UConn Adopts Bold Academic Vision

[huskyrob1]

Someone has "business world" confused with "government bureaucracies"

Yeah right, profits don't matter and big time college sports isn't a business. I got it.

 

[BlueMAB]

Yeah right, profits don't matter and big time college sports isn't a business. I got it.

I wasn't referring to you at all, honestly.

 

[Fairfield_1st]

I would just send her a check, plain and simple. Hey, who knows, maybe she'd send me some season tickets. LOL!
http://www.foundation.uconn.edu/endowed-support.html
It doesn't have to be money either, it could be real estate, jewelry, valuable art, etc

Thanks for the info. I wish I had some of those valuables you mentioned to donate. It would mean I'm doing much better than I am. She's more likely to get the $100 I used as an example.

 

[huskyrob1]

I wasn't referring to you at all, honestly.

Could have fooled me, and you did!!! Sorry Bub.

 

[Seaa Blue]

Right on. Don't forget, we'd bring all of New England with us.

That's ok... Swag bag + iPad raffle will do.

 

[upstater]

Someone has "business world" confused with "government bureaucracies"

Nope. These are Six Sigma types installed by the BOTs from the business world. They excel at instituting coporate bureaucratic structure into non-profits. Are you corporate? You're telling me this doesn't exist there? Functionaries are taking over everywhere.

Put it this way. Here we are discussing tenure, and we've gone from 75% of faculty having it (or being on track) to 24% in the span of a decade, and meanwhile they keep taking people from corporate America to improve efficiency. In 5 years when 10% are tenure or TT we'll still be here discussing whether it's a thing that we should have around, even though it hardly even exists anymore. But hey, we will have our efficiency experts there to pat us on the back and tell us we are still meeting our goals! Even though there is no one around to teach anymore! Hooray.

 

[Gfunk]

Someone has "business world" confused with "government bureaucracies"

My general stereotype of Big Business is they are often worse than "government bureaucracies". Big business leadership is mostly comprised of non-elected leaders - often moved into these positions of power based on last name, friends of friends, continuos nepotism lives on & they rarely fall under the microscope of typical media scrutiny reserved for governments.

It's just too easy to bash the government (<-- much of these criticisms deserved) but a tall order to go after private enterprises - who've easily done more to screw this country. Such massive private enterprises are almost exclusively behind government corruption: lobbying for handouts & bending the laws without shame . It has become increasingly symbolic & reality that most research universities are filled with classrooms, auditoriums, facilities in general with corporate funding and naming rights - granted in part from state governments - full circle: my head is dizzy from the contradictions. Walking into the increasingly more prestigious Carlson Business School at the University of Minnesota has become a "who's who" of corporate branding. Marx is laughing in his grave, Ayn Rand has no counter-arguments, but she did die rich - meanwhile I disagree with both of them and hope for something different & more effective .

I'm not the biggest fans of state schools becoming corporate laboratories, which is trending strongly across the US & certainly not a fan of seeing them become kung- grip extensions of government - which they've never been.

 

[Gfunk]

Nope. These are Six Sigma types installed by the BOTs from the business world. They excel at instituting coporate bureaucratic structure into non-profits. Are you corporate? You're telling me this doesn't exist there? Functionaries are taking over everywhere.

Put it this way. Here we are discussing tenure, and we've gone from 75% of faculty having it (or being on track) to 24% in the span of a decade, and meanwhile they keep taking people from corporate America to improve efficiency. In 5 years when 10% are tenure or TT we'll still be here discussing whether it's a thing that we should have around, even though it hardly even exists anymore. But hey, we will have our efficiency experts there to pat us on the back and tell us we are still meeting our goals! Even though there is no one around to teach anymore! Hooray.

Spot on, sorry Wing-UConn but Upstater's quite correct.

 

[WestHartHusk]

My general stereotype of Big Business is they are often worse than "government bureaucracies". Big business leadership is mostly comprised of non-elected leaders - often moved into these positions of power based on last name, friends of friends, continuos nepotism lives on & they rarely fall under the microscope of typical media scrutiny reserved for governments.

