BU. Board Chairman Turner Resigns

[tornado]

from information that has been public and discussed right here since last summer....

" Bradley’s Current Practices are Unsustainable

"Clearly, spending is out of control in athletics"
"The financial problems in athletics are also quite alarming.

This significant overspending

has tripled the athletics loss from $2 million per year to almost $6 million per year.
Clearly, spending is out of control in athletics

.. More troubling, there appears to be little sense of
urgency to identify the problems or opportunities for improvements. Part of this is due to the fact
that there is little if any “responsibility centered” control in place ..

There it is in black & white (& red) it's been public for several months - that Bradley's Athletic Department waste & overspending has caused financial losses of $6 million per year for each of the past 3 years.
For just a little more go here...and scroll to the numbers in the 2nd half of that blog post

[Da Coach]

It has been many months since some very disturbing problems were presented to the Board of Trustees, and some other even more disturbing issues were discovered that the Board felt the administration was not being "transparent" about. Some of these hidden issues lead the elected Board Chairman (Robert Turner) to resign in protest and withdraw many millions of dollars in donations and future pledges.
I still find it amazing that the local newspaper has not investigated nor reported anything regarding the resignation of Chairman Robert Turner, or the reasons behind it, which seem to be pretty widely known publicly.

Now I am hearing from multiple sources that the current Board is finally seeing more clearly what has brought Bradley to it's current serious financial situation, and they are finally starting to understand what an abysmal state Bradley athletics is in, and who is responsible. Many people, including big donors, powerful alumni, highly respected academic people, sponsors and fans of BU athletics (some who are posters here!) have written to the Board to inform and express opinions.

I won't reveal any more specifics right now to protect my sources, but the Board is finally taking action, and now it's more than forcing simple departmental budget cuts.
There will be major changes coming in the administration and in other areas, possibly as soon as next month that will hopefully put Bradley back on the right track.

[BuB]

"Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows!"

[ghunt]

It has been many months since some very disturbing problems were presented to the Board of Trustees, and some other even more disturbing issues were discovered that the Board felt the administration was not being "transparent" about. Some of these hidden issues lead the elected Board Chairman (Robert Turner) to resign in protest and withdraw many millions of dollars in donations and future pledges.
I still find it amazing that the local newspaper has not investigated nor reported anything regarding the resignation of Chairman Robert Turner, or the reasons behind it, which seem to be pretty widely known publicly.

Now I am hearing from multiple sources that the current Board is finally seeing more clearly what has brought Bradley to it's current serious financial situation, and they are finally starting to understand what an abysmal state Bradley athletics is in, and who is responsible. Many people, including big donors, powerful alumni, highly respected academic people, sponsors and fans of BU athletics (some who are posters here!) have written to the Board to inform and express opinions.

I won't reveal any more specifics right now to protect my sources, but the Board is finally taking action, and now it's more than forcing simple departmental budget cuts.
There will be major changes coming in the administration and in other areas, possibly as soon as next month that will hopefully put Bradley back on the right track.

Please, oh please, do not tease us...may what we need and have hoped for be true.....

[ghunt]

...and if it is, I may even consider retro-actively paying may typical annual donations that I had withheld for the past few years

[amckillip]

I hope we find out Glasser is on her way out, it's just a shame the University we all love has to pay such a price for her failings talk of shuttering departments, and cash grabs with kaplan worry me greatly.

[tornado]

If Bradley was a state school here's the simple and easy way out...
One university that blew away more than $6 million in debt for their athletic department is just asking their state to bail them out and hand over $6 of taxpayer $

http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/27667002/uh-asks-for-6-million-for-financially-struggling-athletics

[Vent]

The Board of Trustees must step up and show some guts. Plain and simple, they have a mess on their hands. Constant bad decisions have put them in this mess. First and foremost, you have a faculty, that has been treated horribly by the President of the university, and has no confidence in her. She has wasted millions of dollars on things such as a gargoyle for a mascot, the Ivy League design of the BU "B", and alienated former coaches and players just to mention a few. Every coach and person in the athletic department with the exception of the soccer coach and a couple office employees, have either quit or been fired. Every coach she and her athletic director have hired have failed and failed miserably. She has gutted the "B Club". With her and the athletic director, it is always somebody else. The motto for BU is "It's all about the B" but should actually be "It's all about the money". There is none. The university now uses consulting firms and pays big money to get hire coaches. People say, every else does it. Well that's a bunch of bunk. If they do, then BU made another poor decision, if this is the type of basketball coach you get with a consulting service. A well rounded athletic director, not a doctor with a bunch of education degrees, knows the difference between a good, average or bad basketball, after a few minutes of conversation. Yes, this board has major and tough decisions to make and it appears, they are hiding as well. Maybe they are trying to hide behind their poor decisions.

