Edition #1821
November 11, 2026
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Saint Anselm AD Phil Rowe will transition to a new role as Athletics Senior Advisor with Senior Deputy AD for External Relations Jonathan Harper to serve as Interim AD, starting January 11. President Michael Lewis: “Phil's leadership has been especially valuable as we prepare to transition from NCAA Division II to Division III and join the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference. I am thankful he will continue serving the college as Athletics Senior Advisor, providing guidance and continuity during this important period. Jonathan Harper brings extensive experience in collegiate athletics administration and has played a direct role in planning for our NCAA transition. Our Hawks athletics programs contribute to student development, strengthen connections across our community, and provide a shared source of pride.” (link)
The 56-team women’s soccer bracket has been unveiled and the top teams in each women’s soccer region are Dallas Baptist, Nova Southeastern, Washburn, Bentley, Columbus State, Gannon, Missouri-St. Louis and Western Washington, in order by NPI. Across all regions, the narrowest NPI margin for at-larges came from the Central Region where Missouri Western beat out Central Oklahoma for the final spot by 0.069 in NPI. First-round action kicks off on Thursday. (link - bracket, link - final NPI)
Cal State LA, Charleston, Lincoln (MO) and Flagler sit atop each super region in the 40-team men’s soccer bracket. The closest margin for at-large bids came in Super Region 3 where Drury edged out Tiffin by 0.109 in NPI. First-round games will take place on Friday. (link - bracket, link - final NPI)
NCAA President Charlie Baker and Virginia Tech (DI) AD Brian White joined Hokies President Tim Sands for a wide-ranging conversation examining the Protect College Sports Act, revenue generation and more. Key takeaways…
➤ Baker on the likelihood of the Protect College Sports Act passing in the lame duck session: "In the last three lame duck sessions, more than 50% of all the legislation that got passed during that session got passed in the lame duck session. ... We certainly hope that our piece of legislation, which had such a big resounding vote in the Senate, will be one of those things that the Senate really puts some heat on the House to get done. Quite likely we'll end up getting traded if we end up on the President's desk for something that the House passed that's sitting in the Senate that they want to see get done."
➤ Baker on the NCAA’s focus on revenue generation: “We've significantly increased our revenue over the course of the past three years. It's up almost 40% and that's mostly a ticket strategy and a digital rights strategy and a renegotiation of our two big media deals. The ticket thing was pretty simple. We just looked at what we were getting for many of our tournaments and realizing that the finals in our tournaments had ticket prices that were actually lower than what the conferences were charging for their tickets. … We also created a database and just started collecting fan data. And we now have 25M fans of college sports in that database and it really matters. … Our return on every dollar we spend on prospecting is anywhere from eight bucks to 20 bucks, depending upon which tournament it is.” (link)
Meet the vivenu AI Assistant
vivenu is the ticketing platform behind more than 150 colleges, from Stanford Athletics and Cornell to SIUE and UMSL. Athletics departments run season tickets, student passes and donor pre-sales on it, all in one system. For the Southland Conference, ticket sales revenue grew 3X.
Built into that platform is the vivenu AI Assistant. Your staff asks a question in plain prompts and gets an answer from your own live ticketing data in seconds. The assistant also knows every vivenu feature and workflow, so it can walk a new hire through a setup they have never done before.
A few questions college ticket offices ask it today:
➤ Which ticket categories bring in the highest net revenue per ticket?
➤ Which donor and booster holds never get claimed?
➤ How do I set up a tiered donor pre-sale with automatic fee waivers?
Teams that already work in Claude or other AI tools can go one step further. The vivenu MCP Server connects those tools to vivenu, so a question can turn into an actual change in the system, approved by your staff.
Over the next weeks we will show what this looks like in practice, with examples from athletics departments that use it every game day.
