a-zip

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 ;-)

Whatever dude……I just threw it in as an afterthought..

YUP!! I am just pointing out that only about 251 people seem to care but people blame SS for it all.

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

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 http://www.crainscleveland.com/print/article/20070507/SUB/70504024/fingerhut-wants-ohio-s-public-universities-to-collaborate Makes sense - "TEAM OHIO" is making more sense to me http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2014/11/05/Colleges-consider-consolidating-services.html BGSU's take http://www.ay-ziggy-zoomba.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=32518 www.gozips.com has a new look Z http://gozips.com/landing/index

THAT'S WHAT WE NEED!!! AND about 15K more of ya!! Lee Adams

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!

Two quotes from the article I like…. SO GO TO THE GAMES AKRON!!!

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 http://www.wkyc.com/picture-gallery/homepage/2014/08/08/photos--welcome-home-lebron-james-celebration/13807269/ Look at what the Browns "family day" drew http://www.clevelandbrowns.com/news/article-1/Browns-reach-capacity-for-2014-Family-Day-at-University-of-Akron%E2%80%99s-InfoCision-Stadium/31ede129-e0c8-407e-8170-0dae432c860a 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; 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.

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?

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.

+1

Skip - it is 9.9 schollys for soccer

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

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.

At least it will be a radio interview where everything before and after a sentence is heard ;-)

Here we go. First communication from SS and the plans today…... From: "The University of Akron Alumni Association" <alumni@uakron.edu> Subject: Three-year program to fund growth and address budget issues Date: July 10, 2015 12:12:00 PM EDT To: Reply-To: president@uakron.edu Dear Alumnus, We want to keep you informed of developments at your University. President Scott L. Scarborough sent the following to faculty and staff today. Sincerely, The Alumni Association TO: Faculty and staff FROM: President Scott L. Scarborough RE: Three-year program to fund growth and address budget issues DATE: July 10, 2015 “Our future is bright, but first we need to fix the University’s finances.” Dear Colleagues, Beginning last October, I led a team of colleagues in an exhaustive review of the University’s finances. That team included the leadership of the Faculty Senate, the AAUP, and a representative of the department chairs. Based on that review, we found that our University had a $60 million financial problem. The team developed and proposed a three-year solution that the University’s Board of Trustees approved on June 10. The approved plan reduces University expenses by $40 million, raises graduate tuition and undergraduate fees by $10 million, and projects $10 million in revenue growth by the third year. The $40 million of expense reductions include the following: Eliminating 215 positions via a planned reduction in workforce; no faculty layoffs are occurring.Eliminating baseball.Eliminating non-academic programming in EJ Thomas Hall, except for rentals.Outsourcing dining services.Renegotiating healthcare plans.Increasing the cost share of retiree dependent coverage.Changing the University’s retire/rehire policy.Centralizing course scheduling.Reducing central costs, such as legal fees and University memberships. Reduction in force The most painful, but necessary reduction is the abolishment of filled positions. We are working hard to make sure that our colleagues whose positions are being eliminated are shown the respect and courtesy they deserve. We owe them our thanks for their service to this great University. Tuition and fees We worked hard to solve our financial problem by cutting expenses. In the end, however, we needed to increase graduate tuition and undergraduate fees by $10 million to cover the higher costs of these programs and courses. Central to the entire budget process was our commitment to protecting and enhancing academic quality. Higher tuition and fees were necessary to honor that commitment. A bright future Our future is bright, but first we need to fix the University’s finances. We believe the new budget does that. In addition, the new budget funds college strategic plans, leverages our University’s historical strengths, funds new initiatives to grow future revenue streams, and includes funds to hire the faculty who will keep our University strong. Our future depends on our ability to be distinctive and better. The University of Akron is a strong polytechnic university. As such, we provide students a better educational experience—better in terms of career-focused experiential learning and connectedness to industry, technology, and jobs—in the arts, the sciences, the humanities, and the professions. We know that the next few weeks will be tough. After that, we will refocus our efforts on the mission ahead—to become a great public university for all of Northeast Ohio and the world. Our future is bright because our faculty, staff, and students are great. That will always be the case. Thank you for all you do. Have faith. With faith, everything is possible. Sincerely yours,

I certainly hope you are right about TB. The only thing I am saying is I am quite sure SS has a plan, it is being formulated and likely implemented by a new AD. As with all the hubbub around the rebranding and other issues, I don't expect them to reveal the whole plan until it is fully baked. Things get leaked, sentenced are printed out of context and everyone here goes crazy. These things need to be done behind closed doors, scrutinized behind closed doors. Now, if they are not working on a plan I would agree with everyone…..that would be bad….but I highly doubt that is the case. I DO have a problem with the previous administration that DIDNT have a good plan. There are already some noticeable changes - no TW and the schedule seems to be much better.

