For Athletics VP, fan attendance is Job 1
It’s not well known, but the office of Associated Students of Utah State University Athletics vice president is important, especially for students who participate in or attend athletic events.
The current Athletics vice president, on the verge of finishing up his one-year term, is senior Michael Shipley. Shipley is originally from Houston, Texas, but has lived in Wellsville for the past 10 years. After finishing high school he came to USU on a cheerleading scholarship.
Shipley is majoring in business information systems and will graduate this year. In addition to his duties as Athletics vice president, Shipley works for Icon as a software developer and is married with a 3-month-old daughter.
“She is officially the ASUSU mascot. She has been adopted by ASUSU,” Shipley said.
Before becoming Athletics vice president, Shipley was on the cheer squad for four years. During this time on the cheer squad, Shipley got to see what the Athletics vice president does and became interested in running for office, he said.
Last year, when he was done with cheer, Shipley thought running for Athletics vice president would be a good transition for him.
“It is something I thought I could do some good stuff in,” Shipley said.
Attendance is the priority
After being elected last spring, Shipley entered office with many goals for his term. He said the biggest of these goals was increasing attendance at sporting events.
“I realized that our teams were at an important level, that they were ready to break through at a national level,” Shipley said.
To help the teams, including volleyball, basketball, football and gymnastics, reach this new level, fan support was going to be the key, Shipley said. “Attendance is the bottom line.”
“The team plays better when they have good crowd support and Athletics makes more money, which they can put into coaching and recruiting,” Shipley said.
He said he met with the Athletics department at the beginning of the year to determine how to get more fans to the game. For football, the result was Aggie Fest, put on in cooperation with the Athletics department.
“We work hand in hand,” said Michelle Wilson, director of Marketing and Promotions for Athletics.
For Aggie Fest, the Athletics department made sure there were activities for families, while Shipley committed to having music there and activities for students. A blow-up obstacle course was brought in, as well as DJs or bands. Shipley said student attendance at football was higher than it has ever been.
Aggie Fest was also used as a promotion for women’s volleyball. One fan won a Harley Davidson rental. Fans could sign up to win at the football game but had to attend the volleyball game to win the prize. Shipley said volleyball’s attendance was at its highest that night, as well.
“I don’t take full credit for that it’s obviously from the teams playing well. But hopefully I’ve played a part in that,” Shipley said.
Shipley said attendance at basketball has also been doing well. Before the last home game, the team had had enough attendance to cover costs, Shipley said.
Duties
An additional duty Shipley has had is sitting on a committee to plan half times for basketball. While time-out activities are primarily set by Michelle Wilson, Shipley has input on half-time.
“We use his input in everything, especially with regards to students,” Wilson said.
Wilson said the Athletics vice president position is something not a lot of other universities have. At the University of Utah, where Wilson worked previously, she said there was not a dedicated Athletics vice president position.
“[Shipley] has been very supportive and visible at events,” said Athletics Director Rance Pugmire.
Wilson also said other schools don’t have the support from students that USU has.
“It is an unusual circumstance that we have such support from students,” Wilson said.
Shipley is also an assistant coach for the cheer squad. This position enables him to help coordinate events that happen during the game.
The Crew
One of Shipley’ main goals this year was to work with the Crew, formerly known as the Big Blue Crew.
“I just wanted to make it something that was more recognizable,” Shipley said. “A lot of people had no clue what the Big Blue Crew was.”
To try and make it recognizable, Shipley changed the name to The Crew at USU. Shipley also set up an e-mail account for fans to send questions and sign up to receive a weekly newsletter detailing activities.
To attract more students to the club, the sign-up fee was eliminated. Students could buy T-shirts, but there were no requirements to be a part of the club.
The Crew has been criticized for lack of continuity. When a new Athletics vice president enters office, he or she can change the Crew to how they think it should be, Shipley said. But he does not see this as a problem.