The Title IX lawsuit filed by current and former Concordia Irvine women’s swimming and diving and tennis student-athletes has been granted class-action status to include “All present, prospective, and future female CUI students who participate, seek to participate, and/or are or were deterred or prevented from participating in intercollegiate varsity athletics at CUI.” The lawsuit stemmed from CUI’s decision last year to cut four sports, with the court granting plaintiffs a preliminary injunction last fall to bar the elimination of any women’s teams. (link, link - ruling)
Caldwell recently cut the ribbon on its new women’s basketball locker room thanks to a donation from former Women’s Basketball HC Linda Cimino. (link)
UT Permian Basin will add women’s indoor and outdoor distance track to its portfolio starting in 2027-28. (link)
Van Wagner launches RELAY, a new digital platform for official athletics websites and mobile apps that combines content management and AI tools to help staff work more efficiently, tell their stories and deliver a digital experience reflecting each institution’s brand. RELAY will be led by Syracuse (DI) SVP/Chief Digital Officer Jeff Rubin, who will serve as RELAY Chief Strategic Advisor. (link)
The NCAA is expanding its Elite Scholar-Athlete program to provide year-round recognition of the most accomplished student-athletes, across all three divisions. Under the new format, the NCAA will select a male and female each season from among the Elite Scholar-Athlete Award fall, winter and spring championship winners. Those six seasonal honorees will then be considered for the NCAA Elite Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award, with one male and one female announced as the inaugural national winners in summer 2027. To support the rollout, the NCAA will invest in expanded digital, feature and social media storytelling of Elite Scholar-Athletes throughout the year to spotlight the personal journeys, academic pursuits, leadership experiences and community contributions beyond the trophy presentation. Voting for the accolades will be conducted by a cross-divisional committee of student-athletes from the DI SAAC, DII SAAC and DIII SAAC with support from NCAA staff. (link)
People & Places…
➤ Ashland President Jon Parrish Peede signs a three-year contract extension. (link)
➤ Chadron State Women’s Volleyball HC Jennifer Stadler steps down after eight seasons. (link)
➤ Point Loma removes the interim tag from Director of Cross Country and Track & Field Avery Takata. (link)
Inflation-adjusted tuition and fees continue to decline across public colleges and universities, according to a College Board report, which found that between the 2016-17 and 2026-27 academic years, average rates dropped 8% for in-state attendees at public four-year universities, while pricing at private nonprofits remained flat. For 2026-27, first-time, full-time in-state students at public four-year institutions paid an estimated average of $1,920 in net tuition and fees, down from a peak of $4,600 in 2012-13, as the vast majority of undergraduates nationwide utilized financial assistance to offset published sticker prices of $12,290, up 2.9% year-over-year. When factoring in housing, food, and other expenses before financial aid is applied, the total cost of attendance reached $32,030 for in-state public university students and $67,610 for private nonprofit students; however, when factoring in grant aid, the net cost of attendance falls to $21,660 and $38,450, respectively. College Board VP of Research Jessica Howell: “About 70% of full-time undergraduate students receive grant aid that reduces the actual cost of attending college. Families need clear net price information early in the college application process.” (link)
Other notable stories from Monday’s CFO.ticker…
➤ Colleges are deploying new retention strategies to combat “melt,” a growing trend of students placing deposits but failing to enroll in the fall, according to The Wall Street Journal's Roshan Fernandez. Whittier (DIII) experienced a 17% melt rate, losing approximately 40 students in August. Academic adviser Ana Homayoun on the consumer mentality pushing families to secure multiple commitments to maintain financial aid leverage: “Let me ‘optionality’ all of this till the very last minute. I used to think May 1 was the finish-line, decision day, and now, almost in some cases, I think it’s like halftime.”
➤ Companies across the software, industrial, and business services sectors plan to implement price increases averaging 4% to 5% in 2027, according to a BlueRidge Partners survey of 255 C-suite executives. CFO Dive's David McCann explains the pricing adjustments will account for roughly 11% of total revenue growth next year for the surveyed firms, which generate between $100M and $5B annually across the U.S. and Europe. BlueRidge Partners adds: “Many business services and industrial companies estimate a bigger increase in 2027 costs than they plan to cover through price increases, which would cause a margin decline if more aggressive pricing actions aren’t taken.” (link)
Interested in advertising a job opening in D2.ticker? Click here to submit your position. Post your department-wide openings with CollegeSports.jobs, where thousands of administrators coaches get news and updates about the world of college sports.
(Posted from most recent over the last 30 days)
(NEW!) Director of Athletics and Chair of the Department of Physical Education, Athletics, and Recreation (Williams College / Williamstown, MA): Williams seeks a visionary leader to strategically guide athletics and physical education, balancing competitive excellence with its commitment to transformative liberal arts education. (DIII) More details HERE. What would it cost to move to Williamstown? Click HERE.
(NEW!) Head Women's Volleyball Coach (Southwest Baptist University / Bolivar, MO): The Head Coach of the Southwest Baptist University women's volleyball team, is a member of the NCAA Division II in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. More details HERE. What would it cost to move to Bolivar? Click HERE.
(NEW!) Assistant Director of Fitness/Strength and Conditioning (Frostburg State University / Frostburg, MD): Assistant Director of Fitness Center and Assistant Strength Coach More details HERE.
(NEW!) Assistant Athletic Trainer (Upper Iowa University / Fayette, IA): Come to the bluffs of Northeast Iowa to join a team covering 15 sports. Jump right in to help with 3 teams and help manage the GLVC and national wrestling tournaments. More details HERE.
