Luke says Moo!

Besides Crysto trying to make me cry with her comment on Standing against the darkness I’m feeling much better.

Career Fair yesterday…it went well. I think and hope that people were actually interested when they were speaking to me. I tried to be confident and really tell people what I was looking for rather than try to pander to what they’re looking for. Sounds like a good plan, but I tend to try to make my immediate response audience as happy as possible. Oh, well.

Anyway, I gave out 21 resumes and picked up some cool swag. And I’ve got a crap load of people to contact and websites to visit to fill out their stupid online applicaiton process. I’m tired of doing that…why can’t they all just get together and have one central location for that crap. Anyway, I’ll hit some of those this evening and spend some time working on it later. Let’s just hope filling those out goes well.

And the story that Bob S. and I were working on has been postponed. Annoying because now we’ll be putting wire stories in the news pages. Oh, well. Could be worse…we could have no content whatsoever.

But my previous story is in the extended entry and on the Rose Thorn website, here.

And I got quoted in the Terre Haute Tribune Star Wednesday; you can read all about it here.Relavant parts copied in the extended.

Oh, and if you’re bored the Indianapolis Buisness Journal published a rather scathing article about the changes happening on campus…to be honest it sounds very much like a spin job. I’m not sure what to say about it, but I’m not sure I like the tone and the way the reporter went about reporting the story. But that’s just me.
(All links good on 1-27-05)

*****************************************************************
Rose faculty meets to “discuss” Midgley: Recent developments cause ripples in business community

By Sue Loughlin/Tribune-Star
January 26, 2005

(excerpts by me! - Should this be violating anything e-mail me and I’ll remove it. Thank you.)

Turmoil at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology prompted a special meeting of its faculty Tuesday “to discuss the performance of Rose-Hulman President Dr. John J. Midgley,” according to a faculty e-mail distributed on campus.

Midgley became Rose-Hulman’s 12th president in July, succeeding Sam Hulbert.

Some recent developments at Rose-Hulman have raised concerns on campus and caused ripples in the business community.

Also denied access to Tuesday’s faculty meeting were students Luke Stark and Bob Schulein, co-editors in chief of the weekly campus newspaper, the Rose Thorn.

The student editors hoped to get faculty comments after the meeting, but faculty so far have been tight-lipped about the emerging campus controversy, they said.

The faculty meeting and large turnout Tuesday “are pretty significant,” Schulein said. Stark said he hasn’t seen anything like it in his four years on campus.

Students aren’t yet sure if recent developments and the changes under Midgley are something they should be concerned about, Stark said.

Stark, who has interviewed Midgley, suggests that changes in the administrative structure look reasonable, adding, “I don’t have all the information that some of the people do.”

It does bother the editors that no one is providing reasons for the shakeup at Ventures. “Nobody wants to give us solid answers,” Stark said.

Commenting on the campus community’s unwillingness to discuss openly what is happening at Rose-Hulman, Stark suggested, “We’re like a family. If there’s a problem, we don’t want to let anyone else know about it until we know how to fix it, which is good, but now they’re not letting the family in on it. We don’t know what the problem is. I don’t even know what questions to ask.”

*****************************************************************
Midget Steve had a wonderful graphic to go with this…I may appropriate it later.
*****************************************************************
Redefining the administration
Luke

At Tuesday’s Institutional Meeting, President John J. Midgley announced a restructuring of the upper-level administration. This office rearrangement will reduce the number of cabinet members reporting to the president from ten to six.
Midgley told the Tribune Star that the changes are not a “reorganization.” No one has lost a job, and those who are currently vice presidents will maintain their status.
By constructing a cabinet of broadly-empowered vice presidents, he hopes to create a more focused view of Rose-Hulman from an internal viewpoint. He also stated that a more tightly structured cabinet will be more appealing to external groups.
The new V. P. for Enrollment Management will lead a team comprised of the Admissions and Financial Aid Offices, formerly grouped with the Office of Student Affairs. Grouping these offices together will allow the admissions team to make more cohesive decisions concerning the cost and composition of each class. Other than the transfer of the Financial Aid office, Student Affairs will continue to operate as before.
The Development and External Affairs Office, currently led by a single Vice President, will be split into two offices, each with a Vice President. The Development Office will be directly responsible for all Institute fundraising activities, and the Public Relations Office will oversee special events and continue making the Rose-Hulman “name brand” more recognizable.
The Vice President for Business and Finance will become the V. P. and Chief Administrative Officer. The officer will work with the offices of two other vice presidents: IAIT and Facilities Operations. Midgley believes that the combination will allow the administration to more efficiently use the available resources for maintenance and improvement of Institute property.
The responsibility of the Dean and Vice President for Academic Affairs will be expanded to include the supervision of Logan Library; Institutional Research, Planning, and Assessment; and Rose-Hulman Ventures. IRPA and Ventures are currently separate offices directly accountable to the president, and the library is a part of IAIT. According to Midgley, Ventures will become more directly involved in Rose-Hulman’s project-based education.
James Eifert and Brij Khorana have stepped down from their respective positions as President and Vice President of Rose-Hulman Ventures to resume full-time teaching duties at Rose-Hulman. Gloria Rogers, Vice President of IRPA, will be retiring this summer.
Following the announcement at the Institute Meeting on Tuesday, faculty members raised concerns about the changes.
Several wondered how the restructuring and potential changes in administrative roles would affect the family atmosphere of Rose-Hulman. Some fear this restructuring might adversely impact the Institute’s future. Contacted faculty and staff members declined to comment.
With the current Vice President of Development and External Affairs, Mark Richter, moving to a position at Ohio Wesleyan University and the creation of a V. P. of Enrollment Management position, two vice presidential cabinet positions will be open. Korn/Ferry International, an executive search consulting firm, has been hired to search for people to fill these positions.
Two advisory committees will be assisting the president in selecting candidates for each position. Each committee will consist of two faculty members, one trustee, a student member nominated by V. P. for Student Affairs Pete Gustafson, and a staff member nominated by V. P. for Business and Finance Robert Coons. Community feedback will also be accepted and considered in the selection process.
President Midgley says these changes will “help us get to the next level.” The final structural changes are expected to be in place at the beginning of the next fiscal year, beginning on the first of July.