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Mark Kennedy new, but soon to be old CU President - Official CU president Thread

Buffnik said:
My main takeaway from this is that CU needs to lobby hard to change its BoR so that it’s no longer a board of politicians. Peer boards are mostly comprised of representatives of the various stakeholder groups (alumni, faculty, boosters, state, etc). This is the real problem at CU.
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Sounds good, but who at CU would do that? Who has incentive to do that?
 
That is an interesting list. I looked up a few of the folks there who are still in their roles. There is a strong pattern in the list. There wasn't a single politician in the 5 or so I looked at. Not one. Almost all of the President's had significant backgrounds in Higher Education, and very light on private sector experience. Maybe you think that is good or bad, I don't know - but it is interesting.

Elson Floyd at WSU had this impressive background

Floyd started his career in 1978 at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he held deanships in the Division of Student Affairs, the General College and the College of Arts and Sciences. From 1988-90, he was assistant vice president for student services for the UNC system office, where he helped develop and articulate student affairs and academic affairs policy for the 16-campus university system.
For two years, 1993–1995, he was executive director of the Washington State Higher Education Coordinating Board, the agency responsible for statewide planning, policy analysis and student financial aid programs for Washington's post-secondary education system. From 1990 to 1993, Floyd served as vice president for student services, vice president for administration, and executive vice president at Eastern Washington University (Cheney, Washington). In the latter role, he was the university's chief operating officer.
Floyd spent 1995-98 at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill where he served as chief administrative and operating officer and the senior official responsible for business and finance; human resources; auxiliary enterprises; student affairs; information technology; university advancement and development; and enrollment management.
Floyd was the sixth president of Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan, from August 1, 1998 until January 5, 2003. While at Western Michigan University, he also was a tenured faculty member in the Department of Counselor Education and Counseling Psychology and in the Department of Teaching, Learning and Leadership.
Floyd was the 21st president of the four-campus University of Missouri for four years (2003–07). He was selected to lead Missouri's land-grant research university on November 11, 2002. It was at Missouri that Floyd picked up the nickname 'E-Flo' by students, who created buttons bearing the phrase, 'I heart E-Flo' for his approachable relationship with the student body.[5] Floyd became president of Washington State University (WSU) on May 21, 2007, his third university presidency. Floyd's tenure was highlighted by:
  • Tripling the amount of research grants WSU received annually (from $200 million to $600 million)
  • Starting and completing a $1 billion Capital Campaign for WSU
  • Creating bipartisan support for a bill that allows WSU to open a Medical School
  • Increasing WSU's enrollment by 17%
  • Growing WSU's student of color profile from 14% to 26.5%
  • Opening WSU North Puget Sound (Everett, Washington)
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Kennedy is getting a major promotion from UND. He isn't coming from a peer institution, nor does he have the ton of experience in his roles. In two years, his salary is going to go from $320k to $850k. Maybe his first contract should have been a bit more modest, considering his inexperience? And after 3 years if he proves himself, then he can get paid like a President at a peer institution?
 
You could make a lot of money betting that the assclowns here griping about Kennedy either a) are not college graduates, or b) are not CU graduates. Carry on. No one cares.
 
PAHIBuff said:
You could make a lot of money betting that the assclowns here griping about Kennedy either a) are not college graduates, or b) are not CU graduates. Carry on. No one cares.
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oh good you're here again.
 
Not Sure said:
Not sure how to fix it. But I do know this: the decision has been made. We can choose to bitch and moan about it or be Buffs and work to make CU better. Whining about the decision at this point serves no purpose. We made our voices be heard by the Regents and they were ignored. That’s on us for electing them in the first place. We can wallow in self pity or choose a more constructive path.
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This is the whole problem in a nutshell.

The BOR are flawed because the candidates who run and win are flawed. It isn't high enough profile to appeal to those who already have some proven accomplishments in the political arena.

Most of the candidates tend to either be people who have a particular self-interest or agenda to push or who have no real record and are looking to use the position as a stepping stone to higher office (or with a guy like Kroll, both.)

