With an overall record of 3-9, the Wolfpack’s 2013 football season was its worst since 2006. It was also the first time since 1959 that the Pack had gone winless in the ACC. To put it frankly, the season was disappointing.
But despite our team’s poor performance, the success of our ACC rivals has benefited N.C. State. The ACC operates a revenue-sharing model, meaning all ACC schools receive an equal share of the revenue that the conference earns for its teams making bowl game appearances. Between Florida State’s appearance in the BCS National Championship game and Clemson’s appearance in the Discover Orange Bowl, the ACC earned $30.2 million. Split equally among the 14 ACC teams, that’s $2 million and some change for N.C. State — minus any expenses and deductions. The University essentially earned a bonus for its ACC affiliation.
Though we are happy that the University is receiving this money, this just further demonstrates that universities don’t have their priorities straight. It comes as no surprise to us that so much money is tied to athletics, and we are aware that football and basketball generate a huge amount of revenue for the school. Still, we find it somewhat disheartening that a losing football team can generate $2 million simply for being a part of a group, while other branches of the university have to fight and struggle for funding and pay raises.
For example, salary freezes are making it increasingly difficult for the University to keep veteran professors from searching for work elsewhere. In the past five years, the North Carolina legislature has only approved a 1.2 percent raise for professors. Jim Martin, an N.C. State professor of chemistry and member of the Wake County School Board, said he could pretty readily be making $50,000 to $100,000 more per year if he “played the game.”
Martin explained that in the current system, the best way for professors to get a raise is to get an offer from another university and elicit the “home university” to give a counteroffer.
There must be something wrong with the system when professors have to almost threaten to leave to earn a raise, yet the football team can garner $2 million for simply sharing a conference name with the BCS champions.
On that note, we wish people on the academic side, such as professors, would receive benefits just for being a member of a group. For example, we think it would be great if N.C. State professors’ salaries were adjusted for inflation simply because they teach at a UNC-System school.
We are a university first, and we are proud that coaches, including Dave Doeren, have emphasized the importance of academics. However, we would hope that our University’s revenue reflected the hard work of our students, staff and faculty, rather than the hard work of 50-some Florida State men.
