Edition #913
November 3, 2026
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The Cal Pac will disband after this academic year, with the league’s five members to “remain in the NAIA and are assured membership in other conferences for 2027-28 and beyond.” Cal Pac Presidents Chair/Simpson President Norman Hall: "This action is a sad but necessary one for us to make now in order to provide all our members time to cement their future plans. The Cal Pac has been a tremendous home for our student-athletes for many years, has been a national leader and influencer within the NAIA, and is a perennially honored as a 'Conference of Character.' Dwindling membership, travel challenges, and institutional priorities require this strategic realignment of our institutions.” Of note: “Plans are in progress to reassign the Cal Pac marks and non-profit entity to a legacy institution thus holding space for a possible re-launch in the future as an NAIA or part of another association should small college athletics in the West continue to grow.” (link)
NAIA President/CEO Jim Carr sat down with Grand View men’s soccer student-athlete Luis Helm on The World of Sports to discuss a number of topics. Carr’s key comments…
➤ On tomorrow’s five seasons of eligibility vote: “I'd be surprised if it doesn't pass. I think it'd be more than a majority. I would say it's going to be, because we have survey data and coming out of the Council of Presidents who put the proposal forward, it ended up being a unanimous vote among them. So I would say it's going to be around 80%.”
➤ Threats to the NAIA: “I think right now we have a lot more opportunities ahead of us than threats, but I think the rising cost of higher education. I mean, just what schools are having to charge students and then the rising cost of everything when it comes to athletics or causing some institutions to essentially rethink how they're doing athletics, which is threat and opportunity. But then in the last couple of years we've seen five institutions either close or merge with someone else. So smaller schools in particular, it's a challenge for them and then so if we start losing more members to that, that's a big threat to us.”
➤ Carr views the association’s Return on Athletics initiative as a key strength as higher education and athletics financial pressures continue. “One of the ways in which we're using it now is, I mentioned I was out in Oregon trying to convince a school to come into the NAIA. So they provided us some data and then we put that into our Return on Athletics system and it showed if you were to come into NAIA and get to the averages, roster sizes, scholarshipping, expenses, travel, all those kinds of things of the conference that they would join, they could save or the financial position would be improved by about $2M. So that gets the attention of most presidents to say, ‘Okay, well, we need to at least look at this.’”
➤ Branding and The Right Way to Play campaign: “I think there was a time we had a lot of angst over how do we make the NAIA as well known as the NCAA. But in my view, that's a losing battle. What's important is for target audiences, people in higher education, for students and their families who are thinking about playing college sports, that those audiences are well aware of the NAIA and know that their options are out there. … I think it especially resonates with parents and families who want to make sure their son or daughter finds the right place.” (link)
The WHAC is the latest to state it will vote in support of the five seasons of eligibility proposal tomorrow. (link)
Indiana Tech AD Jessie Biggs and Friends AD Rob Ramseyer joined The Right Way to Play Podcast to dive into how they are using Return on Athletics to inform their budgets, sport sponsorship and more. Key takeaways…
➤ With Indiana Tech supporting over 1K student-athletes, Biggs on ROA: “That’s one of the things that I first look at when adding a new sport or thinking about it. What’s the operating budget? What’s the personnel? What’s the scholarship model? And does that fit us? So it has to obviously be growing at the youth level, but we can’t be the only NAIA school within several hundred miles that has it. So that’s something from a new sport that we use it for. Then also sports are different, right? Some need more operating budget to be competitive. Some need more scholarship dollars. How can you restructure your dollars the same amount but maybe get a competitive advantage or a retention advantage by shifting operating versus scholarship relative to the rest of the country?”
➤ Ramseyer on scholarship modeling as student-athlete tuition comprises 35-40% of the university’s revenue: “How you model scholarships is so important for your institution, your coaches, your student-athletes, where you want to press it as much as you can in order to be competitive, but not to a place that puts your school in a bad spot. You don’t want to put the institution in a place where we’re trying to win and all of a sudden we don’t have any money, no money, no mission and we can’t operate. … We’ve even analyzed looking at scholarships; here’s our competitive teams that are winning the conference. Here are the national numbers. And we don’t have to be at the top of everything in knowing what kind of margin we have to scholarship to give our programs a competitive edge, but also provide a net return to the school so we can offer and execute our mission.”