Somehow if the BOR is going to be an elected body we have to find a way to get better candidates running and support those candidates in their pursuit of office.

I know that some here have biases against older candidates for office but this might be a place where the ideal candidate is someone who has had a successful career with proven accomplishments. After retirement use their experience and skills and their desire to leave a legacy instead of building their own brand.

We could also use some younger candidates who are able to adjust their own work schedules around the BOR responsibilities (Bring back @Buffnik ) and who have a true interest in the school.
 
I don't really think it's really been about griping. Think it's more whether they could've done better and didn't have it being a damn **** show that happens too damn often at CU.
 
PAHIBuff said:
You could make a lot of money betting that the assclowns here griping about Kennedy either a) are not college graduates, or b) are not CU graduates. Carry on. No one cares.
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I'm not sure what kind of weird-ass bookies you deal with that would take that bet.

I could care less about the educational background of someone griping about Kennedy so long as they are invested in what is best for CU. Mark Kennedy is not qualified to be president at CU and it has nothing to do with his politics. His politics only seem to matter to the folks on the BoR who are misguided in their assertion that there needs to be "diversity of thought" at the executive level at CU. I hope we look back on Mark Kennedy's tenure as President as being a success, but I would wager it will be a disaster. Maybe your bookie who takes bets on the educational background of message board posters would give me odds on that.

By the way, my spouse feels the same way about Kennedy and we both have multiple degrees from CU.
 
dio said:
That is an interesting list. I looked up a few of the folks there who are still in their roles. There is a strong pattern in the list. There wasn't a single politician in the 5 or so I looked at. Not one. Almost all of the President's had significant backgrounds in Higher Education, and very light on private sector experience. Maybe you think that is good or bad, I don't know - but it is interesting.

Elson Floyd at WSU had this impressive background



Kennedy is getting a major promotion from UND. He isn't coming from a peer institution, nor does he have the ton of experience in his roles. In two years, his salary is going to go from $320k to $850k. Maybe his first contract should have been a bit more modest, considering his inexperience? And after 3 years if he proves himself, then he can get paid like a President at a peer institution?
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I do like the idea of a president having leadership experience in the private sector, especially if it is with a large budget, multi-dimensional organization. They should still have some experience working with higher education as well.

You are correct though and as I pointed out earlier, nothing in Kennedy's background stands out as outstanding. He hasn't led a similar institution, he hasn't had any accomplishments that make you take notice, he doesn't have any particular group of supporters that rave about his leadership.

CU is not Kansas State or Oklahoma State. CU is a multi-campus system that has set it standards as being one of the upper echelon public institutions in the nation if not world. What about this hire says excellence? What about this hire motivates individuals or the institution to rise to a higher level?

Considering that we are willing to pay at a level that is certainly highly competitive, considering the level the institution is already at (and the accomplishments of recent years like the Anshchutz campus and the massive upgrades at the Colorado Springs campus) this hire is highly disappointing.

Kind of strikes me as a football program like Notre Dame or Michigan hiring a head coach from a Mountain West school that has gone to a couple bowl games but hasn't won a conference championship.
 
MtnBuff said:
Kind of strikes me as a football program like Notre Dame or Michigan hiring a head coach from a Mountain West school that has gone to a couple bowl games but hasn't won a conference championship.
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Hey, maybe it will turn out that we hired the Urban Meyer of college Presidents! We can only hope...
 
Buffarino said:
Hey, maybe it will turn out that we hired the Urban Meyer of college Presidents! We can only hope...
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Maybe. But Urban built struggling programs at Bowling Green & Utah before getting a big job.

If Kennedy had done something like taking a school from Carnegie Tier 3 to a Tier 2 rank on research intensity, for example, I wouldn't have as much worry about him taking over leadership of a Tier 1 with other campuses to bring up. The main calling card I see for Kennedy is that he's a hawk on budget and efficiencies. That can be great, but it needs to be paired with a vision for growth. (Urban wouldn't have gotten hired at Florida if his claim to fame at Utah was that he'd slashed the football staff, assistant salaries and recruiting budgets without increasing or decreasing the wins.)
 
