To no great surprise, Southern at 150 is dead, except where it isn't. In the newspapers yesterday we saw a Chancellor candidate (in the SI, sorry I forget to harvest the link) and Poshard saying that the top 75 was a stupid goal (or words to that effect).
We knew that there was lots of like in Southern at 150, except for the overall thrust of the plan couldn't possibly work. Sounds like they are going to throw away a whole bunch of the nonsense that make the whole plan seem corrupt and keep most of the good parts.
More reasonable moves from Poshard. Maybe there is a reason to hope that SIU management is getting their act together?
5 comments:
'Corrupt?' What was 'corrupt' about the plan?
What glee you seem to take from the University changing course once again. This place has been rudderless for so long, and when people put forward an ambitious plan it gets torn down by the defeatists around here.
Yeah, better that we have a lot of 55 year old Associate Professors writing letters to the DE to whine about 'shared governance.' That's worked so well in the past.
I didn't say the plan was corrupt, but I did say "a whole bunch of the nonsense that make the whole plan seem corrupt." Please read and understand before replying, you will seem less ignorant that way.
The university had better change course on the level of execution, remove the items from that plan that are impossible and the plan is fine beyond that.
I still think that in order for SIU management to be considered sane that the Saluki Way plan needs to be mended, if not scrapped all together.
I'm sorry, but what is wrong with McAndrew Stadium? I'm not exactly a sports fan but I don't see it crashing down any time soon. It's fine.
Money needs to be spent, if any, on building decay. Living on campus at SIU (I lived in one of the triad buildings) was one of the worst experiences of my existance! There were tears in my mom's eyes when they moved me in back in 2005.
Understandably so, the walls were made of concrete and the building was established in the 60s. Students need upgrades in housing but also in their classrooms. Air conditioning would be nice too :)
Improvements are slowly happening but I think the leadership has stood in the way of a lot of progress that could have been made years ago, well before I moved to Carbondale. This is all very frustrating.
I'm sorry, but what is wrong with McAndrew Stadium? I'm not exactly a sports fan but I don't see it crashing down any time soon. It's fine.
Are you an engineer? It was built in the 1920s. It has to be inspected every year to determine whether it will be able survive another year. Aside from the structural integrity of the stadium the more relevant issue is the fact that the stadium is essentially the 'front' of the University and it is a tremendous eyesore. Whether you or I like it or not, people make decisions about where to go to school based on aesthetics. How new are the buildings, how well kept are the grounds, in what condition are the dorms, etc.
This university needs a huge investment in infrastructure in order to be competitive in attracting students.
The long anticipated demise of S@150, and eventually S-Way (except for the new stadium!), represent SIUC's return to complacently. The scraping of the Strategic Hiring Initiative makes this clear.
I am not saying S@150 or SW were fully realizable - the WAG report was damning. But they where signs of a new sense of ambition. I am afraid we are losing that.
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