a-zip
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Posts posted by a-zip
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They should have put Yedlin in MUCH SOONER!!!!!
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USA vs Jamaica Yedlin vs Mattocks
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Akron doesn't like the JAR, why would anyone expect a high profile team to want to come to the JAR.
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It doesn't surprise me that the Presidents feel that way, empire building and turf protection and all that. When it comes--and I believe that it's a matter of when not if--it'll come from the Governor's office and the legislature. The fact that the Can't president is so adamantly against it suggests that--despite UA's current troubles--she might view UA as a possible dominant partner in the match. I also believe that the first of the two Presidents/Boards who get out in front of the issue will have the political support to influence it to a greater degree than the other.
I've talked about how over-saturated Ohio is with both four and two year public campuses and redundant doctoral programs. I'll do some digging and compare it to California, which has always been viewed nationally as the gold standard of a well organized and structured state university system. Not sure about this weekend, but I have some airport lounge time this coming week that I'll need to kill.
Have a good weekend, man. Cheers.
BINGO. That is why I feel the initiatives SS has on the table are very smart. Specializing and the "Polytechnic" re-branding are consistent with what the state seems to want. I said it in a post a while ago - I am not surprised the other presidents were pissed at our announcement. I also think it was smart to try and keep this under wraps as long as possible (not be so transparent right now). We beat them to the punch!
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Without bringing emotion into it, isn't Terry Pluto being the adult it this situtation? Everything he said is correct, and has been mirrored in some manner on this forum by several members.
Agreed. I though the points he brought up were accurate and real. Two things that stood out to me in particular;
- It does not make sense to move from Division 1 to Division 1AA. If you do anything, you move to division 3 if you want to save money. Hopefully this will HELP put this dumbass topic our faculty members brought up to bed (maybe those people should move to the top of the cut list ;-). 1AA is not an option.
- The big issue with attendance may be difficult to overcome. UA lives in the BIG shadow of the Browns and Ohio State. High school football is incredibly popular and well supported. Can't is down the road (not a big threat but they do take a little away from us).
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CK - it's a great post but what do you expect SS or the AD to do? Get suckered in to a no-win media battle against against your own faculty? I hope they don't.
The spade has been called a spade. We have beaten the iCoach holocaust into the ground. We get it.
The answer and the solution is simple. The community needs to go to the games! Last year would have been great but it didn't happen, and we are a laughing stock. I guarantee if the community would have supported the team, we would have won 1-2 more home games and we might have signed a couple better recruits.
The school has provided a first class venue, brought in one of the best coaches in the country. Show you care Akron. The team will be inspired and make you proud.
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Pat is going to have a big year. MAC POY candidate. I have a sneaky suspicion J Ivey is going to to be unreal at some point.
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If anyone here subscribes to The Chronicle of Higher Education, this might be interesting:
Stirring Fear and Hope, U. of Akron Mulls an Aggressive Move Online
would love to read it. hopefully someone has a subscription
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I'm just saying, it's been floated that perhaps going to the Z and lowering the profile of the A-Roo is part of a larger movement to Rebrand the University. That doesn't appear to be the case.
I will say that I like the updated website, it was in need of a revamp, and hopefully the Z gear will be pretty cool. Though it looks like it'll be a couple of years before we really see a lot of Z gear, because it seems more likely they'll roll it out slowly.
And if you want to get picky (since you do). The thread "Eliminating the A-Roo" should be changed to "Moving to the Z". Just as TW said to you in his response ;-)
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The brand guide probably belongs over in Eliminating the A-Roo thread, rather than the UA Rebranding one. The FAQ calls this a "Revamp" and states:
Whatever dude……I just threw it in as an afterthought..
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If they cut sports based on attendance or profit/loss, UA would need to drop them all
YUP!! I am just pointing out that only about 251 people seem to care but people blame SS for it all.
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Zips Baseball attendance - average 251 people per game. Is it a surprise baseball got cut? Lets not let the same thing happen to football!!!
