UConn Adopts Bold Academic Vision

[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?

 

[Seaa Blue]

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?

$392MM is, um, ~half that of the next highest Big Ten member, Rutgers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Ten_Conference
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Connecticut
http://uconn.edu/pdf/UConn_Facts_2012.pdf

But SH wants to make it $1B.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/09/uconn-president-susan-her_n_893962.html

 

[CL82]

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?

Yes as to Malloy, no to Herbst.

 

[CL82]

$392MM is, um, ~half that of the next highest Big Ten member, Rutgers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Ten_Conference
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Connecticut
http://uconn.edu/pdf/UConn_Facts_2012.pdf

But SH wants to make it $1B.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/09/uconn-president-susan-her_n_893962.html

True but UConn has an actively supportive legislature which should count for significantly more than that difference.

 

[hardcorehusky]

True but UConn has an actively supportive legislature which should count for significantly more than that difference.

On Tuesday night, President Herbst spoke in Hartford. What struck me was when someone asked about AAU as a goal, she called it more of a by-product of what the university is doing.

In essence, if we raise the endowment BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY, we do that through fund raising and attracting faculty who can be productive. The more productive the faculty, the quicker the endowment dollars come from the government and major corporations. She cautioned that a lot of schools were research schools in the early 1900's and have been part of AAU for a long time, we are playing catch up here.

To me, with Josh Newton, the new head of the UCONN FOUNDATION, a more coordinated money seeking process that is being put into place, re-knowned faculty coming to the school to teach and conduct research, she has us on the right path.

 

[BlueMAB]

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."

Right. Because public education is run exactly like small businesses.

 

[upstater]

Right. Because public education is run exactly like small businesses.

Who said that?

Are you asking if it was more efficient before? Well, if it wasn't efficient, how did it manage to have 75% full-time faculty at a lower cost? So you get rid of the full-timers, hire efficiency experts, and costs go up.

 

[huskyrob1]

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?

See my post earlier in this thread, page two I think.

 

[Stray_Dog]

I hope knuckle draggers like you do put me on ignore. If you are too stupid to understand what I am saying, then just shut up. I am tired of explaining posts to you. Also, look up the meaning of diatribe.

Okay everyone, I will ask you for I did as Nelsonmuntz suggested (LOL - I know, why???, but please humor me)...I looked up the definition of diatribe and here it is:
an angry and usually long speech or piece of writing that strongly criticizes someone or something.

Now, as far as posts go, on average his appeared to be rather long when compared to most on here. And I do feel he was criticizing the SH WM plan which would require 2-3 billion give or take a billion. So does the definition of diatribe work??? You be the judge!
I am just tired of his presentation of facts to support his view and when one major factor is dis-proven, we are still expected to accept the rest of the argument.

 

[BlueMAB]

Who said that?

Are you asking if it was more efficient before? Well, if it wasn't efficient, how did it manage to have 75% full-time faculty at a lower cost? So you get rid of the full-timers, hire efficiency experts, and costs go up.

I thought you were being sarcastic in your last response. You seemed to be saying small business behave the same, then provided the teacher's countless assessments as an example. It was a total non sequitur.

 

[huskyrob1]

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.

Not only do you need a great fundraiser but you also need a really good money manager to invest those funds and make them grow with the least amount of risk. During the financial crisis in 08-09 many big schools saw their endowment funds fall in value by as much as 80%, many were invested in big banks and investment brokerages like Lehman Bros and Bear Stearns. Herbst has to make sure the guy she hires for that job is a good one.