[Da Coach]

Bradley did hire the Parker Executive Search firm, but from what I understand, they went through the list of coaches that Parker supplied them, and were not able to hire a coach. The hiring of Geno came through a completely different means. Geno was not on the Parker Executive Search list, was not actively seeking another job, and had not been given approval from Kent State to be contacting other employers. That is part of why there is a lawsuit regarding his leaving Kent State.

[Vent]

Thanks Da Coach. That is good information.

[TheRookie]

Not just Athletics

Our problems are not limited to Athletics. Enrollment Management is failing much as Basketball. Bradley ranks #1 nationally in only one area. Unfortunately that is with the compensation of our Chief Executive.

We are shifting millions of dollars From Academics to Athletics every year.
We are spending money on Food Services - which should never be worse than break even.
We are spending significant resources (I'm not sure who knows how much) on security cameras and electronic door locks. Personally I do not feel safer.
Faculty and Staff morale are the lowest anyone can remember.
People are worried about whether Bradley will even survive.
There are reports that many of our VPs are afraid of their leader.

What does it take fir the PJS to report on any of this?
What does it take for the BOT to accept their responsibility?

[tornado]

it is pretty astounding that given the ineptitude, the mismanagement, the reckless overspending and financial catastrophe, and not to mention the almost unbelievable decline in Bradley athletics since the beginning of the JG-era - that the last people are earth who have been able to see it and figure it out are
A) the very board whose job it is to be in charge and watching this
B) the local media who are beyond inept - constantly reporting things as DOING GREAT while they are actually doing historically BAD!

Disclosure: I don't work for Bradley, never have, and have no relatives that do either, and I get nothing from them except the potential enjoyment of being an alumnus & following BU basketball....
so I believe my observations and assessments are objective and accurate..
Some may not agree but I am not drawing a penny from either Bradley or anyone who competes with them ....

Meanwhile - most of the people who write about Bradley in the Peoria Journal Star teach there and/or have relatives who are long time employees there - or have ties to other people who do -- PLUS the PJS is deep in bed with BU and beholding to them for all the advertising revenue - definitely careful about potentially offending a big advertiser - and also beholding for a few "other things"......
so just how objective does anyone think the PJS is ever gonna have the ba**s to be?

[wily coyote]

it is pretty astounding that given the ineptitude, the mismanagement, the reckless overspending and financial catastrophe, and not to mention the almost unbelievable decline in Bradley athletics since the beginning of the JG-era - that the last people are earth who have been able to see it and figure it out are
A) the very board whose job it is to be in charge and watching this
B) the local media who are beyond inept - constantly reporting things as DOING GREAT while they are actually doing historically BAD!

Disclosure: I don't work for Bradley, never have, and have no relatives that do either, and I get nothing from them except the potential enjoyment of being an alumnus & following BU basketball....
so I believe my observations and assessments are objective and accurate..
Some may not agree but I am not drawing a penny from either Bradley or anyone who competes with them ....

Meanwhile - most of the people who write about Bradley in the Peoria Journal Star teach there and/or have relatives who are long time employees there - or have ties to other people who do -- PLUS the PJS is deep in bed with BU and beholding to them for all the advertising revenue that BU spends and for "other things"......
so just how objective does anyone think the PJS is ever gonna have the ba**s to be?

I agree with just about everything in your post except ,I don't see where it is the PJ Star's job to report this mess. BU is not a tax funded school so I see no reason they should have to report to the public . They are NOT spending our money.

[tornado]

the money BU is spending does come from many of us...

the PJ Star dug like heck to report anything embarrassing or damaging for an entire decade or two then suddenly they stop reporting anything negative...
Recall they even made up "facts" and reported completely erroneous things ("ligature marks", "assault by hands & feet", etc...) and even made broad slanderous attacks ("the coach surrounds himself with people who prefer the expedient route rather than the disciplined one) when it suited their purpose before...
now for the past 3 years they have gone overboard to willingly use a ton of lipstick trying to make this pig look good...
Whether it is their job or not seems moot - they made it their job for a decade to dig until they found something bad or go right ahead and make it up if they have to - but now act as PR personnel for the program

[Bravesfanchicago]

Spending "our" money

Coyote:

Actually....while BU is not a direct tax supported institution, BU must adhere to the Charitable Trust Doctrine related to contributed funds. Wherein the University cannot " waste " or diminish the those contributed dollars or use them for frivolous purposes. This law applies to any non profit that does fundraising including universities hospitals and other non profit entities.

Several universities have had regulatory problems under the charitable trust doctrine and it's usually related to lack of governance and oversight from the Board.

If a particular state's Attorney General wants to review a university's compliance with the charitable trust requirements, problems can arise. And this doctrine is in addition to any gift restrictions provided by the donors.

BU also receives federal and state grant monies from time to time.

So there may be a bit more of "our" money than one might think.