Vs YSU 150
Vs Toledo 158
Vs Toledo 227
Vs Toledo 227
Vs N Illinois 364
Vs N Illinois 290
Vs Miami 163
Vs Miami 511
Vs Miami 304
Vs Malone 210
Vs Buffalo 221
Vs Buffalo 253
Vs Buffalo 209
Vs Canisius 105
Vs Can't 311
Vs Can't 327
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I realize these are dated but I haven't seen them;
This is consistent is with the rebranding move. Hopefully puts us in good graces
Makes sense - "TEAM OHIO" is making more sense to me
BGSU's take
http://www.ay-ziggy-zoomba.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=32518
www.gozips.com has a new look Z
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Possibly being football competitive and being in a tournament possibly playing for a national championship is 'giving up the football program'? OK just don't go to the games. Looks like a lot of people are not already. Got my season tix AGAIN. Will be there every home game,some away whether they play DI,I-AA or D-II. Its supposed to be about HIGHER education,RIGHT?
THAT'S WHAT WE NEED!!! AND about 15K more of ya!!
Lee Adams
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My head is about to explode over the criticism of UA faculty. What did you guys seriously expect the faculty to suggest? The faculty is made up of a lot of people, including your researchers. Several of the people blasting the faculty on this thread, praise Scarborough for being the "adult" and making difficult choices. It's a little hypocritical IMO. Why wouldn't it be responsible for the Faculty to recommend this, so it can be discussed, debated and throughly investigated. The university faced a $60million defecit. Shouldn't everything be on the table at that point?
I'm a supporter of football. I desperately want to see UA succeed in everything. But seriously, we as a community need to stop cannibalizing ourselves and villainizing some part of our, seemingly very small, community. It's rather depressing.
Everything should be on the table BUT it would be nice if "our faculty of researchers" actually did some research and provided some rationale for their opinion. As many have pointed out, moving down would not necessarily save anything of substance. IMHO - This article was disappointing, divisive, and unfortunately……predictable. Wow Balsy, you blast everything our president says or does but how dare we question the faculty. WOW!
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Two quotes from the article I like….
UA President Scott Scarborough has defended the football program, noting its marketing value to the school.
“The university benefits most when football, basketball and soccer are strong programs with great game-day experiences and winning records — both on the field and in the classroom,” he has said.
SO GO TO THE GAMES AKRON!!!
Rich said he was pleased that the announced budget cuts are focused on non-academic areas.“It is essential that the university continue to fulfill its core academic mission and, as President Scarborough says, to protect and enhance academic quality,” he said. “In that connection, it is worth emphasizing that there will be no faculty layoffs.”
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So what is the root cause of the need for change?
An expected loss of revenue (budget gap) due to "declining" enrollment.
What caused the declining enrollment, it wasn't because of the changes and beautification of campus. The decline in enrollment was specifically due to a desire to do two things....1) increase the graduation rate...2) make the university more prestigious by increasing the metrics of incoming freshmen.
So now because of the change to being an "open enrollment" university the new president is stuck with an image problem. The University of Akron, despite what the alumni and students know, is viewed as a commuter school, a last choice school. That is not an ideal image when you want to improve the type of student you want to attract.
Now I disagree with some of the decisions, lower the cost of intro credits and raising fees on 300-400 level classes. That is counter productive to goal number of increasing the graduation rate. It promotes dropping out or transferring to other schools. Quite frankly it's a car sales technique that has no place in public education.
Outside of that, the re-branding concept seems great. Establish an identity that as been lacking. People with knowledge pigeon holed UA as an engineering school even though it has many strong programs. The problem with the re-branding is that people "understand" polytechnic as "tech" and you put yourself at the disadvantage of having to educate people on what a polytechnic school is. Also the lack of transparency (though necessary as to avoid other schools from stealing the idea) created fear of a name change.
Growing pains are rough, I remember when Proenza first took over, the increase in fees to pay for buildings that no one would see or use for 4 years hit a lot of people the wrong way, and enrollment dropped (below 25,000 at one point). But it eventually grew again. As Akron positions itself as a school of first choice, there are going to be some growing pains, but I think we will see improvement more quickly.
gmann, I ran out of "likes" but
Here I go again Capt'n.....