PAHIBuff said:
You could make a lot of money betting that the assclowns here griping about Kennedy either a) are not college graduates, or b) are not CU graduates. Carry on. No one cares.
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I'll take your money now.

According to data from the system Faculty Council, which included submissions through Monday morning, 82.1% of those who gave feedback believe Kennedy “will have difficulty in meeting expectations in most areas.” Students are the least confident in him, followed by faculty and alumni.

While most submissions came from the University of Colorado Boulder, where tensions rose high at Kennedy’s last open forum, the campus that expressed the least confidence was CU Anschutz.

The Daily Camera also obtained from CU the raw data of the more than 3,600 responses submitted through early Tuesday afternoon. The majority of respondents feel that Kennedy is “weak” in all areas, including diversity, administration and management, and personal qualities.

The 329 respondents who said they found him to be an “outstanding” candidate overall were mainly community members, then alumni and students.
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So I believe that the "assclowns" that aren't college graduates and/or are not CU graduates are the ones supporting him...

I'll accept venmo or paypal.
 
Betsy’s problem was actually something Kennedy should be very good at - public relations. She butchered the response to the “scandal”, but by almost any other measure, she was a solid leader. Kennedy has been in front of a lot of cameras, so he will be less likely (I hope) to say something stupid when a microphone is put in front of him. Hoffman had the support of most of the students, faculty, staff, etc. Kennedy has to start by digging out of a massive hole.
 
Not Sure said:
Betsy’s problem was actually something Kennedy should be very good at - public relations. She butchered the response to the “scandal”, but by almost any other measure, she was a solid leader. Kennedy has been in front of a lot of cameras, so he will be less likely (I hope) to say something stupid when a microphone is put in front of him. Hoffman had the support of most of the students, faculty, staff, etc. Kennedy has to start by digging out of a massive hole.
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you'd think that, but he's been a disaster every time he's gotten in front of a group or on camera.
 
Goose said:
I'll take your money now.



So I believe that the "assclowns" that aren't college graduates and/or are not CU graduates are the ones supporting him...

I'll accept venmo or paypal.
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DIO-SLAPPED

Also from that article:
Submissions cited Kennedy’s apparent lack of commitment to his current position (he applied to be president of the University of Central Florida shortly after taking the helm at the University of North Dakota); his contentious relationships with some major donors at his current institution; his lack of authenticity; and what some see as his narcissistic demeanor.
Those who rated Kennedy favorably commented that they liked his answers at the open forums; the diversity of opinion he could bring to CU; and diverse background in business, politics and higher education. Many comments also rejected the criticisms from Kennedy’s opposition and encouraged the regents to vote for him despite that.
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Which further supports what I said earlier: his politics are not the reason he's not qualified. His politics only matter to those who support him.
 
Denver_sc said:
DIO-SLAPPED

Also from that article:


Which further supports what I said earlier: his politics are not the reason he's not qualified. His politics only matter to those who support him.
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His politics also matter to those who can only find fault in his politics. Most people can find plenty of faults. I still can’t figure out why they matter when there are a lot of other issues with the guy.
 
His politics are a secondary factor. They are not irrelevant, but they can be overlooked if the guy is a rockstar in other areas... like Bruce Benson. Benson had politics that people didn't like. Benson was protested, but mostly by the extreme faculty and students. Most everyone else understood precisely what Benson's vision was, and there was at least some hope he could deliver it.

Kennedy has none of that. He is protested across the political spectrum, and has not communicated anything related to his vision except vague platitudes like 'bring CU to the 21st century' or 'improve the use of technology'.

What in the world does that mean? And why is Kennedy, this older guy in his mid-60's, the one to do that?

I also think Goose's stats are interesting because our LEAST political campus - Anschutz - opposed him the most.
 
Where politics do come into play is with what @Uncle Ken has brought up. We don’t want LGBTQ members of the CU community - including prospective members - to look at CU about as favorably as Chuck-Fil-A.
 
Looking forward to reports about the vibe in Kennedy’s Club Box at Folsom.
 
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