2009.03.18
Basketball's on, budget forum's not
This message went out to the faculty and staff at Radford University about 7:30 p.m. on St. Patrick's Day:
The forum is rescheduled for Thursday, March 26, at 3:30 p.m., in the Bondurant Auditorium in Preston Hall. The rescheduling will allow the RU community the opportunity to attend the Forum and support our championship basketball team on Thursday.
This is the second postponement for the forum. It was set for March 9, but Radford's administrators decided they didn't know enough about what the General Assembly was going to do to hold it then. So it was set for March 19. Now it's March 26.
That doesn't conflict with Highlanders v. Tarheels in Greensboro, but it does conflict with another forum scheduled to talk about the wellness and fitness facilities at Radford. Students can't use the Dedmon Center anymore -- it's reserved for athletes -- and many students don't think that's reasonable, since it was mostly student money that paid for the recent $15.7 million renovation and it has the only indoor track on campus and the facilities left on campus can't accommodate (according to some students) the student body.
These are economically hard times, but Radford kept dorms open for an extra day so students could stay for the Big South championship game and the school is providing bus service to students headed to the big game in Greensboro. President Penelope Kyle has sent emails praising students for being so supportive of the basketball team, but there hasn't been much word on the budget or the 29 programs that may be discontinued.
What folks will talk about at the budget forum is an open question. It was originally meant to talk about cuts in state funding , but those cuts that didn't happen. Federal stimulus money is plugging the gap.
Here's an update from university spokesman Michael Hemphill.
"According to Provost [Wil] Stanton, the RU administration is currently studying the most appropriate use for the stimulus money and will present recommendations to the Board of Visitors at its April meeting. The program review will continue as planned. Additional information may be available at next week’s open forum on the budget."
-- Tim Thornton
P.S. Here's the "thank you mentioned a comment below."
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!
What an incredible time to be a Radford University Highlander! Together this season, we generated tremendous excitement for the RU community and carried the school's name all across the country.
The season’s magical journey became possible through the hard work of our staff, team and RU administration, but just as important, by our team of loyal and passionate students, alumni, fans and friends.
We thank you for a wonderful season that began in Peter’s Hall in front of just 500 people and continued through the ESPN televised Big South Championship in the renovated Dedmon Center. It concluded with a dance on the grand stage at the Greensboro Coliseum as we played North Carolina in the first round of the NCAA Tournament before a crowd of 20,000 and the CBS national television audience.
Thank you to everyone who proudly displayed their Highlander pride and made this basketball season a joyful success. We look forward to more magic in 2009-10!
In appreciation,
Coach Brad Greenberg
* * * * *
Here are some links you may find interesting:
- Photo gallery of NCAA tournament memories
- Share your memories in words and photographs on the official RU Facebook page or the RU Highlanders: Big South Conference Champions Facebook page
· Decorate your computer desktop with scenes from the Highlanders remarkable season http://www.radford.edu/NewsPub/wallpaper.html
Radford University - 801 East Main Street - Radford, VA 24142
Isn't it crazy Tim? I'm as big a Highlander basketball fan as they come, but Penelope Kyle's blatant favoritism here is simply sickening. I'd expect better, and really am suprised at such a lack of equity among a university president. It is a smack in the face to many Radford students.
That said, she IS a large part of a revamped athletic program, and there's more to the Dedmon Center discussion than most students realize (95% of equipment was moved out).
She's done a lot of great things for this university, she just needs to work on balance. I can't blame her for being excited about our basketball program though. Go Highlanders!
Comment by Matt Vecchio — March 18, 2009 @ 2:13 pm
To be honest, President Kyle, along with other esteemed members of the RU Administraion are probably in Greensboro as I write this. I guess it would be almost impossible for them to return for something as unimportant as a "Budget Hearing" that might impact academics at RU.
Comment by Hope — March 18, 2009 @ 3:09 pm
Students realize that alot of equipment isn't in Dedmon anymore, but there are still 6 basketball courts and a track there that could and should be open to students at some times, even if it's 6am til noon. I know I'd take advantage of it.
Comment by T Rex — March 18, 2009 @ 4:02 pm
The lack of restraint, respect, and reciprocity from The President Kyle and The Provost Stanton are staggaringly damaging to those of us who govern our affairs with integrity and humility. I must invoke President Obama's inaugural words, "And those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account-to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day-because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government."
Comment by Cynthia — March 18, 2009 @ 9:40 pm
I hope the Highlanders do better than they did against Duke 11 years ago in the big ncaa dance. Oh yeah, one more thing that was accomplished without fanfare by the Doug that Penny thinks is her doing.
The Dedmon center fiasco is but one bad decision among so many. Taking money from everyone for the few. I don't criticize the athletes, but the administration should be taken to court over this appalingly poor decision.
-Homecoming in February! I wonder how many attended this year from say Northern Va or far SW VA? Why would one travel that time of year for no pretty leaves, no fine temperatures, no Highlander Festival which attracts as many as 15,000 to RU. One does get snow, a few people, and Penny telling us how wonderful things are.
