J Bruce Harreld, new President at University of Iowa

Gonna assume he is BRUCE Harreld. Cause if he struts around calling himself J Bruce, I'm outa here.
 
Wow, they went with the IBM exec who has no college admin experience! Wonder how he will do with handling things like the athletics or if had to fire coaches or and AD? Could this potentially be a problem with no experience with that?
 
MelroseHawkins said:
Wow, they went with the IBM exec who has no college admin experience! Wonder how he will do with handling things like the athletics or if had to fire coaches or and AD? Could this potentially be a problem with no experience with that?
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Must be the Trump effect.
 
No experience means no prescription conceived notions. The professors need to have an open mind about this hire, celebrate their differences, and be tolerant.
 
Athletics is the "glue that binds" according to new UI Prez Bruce Harreld. Says he's a "cheerleader" and will listen to Barta and Ferentz.

 
MelroseHawkins said:
Wow, they went with the IBM exec who has no college admin experience! Wonder how he will do with handling things like the athletics or if had to fire coaches or and AD? Could this potentially be a problem with no experience with that?
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he didn't get to the positions he's been in without knowing how to manage people.
 
I think that many of you are over-generalizing the left and academics. There's a distinct difference between running a non-profit research university and a business, and the requisite skills for both can differ in many areas, though some are the same, like leadership etc. But really what this comes down to is going to be what seem to be small choices where Harreld's priorities differ from those that are core to academic priorities. Certain departments tend to bring in more money in the form of private and government grants than other departments, simply by the nature of the research they do and the expenses incurred to conduct this research. It costs a lot more to run a chemistry lab than it does to conduct surveys, but both are incredibly important. As a liberal arts school (and one of the best public universities in the nation on that front), the emphasis is on building a diverse education, not a trade education. Trade education is vital as well, but it is also not the only need.

And on one other point, there's been mention of PC and censorship by academics, but this is just not even close to the truth. It is, in fact, not the faculty that is to blame for that. In reality it is the students who, when confronted with a new idea that challenges their own world view, their immediate response is to claim bias and censorship. As a result, faculty are hamstrung by mandates (explicit and implicit) to be more sensitive. Linking this back to the new president, somebody running a business will move to avoid costly lawsuits from students and families who do not like their views challenged, meaning more implicit and explicit mandates to further tone down the material that is taught. That's my greatest concern here. I have no problem with capitalism and markets, but when that market conflicts with the mission of a liberal arts university, which gives way? In the eyes of somebody whose main background is in business is likely to err on the side of business and market forces. He'd be a great candidate for dean of the business school, but i doubt his commitment to a diverse liberal arts education. Let's not turn this into something it is not. This is not a conflict between left and right or academia versus business, but a discussion of the priority and mission of the institution and who will, as president, fight for that mission.
 
I hope this hire is better than when Michigan hired their last AD who failed miserably. He was the CEO of Dominos Pizza. He couldn't transition. Hope Mr. Harreld recognizes the importance of sports, because Sally Mason saw athletics as a afterthought. I hope he has that precious balance of academics and athletics and how both feed off of each other. Gary Barta's seat just got read hot, because if football wades in mediocrity Barta's contract will not be renewed and Kirk will be out. The pressure of performance of the football team just got more intense.
 
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HawkeyesWin said:
No experience means no prescription conceived notions. The professors need to have an open mind about this hire, celebrate their differences, and be tolerant.
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tolerance - the ability or willingness to tolerate something, in particular the existence of opinions or behavior that one does not necessarily agree with.

Being tolerant doesn't mean having to agree with all decisions made. That's not tolerance, that's blind obedience. Tolerance is me accepting that he is the new president, but it doesn't mean i have to like it, and it doesn't mean i should not express that opinion and my reasoning for it.
 
kirby said:
Or be running in ultra-rich circles and have connections....like Rastetter. Wouldn't surprise me if he already has connections with KF too.
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you don't think that these highly placed academics aren't in the group you are referring to? more of an old boy network than business.
 
HawkInATX said:
I think that many of you are over-generalizing the left and academics. There's a distinct difference between running a non-profit research university and a business, and the requisite skills for both can differ in many areas, though some are the same, like leadership etc. But really what this comes down to is going to be what seem to be small choices where Harreld's priorities differ from those that are core to academic priorities. Certain departments tend to bring in more money in the form of private and government grants than other departments, simply by the nature of the research they do and the expenses incurred to conduct this research. It costs a lot more to run a chemistry lab than it does to conduct surveys, but both are incredibly important. As a liberal arts school (and one of the best public universities in the nation on that front), the emphasis is on building a diverse education, not a trade education. Trade education is vital as well, but it is also not the only need.

And on one other point, there's been mention of PC and censorship by academics, but this is just not even close to the truth. It is, in fact, not the faculty that is to blame for that. In reality it is the students who, when confronted with a new idea that challenges their own world view, their immediate response is to claim bias and censorship. As a result, faculty are hamstrung by mandates (explicit and implicit) to be more sensitive. Linking this back to the new president, somebody running a business will move to avoid costly lawsuits from students and families who do not like their views challenged, meaning more implicit and explicit mandates to further tone down the material that is taught. That's my greatest concern here. I have no problem with capitalism and markets, but when that market conflicts with the mission of a liberal arts university, which gives way? In the eyes of somebody whose main background is in business is likely to err on the side of business and market forces. He'd be a great candidate for dean of the business school, but i doubt his commitment to a diverse liberal arts education. Let's not turn this into something it is not. This is not a conflict between left and right or academia versus business, but a discussion of the priority and mission of the institution and who will, as president, fight for that mission.
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I would agree it really is a discussion about the priority and mission of the institution. It is rather obvious that the Regents felt that Iowa for some time was not in step with what the Regents felt the mission of the state's flagship institution should be. I wouldn't just assume that Harreld will care only about the bottom line. But I would say that Iowa does need to care more about it than it has to compete in the changing landscape of higher education. It will be interesting to see how the new president addresses that, while building on the areas where Iowa does well.

It can work (and has elsewhere) in bringing in an "outsider." It depends on the person and the school. Mitch Daniels at Purdue has managed to lead Purdue to 4 straight years of no tuition increases while not sacrificing academic performance. And I'm not turning this into a political debate. Just showing that outside ideas can work. But Daniels' success at Purdue has little bearing on whether or not Harreld will do well.

And you are totally on point with the assessment of the PC culture taking root. It's largely the students who can't handle any idea they don't agree with, and the pursuit of/vetting of ideas suffers. I don't know that it's fair to say that Herrald will automatically put the kibosh on academic freedom. Successful businesses are places where people are free to challenge preconceptions, share ideas and question everything. All within a structure of mutual respect. A classroom is different than a meeting room, but the concept is similar. But maybe he will be risk averse and seek first to insulate the school from lawsuits. Time will tell.
 
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