I personally like all the "ideas" I am hearing from Dr. SS. I also liked the ideas Dr. Proenza had. We needed a new stadium, building one on campus was awesome and to have one as nice as the Info was a bonus. I also liked the "idea" of renovating the campus and building new dorms. I like the "idea" of getting away from the commuter school stigma. All of that made sense to me BUT the plan for implementing, rolling out and marketing it all sucked!! "Build it and they will come" is not a strategy - it is more like a "hail mary" to me. Maybe there wasn't enough money left over to market all the new shiny changes or maybe it wasn't well thought out. Some of the ideas that have come on this board I like;
More events at the Info and on campus. Get some concerts, festivals, and other events on campus. Look at what the Lebron James homecoming drew
Look at what the Browns "family day" drew
Why stop!!! Get people used to coming to the school, seeing how nice it is.....make it "the place to be". (Don't we make some money off of these???) Someone mentioned UA is difficult to deal with - if that is true.....it needs to be changed immediately. Sadly, these two events have outdrawn any Zip football game (except maybe the opener).
Speaking of Lebron James....he is probably the most recognized athlete in the world. Not many cities can claim having someone like him. Why are we not using Lebron and Nike more? King James Arena, King James Court. That is one of the paths I would be heading down to get a new arena built. He/they have the money to do it!
Building the Info and hiring iCoach was a mistake (as we all know). Maybe Dr. SS should have said "I would not have hired THAT coach"
IF someone like Terry Bowden expressed an interest to come to UA to open the new stadium, that would have been a no-brainer. Personally, I liked JD Brookhart and he was doing fine. I realize this is all water under the bridge now but the only reason I bring this up is because WE DO HAVE Terry Bowden now and Chuck Amato. We are sooo lucky to have these guys and if they cannot turn this around, nobody can!! They need our support!! I don't care about the past losing records, weekday games, bad weather, etc. GET OUT TO THE GAMES!! I'm not asking for a sellout right away but 5400 people is a joke!! To me, it is all on the community. If the community does not come out, they don't deserve a team.....go pay a couple hundred to sit at the top of suckeye stadium.If more people come to the games - we will win more, we will get better recruits (which will help us win more), we will go to bowl games, we can attract better opponents to the Info and people will get more excited. If people sit around and bitch and moan, we will continue losing, we will get inferior recruits and we will get embarrassing articles written about us having the worst attendance in NCAA football. If TB cannot turn this around and he leaves.....say goodbye to D1 football at UA.
I like "moving toward" the Z logo. I think the timing is good because I believe we are about to turn the corner in football. It feels fresh. This topic got more attention than it deserved and I doubt anyone will get turned away for coming to a game with A-Roo gear.
I like the re-branding. People need to become more educated on Polytechnic and the school needs to help with that. At some point, the schools reputation will speak for itself. I would not discourage my son to go to business school at Virginia Tech because it is a "polytechnic school". It is a great school....period! If we ultimately morph into Ohio Tech.....I like it. It sounds bigger.
I like the idea of blending MOOC http://jolt.merlot.org/vol9no2/bruff_0613.htm
The recent budget cuts?? I don't like them but they need to be done. We are not the only school out there to drop sports and if it frees up money for academics, I am all for it.
I do believe transparency is good but most organizations do not want information, history, plans to fall in the hands of competitors. Transparency has its advantages — and challenges. Organizational transparency helps create trust among stakeholders, encourages more informed decision making, and supports greater participation. However, it does not guarantee that the right decisions will be made or that information will not be manipulated or misconstrued. I like this comment from a CEO;
Like most children, my five-year old son is extremely transparent. For example, he enjoys playing card games, especially Uno, but requires all players to keep their cards exposed. You might say we play a transparent game. From my son's perspective, he cannot see playing the game any other way. If we attempt to hide our cards and play the game correctly, he assumes that we are cheating and holding back information. On the other hand, since all cards are exposed, he has learned how to manipulate the plays and direct the players' activities. Playing this way takes a bit longer, but in the end someone wins, often my son.
Lets face it, technology and social media have created plenty of transparency....like it or not.
There is a lot going on. Dr. SS has a lot of tough decisions to make and I don't expect everyone to like them all. I like hearing the objections but I HATE bitching without presenting alternative solutions. I hope this administration is taking their time, considering all options and rolling things out in an orderly manner.
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It is a forum for us to state our opinions (we all have em')
We state opinions, the administration makes changes and you criticize. Conspiracy, mistrust, false statements. Do you think the status quo is acceptable? What are your solutions?
