Athletic Department Turnover/Youth

[appdaze]

I've seen a lot of complaints thr last year or two with game day experience, operations, etc that are more than just the cups with ice nit picking. One thing we haven't broached much on here is the turnover and overall youth of our department. When I say youth I mean it. Our senior directors are all 40ish or less except 2 or 3. You can click through the names on the staff directory. For some quick math, if their BA was 2004 or later, they are probably 42 or less. We are an incredibly young department. A ton have been hired within the last 3-5 years. I think this lack of experience and lack of time together as a "team" has played into many administrator issues that fans run into. It's also something that should be addressed in future hires. We need some vets with experience. I'm fine with some youth but there needs to be a better balance than what we currently have. Maybe people just don't want to live in Boone anymore, I don't know. Maybe some insiders have some insight here.

https://appstatesports.com/staff-directory

[appfanz]

Some of the turnover is not that they don’t want live in Boone but that they can’t afford to live in Boone.

[appst89]

$$$$.

App doesn’t pay well.

I wanted to work at App in my field. I would have had to take a 30%, or larger, pay cut to take the job.

[704App]

More experience cost more money. Athletic department is still funding some scholarships (at least until very recently if it's not any more).

I know it's cliche as hell, but that's what it is. That's what it's been since the late 80s/early 90s at the very least -- likely longer.

[spacemonkey]

This is probably not the insight you are looking for, but I have a niece who is a professor/Dr. at MissState and her and her partner (Both Professors/Dr. MISSSTATE) were offered jobs at App. She is originally from Hickory and was trying to get back closer to home. After looking into living in Boone and the cost of living they decided it was not a good move. I would think that would be a big problem for family aged professionals. I don't know how it is possible to get the cost of housing to go down at Appstate. There is nowhere to build more housing.

[t4pizza]

This is probably not the insight you are looking for, but I have a niece who is a professor/Dr. at MissState and her and her partner (Both Professors/Dr. MISSSTATE) were offered jobs at App. She is originally from Hickory and was trying to get back closer to home. After looking into living in Boone and the cost of living they decided it was not a good move. I would think that would be a big problem for family aged professionals. I don't know how it is possible to get the cost of housing to go down at Appstate. There is nowhere to build more housing.

It is a problem that is somewhat unique to App State. Most college towns actually have a lower cost of living and professors can have a great life. Boone, albeit a great college town, also happens to be a resort destination (despite not really have a true resort) with a massive secondary housing market that drives everything. There are too many outsiders with money that want to live in/around Boone and it drives the real estate market higher than it should be. This in turn makes it very expensive for "normal" people to live in the town. It is a problem that is only going to get worse unless Boone/Watauga County decide to take on the short term rental market. Just look at the market, locations that allow short term rentals (and most do) fetch hire prices than those that don't. If this problem is not addressed (and I know the tax benefit of short term rentals) the real estate market will continue to rise and it will become that much harder for people to be able to live in Boone.