Director defends coaches' bonuses while professor
criticizes them
By Angelita Caudillo
The Collegian
Some Fresno State faculty and
staff have recently questioned whether coaches on campus should receive
bonuses based on their teams’ performances.
Coaches in some sports have incentives outlined in their contracts for
meeting certain goals. Former Fresno State women’s basketball coach
Stacy Johnson-Klein was one person who had these incentives outlined in
her contract. Some of the goals were if the team had a collective GPA
of at least 2.0 she would receive $5,000 and for a GPA of 2.6 she would
earn $10,000.
Team graduation rate was also outlined in Johnson-Klein’s contract,
with her receiving $5,000 for a graduation rate of at least 45 percent
and $15,000 for a rate of 61 percent. The bonuses were also outlined for
levels of attendance at games and for team records.
Not everyone is happy that coaches receive these bonuses. Political science
professor Michael Becker is one.
“If there are incentives for coaches there should be some for professors
too.” Becker said.
Becker gave examples such as if professors turned back so many papers
in such an amount of time they should get a bonus, or if they have a clear
syllabus.
Athletic Director Thomas Boeh said coach incentives are a sort of recognition
for not only their hard work but because of them, additional revenue is
realized. Just as a salesman would receive a bonus for certain sales in
revenue, coaches receive them too, he said. It’s part of the job.
“Coaches happen to be in a job relatively easy to quantify success
or failure.” Boeh said.
Boeh said incentives for coaches seem inappropriate if a team is doing
well and winning games but not doing well academically.
“It’s important bonuses be reflected by not only performance
on the field but on academic performance too.” Boeh said.
Fresno State women’s basketball coach Adrian Wiggins said most coaches
don’t use incentives as a motivator. “It’s a motivator
but not the main motivator,” Wiggins said.
He said it is unfortunate that money is used as a motivator but all coaches
want to see their athletes do well and succeed in school, even without
the incentives.
Unlike professors, coaches must make sure athletes stay out of trouble,Wiggins
said. If one of his students gets caught doing something illegal it reflects
poorly upon him. Wiggins said he is not even aware of how much more he
gets for his team having a higher GPA or for a higher attendance level
at a game. He said it is not a motivator or something he pays attention.
Across any campus, including Fresno State, Boeh said you will find staff
and faculty that are generating other personal resources or incentives
for additional work, but may not necessarily be paid by the institution.
Becker said he thinks all athletic programs should be cancelled at that.
He said athletics on campus take the focus away from the university and
the main reason for why we are attending the university.
Becker said instead of coach incentives there should be more faculty space
created on campus, not more basketball arenas.
“Athletic programs are a deterrent.” Becker said. “The
university does not need these distractions. They are not necessary.”
Boeh pointed out that it would be difficult to recruit quality coaches
in some sports without bonuses. He said the reality is that coach incentives
are a part of schools regardless of the schools’ academic performance.
“How we feel about it personally can be debated.” Boeh said.
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