Search for a new President

[PhiAlphaBoy]

the recovery is tremendous and so NO further layoffs or financial cutbacks whatsoever are planned at Bradley!


..and here's the most optimistic part...late in the interview - Dr. Roberts says he's just getting started, just learning things and things are gonna get even better!

Wycoff Hall has also reopened after being shut down due to the previous low enrollment. Things are definitely looking up.

[tornado]

Dr. Roberts getting it turned around...
Another interesting story in the BU Scout this week detailing all the faculty positions that are now being filled when many good, qualified faculty & professors at Bradley left during the former administration - ...so the fallout is not all gone yet.

[PhiAlphaBoy]

Bradley University Board of Trustees Chairman Doug Stewart and President Gary Roberts are pleased to announce that Robert and Carolyn Turner, through the Turner Family Foundation, have committed $1 million in support toward the University??™s Engineering and Business Convergence Center building initiative. -- https://bradley.edu/offices/communic...9-feee77fc90a5

[Da Coach]

Bradley University Board of Trustees Chairman Doug Stewart and President Gary Roberts are pleased to announce that Robert and Carolyn Turner, through the Turner Family Foundation, have committed $1 million in support toward the University’s Engineering and Business Convergence Center building initiative. -- https://bradley.edu/offices/communic...9-feee77fc90a5

Wow, that is great! Recall that Robert Turner is a very wealthy Bradley alum who has given millions of dollars in gifts to Bradley.
He was named the Chairman of the Bradley Board of Trustees back in January, 2013. But he confronted the President about irregularities in the spending and accounting of expenses, and was forced to resign both his chairmanship and Board position in August, 2014, well before his term was to expire.
He was going to gift more money to Bradley, but that was pulled back.

So for the new Doug Stewart and President Roberts to make amends for past animosities and get Mr. Turner to resume his generous gifting to Bradley is indeed impressive!

[tornado]

Robert Turner was reportedly part way thru a large pledge in 2014 when he stepped down as President and reportedly "placed his support on hold" - so Bradley lost millions due to whatever (or whoever) was the reason he left his Board of Trustees membership and Presidency.
This single piece of news has made my day! It means we are even further on the way to erasing years of incompetence and fallout.

http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=24245

[braves16]

bucking the general trend - with Bradley's enrollment up so much - this has become a big NATIONAL story..

http://www.sfgate.com/news/education/article/Bradley-University-will-have-larger-freshmen-9141677.php

http://www.dailyherald.com/article/2...ews/308149963/

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/education/2016/09/20/drake-university-guaranteeing-tuition-levels-incoming-students/90729676/

[tornado]

Hope it works for Drake and their new President.
Bradley's woes of 2013, 2014, and 2015 with enrollment drops and mismanagement of funds & resources by the admin were largely set on the right track to recover and do better than ever when we cleaned house and got Dr. Roberts in as President and Chris Reynolds as AD.
And what we see currently as tremendous improvement, enrollment up sharply, donations skyrocketing, new development plans, and almost everything looking up - is just the beginning. Gary Roberts has only been President for 8 months! Can't wait to see the further improvements that lie ahead.

[tornado]

Gary Roberts also announces a new capital project..
"the Convergence Center, which will replace Jobst and Baker Halls and house both the engineering and business colleges.
Groundbreaking is targeted for next summer."..

the recent Cat decision will not affect this major project and it is set to proceed

http://fox2now.com/2017/02/12/bradley-university-to-build-86m-business-engineering-site/

[tornado]

Bradley University Board of Trustees Chairman Doug Stewart...

Doug Stewart - the current Chairman of Bradley's Board of Trustees, is in the news...
He is retiring from his day job..

http://www.pekintimes.com/news/20170223/doug-stewart-to-retire-from-pnc-bank-after-40-year-career

[tornado]

Gary Roberts also talked about the new capital project..
"the Convergence Center, which will replace Jobst and Baker Halls and house both the engineering and business colleges.
Groundbreaking is targeted for next summer."......