It's just too easy to bash the government (<-- much of these criticisms deserved) but a tall order to go after private enterprises - who've easily done more to screw this country. Such massive private enterprises are almost exclusively behind government corruption: lobbying for handouts & bending the laws without shame . It has become increasingly symbolic & reality that most research universities are filled with classrooms, auditoriums, facilities in general with corporate funding and naming rights - granted in part from state governments - full circle: my head is dizzy from the contradictions. Walking into the increasingly more prestigious Carlson Business School at the University of Minnesota has become a "who's who" of corporate branding. Marx is laughing in his grave, Ayn Rand has no counter-arguments, but she did die rich - meanwhile I disagree with both of them and hope for something different & more effective .

I'm not the biggest fans of state schools becoming corporate laboratories, which is trending strongly across the US & certainly not a fan of seeing them become kung- grip extensions of government - which they've never been.

I agree with all of this, except that Ayn Rand, while having an estate with some money, died collecting welfare and medicaide.

 

[Gfunk]

I agree with all of this, except that Ayn Rand, while having an estate with some money, died collecting welfare and medicaide.

And there I went stereotyping. But then again, the medicaid & welfare monies she received are debatable, although they support my thinking above - "full circle . . . dizzy . . . contradictions".

 

[CL82]

"The University has adopted a wide-ranging new academic vision to shape its next decade of progress."
http://today.uconn.edu/blog/2014/04/uconn-adopts-bold-academic-vision/

I congratulate your university for the adoption of your new academic vision. Although athletics, economics, geography, population, etc. are critical factors in B1G expansion, it is of vital importance to the Presidents and Chancellors of the B1G that any candidate university be an academic and cultural fit for the conference.

A few selections from your new academic vision that speak to your university as being an academic and cultural fit for the B1G.
http://academicvision.uconn.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/643/2014/04/academic-plan-single.pdf
"As our state’s flagship public University, and as a land and sea grant institution, we promote the health and well-being of citizens by enhancing the social, economic, cultural, and natural environments of the state and beyond."

"A top flagship university provides access to a rich campus experience and offers lifelong learning opportunities to traditional and nontraditional students alike. It is a center of excellence for graduate and professional education, research, and scholarship—creating knowledge and innovation that fundamentally improves learning and the way people live. An internationally renowned university excels in the arts and sciences, dynamically enhancing the way our graduates understand and experience their world. Finally, a top public state university serves its citizens in a multiplicity of useful ways."

"The initiatives noted in our plan should and will play a major role in moving the University toward its vision of joining the ranks of the greatest public research universities in the world."

Although you can better speak to the vision of the leadership of your university as it relates to conference realignment, from my vantage point this new academic vision aligns exceptionally well with the other universities of the B1G if it is the intention of your leadership to seek membership for UConn in the conference.

Anyone else ever wonder if B1GALUM is Susan Herbst?

 

[CL82]

Often, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. I think the ongoing efforts are tied to getting into an optimum conference. Aside from TV revenue, there are many academic and research synergies. But at the end of the day, UConn will be a better university for it. Lastly, I don't want to imply that SH deserves all the credit, because many people have worked hard over the past 20+ years to get UConn where it is in terms of academics and national stature.

But few, if any, as effectively.

 

[WestHartHusk]

Anyone else ever wonder if B1GALUM is Susan Herbst?

She is not a B1G alum though.

 

[CAHUSKY]

She is not a B1G alum though.

Of course, not. That would be too obvious. She's trying to sneak her real identity past us by using that name.

 

[nomar]

The document itself is mostly platitudes, but the reality is that Herbst is trying to drive UConn to the next level. I don't think it is much of a secret that this is Herbst's plan on conference realignment. Per the other thread, WhartonHusky was getting a similar message, and I have heard second hand from people that have met with senior administration members in recent months that this is the plan. Herbst believes she can drive the academic (edited from earlier post) profile high enough that, together with the strong basketball and adequate football, it will be hard to ignore us. Her first responsibility is to the academics anyway.

I don't know if it will work or not, but from their perspective, if they are successful in driving UConn to this level, that is the more important achievement than getting in the B1G in the big scheme of things.

What Herbst is trying to do is really, really, really hard, and has the potentially of failing spectacularly, and leaving UConn with an overpriced faculty that does not generate sufficient research dollars to justify their own salaries. Schools don't really move up or down the prestige rankings very much. The Top 10 and Top 20 look the same today that it looked 30 years ago. But Herbst is trying to bust in, and put UConn in the same class with UNC, Virginia and Michigan. I can not think of too many other schools that have moved as far up the prestige curve in the last 25 years as UConn has already, and that is due in a large part to Calhoun and Auriemma driving alumni contributions, corporate support, and state funding. Getting to the same level as Pitt, Rutgers and Syracuse is one thing, getting to the next level is going to be really hard, especially in a northern state that is not growing. She needs to find more money, and not a few million. I am guessing she needs to find $2-3 billion to pull this off, give or take a billion. The state doesn't have it. This is going to need to come from private sources.

