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Bradley faculty looking at moving athletics to D3

JMM28 said:
The faculty intentionally used that for their hit piece because that number reflects the year that our atrocious governor didn't allow any ticket sales. That made a 1.3-1.5 million dollar difference. It was, at best, ignorant of factual information. I think it was more likely an intentional misleading of the issue to support their ridiculous idea.

I'll say again - no one was taking those classes so why pay some fat cat professor to sit around and teach 3 classes a year? 25% of the majors account for 75% of the students. This is simple mathematics.
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Amen!!
 
Da Coach said:
They are not discontinuing the Physics program, and will continue to offer physics classes as above.
They are only considering ending Physics as a major. However, I am also surprised to see Physics, Mathematics, and Economics on the list of Majors being proposed to get cut.
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Yeah this is very surprising to me as well. Actuarial Science and Statistics are a bit concerning to me too.

There are only 35 Computer Science graduates per year, are they going to cut the CS program as well? Having a diploma from a university that doesn't even offer a math degree is embarrassing.

Why is Art History not on the cutting board? Is Global Supply Chain Management really raking in the bucks? Human Resource Management is a big yikes, that is going to be largely but not entirely automated in the coming decades. What about Military Science, Painting, Photography (also a big AI risk here), Sculpture, or Television Arts?
 
Letter in PJS regarding Standifird's mess- https://www.pjstar.com/story/opinio...stephen-standifird-should-resign/71619706007/

but in actuality, this mess was began with the so-called "Greatest President in Bradley's History", Joanne Glasser, when she
cost Bradley some $40-50 million in massive Athletic Department losses, ridiculous salaries for nincompoops like Mike Cross & herself, and all the needless lawsuits that dragged on for years that her choice of attorneys couldn't present any decent defense for. Not to mention huge losses in revenue that dried up from lost donations like the $3 million from Puterbaugh, the $10 million from Robert Turner, & the multiple millions from the other Board members who she ran off (Hersey, McGough, etc), and the unprecedented loss of the long-time, loyal fans base causing average attendance to plummet from 10-11K down to 3-4K under her reign. (do a search on this site for a thread titled "Fund Raising")
 
Yeah, I saw that laughable letter to the editor. They are demanding that Standifird resign immediately. As if that would somehow magically solve the financial problems at BU. :roll:
And the maybe the most negative effect Glasser had was her changes to the way Bradley was promoted and how they recruited students.
I am not defending President Standifird, but as far as I can see, almost none of the current problems are his fault, and he is dealing with them the best way possible to avoid more serious issues or a total shutdown.
If the professors have a gripe, they should address the Board of Trustees, not the failing PJ Star editorial page.
 
President Standifer needs to go. Nothing good has happened since he’s taken over.

I’ve not heard one good thing about him and seems to pass all blame on others. No real leadership or accountability…probably why the facility voted no confidence on him.
 
Oh good lord-he is making difficult cuts that should have happened years ago, but that rarely happens anywhere. You can’t offer majors that a very few students want
 
NashvilleBU said:
President Standifer needs to go. Nothing good has happened since he’s taken over.

I’ve not heard one good thing about him and seems to pass all blame on others. No real leadership or accountability…probably why the facility voted no confidence on him.
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All I will say in public is that making cuts in academia is hard. One can say "gee, department X has few majors" and make huge cuts to department X, when in fact most of that department's load is service courses for other majors. You have to leave departments with enough professors to carry out their service duties, even if their major has been cut. This is the major reason the faculty committee wanted to go slower; it is too easy to make bad decisions when they are made in haste.
 
With all the choices out there for college selection, awareness and regional/national exposure is critical. Our mens bball team is what provides a lionshare of that. No D1 mens hoops could spell real trouble unless replaced with something that makes a splash.
 
ollienanyes said:
All I will say in public is that making cuts in academia is hard. One can say "gee, department X has few majors" and make huge cuts to department X, when in fact most of that department's load is service courses for other majors. You have to leave departments with enough professors to carry out their service duties, even if their major has been cut. This is the major reason the faculty committee wanted to go slower; it is too easy to make bad decisions when they are made in haste.
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I completely agree. Most universities have too much fat and need to trim these majors and positions (even tenured professors)/administrators that add no value like with most private businesses. However, I hear Standifer fired some top admissions reps which has created some discontent with the staff and the president…

52k a year for BU full tuition and room and board is the major issue. Most 1 year jobs after college don’t pay more than 50-60k a year….the ROI is starting to not make sense and student are starting to look at other avenues or cheaper public schools.
 