Bradley's new Engineering and Convergence Center is the subject of a Bradley Scout article that got yanked and deleted shortly after it was published online...

but here's a copy

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:i69-hyB9FlIJ:www.bradleyscout.com/voice/whoever-throws-the-most-dough/+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

it appears to be perhaps an April Fool joke that maybe wasn't so funny
here's a quote...

"(BU President Gary) Roberts said a major reason he’s dedicated to finding a
suitor for the naming rights is because of his predecessor’s failure to do so
for Renaissance Coliseum.

“You mean that big expensive building on campus that men’s basketball
doesn’t play in?” Roberts said. “Yeah, I’m sure former President Joanne
Glasser could have squeezed a few Benjamins out of somebody along the
way if she wasn’t so busy fake smiling all the time.”


actually, the writer is a little misinformed...
the Renaissance Coliseum did, at one time, have a deal for naming rights for the men's practice facility, a $3 million+ deal with the Puterbaughs to name the facility
"The Puterbaugh Men's Basketball Practice Facility", but certain actions caused the Puterbaughs to withdraw their gift in 2010.

[tornado]

Just got the latest Bradley President's report & Financial data....
..from the "President Emerita"

what stands out so remarkably both good & bad:
-enrollment the past two years is down 5-6% over 2010-2012 and the past historical averages
-
-the reliance on tuition to cover expenses rose by 8-10% forcing the rise in tuition

...and ....the overspending of $6-7 mil per year in Athletics each of the past few years

it has now been 3 years since the former administration was sent packing in the face of those devastating problems that many of us saw coming...
..and Bradley started over with a new President, new AD, and new personnel in nearly every major position...

Remember- in 2015 we were told that enrollment and thus tuition revenue was dangerously DOWN but that it was a national trend and would be hard to find a fix, and we were also told that ... (see above) "donations and financial support from alumni is down a striking 53.1-76.2% from 2012 and prior years"

well, we can now look back at the financial report the past 3 years and see...

-enrollment has rebounded amazingly quickly under the new administration
-every financial measure is up & looking strong - income, overall revenue, donations, grants, and total assets....all dramatically better since 2015
-and all of this with NO significant increase in costs, expenses or liabilities!
-unrestricted funds & assets are up over 30% in that interval
-gifts & contributions have increased from a record low in 2014-15 to nearly a 1000% increase and were reported in 2017 at $9,800,000 (in 2014 that same figure dropped under $1 million!)
-Bradley's net assets have increased by almost $40 million, plus the Endowment is up over $20 million
*

Things are looking much better at Bradley and I loudly applaud Dr. Roberts and all his staff & those who boldly made the necessary changes in 2015 and got rid of the cancer that was destroying Bradley.

The 2017-18 reports should be out by the end of June, but I expect even more good news. Thanks all for saving our great institution! And thanks for those who have honestly & accurately compiled those figures (unlike the former admin) and made them available.

[Wilbery]

New way to boost enrollment, ICC and BU have joined together to allow more students to transfer. I find this interesting because it will help increase transfer enrollment which we desperately need. Another point that may be tin foil hatty is that since they're transfers they GPA/ACT/SAT don't count in rankings this is just a way to increase enrollment without having it effect rankings by US News, other rankings only focus on how students do after graduation so these students outcomes will still have an effect there.

Also I am wondering if Bradley has been getting closer to getting a naming donor for the Convergence Center or will that end up being it's final name?

[Da Coach]

I haven't heard anything about a naming donor for the Convergence Center. In fact, I haven't heard that Bradley is even seeking a major donor for naming, since the money has already been raised. But anyone who wants to step up, I am sure they will be open to negotiating it.

[Wilbery]

Thanks DaCoach, I didn't realize they had it fully funded, that's really good news! When I was a student and rumors were swirling around the building, we had heard that the fact that they lacked a large naming donor was holding it up but then President Roberts saw that it was necessary for the continued health of the university (which I agree, Baker and Jobst were long overdue for a better location) that he went ahead with it anyways.