International Falls Daily Journal - More bad news for Community College Football programs - Comments

JC hockey was let go in

glue72 — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 15:14:21 -0600

JC hockey was let go in NMinn because of lack of numbers, utimately. Schools began closing their programs because you lose so many prospective players to any number of junior leagues. There simply was not enough left over for JC's to field competitve teams.

And the rest of the

Schmitty53 — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 08:06:11 -0600

And the rest of the story.

Troubles prod Rainy River to halt football
After six seasons of turmoil, and loans to students threatened, Rainy River Community College ends a lucrative athletic program.

By Richard Meryhew, Star Tribune

Last update: November 23, 2007 – 8:38 PM

The troubled football program at Rainy River Community College has been eliminated because players were defaulting on federal student loans at such an alarming rate that it jeopardized the school's ability to provide those loans to any student in the future.
Almost one in three students at the school in International Falls defaulted on their loans in 2005, according to a recent report by the U.S. Department of Education. That was the largest default rate of any college in the nation. Two-thirds of Rainy River students who defaulted on federal loans played football.

By comparison, the default rate for all Minnesota colleges is 3 percent.

Rainy River's football team had been among several in the state community college system to draw scrutiny for relying almost exclusively on out-of-state players.

Many of those players struggled in the classroom and left soon after the season ended.

Rainy River Provost Wayne Merrell said Friday that he made the decision to drop the program after discussing it with Joe Sertich, president of the Northeast Minnesota Higher Education District, and Tim Myles, the school's football coach.

Merrell said he has no intention of reinstating the program, which began in 2002.

"It's just not a good fit for the college," he said.

Under federal guidelines, if a school's default rate hits 40 percent in any year, or exceeds 24 percent for three straight years, the school is no longer eligible to provide the loans.

When Sertich and other state education officials first recommended dropping the program last December amid concerns about the turnover and the team's poor academic performance, Merrell held a public meeting to discuss its fate. Dozens of supporters lobbied to save it.

Only one Minnesotan was on the team's roster in 2006 and more than half the players were from Florida. At that time, Myles pledged to recruit more in-state athletes and better monitor academic progress.

Still, 48 of 49 players on the 2007 team were from out of state. The team's midterm grade-point average was "the lowest we've seen with the football players. It's dismal," Merrell said.

Nevertheless, he said his decision was based mainly on the loan issue. Sertich called it "the straw that broke the camel's back," adding that it provided "harder, quantified evidence" that those players weren't succeeding in class.

Could go higher

Merrell said he got word of the trouble in September when he received a spreadsheet from officials with the Minnesota State College & Universities system, which oversees all state schools outside of the University of Minnesota system.

He said the 2005 numbers, the most recent data available, showed that 135 Rainy River students were given federal loans in 2003, a year after the football program was started. After two years, 42 students defaulted on payments. Of those, 28 played football.

Merrell said he feared the numbers "would have gone higher" in coming years, jeopardizing the school's ability to provide loans to others.

The school's student loan default rate was 11 percent in 2003 and 16 percent in 2004. In 2005, it jumped to 31.1 percent. "Looking at that trend line there's no reason to say it wouldn't have gone higher," he said.

Merrell said he talked with Myles before making his decision and asked the coach if he thought there was any reason to think the number would level off or drop.

"He said 'I'm not going to make a guarantee like that,'" Merrell said.

Myles, who will stay as minority services director and women's basketball coach, did not return phone calls Friday.

A proactive move

If the school's default rate rises in the next two years, Rainy River could be forced to appeal to the Department of Education to continue providing aid through federal loans.

But Merrell and Sertich said they hoped the decision to eliminate football will show that the school is working to resolve the default issue.

"I think we're in a really good position to say, 'We've recognized and taken significant steps so it's not going to happen again,'" Merrell said. "That's basically the reason why we did it."

One of the biggest incentives for fielding a football team at Rainy River had been financial. With about 330 students, it is the smallest of the state's community colleges and needed the money brought in by football players more than other two-year state schools.

For the 2006 season, Rainy River's players brought in almost $439,000 in grants, loans, work-study aid and scholarships, a sum equivalent to about 10 percent of the school's annual operating budget.

Merrell said Friday the school hopes to make up for loss of enrollment and revenue with several new programs.

This fall, about 30 students enrolled in the school's new industrial technology program. Merrell said another 30 to 35 students could enroll next year when the school launches programs in building trades and welding certification.

Merrell said the programs also are a better fit for his school, located 275 miles north of the Twin Cities on the Canadian border. He said most of the students enrolled in the industrial technology program are from the International Falls area.

"Our strategic plan says we're supposed to focus on state and regional students," Merrell said. "When we started looking at that, we said, 'Are we really focusing on our kids in International Falls and in Fort Frances, Ontario?'

"And the answer was 'no.'"

Richard Meryhew • 612-673-4425

Richard Meryhew • richm@startribune.com

Smart--- Blackbay, only you

Doorsman 54 — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 12:53:56 -0600

Smart--- Blackbay, only you and nuttzy knows that story. I'm up Roj.

