terrapinsanity.com

A search committee charged with finding a replacement for President Dan Mote has been formed and today its roster became public via a campus announcement. It’s an interesting list, notable as much for who is not on it as for who is. The committee includes no yes-men from the Provost’s inner circle, whether or not from the rarefied upper reaches of Main Admin, nor for that matter does it appear to have a strong engineering or science slant, that might on its face favor a Provost who has been working on his “President’s Package” since the first day of his present position. Could be interesting!

What a creative idea … which should have been entertained for all of 15 seconds, given a quiet chuckle and then canned.

Not so at UMB, where the former Dean’s exercise of imaginative bookkeeping techniques has resulted in a request for return of some cash (maybe with more requests to come) and the most costly expense, just the PR that no university official wants, a legislative hearing on the matter in Annapolis.

One never wants to expose to the public how any campus is itself a microcosm of political intrigue, gamesmanship and, sometimes, shady business practices. So much for the ivory tower. But a “tight” budget year (a characterization that itself is generous) is kind of the wrong time to display this to legislators about to vote on your funding, don’t you think?

Today’s Washington Post article reveals to the DC Metro area one of the little known measures of campus quality, the National Survey of Student Engagement. There are many yardsticks for ranking schools, but this is one of the few that is based on a serious effort to broaden survey respondents to include students, not just campus leaders.

So what are UMCP’s NSSE scores?

If they were good, then you’d have heard about them already. They aren’t. In fact, they are pretty poor.

Leadership has these results broken down by college and even individual units, but treats them like they are Strategic Air Command’s launch codes – a critical state secret.

The last round of results quashed prospects of our participation in other surveys. In effect, questions we know the answer to need not be asked! The prospect is that we won’t indulge many other research projects until there is some expectation of scoring well. Apparently assessments are for advertising – not illumination.

President Mote’s announcement of his resignation is appended here, as distributed this morning. Not an utterly unexpected development – he’s been in charge a long time (not quite a record, but long by recent standards) and it is just about time. And it isn’t like this is a fun time to be in charge of a university – nobody can enjoy watching the death of a thousand cuts to the institution that you saw rise during growth years.

And now the intrigue: who will succeed? Provost Farvardin has been working on his ‘president’s package’ since he assumed the current role (much to the detriment of many programs, which have been needlessly whipsawed just to make for fast change, which hasn’t always been for the better.) Will it work? We’ll all know soon!

Date: Mon, 15 Feb 2010 12:02:32 -0500 (EST)
From: “President C. D. Mote, Jr.”
To: “University of Maryland Family”:;
Subject: Letter to the University Community

Dear University of Maryland Family:

I am writing to inform you that I have submitted my resignation as
President of the University of Maryland, College Park, effective August
31, 2010. I will have completed twelve years as president at the end of
the summer, a good time to turn over the leadership of this remarkable
university.

Serving as your president has been an extraordinary personal privilege
and the most rewarding experience of my professional life. It has been
a joy to work with so many talented students, faculty and staff. Your
tenacious spirit, unwavering commitment to excellence and dedication to
our university and its mission have been an inspiration to me.

As I prepare to leave the presidency, I am even more confident than when
I arrived that the University of Maryland is set in just the right
circumstances to become a truly great university. A university becomes
one of the great ones when, and only when, an “expectation of greatness”
is embedded in its culture. When an institution has this expectation, it
will replicate this belief in every decision it makes — in who it
hires, in what is taught, in how it is led, in what standards of
achievement are expected, among others. The expectation of greatness
can be felt like tension in the air even when walking across campus and
through its hallways. This expectation is the kernel of our future.
Watching it grow on our campus, across the country and around the globe
has been very satisfying indeed. While there remains a distance yet to
travel, the pathway forward is illuminated by our strategic plan and
just awaits our unwavering determination to “get there.” This is an
exhilarating time for all of us.

In looking back at my years at Maryland, I treasure the opportunities I
have had to work together with all of you to build a stronger, more
vibrant and valued institution. Our collaborations have been remarkably
successful. Together, we have recruited and graduated the best and
brightest students, attracted truly outstanding faculty, launched
exciting new academic programs, nurtured a diverse and inclusive
community, and transformed our physical campus with new buildings,
beautiful grounds, and a thriving research park and international
incubator. Leveraging the strengths of our “unfair advantages,” we have
multiplied our research dollars, dramatically improved our fundraising,
and established strong relationships with State, national and
international partners. Our innovation and entrepreneurship have
contributed substantially to Maryland’s economic development. And in
good times and bad, our team has remained together, sharing sacrifices
while pulling together to pursue our strategic goals. You have just
reason to be proud of our achievements.

Although I will be retiring as president, my wife Patsy and I will not
leave the University. I will continue in my academic appointment in
engineering, and after a one-year leave of absence beginning September
1, 2010, I look forward to participating in any way that is helpful to
the campus.

I am profoundly grateful for your assistance throughout my years as
president and will never be able to thank you sufficiently or
appropriately for all your commitments. For the remainder of my term as
president I will continue to give a maximum effort to building this
great place. My heartfelt thanks are extended to all of you for your
excellent work, your wise counsel and the many kindnesses you have
extended to me, Patsy and my family. It has been my great privilege to
serve as your president and to lead this magnificent university.

Yours sincerely,

C. D. Mote, Jr.
President

Four more Men’s Basketball home games, that is, and we’ll be done with this year’s evening parking woes. (A few more thumpings like today’s 77-56 loss to the Dukies will streamline tournament action for us too…)

What a pity that athletics has priority over classes, research and … well, everything else.

As we already know, the new campus slogan will be “unstoppable starts here!” and the big advertising campaign to roll it out was set for this coming Monday. Late this afternoon we learn that the campaign isn’t quite unstoppable. Officials canceled the Monday event, which will be rescheduled for after weather seems less uncertain. Classic!

Date: Fri, 5 Feb 2010 16:46
From: “Remington, Brodie”
Subject: Re: Time to Unleash the Shell
“Unstoppable” reception on Monday, February 8, 4-6 pm, has been cancelled. Due to the snow storm, the conditions on campus are too unpredictable, and it was not certain we would be able to get the exhibits in place or the food service provided. We will reschedule the event.

From: Remington, Brodie
Sent: Tuesday, January 26, 2010 4:55 PM
Subject: Time to Unleash the Shell

Dear Colleagues,

You are cordially invited to a reception on Monday, February 8 (4-6 pm, Prince George’s Room in the Stamp Union) for the official unveiling of our “Unstoppable” marketing initiative.

Come join faculty and staff who have helped design this initiative and learn about makes us Unstoppable. Light refreshments with wine, beer, and soda will be served. It will be an enjoyable and informative way to end a Monday … or to begin a Monday evening.

I look forward to seeing you there.

Brodie Remington
Vice President for University Relations
University of Maryland
2119 Main Administration Building
College Park, MD 20742
phone: 301-405-4682
fax: 301-314-9339
bremingt@umd.edu

Leadership continues to not quite get campus operations in sync with the rest of the community, with the usual impact on rank-and-file. In recent history we’ve now had campus in but local schools out (or delayed opening); campus delayed opening but schools in; and today, campus closed but local schools in (up to at least mid day closing – different times depending on which county.) Let’s keep everyone on their toes!

Some of these are okay for parents. Others have fidgety kids populating offices and work areas on campus, for want of other day care opportunities. A little extra consideration from leadership on coordination with local schools would go a long way to making us feel like a family again.