Pike, Herd Trainers expand their domain

[Mike Gwinn]

The Thundering Word: Pike, Herd trainers expand their domain

By Jack Bogaczyk
on July 29, 2015

HUNTINGTON – Marshall’s athletic trainers are accustomed to treating.

As to being treated? Not so much.

These days, that’s changed significantly. That’s because the full-time staff roster has more than doubled in recent weeks, and also because the athletic training staff is able to work in – and in conjunction with — the new Marshall University Sports Medicine Institute.

The SMI is the final piece of the new Herd facilities funded by the Vision Campaign for Athletics. And for Marshall sports teams, the 20,000-square foot Sports Medicine Institute provides new space and new opportunity for a staff that still has training rooms in the Shewey Building (football) and Henderson Center...

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[herdfan429]

With the new Masters degree in athletic training and the new standards coming from the NATA and BOC (athletic training national org. and credentialing org.) I think the grad assistant athletic trainer is going away.

 

[herdit44]

With the new Masters degree in athletic training and the new standards coming from the NATA and BOC (athletic training national org. and credentialing org.) I think the grad assistant athletic trainer is going away.

essentially all of our athletic department graduate assistants went away, thanks to obamacare.

 

[Herd Fever]

essentially all of our athletic department graduate assistants went away, thanks to obamacare.

False

 

[herdit44]

False

lol, then please pray tell, enlighten us on how come there have been dozens of brand new full-time jobs posted for athletics in the last 3-4 months, while facilities, marketing, equipment, sports med, ticket office, no longer have graduate assistants (or only a couple amongst all the departments still being phased out) working for them?

the actual sports still have some graduate assistants, but pretty much all the other spots were eliminated because the hours required of the GAs to work means we would've had to provide them healthcare. it sucks, and you have to imagine it'll be a pretty good blow to the sports administration graduate program.

edit to add: for those interested, here's an article about KU having to decide what to do with their GAs on campus because of obamacare, http://www.thecollegefix.com/post/16740/

 

[imherdfan]

essentially all of our athletic department graduate assistants went away, thanks to obamacare.

Yep, that is exactly what happened to the grad assistants program. Now I'm not completely opposed to some of the benefits of Obamacare, its had its good points too, but it did pretty much did in our grad assistants program.

 

[catfish SC]

How will the people in Masters program differ significantly from GA's? (Serious question)

 

[imherdfan]

They will be regular students paying tuition and not working in exchange for tuition.

 

[herdfan429]

essentially all of our athletic department graduate assistants went away, thanks to obamacare.

Congrats this is the dumbest post of the day. When I was a ga we were limited in the amount of hours we could work, it's been a few years but I thi

How will the people in Masters program differ significantly from GA's? (Serious question)

as it relates specifically to athletic training, they won't be certified which means they won't be able to work "independently" with their own team. They will have to be under direct supervision of a certified staff athletic trainer.

 

[herdit44]

Congrats this is the dumbest post of the day. When I was a ga we were limited in the amount of hours we could work, it's been a few years but I thi

i know a few years ago, ALL graduate assistants on campus, or the vast majority, were technically limited to 20 hours per week, but how many in the equipment room, facilities, ticketing, marketing, etc do you know that really only worked 20 hours per week? during the fall the facilities guys work 60+ hours per week, i know several of the equipment ga's from over the years and they worked similar hours, but it was okay because those people wanted to work more for the experience in their career path.

so, we were paying their school and giving them a small (really small) stipend and they were willing to work long hours for very, very cheap. now, obamacare says if a person, including a ga, works above X number of hours you have to provide healthcare, so those very, very cheap workers become very, very expensive workers. so instead we did away with pretty much all non-coaching ga spots in athletics, created some, a decent amount less, of full-time positions, paying them like $20k and benefits to comply with the law.

 

[OVERHERD]

False

He is not wrong about that one. Due to regulations that resulted from the AHA, they had to make this move. My nephew went from being a GA last year to an Assistant Manager in Ticketing this year. Moves them into a salaried position and makes the administration of the positions easier.

 

[19MU88]

Fever must be one of those low information voters I keep hearing about.

looks like 429 ended up with the dumbest post of the day or maybe month. his confidence definitely exceeds his knowledge in this case.

 

[riflearm2]

we did away with pretty much all non-coaching ga spots in athletics, .

Out of curiosity, why did they keep the coaching GA positions? Is it because they felt paying/offering their healthcare was worth it due to needing the GAs or are coaching GAs somehow exempt from the law?

 

[riflearm2]

Congrats this is the dumbest post of the day. When I was a ga we were limited in the amount of hours we could work, it's been a few years but I thi
.

Explain how he is wrong.