She must succeed, because there are serious consequences for the school if she tries and fails.

Our only option is joining the Big East as a basketball member and becoming a football independent. I don't know why nobody else sees it this way, when it is obviously the right thing to do.

 

[UMass]

Can I ask you guys a question? Where does UConn stand right now in the endowment picture. I would imagine considerably behind Michigan, but where would you guys fall right now compared to the BIG as a whole?

 

[WestHartHusk]

Can I ask you guys a question? Where does UConn stand right now in the endowment picture. I would imagine considerably behind Michigan, but where would you guys fall right now compared to the BIG as a whole?

At or near the bottom (w/o doing research because I am lazy). That is why we brought in a fundraising heavy-weight from Emory (I think he pulled down >$1B in 6 years). I expect that number to start growing significantly in the near term.

 

[UMass]

At or near the bottom (w/o doing research because I am lazy). That is why we brought in a fundraising heavy-weight from Emory (I think he pulled down >$1B in 6 years). I expect that number to start growing significantly in the near term.

Well now certainly looks like the time to make that push. You've got a President that really gets it and a Governor willing to invest in the future of UConn. Couple those with that fund raising expert and the academic side of UConn is definitely going to reap some reward in the not so distant future. By the way, can UMass get Herbst and Malloy when you guys are done with them?

 

[pj]

A guy with 10,000 posts on this site complaining about people not working hard.

No one argues harder than Muntz. But never confuse hard work with productivity.

 

[pj]

I agree with all of this, except that Ayn Rand, while having an estate with some money, died collecting welfare and medicaide.

I think you mean Medicare and Social Security.

 

[BlueMAB]

Nope. These are Six Sigma types installed by the BOTs from the business world. They excel at instituting coporate bureaucratic structure into non-profits. Are you corporate? You're telling me this doesn't exist there? Functionaries are taking over everywhere.

Put it this way. Here we are discussing tenure, and we've gone from 75% of faculty having it (or being on track) to 24% in the span of a decade, and meanwhile they keep taking people from corporate America to improve efficiency. In 5 years when 10% are tenure or TT we'll still be here discussing whether it's a thing that we should have around, even though it hardly even exists anymore. But hey, we will have our efficiency experts there to pat us on the back and tell us we are still meeting our goals! Even though there is no one around to teach anymore! Hooray.

Fair enough. But "corporate America" and the "business world" are two different animals.

Corporate America accounts for less than half the jobs in this country and small businesses, while they may be reliant on some industry driven by large corporations, are not run like corporations.

 

[BlueMAB]

I agree with all of this, except that Ayn Rand, while having an estate with some money, died collecting welfare and medicaide.

1) She didn't collect welfare.
2) there is no moral hypocrisy to collecting social security after being forced to pay into it.
4) the Medicare claim isn't clear cut
3) neither of your claims are accurate anyway.

http://freestudents.blogspot.com/2011/10/lying-about-ayn-rand-and-social.html?m=1

 

[upstater]

Fair enough. But "corporate America" and the "business world" are two different animals.

Corporate America accounts for less than half the jobs in this country and small businesses, while they may be reliant on some industry driven by large corporations, are not run like corporations.

Right. Many small businesses don't have bean counters either. They hire out.

Seriously though, we're experiencing a level of dysfunction that didn't exist after this army of professionals invaded.

I talked to my kid's teacher last week. My kid's "quarterly report" had 6 different categories for her Literacy assessment, and under each category there were 8 different criteria, with a sentence explaining each assessment (graded 1-5). There were 8 other subjects that were similar, bu this teacher was only in charge of Literacy. I multiplied the number of assessments she had done of my daughter over the last 2 months (48) by the number of terms 4 (4 x 48 = 192) x number of students 26 (192 x 26 = oh about 5000) and realized this teacher was doing 5000 assessments per year in just one subject! When did she have time to do this? I asked. She rolled her eyes (not at me, but in sympathy) and said, "During classtime." She writes notes in her iPad as she observes students at work.

