New athletic director Nicki Moore

[billhoward]

Nicki Webber Moore from Colgate

Ivies now have five female athletic directors. And not many more in their total history. Now Brown, Harvard, Penn, Yale. Soon Cornell (Jan. 17). Previously Columbia, Dartmouth. [edit add:] Mollie Marcoux Samaan, Princeton Class of 1991, was AD there 2014-2021 before heading off to the LPGA, so apparently Cornell is the last. But Andy Noel has been AD since 1998, I believe the longest-tenured Ivy AD when he stepped down.

https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2022/11/nicki-moore-named-director-athletics?fbclid=IwAR1OqBIemTOIOD5_Bizm9vndUw-3RCRB1p25hln3oCg3Gibf1JFaPs5MvbE

[Ken711]

Nicki Webber Moore from Colgate

Ivies now have five female athletic directors. And not many more in their total history. Now Brown, Harvard, Penn, Yale. Soon Cornell (Jan. 17). Previously Columbia, Dartmouth.

https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2022/11/nicki-moore-named-director-athletics?fbclid=IwAR1OqBIemTOIOD5_Bizm9vndUw-3RCRB1p25hln3oCg3Gibf1JFaPs5MvbE

Let's see whether she makes any changes in the football program after next season.

[dbilmes]

Besides turning around the football program, our new AD has plenty of other challenges. This column in The Sun by a student-athlete paints a depressing picture of Cornell's sports facilities and blasts the relocation of the baeball field from central campus.

"Collapsing pools. Broken and molding locker rooms. A legacy team being pushed from central campus.
These are just some of the milder complaints raised by Cornell student athletes when asked about their facilities. To many people in athletics, it's become sort of a sick joke — Cornell continually underfunds its athletic facilities.
As Cornell announces new ambitious academic buildings, like the multimillion dollar Bowers CIS building, years of pent up frustration builds. Decades of inadequate maintenance and investment has put Cornell years behind its competitors — especially its Ivy League peers."

[upprdeck]

moving a baseball field that was lucky if 100 kids came to watch a game is that big a deal?

[Trotsky]

It is still an academic institution, right?  I mean, I know it's actually a real estate scam, but theoretically we still have a mission of education.

[Ken711]

Besides turning around the football program, our new AD has plenty of other challenges. This column in The Sun by a student-athlete paints a depressing picture of Cornell's sports facilities and blasts the relocation of the baeball field from central campus.

"Collapsing pools. Broken and molding locker rooms. A legacy team being pushed from central campus.
These are just some of the milder complaints raised by Cornell student athletes when asked about their facilities. To many people in athletics, it's become sort of a sick joke — Cornell continually underfunds its athletic facilities.
As Cornell announces new ambitious academic buildings, like the multimillion dollar Bowers CIS building, years of pent up frustration builds. Decades of inadequate maintenance and investment has put Cornell years behind its competitors — especially its Ivy League peers."

What's the status of the campus indoor recreation and sports facility? $4 million was allocated for 2023 out of a projected total cost of $25 million. I assume that $4 million is for preliminary design work.

https://cpb-us-e1.wpmucdn.com/blogs.cornell.edu/dist/b/6138/files/2022/06/FY-2023-Operating-Capital-Budget-Plan.pdf

[Cop at Lynah]

I actually asked Andy about this project back in June or July and he said the cost of construction had increased to a degree that the project was not viable until the costs came back down

[Ken711]

I actually asked Andy about this project back in June or July and he said the cost of construction had increased to a degree that the project was not viable until the costs came back down

I guess I don't understand how are the costs going to come down? Unless, perhaps they scale back the size of the project, construction costs are always going higher every year.

[Iceberg]

I actually asked Andy about this project back in June or July and he said the cost of construction had increased to a degree that the project was not viable until the costs came back down

I guess I don't understand how are the costs going to come down? Unless, perhaps they scale back the size of the project, construction costs are always going higher every year.

Exactly right given the inflation and interest rates, but he was AD, not VP of Finance or Capital Projects, or whatever titles Cornell uses. It's like asking a monkey what it feels like to fly

[CAS]

I would hope in the current capital campaign  Cornell would prioritize raising the additional money necessary to fund the project's higher cost.  Building an indoor athletic facility is for the Greater Good of the campus.

[abmarks]

I actually asked Andy about this project back in June or July and he said the cost of construction had increased to a degree that the project was not viable until the costs came back down

I guess I don't understand how are the costs going to come down? Unless, perhaps they scale back the size of the project, construction costs are always going higher every year.

Aren't construction costs still greatly inflated from the pandemic?  Iirc, Materials were very scarce not just because of logistics or regular supply levels, but because there was a large pent-up demand that got unleashed in the latter half.

If my memory is accurate on that then there is room for material costs to drop.  Also, when new construction projects cool off, labor/contracting costs will drop as construction firms start needing more work.

[marty]

I actually asked Andy about this project back in June or July and he said the cost of construction had increased to a degree that the project was not viable until the costs came back down

I guess I don't understand how are the costs going to come down? Unless, perhaps they scale back the size of the project, construction costs are always going higher every year.

Aren't construction costs still greatly inflated from the pandemic?  Iirc, Materials were very scarce not just because of logistics or regular supply levels, but because there was a large pent-up demand that got unleashed in the latter half.

If my memory is accurate on that then there is room for material costs to drop.  Also, when new construction projects cool off, labor/contracting costs will drop as construction firms start needing more work.

I think some material costs have dropped.  Andy might be persona non grata here,  but he was listening to others who are betting and hoping some of the costs will decrease.

[billhoward]

Construction costs go down? Maybe stabilized materials costs after Covid, but tradesman-wages are not going down.

[abmarks]

Construction costs go down? Maybe stabilized materials costs after Covid, but tradesman-wages are not going down.

Not at the moment, of course. But I'd expect total project bid prices to decrease when there's slack demand for construction. I don't know whether that's simply coming out of profit or from other areas like wages.

I don't know the answer to this question, perhaps others with knowledge know the answer.

During an economic slowdown where there's far too little construction demand to keep construction companies busy, do labor costs never actually go down?   I'd think taking less per hour beats getting nothing.   Or maybe union labor costs stay the same, but nonunion labor rates are.much more dynamic?

[dbilmes]

Here's another challenge for Cornell's first woman to serve as athletic director.

Cornell is supposedly a progressive institution with a $9.8 billion endowment. Why should any members of our D1 women's varsity sports teams have to train and live in school athletic apparel made for men?