 

[herdit44]

Out of curiosity, why did they keep the coaching GA positions? Is it because they felt paying/offering their healthcare was worth it due to needing the GAs or are coaching GAs somehow exempt from the law?

i don't know 100% the answer to that one, my educated guess would be that ncaa rules in football (head coach, 9 full-time assistants, and two graduate assistants technically allowed on the field coaching practice) would make having those ga spots remain ga would be worth it, i'd say the other football ga spots (we had 4 ga's last year in football i believe) and mbb ga spots were determine "worth" it because doc and danny said so, but again, not sure 100% on all of that aspect of the whole deal.

 

[Herd Fever]

i know a few years ago, ALL graduate assistants on campus, or the vast majority, were technically limited to 20 hours per week, but how many in the equipment room, facilities, ticketing, marketing, etc do you know that really only worked 20 hours per week? during the fall the facilities guys work 60+ hours per week, i know several of the equipment ga's from over the years and they worked similar hours, but it was okay because those people wanted to work more for the experience in their career path.

so, we were paying their school and giving them a small (really small) stipend and they were willing to work long hours for very, very cheap. now, obamacare says if a person, including a ga, works above X number of hours you have to provide healthcare, so those very, very cheap workers become very, very expensive workers. so instead we did away with pretty much all non-coaching ga spots in athletics, created some, a decent amount less, of full-time positions, paying them like $20k and benefits to comply with the law.

So we stopped cheap, free labor to hire people so we can provide them healthcare and that is a bad thing??

 

[herdit44]

So we stopped cheap, free labor to hire people so we can provide them healthcare and that is a bad thing??

when you are struggling to compete financially within FBS, and even your peer group, it's not a great thing.

and it'll be a bad thing for the sports administration graduate program here, a significant number of those graduate assistants were getting their ms in sports administration, and now they won't. the program will likely see a noticeable decline in enrollments.

 

[Herd Fever]

Well maybe we should come up with innovative ways to continue the GA program then. Just shutting down GA positions because you don't want to give free labor healthcare is wrong.

 

[OVERHERD]

Athletics has been built on that "free labor" not just at Marshall but everywhere.

I think that students saw it as a good opportunity to get in, know they were paying dues, and get their schooling mostly paid for. It was a 2-year gig that they knew could lead to other things.

I wonder if we will still attract the same quality of candidate to the "full time permanent" positions that are going to be salaried but at a really low wage. Will be interesting to see how it plays out.

 

[Herd Fever]

I feel we should still over the GA position AND over them healthcare

 

[herdit44]

I feel we should still over the GA position AND over them healthcare

and i'm sure you, like everyone else not working in the athletic department, don't have a clue about the financial implications of ga vs non-ga decisions.

ps: the word you're looking for there is "offer"

 

[Herd Fever]

Actually I do, I know many people and friends who was once GA here at Marshall and other schools across the Nation. Some schools don't even offer a stipend because the pay for your tuition, rent, and food

 

[herdit44]

Actually I do, I know many people and friends who was once GA here at Marshall and other schools across the Nation. Some schools don't even offer a stipend because the pay for your tuition, rent, and food

cool story, bro, but still, you don't have a clue about the financial implications of ga vs non-ga, you know their stipend, you don't know the costs of full-time vs part-time, what we have budgeted for salaries, healthcare costs, etc.

 

[riflearm2]

.

ps: the word you're looking for there is "offer"

It's unbelievable. It really is. And it happened twice, so it isn't like it's just a typo.

Too many higher education institutions, including Marshall, are more focused on doing whatever it takes (including passing kids who have no business getting a degree) to keep tuition money coming in that they lose all integrity with a lot of their academic standards.

I feel we should still over the GA position AND over them healthcare

Are you donating that money every year or are you wanting to tell each football assistant that their salaries have been slashed $15,000 to accommodate all of the healthcare you want to provide?

 

[Herd Fever]

Im in the crowd that any employee that give 30+ hours a week should be provided healthcare by their employee. So no I will not donate the money, schools should put that in their budget and provide it

 

[NoPuntIntended]

When you boil it down, there is only one reason a person is employed by a company/organization: both parties have determined that the relationship is beneficial (i.e. it is mutually beneficial). Let's not pretend like these GAs were forced into employment.

 

[riflearm2]

So no I will not donate the money,

Well, I knew you personally wouldn't. I knew you would have to ask your mom to increase your allowance for it.

So, where do you suggest cutting at least $150,000/year from the athletic budget?

 

[Herd Fever]

See that is the greed in College Athletics, they can rake in Billions of Dollars in TV money but when it comes to providing Healthcare to 22-25 year olds who essentially work long hours for free its "Oh but where will we find the money"

 

[BisonPa]

The real answer is that NATA certification now requires a masters degree. In the past you could get your certification and work as a GA while obtaining your masters. If you already have your masters to get certification there is no real need to take a GA Position. My son worked at Eastern Michigan as a GA Athletic Trainer and received his masters degree. He now works at The University of Toledo. They are seeing the same staffing issues.