NashvilleBU said:
I completely agree. Most universities have too much fat and need to trim these majors and positions (even tenured professors)/administrators that add no value like with most private businesses. However, I hear Standifer fired some top admissions reps which has created some discontent with the staff and the president…

52k a year for BU full tuition and room and board is the major issue. Most 1 year jobs after college don’t pay more than 50-60k a year….the ROI is starting to not make sense and student are starting to look at other avenues or cheaper public schools.
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Every university is facing the same issues as BU, enrollment trends are shifting and kids are coming out of highschool and going into trades again instead of private universities. This has been happening in noticeable amounts for 5+ yrs now and every person employed in post-high school education should have been expecting events like what is happening at BU anytime. The fat has to be trimmed.
 
Stryker said:
Every university is facing the same issues as BU, enrollment trends are shifting and kids are coming out of highschool and going into trades again instead of private universities. This has been happening in noticeable amounts for 5+ yrs now and every person employed in post-high school education should have been expecting events like what is happening at BU anytime. The fat has to be trimmed.
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When Standifird first arrived at Bradley, he told people that because of the lack of students graduating from high schools in Illinois, Bradley and other private universities and colleges would find it difficult to maintain their current enrollment. I believe he is doing his best despite these challenges. I do see the value of taking courses in philosophy, religion, art history and international studies, but I cannot see how most students in these majors pay their debt from tuition, unless they obtain a teaching position that pays well with benefits. Complaints and possible solutions about these cuts should be addressed to the Board of Trustees.
 
The faculty senate should take a dump in one hand and a vote of no confidence in the other and see which fills up quicker.

Bradley has 185+ majors currently. If 25% of the majors have 75% of the students, that means roughly 47 majors have 3000 students or ~64 students per major. That also means that the 137 remaining majors have an AVERAGE of 7 students per major. It doesn't take a math major to see that doesn't make sense.

Some of the majors being cut are surprising but assume they're covered with newer versions.

I know for a fact there is an entire department that has 4 faculty members, support staff, and 6 total students. Buhbye.
 
JMM28 said:
The faculty senate should take a dump in one hand and a vote of no confidence in the other and see which fills up quicker.

Bradley has 185+ majors currently. If 25% of the majors have 75% of the students, that means roughly 47 majors have 3000 students or ~64 students per major. That also means that the 137 remaining majors have an AVERAGE of 7 students per major. It doesn't take a math major to see that doesn't make sense.

Some of the majors being cut are surprising but assume they're covered with newer versions.

I know for a fact there is an entire department that has 4 faculty members, support staff, and 6 total students. Buhbye.
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Exactly. I graduated with a Bachelor's of Science in Economics from BU. There were 8 students including me in our graduating class of 08' that were Econ majors. Now, Economics is one of those subjects undergraduates need and have to take, most everyone in the business and possibly engineering school is going to take an econ class at some point. However, there were other majors that had similar class sizes and were not part of the elective or gen ed pool.

It just makes no sense to keep those things going. Add on top that the federal student loan bubble has been popping or shrinking, almost all colleges in the US have declining domestic enrollment, etc. and it is just inevitable.
 
Wilbery said:
I also want to say that when I was at Bradley we calculated it was roughly a 3000 per year per student subsidy from our tuition to athletics. So if athletics is not self sufficient I definitely think that is where cuts are focused. A university is not a partnership between education and sports it should ALWAYS be education first. While I am a huge fan of Bradley basketball(being the only sport I regularly follow) under no circumstances do I think that cuts on the academic side should be made for the continued existence of a sports program.
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The athletics department budget is about 60% subsidized. In order for the department to be self-sufficient, men's basketball would need to generate another $6 million per year to fund all of the other sport programs.
 
molar50 said:
When Standifird first arrived at Bradley, he told people that because of the lack of students graduating from high schools in Illinois, Bradley and other private universities and colleges would find it difficult to maintain their current enrollment. I believe he is doing his best despite these challenges. I do see the value of taking courses in philosophy, religion, art history and international studies, but I cannot see how most students in these majors pay their debt from tuition, unless they obtain a teaching position that pays well with benefits. Complaints and possible solutions about these cuts should be addressed to the Board of Trustees.
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I still believe that the greatest issue/failure at Bradley over the last 6-8 years was student recruitment. On the surface, they literally allowed the VP to treat his job like a part-time role. Secondarily, they got caught up in a lot of the DEI programming that was running rampant across the country, and completely got away from continuing to recruit the core students who had been the backbone of the student population for at least the last 50 years.
 
Bradley just announced their final decision regarding the proposed program cuts. It appears nearly all the programs and majors that were proposed in the initial announcement seen here- https://www.bradleyfans.com/forum/s...at-moving-athletics-to-d3?p=512823#post512823

...will get cut, with 2 exceptions: the Manufacturing Technology and Public Health Education. Those two programs are not included on the final list just released today, and appear to have been saved from discontinuation.