Excellent, now that's what

Doorsman 54 — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 12:50:58 -0600

Excellent, now that's what I'm talking about, way to go proudcit.

Maybe it is time for all

proudcitizen — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 11:26:50 -0600

Maybe it is time for all involved to look to the future,(this includes all people, and elected officials, and RRCC). The future could be Technology, computers, electronics, RN nursing, Conservation, and Education. Make RRCC a 4 year college, with many disciplines. You would have Economic growth, and have an opprtunity for the younger generations to stay and get an education and future employment. If everyone spent 1/2 the energy complaining about things, and put it to good use a lot of things could be accopmlished. There are a lot of good assetts in the community and area. Make RRCC a fit to the surrounding enviroment, VNP, Boise, Hospital, Logging, Hunting, Fishing, International Border,and whatever else somebody can come up with. I know that it sounds simple but in reality if that is what it takes to survive, then all parties need to work together to insure everyones survival.

I think the college has a

KootascaEmployed — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 11:04:13 -0600

I think the college has a great LPN program. Many of our single parents have gone through that and become very successful in the profession.

Why not look at offering carpentry, electrician and plumbing courses? Or auto-mechanic courses? I read somewhere that there is a shortage in this country of electricians and plumbers, I would think that would hold true for Northern Minnesota. Better yet, why not have Shannons or other local companies work with the college to do a apprenticeships? I would think there are grant monies out there for starting and offering such programs.

now we are on the correct

gopher61 — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 09:39:34 -0600

now we are on the correct course for RRCC. positive steps to say the least. let's make this a community college that we can be proud of. and for the right reasons!

roj2000, I know that many

six-shooter — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 09:30:22 -0600

roj2000, I know that many high schoolers are taking coursesthere while in high school so when they graduate they can move on. Some will just go to another college in the fall or a vo-tech. Some will just move on. It's not offering alot to out of towners I don't think.I feel a new approach should be looked at.

six-shooter, You are right.

roj2000 — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 09:25:03 -0600

six-shooter,

You are right. RRCC needs to focus on more vo-tech type courses, and look at what jobs are lacking workers, and teach towards that! But, RRCC can be a good stepping stone, to a four year school. But there you go, a "stepping stone" for one more person to leave the Falls. But, if you are training the people in various skills, then maybe, just maybe, companies will take a second look at the Falls area, and re-locate there, because the "skilled workforce" they need is being trained there. Just my opinion!!

Now that everyone has got

six-shooter — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 09:11:46 -0600

Now that everyone has got their licks in with another failure in IF and at the risk of being tarred and feathered I say let it go. It's like beating a dead horse. As to what will fly at the jc I truely don't believe hockey will either. I feel a voc tech is really what would. Now take for example the computar courses anyone of us could hire a high schooler and they could show a person in less than a week how to use one and you never have to leave your home. As to what else they offer that people can't get closer to their home I don't know. I just know that as a teen fresh out of high school I really wouldn't look to the Falls for furthering my education. I could be way off course.

rrccalum, athletes yes,"well

gopher61 — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 08:43:24 -0600

rrccalum, athletes yes,"well maybe" STUDENTS,no "absolutely". one walk through the halls of RRCC, during the last year should have made that fact perfectly clear to you! now maybe we can get back to the learning aspect at RRCC, and forget about this farce that was called football. if you plan to take the walk through the halls please do so before this semester ends as starting with spring quarter things will change in a BIG way. you choose to use the race card again....it's shows who is really ignorant in this conversation, doesn't it. wake up and die right!

You could get hurt with a

roj2000 — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 08:05:47 -0600

You could get hurt with a frozen puck!! LOL
By the way, someone wake up the "Doorsman"!!

RRCC hockey and their bouncy

Blackbay — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 07:54:13 -0600

RRCC hockey and their bouncy unfrozen pucks. LOL

rrccalum, I guess you can

roj2000 — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 07:27:50 -0600

rrccalum,

I guess you can call yourself an alum, even if you bailed out of English 101!! Gee, let's see, hockey is the predominant sport in your region, but you don't want it. You would rather have a bunch of thugs from down south, come up to your community and pillage the place! How about some "solid" statistics on how many of the "Football" players have stayed for a whole semester, a whole year, and how many finished their degree! Put the statistics where your mouth is, or someone pls help them! Rrccalum, I see someone issued you a brand new deck of race cards. Had to bring up the "black" thing, huh?? Have you had the players over to your house for dinner, are they coming for Thanksgiving?? Hey, I've got an idea, let's forgive the players debt to society, and call it "reparation"! Kind of pay them back for being "enslaved" in a Community that hates them! I don't think so!!!!

Did they sign their entry,

roj2000 — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 07:23:05 -0600

Did they sign their entry, "formerrrcc25centback"????

More bad news for Community College Football programs

Schmitty53 — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 11:33:45 -0600

FYI,

http://kstp.com/article/stories/S250180.shtml?cat=1