(NEW!) Director of the Letterman's Association (University of South Carolina / Columbia, SC): Lead efforts to reconnect former student-athletes, grow membership, and expand Letterwinner fundraising at a premier institution in a vibrant SEC college town. (DI) More details HERE.
Head Women's Soccer Coach (Adams State University / Alamosa, CO): Adams State Head Women's Soccer Coach More details HERE. What would it cost to move to Alamosa? Click HERE.
Assistant Athletics Coach, Baseball (Babson College / Wellesley, MA): Assistant Athletics Coach, Baseball at Babson College in Wellesley, MA. Full-time role assisting with coaching and administrative duties. (DIII) More details HERE.
Head Coach Men's Soccer (Daemen University / Amherst, NY): The Head Coach- Men's Soccer recruits student athletes, schedules games and practices. More details HERE. What would it cost to move to Amherst? Click HERE.
Head Women's Volleyball Coach (Waynesburg University / Waynesburg, PA): The head coach is responsible for, but not limited to, recruiting quality student athletes, retaining a full roster, practice organization, staff hiring/development, game scheduling, budget oversight. (DIII) More details HERE. What would it cost to move to Waynesburg? Click HERE.
Associate Athletic Director for Development (Lewis University / Romeoville, IL): The Associate Director serves on the department’s senior leadership team and provides strategic leadership for athletic fundraising, the Flyer Club, major gifts, and high-level corporate partnerships. More details HERE.
Men's Volleyball Graduate Assistant (Southwest Baptist University / Bolivar, MO): Southwest Baptist University Men’s Volleyball is seeking a Graduate Assistant. This position offers hands-on experience in collegiate coaching while contributing to a growing program. More details HERE.
Assistant Director - Annual Giving (Purdue University / West Lafayette, IN): Purdue For Life Foundation is seeking an Assistant Director-Annual Giving to serve as the primary athletics contact for approximately 500 mid-level donors and major gifts prospects. (DI) More details HERE.
Director of Athletics (University of Alabama at Birmingham / Birmingham, AL): UAB seeks an experienced athletics leader to drive competitive success, financial growth, compliance, and student-athlete development through strategic leadership. (DI) More details HERE. What would it cost to move to Birmingham? Click HERE.
Associate Director, Athletic Operations and Facilities (University of California, Merced (UC Merced) / Merced, CA): Senior leader overseeing game operations, facilities and sport supervision at the highest ranked academic institution in NCAA D2. More details HERE.
Director of Athletics (Susquehanna University / Selinsgrove, PA): Susquehanna University invites inquiries, nominations, and applications for the position of director of athletics. (DIII) More details HERE. What would it cost to move to Selinsgrove? Click HERE.
Associate Commissioner, Sports Administration and Championships/Men’s Basketball (Mountain West Conference / Las Vegas, NV): The Associate Commissioner will serve the Conference and its member institutions to oversee and lead all aspects of the Conference’s men’s basketball enterprise. (DI) More details HERE. What would it cost to move to Las Vegas? Click HERE.
Director of the Adams/Wyche Center for Academic Success (Frostburg State University / Frostburg, MD): Director of Athletic Academic Center. Responsible for Student-Athlete success, development, and well-being. More details HERE.
Senior Associate Commissioner for Institutional Services (Mid-American Conference / Cleveland, OH): The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is seeking an experienced, collaborative, and strategic leader to serve as Senior Associate Commissioner for Institutional Services. (DI) More details HERE. What would it cost to move to Cleveland? Click HERE.
Assistant Director of Sports Medicine/Athletic Trainer (Adams State University / Alamosa, CO): Assistant Director of Sports Medicine/Athletic Trainer. More details HERE.
Assistant Athletic Trainer (Adams State University / Alamosa, CO): Assistant Athletic Trainer at Adams State University. More details HERE.
Executive Associate Athletic Director/Director of Athletic Development (Fairfield University / Fairfield, CT): Seeking a dynamic, accomplished, and highly motivated Executive Associate Athletic Director/Director of Athletic Development to lead its athletic fundraising program. (DI) More details HERE. What would it cost to move to Fairfield? Click HERE.
Assistant Athletic Director for Business Operations (Albany State University / Albany, GA): Help shape the future of Golden Rams Athletics by leading financial operations, strengthening fiscal accountability, and supporting the continued growth of our 12 NCAA Division II programs. More details HERE.
Director for Athletic Communications (West Texas A&M University / Canyon, TX): Media/public relations. Record books, releases, previews & feature articles. Maintain Athletics website, historical records & stats. Supervise press box/scorer's table staff. Submit nominations. More details HERE.
Assistant Athletic Trainer (Frostburg State University / Frostburg, MD): Full Time Assistant Athletic Trainer. More details HERE.