It has been rather surprising to see several Vice Presidents at Trinity leaving for schools in California or elsewhere one after another. Magnetic polarity seems to have been reversed. But even more surprising and forgive me, if I forgot to mention coincidental, have been decisions of the new University President Dr. Dennis Ahlburg regarding appointment of two new Vice Presidents, VP for Fiscal Affairs and VP for University Advancement.
Both of these new Vice Presidents worked previously in similar capacities at Leeds Business School, University of Colorado at Boulder. Surprised? Well, there's another one. President Ahlburg was the Dean of Leeds Business School at Univ. of Colorado at Boulder too. What can anyone say about THIS magnetic polarity? Nothing at all. Who would want to ruffle feathers with the University President? At least not the Trinitonian, the most independent student run newspaper. The editorial which in prior issues has been pretty critical and rightly so, of various university issues hesitated to even mention a word or raise a finger at this decision. Well done. Your increment in budget is guaranteed next year.
However, the Cartoon Section in the Trinitonian dealt with this well and bravely pointed out that two decisions in a row cannot be a coincidence. Don't jump to conclusions. I am not suggesting that this is wrong. What I am suggesting is that students have a right to know if there was an application process to choose these applicants who will have a large impact on administrative conduct and course of Trinity in the coming several years. I admit my ignorance about how these decisions were made in the past by other presidents and so I cannot infer any conclusions. Maybe this is how things work so that the President can attain his vision smoothly without having to devote a significant time trying to overcome differences with other Vice Presidents. I don't know.
But the fact that two previous Vice Presidents left Trinity highlighting a difference in vision with the new president makes us curious to raise our concern. Here is the excerpt from the President's all-campus email sent to us:
To all Trinity Faculty, Staff, and Students:I am pleased to announce the appointment of Tracy Christeson as vice president for University Advancement. ... Previously she was senior director of development for the Leeds School of Business, the University of Colorado at Boulder.
To all Trinity Faculty, Staff, and Students:
I am pleased to announce the appointment of Mark Detterick as vice president for Fiscal Affairs.... Previously he served as the director of finance and operations at the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
I like the new University President and have had numerous chances to meet him and talk about various issues as a Student Representative on behalf of Class of 2012. I subscribe to his vision and goals which is why I would not be hasty to see this decision as a "Red Alert" even though it does raise some alarms regarding transparency of application process.
Very true. Welcome to the world of politics. It's cool and important that you point this out.
ReplyDeleteAs a student, I imagine you have little knowledge of the previous VPs who were replaced, or the circumstances leading to their replacement. Rest assured that us staff members are not questioning the decision - it is for the good of the students and the University as a whole, and could not have been more welcome in most quarters. Trinity needs young blood, and people who are willing to mingle with the student body, and to shed itself of those who have gotten into a one-track mode of thinking, by having clung on to the positions and perks they enjoy at great cost to the rest of the staff body, for way too long.
ReplyDeleteIn any case, corporate America (and most elsewhere) generally trends towards the top executives following the CEO when and wherever he goes. Nothing wrong with it, and I hope and feel as both a staff member and Trinity alum that good things are on the horizon for us.
Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteI agree with your comments. After talking to some people in the administration who have already met both of these VPs, said they were impressed.
Also, after reading about their excerpts in the Trinitonian, I came to believe that both of these people are genuinely excited to be at Trinity.
My initial concern arose from the fact that we will have a new team who may/may not be familiar with famous and influential people of San Antonio (our major base for endowments and other support)
Our major base for support for the Endowment, and more pertinently the current accounts for the University is not necessarily comprised of influential people in San Antonio, except in the case of some of our existing memorial Trusts (that most buildings are named after), which are primarily Texas based, though not necessarily San Antonio based. Most of the large sums we receive are part of "planned giving," which mainly include estates willed to the University on death of the donor (which could be tomorrow or in 30 years), and repeat gifts that have been set up over the years or decades. To be honest, Trinity has very little connection and clout in the actual city of San Antonio when compared to UTSA or even any of the private Universities in the city. This is something I believe the new President intends to change in his strategic plan, by increasing Trinity's visibility in the local community. If there are any high profilers in San Antonio who do contribute, it's mostly because of Trinity's larger affiliation on a national level than UIW or St. Mary's, and it makes them feel better :)
ReplyDeleteAlso, alumni and alumni connections, corporate donors, and connections through the board of trustees remain the largest source of outside funds for the University. Tuition remittances account for a shade over 50% of actual required funds, I believe.
In any case, there is no rule that there needs to be a search to replace any VP, especially as the costs for such a search can run into the hundreds of thousands. I think for a VP of student affairs, a national search is necessary. Academic affairs may need only a local or institutional search, while the two replacements in question should ideally be those the President feels are most suited to his strategic plan for the next ten years. As we are at the onset of the next major step forward at Trinity (new developments in buildings, etc. etc.), it makes sense for the old guard to retire now rather than in the middle of the development, and for a younger team to come in who will propel us in to the coming decades. I don't think this is time for the President to waste learning the ways that an entirely unknown person would work, and instead is time to cut to the chase and "get on with it," so to speak. This is probably the best way to do it, though only time will tell whether I am right. I do choose to remain optimistic, in the meantime.
Anonymous -- Why should we believe (a) your analysis of Trinity's position in the local community and (b) your claim that many other people at Trinity welcomed the changes? What are your credentials for making these claims?
ReplyDeleteCheck out the university of colorado link below and see why Dennis Ahlburg was run out Leeds school and brought his cronies sychopants along with him:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.colorado.edu/FacultyGovernance/committees/REPORTS/ahlburg08.pdf
cut and paste the link on your browser to read the full scoop.....
All Dennis Ahlburg did was raise 16 million at leeds school... that's chump change for a flagship state school with a gazillion alumni ....and that is his claim to fame .... you gotta be kidding ... see how much money is wasted next week on his coronation ceremony .... when that money could have gone to fund student financial aid .... what a hypocrite
ReplyDeleteThe report actually highlights Dr. Ahlburg's strengths as fund raising, working with corporate partners, improving undergraduate learning and diversifying student and faculty body. These are all attributes that I personally would like to see in a University President.
ReplyDeleteHis weaknesses according to the report relate mostly to faculty issues such as salary among others.
Thanks for pointing my attention to the report. Overall, I like what it says about Dr. Ahlburg.
What exactly was there to like about Ahlburg in that report? It concluded he scored lower than all other deans at CU in almost every category, and concluded he was in "need of improvement." This is really a very poor record indeed. Not long after this he left CU to become Trinity's president. There is very little to like about any of that from what I can see.
ReplyDeleteWell, he's leaving, and it's a shame some of you people can't realize what a gem you had in him. His immediate predecessor was a zero with no on-campus presence and all we can do is hope his successor is not someone like that.
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ReplyDeleteThis is the reality at some points when two close friends who are also the friends in that to come together and surprise all the other friends by their appearance.
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