Herbst Stepping Down

[Robertelamin]

So the state is punishing her for the Kevin Ollie firing by giving her another years worth of work including salary? Is that right?

He’s a clown

 

[husky8273]

What about the $660,000 house in Hartford? Don't forget to keep that on your list lol

which is certainly worth far less today................

 

[The Funster]

If university Presidents were primarily responsible for sports, wouldn't the be AD's?

 

[upstater]

she probably has both

Pensions for people in the foundation? I don't think so. For union members maybe, but even union members now are given ONLY 403bs. Every state is different, but this is how NY state does it. All admin though, being non-union, are paid through the private foundations.

 

[upstater]

It would be more competitive to get into and it would centralize research which would ease the ability to get grants and funding (for instance, a professor at Central wouldn't be competing against a professor at Southern for funding).

The state would be getting a better product for less cost.

All well and good, but these are commuter schools.

You're adding a ton of cost to them.

 

[upstater]

Do what was done in industry and phase out and eventually eliminate pensions in favor or 401ks

That was done circa 1998.

 

[Nostical]

"None of us are indispensable."
Ouch. Not a grammar curmudeon by any means, but Sue should have somebody in the English department proofread for her.

She was correct. How many are indispensable? None are.

 

[noeynox]

She was correct. How many are indispensable? None are.

So said Bob Diaco.

 

[Nostical]

We got caught with our pants down and she had no clue what to do.

She should have asked Whaler.

 

[JMick]

She should have asked Whaler.

Whaler for University President. That's something I can get behind.

 

[JMick]

All well and good, but these are commuter schools.

You're adding a ton of cost to them.

Open up a couple more Community Colleges and convert some UConn branches to Connecticut State branches.

 

[UConnDan97]

She did a bunch of stuff that looks good on paper but is not sustainable in the long term.

Essenially she spent a ton of money, inproved the rankings, enriched a bunch of useless adminstrators and then walked out the door when the chickens were going to come home to roost.

A bunch of people here will actually use this in the future as a plus for her. When there is no money and the inevitiable slide begins they will say: OMG look how much we miss her - missing the fact that she created the dynamic and then left us holding the bag.

Oh and she ran the athletic department into the ground. Which I’m told doesn’t matter... which is odd being a sports message board.

This is where I'm at, too. And that's really saying something, considering there is no bigger homer than me out there. But her accomplishments were essentially our accomplishments, in the form of tax dollars and tuition revenue.

I even caught hell on this very board for criticising her raise at a time when money had dried up. The optics of it were horrible.

I don't wish her ill will. But I won't miss her either...

 

[jimva]

No surprise here, I have posted several times on here that Herbst or Benedict or both will have to resign because of the way they handled the Kevin situation. She’s taking the high road before The ship hit the rock.

What ever you are smoking please pass it around.

 

[UConnNick]

If university Presidents were primarily responsible for sports, wouldn't the be AD's?

They've been trying to be since the late 1980's when control of the NCAA was switched from the AD's to the presidents. The problem is they collectively suck at administration of athletics. Most of them are academics, not business people who've operated in the private sector.

They're running a multi billion dollar business on the side while also trying to run a university. They're led around by their noses chasing the lure of big money. It's why conference realignment has been horrific in terms of the affect its had on the student-athletes. The presidents don't care because they don't make any decisions based on anything but grabbing more cash. The student-athletes are a means to an end. Way too much money has corrupted the whole system.

 

[T-Squared]

Glad that she's gone. UConn can do better.

Herbst, because of her decision to hire the empty suit (Warde Manuel) cost UConn admission to a bonafide athletic conference. The Huskies play in the second-rate AAC because of her - make no mistake.

Additionally, when several female students came forward with charges of sexual assault Herbst flatly told them to keep quiet. She attempted to sweep their charges under the rug, but the students hired a female advocate attorney who shed light on Herbst's disgusting actions. What kind of person, let alone woman, conducts themselves that way? Good riddance.

 

[champs99and04]

They've been trying to be since the late 1980's when control of the NCAA was switched from the AD's to the presidents. The problem is they collectively suck at administration of athletics. Most of them are academics, not business people who've operated in the private sector.

They're running a multi billion dollar business on the side while also trying to run a university. They're led around by their noses chasing the lure of big money. It's why conference realignment has been horrific in terms of the affect its had on the student-athletes. The presidents don't care because they don't make any decisions based on anything but grabbing more cash. The student-athletes are a means to an end. Way too much money has corrupted the whole system.

Hasn't the knock on Herbst always been that she didn't fit this description? Many of her critics seemed to portray her as somebody who didn't recognize the value of athletics and football in particular. Or maybe that was just whaler. Either way, from a distance I wouldn't have pegged her as the 'everything wrong with college sports' type.

 

[UConnNick]

Hasn't the knock on Herbst always been that she didn't fit this description? Many of her critics seemed to portray her as somebody who didn't recognize the value of athletics and football in particular. Or maybe that was just whaler. Either way, from a distance I wouldn't have pegged her as the 'everything wrong with college sports' type.

