Not so positive for USNA. Current mids, can you weigh in?

The report (and more funding) are needed but don't despair, the accreditation will not be a problem and a great education will continue.
The Navywide budget for facilities upgrades/maintenance has been starved for well over a decade now. While the
defense budget has not shown the starvation, the long years of increased operations since the first gulf war (28 yrs now)
has cost a huge amount in terms of maintenance and repairs to our most critical non-human assets - the ships and aircraft
and actually, they have a tremendous backlog of maintenance/upgrades/repairs so facilities are definitely on a back burner.
Now the report itself looks at some things that are really not an issue at USNA - like the aisleways at Nimitz library not being
wide enough for wheelchairs. Having everything be ADA compliant would be great but we really don't have that many
disabled midshipmen wandering around the yard. Yeah, McDonagh Hall is degraded but there are lots of other facilities
to pick up the slack.
 
There are many types of collegiate accreditation. ABET accreditation for the individual engineering programs would in no way be affected by the type of facility degradation inferred in this report.
 
I wouldn't be alarmed... First, no doubt maintenance and repairs have been deferred, but I suspect that this has gone on even longer than OldRetSWO suggests. I spent some time at USNA this fall, and didn't see outward signs of disrepair (actually the Yard looked pretty good)-somehow Navy comes up with the the money to do enough to keep things looking good, and do do what is necessary to preserve the buildings and keep Midshipmen safe,.

I also suspect there is a degree of sensationalism here. Nobody has ever written an article about an Accrediation Audit, or Board of Visitors report, and emphasized the positives. Sure , it would be great if every maintenance discrepancy could be addressed, and even preventative maintenance done, in a timely manner, but the reality is that USNA has alot of old buildings that are costly to maintain. It's unfortunate, but preventative maintenance and repairs are probably a lower priority until things get serious.
 
Thank you. My brother is a '95 graduate and he never mentioned any negatives about the facilities, (except the pool) but that was also 25 years ago. The drastic reduction in funding is concerning, but not surprising. I do understand priorities. Having another son who goes to a private university with a HUGE endowment is the other end of the spectrum. They have too much money, and still some of the dorms are old and need updating. But the facilities are excellent.

For our incoming Plebe, he really won't ever know any different, I suppose.
 
Read a few other articles, all much less sensational. It seems that the issues of failing infrastructure and insufficient heating, cooling, and electricity are much less minor than the above mentioned article makes things seem. What I am concerned about is the unfiltered rainwater going into the Severn River. Specific impurities are not mentioned, so it might just be minor. Hopefully funds will be allocated for full repairs and rejuvenation of the campus in the future!
 
I graduated last may, so I suppose you could say I'm close enough to a current mid.

Yes, the buildings are old, and the reality is that most of the facilities aren't going to be as new and shiny as what you'll find at some of USNA's peer institutions (especially the private ones). I don't think this greatly interfered with my life or my ability to function as a student, and I think most reasonable Midshipmen would agree.

There are some issues though. MacDonough Hall is in absolutely pitiful shape. The Dungeon pool is atrocious, there's rust everywhere, the roof leaks when it rains, half the weights and several of the machines are broken. When you combine that with the fact that the 7th Wing Gym is in a similar state, then you could mount a fairly strong argument that the ability of the non athlete Midshipman to accomplish the physical mission has been compromised. It's quite difficult to watch Ricketts Hall, which only 10% of the Brigade is allowed to use, get renovated again and again while the facility that serves the majority goes years without so much as new paint.

I'd hope that the Alumni that decided to donate $20M to build the new sports hall of fame and recruitment center got a chance to read that report. Perhaps next time they'll decide to spend their money on something that'll actually benefit the Brigade.
 
That article definitely emphasizes the negatives. I'd say there are definitely some significant problems with the infrastructure here, but I don't think they're going to be catastrophic. Some of the facilities certainly need repair. For example the heater for the pool in MacDonough has been broken as long as I've been here and there's still no word on when it will be fixed, so everyone who swims there feels like they're freezing when they get out. But there's definitely no issue of a lack of female mids' access to restrooms, and there are certainly no mids in wheelchairs. It's good that the Academy's leadership is recognizing that there are major issues and is trying to get them sorted out. I suppose it's just a matter of funding, so time will tell what'll happen.
 
Government has all flavors of money with strict rules about what can be augmented from outside fund-raising. New construction and regular maintenance/repairs are two different categories in themselves. It is difficult to describe how hard it is to get things fixed ashore at schoolhouse installations, no matter how historically important and important they are. Fixing operational things will always come first.

The return of the “flagship” designation will help a great deal.

Many things at USNA cost 5x more due to historical standards having to be met. When I lived in BattO historic quarters on Worden Field, there were 5 colors of linoleum on the floor and kitchen cabinets half hung off the wall. The exterior, though, was always funded, even for copper drain pipes, because of the historical home designation. Same applies to Chapel, Bancroft, other historic buildings.
 
