a problem across the board and we hope that the recruitment and educational efforts will help us stem the tide in a number of sports.”

• To help with officiating, the South Atlantic Conference will spend some funds to purchase instant replay equipment in select sports as well as supporting recruiting clinics. The CIAA organized an “Officiating Summit” as an opportunity for CIAA officiating coordinators to discuss goals and expectations and programming to recruit, train and retain officials.

D2 CCACORNERBob Dranoff

East Coast ConferenceCommissioner2016-17 D2 CCA President

D2 ADACORNERCarolyn Stone

Palm Beach Atlantic University

Director of Athletics

ATHLETICS ADMINISTRATION NACDA // 57

@D2CCA

@DIIADA