Athletic department hires five new staff members through GAF increase
After voting to increase the General Activity Fee last semester, the pool of student funds are already being put to use around campus.
The increase – which bumped up student’s GAF fee to $4.50 per credit hour and will increase over the next three years until it caps at $13.50 per credit hour – is expected to generate more than $700,000 this year. About $502,000 of this year’s amount went to the athletics department.
David Herbster, USD athletics director, said those funds have allowed five new positions to be created. In less than a year, the department has hired an assistant football coach, a full-time athletic trainer, a full-time tennis coach, a marketer and a facilities management custodian.
“We were understaffed, to say the least,” he said.
Chase Christiansen’s job as the assistant director of marketing and promotions for the athletic department was created using GAF money. Christiansen, a 2013 USD alumnus, is in charge of producing and distributing video content to promote USD athletics.
“We didn’t have a video person before they created this position so that’s one thing the GAF increase did,” he said. “It created this position that is really going to help us be more of a D-I school because we now have a full-time video person who can do that stuff.”
Even with the new hires, Herbster said the department is still looking to hire in some areas. Currently there are four full-time athletic trainers for about 390 student-athletes and eight football coaches, which he said is about one less than most football programs.
“We don’t even have a full roster of coaches that we can (fill) right now, but (the GAF increase) is moving us forward,” Herbster said.
Herbster said even if students don’t go to athletic games, the department is still generating revenue, a portion of which goes to making the campus a more “vibrant” place.
“Whether you use it or not it, (the athletic department) is a big part of the university,” he said.
Herbster also said the department has been “frugal” in its use of GAF money and usually holds off on big purchases until the end of the year since the money is dependent on student enrollment numbers per semester.
“We’ve always been and always will be good stewards of our money,” he said.
The remaining GAF money goes to more than 100 students organizations on campus. Student Government Association President Sami Zoss said last semester’s increase will benefit student organizations this year.
“The large organizations came to us with some really good opportunities,” Zoss said. “(They) gave us some great sort of presentations so we allocated all of that money obviously since no one else can use it.”
About $173,000 was split between the five largest student organization on campus. These organizations include Serve, Tiospaye, the Dakota Days planning committee, Dakotathon and the Campus Activities Board. CAB was the top recipient of GAF money, receiving $115,455 for this year which is more than $29,000 than they received last year.
GAF money not used by student organizations rolls over every year into a SGA Reserve Fund, which can be used for emergency situations or “big projects” such as the Coyote Legacy statue. Two weeks ago, Zoss proposed a resolution that would donate $20,000 to the downtown Vermillion Theater for its renovation.
Zoss said even though some students were upset with the increase, the majority of students voted for the GAF increase.
“Us, as a student body, said – the majority of us said – yes, we want this increase, we understand the validity behind it,” she said.
Kim Grieve, dean of students and vice president of Student Services, said the GAF increase is beneficial for the university and the community.
“I think it’s great for the university, it’s great for our athletic department and for our student orgs and for our programming dollars to increase so students do have more choices and our community is as vibrant as we want it to be,” she said. “I think that students will be really pleased with the increase in the end.”
(Photo: Chase Christiansen, a USD alumn, is the assistant director of marketing and promotions for the USD Athletic Department. His position was created using money from the General Activities Fee increase last semester. Malachi Petersen / The Volante)