-Taking a week out of the academic calendar without consulting the faculty, without returning the tuition and fees, but diminishing the academic quantity and thereby quality of an RU degree.
- But the clincher is the dismantling of the liberal education that RU has so proudly conferred for so long. Twenty-nine programs being put through the RU versions of the Inquisition for no realistically budgetary reason, done without engaging the collective wisdom of a most compettent faculty and student body. The Provost and other lackies to Penny and the old-drugs saleman (A.J. KIRK)try to tell us that doing away with a program having 58 majors (Anthropology) is typical across the country. That is pure bull. I invite you to look at websites across the country to see viable anthropology programs. The Provost says it, so it's true. Sorry, the big lie tactic of big time dictators shouldn't work here. I mean doing away with the tuition of 58 majors in a time of economic crisis and potential budget cuts is stupid on top of academically ill-advised. Hmmm, but if you have some vision to transform RU into Radford Business College, maybe the buget crisis is the perfect smoke screen to do dreadful deeds.
Opacity is the RU administration's mode, transparency shows them, particularly the president, to be people with little or no academic experience or understanding of what higher education is about, and the Provost a spineless Quisling that hope Penny goes on and he gets to be president--pipedream Wil. You are the ultimate academic quisling a.k.a.turncoat.
Roudy Red
Comment by Roudy red — March 18, 2009 @ 10:20 pm
Doug Covington didn't have to bar the student body from the facilities they paid for.
Comment by Roudy red — March 18, 2009 @ 10:22 pm
[...] as Tim Thornton said in his Roanoke Times blog this week, “What folks will talk about at the budget forum is an open question. It was [...]
Pingback by RU Budget Cuts: Who Will Be Teaching? — March 19, 2009 @ 11:54 am
The current administration has instilled in our student body overwhelming negativity and constant suspicion—warranted suspicion, that is. Those of us who are taking active stances against the actions of this administration have been put in a compromising position – how do we support our fellow Highlanders (the men’s basketball team) and celebrate their accomplishments WITHOUT supporting the mismanagement of funding by our school administration? How do we express our school spirit without appearing to sing praises to this administration? This puts students and faculty at a divide—a strategic move? Yes? Once a community moves from a collective whole to competing divided classes/groups of individuals , then that community loses it’s strength—they lose the ability to resist.
To the students, faculty, and community of Radford University , we cannot become divided. We must support each other. We must support our institution.
Do not focus on individual interest. Focus on group interest. Focus on the one thing that binds us all: EDUCATION. This is the one common denominator we all share—we are here, seeking education, and we have the voice and the power to make our demands.
I hope to see everyone at the budget meeting Thursday. Speak up. Speak out. Fight back.
Comment by Alicia Ring — March 20, 2009 @ 12:39 am
Re: Coach Greenberg's thanks to the campus via e-mail today...
It is indeed an incredible time to be at RU if you are the President, Provost, basketball coach, or one of the other ADMINISTRATIVE people who have enjoyed SIGNIFICANT increases in salaries/bonuses during the past three years while we have charged students more and more for less and less, while making sure faculty are kept to the nominal "state mandated" pay raises and salaries based on national data that seems to change each year. I wonder what has happened to all the EXTRA MILLIONS RU has received from the state and students the past three years? It certainly has not been allocated to DEPARTMENTS for student instruction. Maybe that is why the President refused to convene the University Planning and Budget Advisory Committee for the past year, and still has not provided the university budget data (public documents) to them as requested. Maybe there are answers to questions that someone does not want to be public.
Notice the wording of Coach Greenberg's thanks:
"The season’s magical journey became possible through the hard work of our staff, team and RU administration, but just as important, by our team of loyal and passionate students, alumni, fans and friends."
Is there an important constiuent group missing? I wonder if the coach, who makes who makes SIGNIFICANTLY more than anyone at RU other than the President, can spell FACULTY?
Hired Labor Who Stayed Behind to Teach Students (think that is somewhere in our mission)
Comment by Hired Labor — March 20, 2009 @ 3:56 pm
I agree with "Hired Labor" concern regarding budget details not being shared with the appropriate committee that is charged with providing campus wide input to inform budget allocation priorities and decisions. It seems it took a motion passed by the Faculty Senate a few weeks ago requesting that the President to even convene the committee, much less provide the information it needs. In fact, it seems none of the Vice President's have any budget data other than for their own divisions, so even they are not informed enough to understand the context of current or planned budget allocations. This strikes many as just the most recent "command and control" strategy to keep decisions centralized in the President's office "executive" office complex. Maybe the Roanoke Times can obtain a copy of the entire university budget down to the department level, including auxiliary services, and assess the decision priorities as evidenced by resource allocations.
