Executive Leadership Change on the Hilltop

[PhiAlphaBoy]

There is an absence of urgency at BU...

I appreciate the anecdotal nature of my observations….but unless there is a change …..the horizon is not great. Repositioning is a must.

I think that is finally changing under President Standifird. I believe we finally have the right leader in place to reposition and remake Bradley for the next decade. I'm cautiously optimistic... and hopeful.

[yoda]

There is an absence of urgency at BU. While the lost decade plus of Glasser wreckage pushed the University into a decline and accelerated its poor positioning ….there is a fundamental lack of focus. What are the destination programs at BU ? Why does the business school bring in less than half the number of freshmen it formerly had ? Why is there no marketing in key target markets ? Why do I drive down I -294 expressway around Ohare and see billboard after billboard for university after university .SLU ….Marquette ….DePaul…..and never ever have I seen a BU billboard.

Anecdotally …my family members live on the North Shore and Naperville. Not one of my nieces and nephews or any of their friend circles considered BU for college. Now …the Naperville family lives in a town with five public highly regarded high schools and private Benet Academy..a stellar school as well. My three nephews knew no one who went to BU from Naperville….no one from their school sports teams, club sports teams or other circles. From a town of 150,000 people with a high family median income. A target rich environment….with no special focus from BU .

I appreciate the anecdotal nature of my observations….but unless there is a change …..the horizon is not great. Repositioning is a must.

Bravesfanchicago, I have a feeling you know a lot more about this than most of us do.

[Old Coach]

I think that is finally changing under President Standifird. I believe we finally have the right leader in place to reposition and remake Bradley for the next decade. I'm cautiously optimistic... and hopeful.

I've heard that there are new trustees that are very concerned with the current administration's recruitment strategy.

[Mikovio]

I've said this before but I'd consider adding a non-scholarship football team like they have at Drake, Valpo and Butler. It's an easy way to add 120 or so students paying tuition plus having a football team -- even a glorified D3 one -- can help attract students. Peoria Stadium is getting an $8 million facelift to make it at least presentable. Standifird is from Butler so I'm sure he has thoughts on this.

It would mean adding a women's soccer team too to comply with Title IX. A lot more students there too although some scholarships would be necessitated to compete in the Valley.

[molar50]

I like the idea of D3 football. A lot of high school football players know that they do not desire to play D1 for various good reasons, but would enjoy playing football at a D3 school. There isn’t any real pressure on the coach or the players to win as in D1.

[JMM28]

I've said this before but I'd consider adding a non-scholarship football team like they have at Drake, Valpo and Butler. It's an easy way to add 120 or so students paying tuition plus having a football team -- even a glorified D3 one -- can help attract students. Peoria Stadium is getting an $8 million facelift to make it at least presentable. Standifird is from Butler so I'm sure he has thoughts on this.

It would mean adding a women's soccer team too to comply with Title IX. A lot more students there too although some scholarships would be necessitated to compete in the Valley.

Adding two major money losing sports to close a budget deficit? Interesting approach.

[JMM28]

I've heard that there are new trustees that are very concerned with the current administration's recruitment strategy.

They should be. BU marketing and admissions has spent the better part of a decade ignoring the largest demographics around. Janie Smith (and her parents) from Benet Academy doesn't want to go to BU because their marketing and recruiting materials make it look like its weirdo fat camp on the hilltop.

There aren't a lot of folks outside of Chris Reynolds in the president cabinets that deserve to be spared in a purge. Start fresh. Back to the basics.

Recruit the hell out of suburban Chicago schools. Parents that don't worry about filling out FAFSA forms because their K1 was 100k over what they thought it would be. Students that know what a ball is and how to throw it. Launch majors that produce few full paying students and broke alumni.

[The Old Guy]

If Bradley were to add football for the men, they would have to add more than soccer for the women.The number of teams for women and men is not the important issue, but rather the number of positions available. So if adding football increased number of athletic positions available for men by 100, Bradley would need to add at least 100 athletic team positions for the women. In reality the number might be more than 100 for women since the number of athletic positions has to be approximately the same as the ratio of men to women in the student body and Bradley has more female students than male students. Coaching salaries alone for the added sports would be a budget buster.
The better place to look for places to reduce the budget is in the administrative/non-teaching areas. Compare the percentage of the annual budget that goes for administrative costs currently with what it was under Abegg or Brazil to see where costs need to be reduced.

[Mikovio]

Adding two major money losing sports to close a budget deficit? Interesting approach.

I have no doubt the athletic department would drown in red ink given it would likely struggle to draw a couple thousand for games but adding 120 students-athletes paying up to what today looks like $50k in tuition + room/board can't hurt overall. With today's out of control tuition you need to focus more on boosting enrollment than you would 20+ years ago. Granted I haven't seen any studies on the subject and it's complete conjecture on my part.