Tell me about the American mania for efficiency. And to twist a Teddy Roosevelt quote, "The business of America is Big Business."

 

[B1GALUM]

Thank you Mr. Delaney for participating in our discussion.

You're welcome. I enjoyed stopping by.

 

[B1GALUM]

Anyone else ever wonder if B1GALUM is Susan Herbst?

Of course, not. That would be too obvious. She's trying to sneak her real identity past us by using that name.

No. I am not Herbst, Manuel or anyone else associated with UConn. Of course, I would be happy to have her paycheck.

My loyalty is foremost to my alma mater Ohio State but I do care about the success of the Big Ten conference. I understand and support the expansion of the Big Ten from the Midwest to the East like other Big Ten posters on this board. I was pleased that Penn State joined the Big Ten and understand the rationale for the additions of Maryland and Rutgers. I also think that this Big Ten expansion to date is not nor should not be complete since the goal is to have a significant presence in the East. It is my thought that additional universities located in the East are necessary to fulfill this goal.

I view the addition of UConn to the Big Ten as a logical progression from Penn State to Maryland to Rutgers and beyond. It is why I read and post on your board and seek to learn more about your university. UConn is a state flagship public research university that will provide additional presence for the Big Ten conference in the East and NYC. UConn in turn would benefit from collaboration with the other universities of the Big Ten as it implements this new academic vision.

I think the importance of any candidate university being an academic and cultural fit for the Big Ten cannot be overstated. The concept of academic and cultural fit is an ideal directly from the Presidents and Chancellors of the Big Ten. If one is going to speculate about candidates for Big Ten membership this must be kept in mind. This is why, as I research UConn as a candidate university, I pay particular attention to this issue. The new academic vision released yesterday caught my eye. Regardless of whether it is unintentional or intentional, from my perspective it appears your leadership is moving UConn in a direction that makes it more of an academic and cultural fit for the Big Ten.

 

[CAHUSKY]

No. I am not Herbst, Manuel or anyone else associated with UConn. Of course, I would be happy to have her paycheck.

My loyalty is foremost to my alma mater Ohio State but I do care about the success of the Big Ten conference. I understand and support the expansion of the Big Ten from the Midwest to the East like other Big Ten posters on this board. I was pleased that Penn State joined the Big Ten and understand the rationale for the additions of Maryland and Rutgers. I also think that this Big Ten expansion to date is not nor should not be complete since the goal is to have a significant presence in the East. It is my thought that additional universities located in the East are necessary to fulfill this goal.

I view the addition of UConn to the Big Ten as a logical progression from Penn State to Maryland to Rutgers and beyond. It is why I read and post on your board and seek to learn more about your university. UConn is a state flagship public research university that will provide additional presence for the Big Ten conference in the East and NYC. UConn in turn would benefit from collaboration with the other universities of the Big Ten as it implements this new academic vision.

I think the importance of any candidate university being an academic and cultural fit for the Big Ten cannot be overstated. The concept of academic and cultural fit is an ideal directly from the Presidents and Chancellors of the Big Ten. If one is going to speculate about candidates for Big Ten membership this must be kept in mind. This is why, as I research UConn as a candidate university, I pay particular attention to this issue. The new academic vision released yesterday caught my eye. Regardless of whether it is unintentional or intentional, from my perspective it appears your leadership is moving UConn in a direction that makes it more of an academic and cultural fit for the Big Ten.

Ok, now im hoping youre Jim Delany.

 

[Seaa Blue]

Ok, now im hoping youre Jim Delany.

Delany is a UNC grad.

 

[CAHUSKY]

Delany is a UNC grad.

Drats!!!

 

[woomba]

At or near the bottom (w/o doing research because I am lazy). That is why we brought in a fundraising heavy-weight from Emory (I think he pulled down >$1B in 6 years). I expect that number to start growing significantly in the near term.

Here's the full list - http://www.nacubo.org/Documents/EndowmentFiles/2013NCSEEndowmentMarket ValuesRevisedFeb142014.pdf

UConn's up 10% from last year but still a long ways away from catching up to the other schools. It's also possible to invest in the school itself without impacting endowment figures much so this isn't going to be a complete picture but it's an interesting metric to track.

 

[husky210]

In Nelson's world uconn closes it's doors and ceases to exist.

Crap I forgot. Can we still join the big east if that happens?