I work for a university and the problems at USNA are not unique. As state support for the university shrinks, maintenance is deferred and small issues become large issues. You end up playing catch up, but you are always behind. Capt MJ makes the excellent point of cost escalation when you are repairing buildings with historical designation. I have found USNA to beautiful, but much like an old house, there will be issues behind the walls, with the mechanicals, etc. Additionally, USNA is never closed so it becomes difficult to schedule repairs when they will have the least amount of disruption.
 
BDHuff09 said:
I graduated last may, so I suppose you could say I'm close enough to a current mid.

Yes, the buildings are old, and the reality is that most of the facilities aren't going to be as new and shiny as what you'll find at some of USNA's peer institutions (especially the private ones). I don't think this greatly interfered with my life or my ability to function as a student, and I think most reasonable Midshipmen would agree.

There are some issues though. MacDonough Hall is in absolutely pitiful shape. The Dungeon pool is atrocious, there's rust everywhere, the roof leaks when it rains, half the weights and several of the machines are broken. When you combine that with the fact that the 7th Wing Gym is in a similar state, then you could mount a fairly strong argument that the ability of the non athlete Midshipman to accomplish the physical mission has been compromised. It's quite difficult to watch Ricketts Hall, which only 10% of the Brigade is allowed to use, get renovated again and again while the facility that serves the majority goes years without so much as new paint.

I'd hope that the Alumni that decided to donate $20M to build the new sports hall of fame and recruitment center got a chance to read that report. Perhaps next time they'll decide to spend their money on something that'll actually benefit the Brigade.
Click to expand...

That’s a fantastic post.

Certainly the D1 athletes bring the money in - so I get it.
 
BDHuff09 said:
I'd hope that the Alumni that decided to donate $20M to build the new sports hall of fame and recruitment center got a chance to read that report. Perhaps next time they'll decide to spend their money on something that'll actually benefit the Brigade.
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Couldn't agree more. Our other son is at a private University with a large endowment. Very sizable donations are given by very wealthy alumni. Many are designated - and if you are a student fortunate enough to benefit from those donations, then lucky for you. Right place, right time. One of the departments that our son is closely involved with just received a single gift of $10 million from a single alum. As a result, this department has been renamed after him.

For the USNA, how are alumni donations dispersed if they are not designated?
 
My information is that "Mac D is great", so there exists the possibility that there was a bunch of work done over the summer. The weight room is dirty - but from what I have heard - it is a great place to be, and there is nothing broken there. The Dungeon Pool isn't heated, so it's "freezing" from what I hear.

I think it's all perspective. From a Plebe point of view, it's pretty great there. By the time you're a Firstie, I would imagine that the place looks pretty beat up.

I think the majority of Mids would agree that renovating Ricketts nearly every four years is bordering on the absurd, however.
 
THParent said:
I think it's all perspective. From a Plebe point of view, it's pretty great there. By the time you're a Firstie, I would imagine that the place looks pretty beat up.
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Supposedly the Undersecretary of the Navy for facilities walked through MacD last year and was highly displeased so I wouldn't be surprised if they brushed it up a bit this summer. I vaguely remember that after his visit he scheduled MacD to be renovated sometime in the next 4 years. I don't have any of my Midshipman emails so I can't go back and confirm that.

JP2019TP said:
For the USNA, how are alumni donations dispersed if they are not designated?
Click to expand...

Older Alumni would know better but I believe they asked us to either contribute to our class fund (where the class leadership picks a project to pay for) or to the Naval Academy Fund which I believe the Superintendent gets to use how he deems fit.

This was all explained to me by an older alumnus standing next to a giant mock up of an expanded Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium with an enclosed second level. I was thinking so much about how I didn't want a cent of my money to pay for that that I probably didn't pay as much attention to the man as I should have.
 
I read the article. I received no new information from it. It basically said this place is a dump...sorry to break it to ya, but it kind of is. Yes, over the summer we got a few new bars and weight racks for MacD, but the building itself isn't great. If you go down into the storage areas you'd think you were beneath a condemned building. The Dungeon pool has always been borderline usable(very dirty) but now one must submit to risk of hypothermia just to get a workout in. I'm not sure why they made a bathroom comment about Rickover and Nimitz...there are just as many female heads as male heads. I'd say Bancroft is probably in the most dire need of work. Plumbing is atrocious and the building leaks bad. I have a buddy that lives on 8-4 that sleeps with a leak bucket on his bed. Not to mention the mold it causes - several of my classmates had their uniforms ruined. Do Mids get bitter when seeing a new Cyber building being built and Ricketts getting ANOTHER makeover? Yes. Does any of these things affect our education or physical preparation? No. I've found we're all quite resilient people. We may be cynical, and we may secretly joke when tourists "ooo" and "aahh" at the outward appearance of the Yard and us, but we just keep trucking along. Our priorities lie in trying to make it through classes like EE and Thermo, and figuring out exactly how much we need to run to get through the next PRT. The rest is of little concern to us, and ultimately out of our hands.
 
So the Mids are not allowed to use the Lejeune pool? A 50 m pools has an awful lot of short course lanes!!
 
There are some sports facilities reserved for varsity or club athletes only.
 
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