Until President Kyle arrived, budget, salary, and other information were also made available in Board of Visitor briefing materials. After the BOV meeting, this information was placed on reserve in the library. This level of detailed information is no longer made available to the BOV, nor made available to the campus community. When asked why the BOV information was no longer being made available, the President replied it was to save money. I wonder how much it cost to copy and bind 25 copies a 50 page handout? I'd surmise it cost less than the amount for one tank of gasoline for the President's SUV.
Of course, someone in the administration will now comment on the typographical errors in “Hired Labor's” comments to avoid the substantive questions she/he raised. We need transparency and accountability at RU--not more apologies from the Provost and President for ignoring university policies and processes that when followed, allow for a level of shared understanding that fosters trust, respect, and a sense of community values that we will all embrace.
Paul
Comment by Paul W — March 20, 2009 @ 5:07 pm
Dear Alicia:
What a fine letter. I think you students should start a letter signing campaign agaisnt Kyle et al. over this Dedmon Center crime. I'm sure you could get several thousand student signatures. Then deliver the letter and signatures to the Governor's Office and Secretary of the State Department of Education.
Comment by Roudy Red — March 21, 2009 @ 5:12 pm
Dear Brad:
Congrats on a great season!
The pitty is that you work for such the underhanded, stupid, and possibily criminal administration led by PK. Her divisive policies and ill-conceived decisions have to some extent heretofore divided the RU campus and Alumni communities. While there is no divison in our support of you and the team, the RU family is daily coming together in recognition of the horrible leadership at RU. I'm sure you and the team are chagrined by the policy that bans your fans from the Dedmon Center, but we understand that it would be dangerous for you to suggest such a notion to Kyle.
Comment by Roudy Red — March 21, 2009 @ 5:23 pm
Question about the Budget Forum and the Student Forum to be held about the Dedmon Center mess. I've heard they are scheduled at the same time on 3-26. Is this yet another devious move, or another indication of their inability to manage a university?
Comment by Roudy Red — March 21, 2009 @ 5:31 pm
Are the asserstions made by "Hired Labor" and Paul W. accurate? If so, it would seem to be a serious disparity with the public statements made by the President and Provost regarding their desire and willinness to be totally transparent with the information they use to make decisions. It has always been my understanding that university budgets were public documents, so how could they not be provided on request? And since when does the President decide whether or not to convene a university committee? Surely the assertion that she was not going to convene the university budget committee is not accurate.
Another concern I have heard expressed repeatedly on campus is why the Provost and President received significant pay raises when they knew RU was facing significant budget challenges due to the economic downturn. The Provost had already agreed to the position at a salary level, then reportedly received a $49,000 pay raise when there was no money for faculty, staff, and others. President Kyle would recommend his raise to the BOV. What was her basis for recommending a pay raise at such a time? Then according to a newpaper article, in addition to her salary, there was a request for $200,000 per year for five years ($1,000,000 total) in deferred compensation for the President to be funded by gifts to the foundation. Again, what is the basis for such a request given the university's budget situation?
Maybe well reasoned, rational explanations will be shared at the upcoming budget forum. Answers to questions would go a long way to addressing concerns that continue to build on campus.
Mike T.
Comment by Mike T, — March 21, 2009 @ 7:07 pm
To Mike T:
The committee convening assertion is correct.
The committee in question is convened at the president's call and she didn't make that call until the faculty senate passed a resolution encouraging her to do that.
The budget hasn't been made public, according to President Kyle at the last board of visitors' meeting, because the university was then waiting on the General Assembly to make its final decisions on higher education budgets.
Now that that's happened, the official word -- from Provost Stanton through spokesman Michael Hemphill -- is that the administration is trying to decide how best to spend the money the General Assembly restored to the budget.
Comment by Tim Thornton — March 23, 2009 @ 10:07 am
[...] can find more discussion about this here and [...]
Pingback by RU rising up | New River Notebook - Roanoke.com — March 23, 2009 @ 11:14 am
Like many others on campus, I'd also like to know how all the additional funding from the General Assembly has been spent. In addition, let's have a full accounting of the University Foundation funds since it has operated as a "black box" unit for too long. Even college Deans are not given information about foundation fund accounts that are designated for their colleges, and are reportedly prohibited from any contact with their alumni. This needs to change--the foundation is supposed to serve the university, not control all private funds. Finally, using public funds to support the work of what is supposed to be a self supporting, private foundation seems worthy of an explanation, if not a change in operation.
Rooting for RU
Comment by Rooting for RU — March 24, 2009 @ 10:55 am
I have heard rumors that president Kyle recently spent around a million dollars on new signs to go in front of the buildings on campus but they won't be put in until the students leave in the summer. I am outraged that she could justify spending so much money on something so unnecessary while cutting programs that are essential to the core of the university. Kyle is totally unfit to be the president of anything, much less a university. I am so glad the students are finally taking some action because the RU faculty have pretty much ignored everything she's done until now.
Comment by Janice P. — April 2, 2009 @ 12:31 pm