Drake's football program had 106 players and $1,043,780 in expenses vs $246,158 in total revenue. That's a $750K red anchor in the athletic dept budget but if all those players pay $50K that's $5.3 million in revenue to the school. Granted some/most of them earn academic scholarships and there are of course academic costs but it seems to me you could make it work at least without drowning in red ink.

[Stryker]

They should be. BU marketing and admissions has spent the better part of a decade ignoring the largest demographics around. Janie Smith (and her parents) from Benet Academy doesn't want to go to BU because their marketing and recruiting materials make it look like its weirdo fat camp on the hilltop.

There aren't a lot of folks outside of Chris Reynolds in the president cabinets that deserve to be spared in a purge. Start fresh. Back to the basics.

Recruit the hell out of suburban Chicago schools. Parents that don't worry about filling out FAFSA forms because their K1 was 100k over what they thought it would be. Students that know what a ball is and how to throw it. Launch majors that produce few full paying students and broke alumni.

I made it to the most games this year in a long time. This isn't politically correct of course, but you can tell cheer leading at BU is not the cool thing like it was 15 yrs ago when I was in school. Practically none of the cheerleaders are attractive, and several of them will never be able be lifted. I almost thought some of them would be doing the lifting...And there aren't really any guys on the squad at all. When I was in school some of the coolest, strongest dudes on campus were on the cheer squad. I think it is a visual tell on the culture on campus.

Also another reason students don't show up to games...BU is probably filled with a lot of students that don't have positive opinions on sports to begin with, let alone any fandom for a team.

[Bball31]

I have no doubt the athletic department would drown in red ink given it would likely struggle to draw a couple thousand for games but adding 120 students-athletes paying up to what today looks like $50k in tuition + room/board can't hurt overall. With today's out of control tuition you need to focus more on boosting enrollment than you would 20+ years ago. Granted I haven't seen any studies on the subject and it's complete conjecture on my part.

Drake's football program had 106 players and $1,043,780 in expenses vs $246,158 in total revenue. That's a $750K red anchor in the athletic dept budget but if all those players pay $50K that's $5.3 million in revenue to the school. Granted some/most of them earn academic scholarships and there are of course academic costs but it seems to me you could make it work at least without drowning in red ink.

I like your thinking. Academic scholarships shouldn’t cost the university much, other than books and room/board. The professors, or their grad assistant, are already in the classroom. However, it will be much easier for the university to say it isn’t feasible.

[Bball31]

I like the idea of D3 football. A lot of high school football players know that they do not desire to play D1 for various good reasons, but would enjoy playing football at a D3 school. There isn’t any real pressure on the coach or the players to win as in D1.

It would make a weekend visit from a potential future student, during a football homecoming game, much more attractive. I was at the PCC during an IHSA State Basketball Tournament game and speaking with a DI basketball coach. He was there recruiting. I asked him if bringing a potential recruit on campus during a homecoming football game is more advantageous than taking them to a soccer game. He laughed and said there is no comparison. He said the buzz around campus is much greater for a football game than a soccer game. The university he coached at did not play big time college football, yet still said it was beneficial.

[Bball31]

I have no doubt the athletic department would drown in red ink given it would likely struggle to draw a couple thousand for games but adding 120 students-athletes paying up to what today looks like $50k in tuition + room/board can't hurt overall. With today's out of control tuition you need to focus more on boosting enrollment than you would 20+ years ago. Granted I haven't seen any studies on the subject and it's complete conjecture on my part.

Drake's football program had 106 players and $1,043,780 in expenses vs $246,158 in total revenue. That's a $750K red anchor in the athletic dept budget but if all those players pay $50K that's $5.3 million in revenue to the school. Granted some/most of them earn academic scholarships and there are of course academic costs but it seems to me you could make it work at least without drowning in red ink.

BU doesn’t have the money to buy the equipment needed to start a football program.

[Old Coach]

I made it to the most games this year in a long time. This isn't politically correct of course, but you can tell cheer leading at BU is not the cool thing like it was 15 yrs ago when I was in school. Practically none of the cheerleaders are attractive, and several of them will never be able be lifted. I almost thought some of them would be doing the lifting...And there aren't really any guys on the squad at all. When I was in school some of the coolest, strongest dudes on campus were on the cheer squad. I think it is a visual tell on the culture on campus.

Also another reason students don't show up to games...BU is probably filled with a lot of students that don't have positive opinions on sports to begin with, let alone any fandom for a team.

Bingo...

[molar50]

When I was a freshman and Joe Stowell was the coach, a lot of students attended, but I didn’t care that much and rarely went to a game. I slowly developed an appreciation for the player’s talent and how much work it took for the team to improve. I still believe that if a core group of students will attend and there are incentives to attract others, student attendance can improve.