Here is today's announcement- [TABLE="border: 0, cellpadding: 0, cellspacing: 0"]
[TR]
[TD="align: center"] [TABLE="border: 0, cellpadding: 0, cellspacing: 0"]
[TR]
[TD]Special Edition[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
[/TD]
[TD="align: center"] [TABLE="border: 0, cellpadding: 0, cellspacing: 0"]
[TR]
[TD]Final Academic Assessment Decision[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
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[TD="align: center"] [/TD]
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[TABLE="border: 0, cellpadding: 0, cellspacing: 0"]
[TR]
[TD="align: center"] [TABLE="border: 0, cellpadding: 0, cellspacing: 0"]
[TR]
[TD="align: left"]After sharing Bradley University's initial Academic Assessment announcement last month, we are now announcing the final decisions as a result of this thorough process. Please read the full details below. Thank you for your continued understanding and support of Bradley's mission as we all move forward together.[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
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[TABLE="border: 0, cellpadding: 0, cellspacing: 0"]
[TR]
[TD="align: left"]Bradley University's academic offerings will begin a phased removal of certain programs that were selected as a result of the academic assessment conducted over the past months. These decisions are aimed at helping to build a sustainably strong future for Bradley that remains focused on the needs of today's students.

The process included a presidential assessment of all university programs using five-year data sets, as well as recommendations from a Senate-elected faculty review committee, Provost Walter Zakahi and the university deans.

Department chairs from each of the programs previously recommended for discontinuation were given 30 days to respond to President Stephen Standifird. As a result of these dialogues, there have been changes to the list of programs that will begin the process for removal. Manufacturing Engineering Technology and Public Health Education will continue as program offerings at Bradley. The following academic programs will not continue as offerings at Bradley.[/TD]
[/TR]
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[TD="bgcolor: #ededed, align: center"] [TABLE="border: 0, cellpadding: 0, cellspacing: 0"]
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[TD="align: left"]Programs that will begin their phased removal process:[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
[TABLE="border: 0, cellpadding: 0, cellspacing: 0"]
[TR]
[TD="align: left"]
  • Actuarial Science (Mathematics)*·
  • Apparel Production and Merchandising
  • Business Law
  • Ceramics
  • Entrepreneurship**
  • Family Consumer Science Education
  • Family Life Science
  • Hospitality Leadership
  • International Studies
  • Math Education
  • Pre-K – 12 Administration and Leadership
  • Printmaking
  • Professional Sales
  • Religious Studies
  • Statistics
[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
[/TD]
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[/TABLE]
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[TD="align: left"]*An Actuarial Science degree will continue to be offered by the finance and quantitative methods department in the Foster College of Business.

**Cocurricular entrepreneurship opportunities will continue to be available from the Bradley University Turner School of Entrepreneurship and Innovation.[/TD]
[/TR]
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[TD="bgcolor: #ededed, align: center"] [TABLE="border: 0, cellpadding: 0, cellspacing: 0"]
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[TD="align: left"]The following programs will no longer offer majors or concentrations, but will remain as service units (offering classes as part of the Bradley Core Curriculum or other courses required by specific majors or concentrations):
  • Economics
  • French
  • Mathematics
  • Philosophy
  • Physics
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[TD="align: left"]Students majoring in these programs represent less than 3% of the Bradley student population, and each will be able to finish their degree in their current major or program at Bradley University. In order to accommodate for this, some of the above offerings will be phased out over time. Each student currently majoring in the listed programs will receive resources for questions and guidance from their individual college.

During these planned transitions, there will regrettably be a reduction of employable positions in some departments. Thirty-eight currently occupied faculty positions are being eliminated, and 23 faculty positions are being eliminated through attrition. Bradley University is committed to expressing compassion and support throughout this difficult process.

While we recognize that these changes may create concerns among the broader Bradley community, we remain confident that this approach will ultimately bring our university to a secure future of renewed relevance and reach.[/TD]
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Good luck to President Standifird and his administration in this mission to "build a sustainably strong future for Bradley that remains focused on the needs of today's students."
​
And despite the title of this thread, it was only a recommendation by the faculty union to drop Bradley athletics to Division III. It was never a serious consideration by Bradley's administrators or Trustees.
 
Da Coach said:
Bradley just announced their final decision regarding the proposed program cuts. It appears nearly all the programs and majors that were proposed in the initial announcement seen here- https://www.bradleyfans.com/forum/s...at-moving-athletics-to-d3?p=512823#post512823

...will get cut, with 2 exceptions: the Manufacturing Technology and Public Health Education. Those two programs are not included on the final list just released today, and appear to have been saved from discontinuation.

