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Located at the intersection of stately, moss-covered oak trees and a beach of white sand, The Ritz-Carlton on Amelia Island near Jacksonville, Fla., is an elegant resort.
Each year, the luxury hotel hosts the Atlantic Coast Conference's spring meetings.
For some, it's an uncomfortable arrangement at a time when member schools struggle through budget cuts, furloughs and layoffs in a floundering economy. N.C. State college of management department head Art Padilla, who has worked to reform college athletics, questioned the wisdom of the trip even though the ACC has been cutting other costs.
Padilla said he knows ACC officials have been tightening their belts and restricting coaches' travel and acknowledged that contractual obligations with the hotel may make it difficult to cancel.
“But I think they need to re-look at this Amelia Island (trip),” he said.
ACC commissioner John Swofford said the conference, which pays expenses for the spring meetings to be held Monday through Wednesday, indeed has a multi-year contract with the resort. He said it would have been difficult to cancel on short notice.
“We have reduced to some degree the number of attendees from a conference standpoint to this particular meeting, and also the length of the stay and number of room nights to a degree,” Swofford said.
This week, officials are scheduled to discuss ways to cut costs, including the ACC conference office reducing its 2009-10 budget six percent from 2008-09.