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Balsy, I was just reading through some of your comments and positions on some of the more recent “hot” topics;
· Corp of Cadets has huge bust potential
· Don’t like the presidents house being remodeled
· You are a protester on the rebranding
· The whole rebranding idea is absolutely asinine
· Don’t believe Dr. Scarborough has done any due diligence
· Dr. Scarborough has shown disregard for the UA community
· Dr. Scarborough has no fundraising ability
· He has made zero effort to be engaged with students, faculty and staff
· Don’t agree with the cutting of some of the 200 undergrad degrees
· Education is not a business. It should not be a business. It should not operate as a business. It does not work on the same principal of a business.
· Bill Gates and Mark Cuban know nothing about education
· Don’t like MOOC courses
· Complain that decisions are being made without research and then when you find out money was spent on research you complain
· You complained there is no transparency with Dr. SS administration when feedback is that it is much better than the previous administration
· Oh, and you started the A-Roo being eliminated thread when TW’s response to you clearly said we were simply moving to the Z, NOT eliminating the A-Roo.
Someone said, “We need a critic as UA president”. Balsy, I think you should apply.
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I'd guess Pres. Scar.'s explanation is going to be the plain simple truth, that he is up against it due to the circumstances he came into and he is having to find creative solutions to get through the current financial situation. I'm starting to think it's the trustees and Proenza who are going to have some 'splainin to do in Columbus about the current situation and wouldn't be surprised if some trustees get the boot.
+1
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Skip - it is 9.9 schollys for soccer
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I disagree. Just because there a tough decisions to be made, does not mean that those decisions that are being made aren't up for criticism. The PD reported the baseball's budget for one season was $700,000. The cost of refurbishing the presidential mansion was upwards of $835,000. Why is cutting baseball a prudent, needed decision, while refurbishing the presidential mansion is a prudent investment in the university? Why is eliminating faculty positions (which is being done because they're not replacing retirees, which is a lot with changes to STRS, where younger replacements would start at a lower paygrade) a needed tough decision, but absolutely no changes to administration? Why are changes to faculty healthcare policies prudent, but not to administrative?
These are just a couple examples that wouldn't necessarily account for $60million...but labeling things as "tough decisions" that needed to be done, absolutely does not exclude them from criticism. You're right, we don't have all the facts...another criticism that can be leveled against the administration. If you're going to parade transparency, you better damn well live up to it.
Shocking you disagree…..what took you so long.
What I was referring to were the people that were making criticisms and judgements BEFORE any information came out. Now that information is starting to come out, feel free to complain until your heart's content………you are good at it
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Once again we need to separate hindsight from insight. You will find very little record of criticism of UA's building plan prior to 2007. Why? Because December 2007 is the month that the Great Recession began. Prior to that the economy was booming and larger debt loads were manageable and even recommended by financial experts. Prior to that is when one of the biggest complaints about UA was that it lacked modern infrastructure and the kind of pleasant campus environment that attracted students to other schools. Prior to that most agreed with Dr. Proenza and the BoT that modernizing UA's facilities was a sound investment on the road to making Hilltop High into a great university.
There is some irony in the fact that complaints can be found on these forums about one of UA's few remaining inadequate facilities, the JAR, alongside complaints that some of the current financial shortfall is due to "overbuilding." But that's just part of human nature. We all want more and no one wants to pay for it. We all want our leaders to make tough decisions and then we assume when something goes wrong it's all their fault and castigate them whether or not we have all the facts available to make that judgment. Truth be told, none of us is in a position to know how much of today's problems are due to bad judgment by those in charge or unforeseen circumstances such as the worst economic recession since the Great Depression.
YUP!! So, the bottom line is that Dr. SS has to make some changes and some tough decisions (which he has been doing). I understand the emotional side of this for everyone but I don't think it is fair to judge someone and their decisions without knowing all the facts. The information that is starting to come out is the "shit sandwich" I was referring to.
Hopefully people will start to be more patient and supportive now that information is coming out and the initial plans are being communicated in a more organized manner. Honestly, I think the letter SS sent out last week was still not what was desired but it had to be done to stop some of the bleeding.
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I don't think there'll be enough time on the radio interview to cover all the questions this brings up.
At least it will be a radio interview where everything before and after a sentence is heard ;-)
Luis Proenza to retire
in General UA & Campus Discussion
Posted
THOSE WERE FUN TIMES!!!