“I hope that they keep trying different things. The overall purpose of the club will remain the same,” Shipley said. “It is for the students to get involved and support Aggie athletics. I don’t see a problem with change; you’ve got to try stuff to find a good combination.”
The Aggie Fest had never been tried before, but it was successful, he said.
One goal Shipley did not feel he was able to accomplish was diversifying and expanding the membership in the Crew. The majority of members are freshmen, and Shipley said he hoped the club would have greater appeal to juniors and seniors. He said he also did not want it to be a separate club, but he wanted everyone to realize they could be part of the Crew.
The budget
With the many activities Shipley puts on and responsibilities he has, Shipley has to raise funds on top of his budget from ASUSU.
Shipley said each Aggie Fest costs approximately $400. However, he was able to recover the costs by charging non-students for activities like the obstacle course.
Another attempt Shipley made at raising funds was the creation of the Crew Card. The Crew Card was a discount card, and Shipley was trying to use it as a way for club sports to raise money for clubs and the Crew.
“The [Crew Card] was a great idea,” Wilson said.
Shipley said the Crew Card didn’t work, though. The cards weren’t printed until mid-October, and clubs had already fund raised by then. Shipley said his goal was to raise additional money through card and T-shirt sales so he could hold bigger events.
Student feedback
An area Shipley said he felt he needed to improve in was his accessibility to students. To help become more visible, Shipley started hanging a banner at basketball games with information on how to contact him.
Shipley said the banner had some results, and he has received e-mail. By the end of this year, Shipley said he hopes to have a permanent banner for football and basketball with contact information. Most people in office really aren’t sure how to get feedback from students, Shipley said.
“I don’t get enough smaller feedback,” Shipley said. “If someone has a concern at a game, it’s not a big enough deal that they’re going to come looking for me if they don’t know me.”
The relationship between Athletics and the students has been continually improving, Pugmire said.
“I think a lot of people would be able to use the Athletics VP more if they just knew how to get in touch with me,” Shipley said. “I think most people in office just are not sure how to get feedback from students.”
Shipley said one of the most worthwhile things he has done is helping clubs. The cycling club came to him to be recognized as a club and compete nationally.
“I think it was a really positive experience. They had a problem and weren’t exactly sure what route to take,” Shipley said. “For groups like that, that have big concerns, they are able to find me.”
Student recreation center
One other important
issue Shipley has worked on this year was the student recreation center. Shipley said the proposed $12.5 million facility will probably not happen, but he has been looking at alternatives.
An important alternative Shipley has looked at has been the Outdoor Recreation Center.
“To me, cross country skiing and snow shoeing are just as much a sport as playing racquetball and basketball,” Shipley said.
Shipley said he would like to make the student recreation center a package with the ORC. This would allow people to have equipment available for other types of activities, Shipley said.
“I think there is a group of students that are into the outdoor stuff that have never been to a basketball game, but they are just as much athletes as everybody else,” Shipley said.
Additional alternatives Shipley has looked at include the Sports Academy and expanding the Fieldhouse and HPER.
He said a second floor could be added to the Fieldhouse, or the entire HPER could be expanded to three levels. Another possibility would be to add an ORC onto the HPER, with a climbing wall and other activities available.
What’s next?
After he graduates, Shipley said he’s not sure what he’s going to do. He said he would like to move to Calgary in a couple of years to enjoy Canada for a while. He has also looked into going to graduate school in Canada.
Until then, Shipley said he has activities planned, especially at the final two home games.
Shipley will leave office next month, and this semester he said has been focusing on legislative issues and making a smooth transition for the next Athletics vice president. Shipley said he’s participating in fewer activities this semester to focus on his office and cleaning up the charter.
Shipley said though he is leaving office, the year has been good and he accomplished a lot of what he set out to do.
“He has done a great job,” Wilson said.
“It been a fun year,” Shipley said. “It’s been a lot of fun.”