Here is today's announcement- [TABLE="border: 0, cellpadding: 0, cellspacing: 0"]
[TR]
[TD="align: center"] [TABLE="border: 0, cellpadding: 0, cellspacing: 0"]
[TR]
[TD]Special Edition[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
[/TD]
[TD="align: center"] [TABLE="border: 0, cellpadding: 0, cellspacing: 0"]
[TR]
[TD]Final Academic Assessment Decision[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
[TABLE="border: 0, cellpadding: 0, cellspacing: 0"]
[TR]
[TD="align: center"] [/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
[TABLE="border: 0, cellpadding: 0, cellspacing: 0"]
[TR]
[TD="align: center"] [TABLE="border: 0, cellpadding: 0, cellspacing: 0"]
[TR]
[TD="align: left"]After sharing Bradley University's initial Academic Assessment announcement last month, we are now announcing the final decisions as a result of this thorough process. Please read the full details below. Thank you for your continued understanding and support of Bradley's mission as we all move forward together.[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
[TABLE="border: 0, cellpadding: 0, cellspacing: 0"]
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[TD="align: center"] [TABLE="border: 0, cellpadding: 0, cellspacing: 0"]
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[/TR]
[/TABLE]
[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
[TABLE="border: 0, cellpadding: 0, cellspacing: 0"]
[TR]
[TD="align: left"]Bradley University's academic offerings will begin a phased removal of certain programs that were selected as a result of the academic assessment conducted over the past months. These decisions are aimed at helping to build a sustainably strong future for Bradley that remains focused on the needs of today's students.

The process included a presidential assessment of all university programs using five-year data sets, as well as recommendations from a Senate-elected faculty review committee, Provost Walter Zakahi and the university deans.

Department chairs from each of the programs previously recommended for discontinuation were given 30 days to respond to President Stephen Standifird. As a result of these dialogues, there have been changes to the list of programs that will begin the process for removal. Manufacturing Engineering Technology and Public Health Education will continue as program offerings at Bradley. The following academic programs will not continue as offerings at Bradley.[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
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[TD="bgcolor: #ededed, align: center"] [TABLE="border: 0, cellpadding: 0, cellspacing: 0"]
[TR]
[TD="align: left"]Programs that will begin their phased removal process:[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
[TABLE="border: 0, cellpadding: 0, cellspacing: 0"]
[TR]
[TD="align: left"]
  • Actuarial Science (Mathematics)*·
  • Apparel Production and Merchandising
  • Business Law
  • Ceramics
  • Entrepreneurship**
  • Family Consumer Science Education
  • Family Life Science
  • Hospitality Leadership
  • International Studies
  • Math Education
  • Pre-K – 12 Administration and Leadership
  • Printmaking
  • Professional Sales
  • Religious Studies
  • Statistics
[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
[TABLE="border: 0, cellpadding: 0, cellspacing: 0"]
[TR]
[TD="align: center"] [TABLE="border: 0, cellpadding: 0, cellspacing: 0"]
[TR]
[TD="align: left"]*An Actuarial Science degree will continue to be offered by the finance and quantitative methods department in the Foster College of Business.

**Cocurricular entrepreneurship opportunities will continue to be available from the Bradley University Turner School of Entrepreneurship and Innovation.[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
[TABLE="border: 0, cellpadding: 0, cellspacing: 0"]
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[TD="align: center"] [TABLE="border: 0, cellpadding: 0, cellspacing: 0"]
[TR]
[TD="bgcolor: #ededed, align: center"] [TABLE="border: 0, cellpadding: 0, cellspacing: 0"]
[TR]
[TD="align: left"]The following programs will no longer offer majors or concentrations, but will remain as service units (offering classes as part of the Bradley Core Curriculum or other courses required by specific majors or concentrations):
  • Economics
  • French
  • Mathematics
  • Philosophy
  • Physics
[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
[/TD]
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[TD="align: left"]Students majoring in these programs represent less than 3% of the Bradley student population, and each will be able to finish their degree in their current major or program at Bradley University. In order to accommodate for this, some of the above offerings will be phased out over time. Each student currently majoring in the listed programs will receive resources for questions and guidance from their individual college.

During these planned transitions, there will regrettably be a reduction of employable positions in some departments. Thirty-eight currently occupied faculty positions are being eliminated, and 23 faculty positions are being eliminated through attrition. Bradley University is committed to expressing compassion and support throughout this difficult process.

While we recognize that these changes may create concerns among the broader Bradley community, we remain confident that this approach will ultimately bring our university to a secure future of renewed relevance and reach.[/TD]
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[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
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No Ceramics! Damn!!
 
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