➤ Both have used insights from ROA to inform conversations with peers across campus. Biggs: “That’s really helped me come full circle in those meetings and be able to actually bring them numbers and say, ‘Hey, this is where we’re at. This is where we can get to, or where I think we should be, and still be okay from a net tuition, net return level.’ So that gap that was maybe like 15-20%, we’ve been able to shrink that by about 5% just because we have better numbers.” (link)
Rocky Mountain women’s soccer has had to forfeit its first seven matches of the season due to the participation of an ineligible student-athlete. The Battlin’ Bears are still eligible for the postseason and their record fell from 11-0-4 to 8-7 prior to this weekend’s loss to Corban. (link)
NAIA hiring has softened slightly in 2026, but where schools are posting tells a different story, according to the latest research from College.town and CollegeSports.jobs. Through October, NAIA job postings dipped 5% from the same period in 2025, with listings on the NCAA Market falling 12%. Postings on CollegeSports.jobs, meanwhile, rose 4%. Over the longer term, CollegeSports.jobs has more than doubled its NAIA volume since 2023, while NCAA Market listings have dropped 49%. More on the advantages of an unlimited job bundle with College.town. (link)
The NAIA renews its partnership with StudentBridge through October 2027. (link)
The New College of Florida Board of Trustees has approved two lines of credit to help pay off over $44M in debt tied to previous construction projects and its acquisition of the USF Sarasota-Manatee campus. The college is set to take on a $40M loan from BankUnited and another loan from an unnamed investor for up to $7.5M at a 6.1% interest rate. The college will make interest-only payments for two years and is required to refinance the entire debt package in 2032. The plan is set to go before the Florida Board of Governors for final approval next week. (link, link)
New survey data from Inside Higher Ed and Generation Lab found that 15% of students and 25% of male students across 310 institutions are wagering on FanDuel, Draftkings, Kalshi or Polymarket. As the proliferation of gambling spreads, 31% or male and 25% of female students know peers who have experienced financial distress or academic fallout as a result of losses from online wagering. Similarly, a separate IHE/Hanover Research Survey found that 56% of student success leaders are not tracking digital wagering on their respective campuses. NASPA VP for Research and Policy Jhenai Chandler: “Digital wagering and gambling should be part of the standard prevention conversation on campus. It also belongs in our discussions about mental health, financial aid and financial wellness, because the consequences show up in all those places.” (link)
Economic pressures like inflation and housing unaffordability are driving a rise in financial nihilism among young Americans, pushing them toward sports gambling, cryptocurrency, and prediction markets like Kalshi, according to Politico's Victoria Guida. Recent research indicates that legalized betting displaces traditional household investments, while data from Citizens Capital Markets and Advisory shows median users of sportsbooks lose money on net. This coincides with the Bureau of Labor Statistics reporting a 0.7% decline in inflation-adjusted hourly wages between September 2025 and September 2026. Guida notes that federal lawmakers are now proposing guardrails, including legislation from Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Rep. Paul Tonko (D-NY) to ban live in-game betting advertisements and prohibit credit card deposits, while the American Institute for Boys and Men develops policy proposals for default deposit and time limits. American Institute for Boys and Men Gambling Policy Lead Jonathan Cohen on the economic desperation fueling the speculative behavior: “With a couple of Eagles parlays, I have a chance of making [that $10K] into $100K. Now I have a down payment.” (link)
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(Posted from most recent over the last 30 days)
(NEW!) Head Men's Soccer Coach (Waldorf University / Forest City, IA): Waldorf University (NAIA, GPAC) in Forest City, IA seeks a Head Men's Soccer Coach to lead all phases of the program, recruit student-athletes and mentor players. Full-time. More details HERE. What would it cost to move to Forest City? Click HERE.
(NEW!) Assistant Athletic Trainer (Waldorf University / Forest City, IA): Waldorf University seeks a full-time Assistant Athletic Trainer to provide athletic training services for 20+ NAIA varsity teams in Forest City, IA. Preferred start early January 2027. 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.
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.
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.
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.
Men's Assistant Volleyball Coach (Georgetown College / Georgetown, KY): Part-time assistant coach role assisting with recruiting, training, scouting, instructing and coaching. More details HERE.
Head Coach for Men's & Women's Tennis (Indiana Wesleyan University / Marion, IN): The Head Coach is responsible for the men's and women's tennis budget, strategic planning, courts and facilities, policies, compliance, scholarships, promotion and leadership of the team. More details HERE. What would it cost to move to Marion? Click HERE.
Men's Assistant Coach (Swarthmore College / Swarthmore, PA): Swarthmore College Men's Lacrosse is hiring an assistant coach. Duties include recruiting, logistics and on field coaching. Send resume to [email protected] (DIII) More details HERE.
Associate Athletic Director for Sports Analytics (William & Mary / Williamsburg, VA): The Associate AD for Sports Analytics leads the department's strategy for data, analytics, and artificial intelligence across all 23 varsity sports. (DI) More details HERE.
Director, Governance and Compliance (Mountain West Conference / Las Vegas, NV): The Director, Governance & Compliance will serve the Mountain West Conference and its member institutions supporting the day-to-day aspects of the Conference’s governance and compliance services. (DI) More details HERE.