My remarks about college presidents were intended as general in nature, not specifically about Herbst. Her problem is she never seemed to grasp the importance of athletics historically and the role athletics played in UConn's rise in academic prominence nationally.

I live in a part of the country a great distance from CT. 25 years ago or more, you could wear a shirt here with "UCONN" on it and few people would have recognized it as even the name of a college. Some thought it referred to the Canadian province. Back in those days I deliberately bought shirts that had "University of Connecticut" all spelled out, for that reason.

Now when you wear a shirt with only "UCONN" on it, most people that see it know what the name represents, even on the left side of the country. I once met a UConn alum originally from Amarillo, TX. She was a huge fan of the women's BB team as a little girl. She attended and graduated from UConn just because of that. Athletics was the springboard that put UConn on the national map, including academically. Herbst never understood that and still doesn't.

 

[CL82]

What ever you are smoking please pass it around.

Maybe not, it may be K2.

 

[champs99and04]

My remarks about college presidents were intended as general in nature, not specifically about Herbst. Her problem is she never seemed to grasp the importance of athletics historically and the role athletics played in UConn's rise in academic prominence nationally.

I live in a part of the country a great distance from CT. 25 years ago or more, you could wear a shirt here with "UCONN" on it and few people would have recognized it as even the name of a college. Some thought it referred to the Canadian province. Back in those days I deliberately bought shirts that had "University of Connecticut" all spelled out, for that reason.

Now when you wear a shirt with only "UCONN" on it, most people that see it know what the name represents, even on the left side of the country. I once met a UConn alum originally from Amarillo, TX. She was a huge fan of the women's BB team as a little girl. She attended and graduated from UConn just because of that. Athletics was the springboard that put UConn on the national map, including academically. Herbst never understood that and still doesn't.

OK, I figured that was the case, I was just seeking clarification. What you say there is more in line with what I had heard previously.

It's interesting you cite that particular anecdote, though, because I feel like branding has long been the school's biggest handicap. That's not to say it's necessarily anyone's fault, because it's an issue that long predated Herbst, but the athletic programs in general, for as successful as they are, have struggled to generate pull even on a regional level. The lone exception seems to be women's basketball - if you're a girl playing youth basketball, your first association with the game is often UConn. Same with their parents. A distant family member noticed my UConn sweatshirt at Easter and asked me what happened. I was a sentence or two into my reply before I realized he was talking about the women's game that had occurred a couple nights earlier. Stupid me, but that's a perfect illustration of my point - I think if the women's basketball program alone had been properly leveraged in conference realignment, it would have gone a long way. (And yes, I understand that, in a vacuum, women's basketball means 0% in those decisions, but from a macro standpoint, it's an opportunity to funnel eyeballs towards the school in a way that creates additional revenue indirectly.)

Ultimately, I don't know enough about the situation to assess her legacy myself. I think some of the good she's done could be seen as false positives. I also think it's somewhat paradoxical to expect the president of any school to fully recognize the value of athletics in a holistic sense, which again brings us back to branding. You don't turn into Michigan overnight, but there's something to the idea that sentiment is what sustains the overarching mission of the institution. A lot of the time athletics and academics are separated when so many of the principles are interchangeable. In my opinion, you want to illuminate that commonality in a way that maximizes reach. Nobody bothers to differentiate between academics and athletics when it comes to Michigan because it hardly matters. I think what UConn has at times failed to realize is that a lot of their revenue comes either from alums or people who didn't attend the school at all. More importantly, they've failed to realize that building a fanbase and upping admission standards are not mutually exclusive. I can't imagine the transition from Connecticut to UConn has helped on this front and I wonder if the gains we've credited the current administration for aren't merely the returns of seeds planted by people who worked here 25 years ago.

 

[CL82]

thletics was the springboard that put UConn on the national map, including academically. Herbst never understood that and still doesn't.

What do you base this belief on?

I'm also not sure how sure how others can say she ran athletics into the ground. Did she secretly make lead the raid on the Big East?

 

[whaler11]

She should have asked Whaler.

Rest assured... I would have had Bob Diaco removed by campus police 90 seconds after he arrived.

You just aren’t a person with a legitimate opinion.

I flat out spelled out how Suzie Lax was building her resume on our spending... and then the second the money train ended she cut and ran to prove me right.

If you had any pride you wouldn’t be saying my name you’d be deleting your account.

 

[whaler11]

What do you base this belief on?

I'm also not sure how sure how others can say she ran athletics into the ground. Did she secretly make lead the raid on the Big East?

If a doctor could recommend a prostate exam based on message board posts - this pathetic trickle would suffice.

After predicting UConn to the Big Ten for years... now you are absolving people who condemned UConn to the American?

 

[Stainmaster]

Rest assured... I would have had Bob Diaco removed by campus police 90 seconds after he arrived.

2016

Okay. (CC: @uconnphil2016)

 

[whaler11]

2016

Okay. (CC: @uconnphil2016)

Yep one time I tried to appease the masses.

Quote the other 5k posts.

 

[Stainmaster]

Yep one time I tried to appease the masses.

Quote the other 5k posts.

You're claiming you actually wanted to appeal to the masses at one point? This is like that one time Serrano yelled at me for being an to someone. Weird stuff.