Cost of AD Search
Ann Arbor.com's David Birkett FOIA'd the cost of the search for the new Athletic Director. While I jokingly accuse him asking who the other candidates were in an effort to poll each of them on whether or not they would have fired Rich Rod already, it's got some pretty interesting content to it.
According to records obtained from the university, Michigan paid Spencer Stuart $75,000 in retainer fees, a $25,000 incentive bonus and $23,545 in expenses. The bonus was payable at Michigan president Mary Sue Coleman’s discretion. Expenses included $7,621 for a “candidate background check,” $2,779 for an unspecified number of “candidate hotel rooms” last Dec. 5, and $2,319 for a “banquet” the same day at a Hyatt Regency hotel. [...] The total cost for the search was $124,159.Interesting other stuff peppered in otherwise. He did ask for the other names involved in the search, but due to the search being performed by the consulting group, that information wasn't available through FOIA.
Personally, I'm fine with the money they spent on the AD search. I know $125,000 sounds like a great deal to most people, but this is a high-profile position that needed a fair bit of vetting. I understand that Brandon had the inside track, but UM had to put some effort into the search to make sure all the backgrounds worked out and that he looked like the best fit. I just finished the book Game Change about the 2008 presidential run (I know, I am getting close to politics here), and one thing that stood out was the relative paucity of research done on Sarah Palin before she was selected as VP. I'm not saying she was a good or bad choice, but there were skeletons in her closet that did not surface until she was already on the campaign trail, causing quite a bit of consternation and damage control by McCain's team.
The AD position at UM is a high-profile spot, and the last thing the University needed was a story to pop up or some skeleton to emerge after the hiring was completed. I really like the selection of Brandon, and even if it was a foregone conclusion to some, I'm still fine with the amount of money spent to make sure it was the right fit.
Yeah, I can't fault anyone for the cost either. It seems fair as it's someone we'll be paying somewhere around $700-800k per year for the next couple years. When adding in the extra security by making candidates and process outside the reach of FOIA, which I think is okay in this situation, it seems worth it.
$125k is nothing when you consider the importance of the position being filled. If this had been a CEO search, it probably would have run quite a bit higher.
Given the amount and quality of work required by the search firm, I think this is a good price to pay.
It apparently took a new AD to push through the night game, and I guarantee the University's athletic fund makes it all back plus some when Michigan plays ND under the lights.
count me among those who believe the cost is totally justified...
Put it this way ... I don't think the search firm is raking in the big dough (unless it's just a one man operation run from someone's basement).
I like that Tater has already commented on the article. For as bat shit crazy as I think he is, he is diligent in his search for the latest Michigan info and is always willing to put his point of view out there.
(It's Easter, I can at least be nice for a few hours.)
Since he is neglecting his fellow MGoBoarders while frolicking at AA.com, I'll provide this lovely quote of his from that article:
"For those of you who are green with envy and white with mortification, which are usually the two covert motives of those who troll UM articles, just take a deep breath and hope that your favorite school can do it right someday."
I lol'd
Considering how much money the AD deals with on a yearly basis, I'm too lazy to look it up but:
-Ticket Sales
-Luxury Box Sales
-Coaches Salaries
-Booster donations
-Construction/renovation
-BRAND MARKETING AND LICENSES
It looks like the operating budget, via google, is 45 million.
That's an immensely cheap cost for finding a new AD
Gee, I thought I had actually toned that comment down a little bit. I guess I'll go hang upside down in my cave for awhile.
The comment was definitely toned down. I see you've refrained from saying "Misdemeanor State University" in this one. Either way, I usually get a laugh from reading them.
It's not really my place to say whether or not the cost was justified. A donor footed the bill for this, and they can do whatever they please with their money.
That's a great point.
If you amortize the search costs over the life of Brandon's contract (5 years, before extensions), it's $25k/year.
As PackardChug noted, the operating budget is $45mm per year (though I thought it was more). $25k / $45mm is less than 0.1%.
It was an incredibly cheap search process.
we will get it back in free pizza.
The cost was covered by a donor so the total price should not be a big deal. The Athletic Department isn't covering the bill.
I don't get why Dave Birkett would care enough how much they spent for the AD search to go through all the trouble for a story. What exactly was he expecting to uncover? This urge to investigate anything the University's Athletic Department ever does is getting a touch old.
In other words, you could ask everyone in attendance at a single home game for a $1 donation and just about cover it. Sounds cheap to me.
We're supposed to be upset that they spent $125k on a guy who will be overseeing an athletic department that generates close to $100M in revenue every year (probably more than that once the luxury boxes are finished)? Hiring the wrong guy could cost the AD way more than $125k. I'm actually surprised they didn't spend more, since we only have to look back to the guy before Martin to see how bad things can get with the wrong guy in charge.
The article, not the post. When I read the headline, I was guessing a lot more. Having a pretty sure candidate in mind probably made the "Search" pretty non-existant, and made it mostly "vetting" (want to make sure there are no photos of Brandon clubbing baby bunnies online or anything). And that had to be pretty cheap too, because he's be so involved in politics, his closet has pretty well been dug through.
Sometimes I cringe at what my money is going for at the University, but I would say we got a bargain deal on this one.
~$10 million in profit PER YEAR. So you tell me whether or not that was a valuable investment.
Retainer Fees:$75,000
Incentive Bonus:$25,000
Misc. Expenses:$23,545
The 2013 National Championship-Priceless.
Has no idea how much the university spends in recruiting for sports and for academics...
125k is a drop in the bucket and birkett needs to get a life he's a piece of shit.
As others have said, this seems like a reasonable amount. I'd be curious what other schools spend. I'm guessing 125K might even be toward the low end of the spectrum, especially if there is a situation in which the search becomes protracted.
There are certain things you should definitely buy by the price tag. I'm pretty sure ADs aren't on that list.
It's a pretty big job so I have no problem with how much money we spent.
That is a pretty minor fee for a major search. I work at a comparable search firm and $75k is usually considered a minimum fee in the industry for any search, much less one of this magnitude. Even with the "bonus" paid, UM got a really good deal for the search. Of course, it's also fantastic publicity for Spencer Stuart...
That's a lot cheaper than I had assumed. And covered by a donor? Nice.