Spin, if an aggressive marketing campaign is all it took to get people into the Rubber Bowl or Infocision….why hasn't it been done? There has been marketing, we have an amazing charismatic coach who is out promoting, we give away scholarships, we have a winning basketball team….nobody seems to care. I played for the Zips during a time when we probably had the highest attendance ever and we were division 1AA, making the move to D1. It still used to piss me off when we would come out of the locker room and you could hear people having conversations in the stands because of how small the crowd was. The last game at the Info had announced attendance of 5,400, we opened the season with 9,100!!!! Anybody at the last game would tell you there were not that many people at the game. I played in front of more people in high school. Once again, do not misrepresent what SS has said or what I have said. Neither one of have EVER said "Lets cut football". What I have been saying for decades (warning against) is that if some of you people in NEO don't get your asses to support Zips football and basketball, you are going to lose it. I have warned against losing TB and KD……everybody says "NO WAY a-zip they are here to stay". BULLSHIT, they are too good to go down on a sinking ship. I DONT WANT THAT TO HAPPEN but it is inevitable if the trend continues. We can't keep pumping money into athletics!! While you folks put blinders on I am simply stating reality and you don't want to hear it. I firmly believe if people would have shown up to support, we would have won more games at home, we would have better recruits, we wouldn't be in as bad of a financial mess and more than likely we would be further ahead on getting a new basketball arena. Instead we are being embarrassed by articles being written about having the worst attendance in college football. I am more pissed at the previous administration for building the Info and then sitting on their asses. Seriously, I think they watched "Field of Dreams" too many times….."build it and they will come seemed to be their marketing strategy. Now, SS is taking the blame when the previous administration were the ones that did not whack TW and try to stop the bleeding. The classes I took taught me about supply and demand. They taught me about running a business. They taught me about making sound/responsible business decisions. They taught me about ROI. They did teach me about marketing too but part of successful marketing begins with having a product people want. The defeatist attitude lies right in Akron…..if cuts have to be made Joe Akron will have to look no further than the mirror to find someone to blame.

Interesting article……. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/12/01/akron “We had a first-year coach, and we also weren’t as competitive on the field as we’d hoped for,” Bach said. “That resulted in lower ticket sales and lower ticket revenue. That’s disappointing to all of us. But, when we look two, three and four years down the road to where we think the program will go, we think we’ll make our revenue goals and hopefully set off some of the losses we’re seeing now.” Bach said that the athletics department “was not scrambling” to find ways to resolve the shortfall, adding that he and his colleagues are mulling a number of options right now -- long before the budget year is slated to end -- to trim enough to meet it. He also said the department is already thinking about how much revenue it should expect from football ticket sales next year. The comments below the article are interesting (prophetic)…... "With 71% of the Athletic Department's budget coming from student fees, did anyone think to consult the students about this? It appears that they have been voting with their feet anyway, not attending the games in very large numbers. So, it seems, students are being asked to pay the price for whose entertainment exactly?"

So you don't agree he got rid of TW? Huh

Do you all think there would be an outcry in the community (like at UAB) if Akron announced it was dropping football? Maybe a good poll... http://www.al.com/opinion/index.ssf/2015/06/national_pundits_scoff_at_retu.html http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/writer/jon-solomon/25201823/uab-football-is-back-future-questions-remain-about-reinstatement

The point is….the information in those article paints a pretty harsh reality for the future of college athletics. The previous administration had that information, right? They took that information and felt it was a wise decision to build that stadium for $65M when we had never even approached 30,000 in attendance. We all agree renovating the Rubber Bowls did not make sense. The question is…..was it a smart decision to continue to pursue D1 football when your community does not support ANY of your programs. For schools like ODU (who is planning a new stadium) it is a different story because they sell out their existing stadium. This isn't the FIELD OF DREAMS movie. Dr. SS got rid of TW for a start right?!? Isn't that something we can ALL agree should have been done years ago?!?! To me, he has addressed the MAJOR issue pretty quickly. If you are expecting in depth information on the other plans, be prepared to be disappointed. I wouldn't expect any major announcements until a new AD is in place.

This is the reality I am speaking of…. (embarrassing again we are used as an example of why NOT to build THAT stadium) http://www.phillymag.com/news/2015/01/05/temple-university-stadium-100-million-dollar-bad-idea/ http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/14/sports/ncaafootball/fresno-state-faces-the-task-of-keeping-up-with-the-big-5s.html?_r=0 http://articles.philly.com/2015-01-05/sports/57711037_1_infocision-stadium-football-stadium-stadium-decision

You continue to ignore the fact that we have NEVER had good attendance in ANY of the major sports. NEVER!!!!!