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Mark Kennedy new, but soon to be old CU President - Official CU president Thread

Duff Man said:
His contacts are mostly confined to the upper midwest. His academic contacts are not really relevant to CU, a public research-driven university. Plus North Dakota seems to be begging for him to leave.

If you compare the resumes side by side, Benson had the much better resume to be president of CU.
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Your opinion. Kennedy has much more academic expertise, allies on the east coast, and in Washington DC. Since the preponderance of research dollars comes from the Feds...that is very important. I think he will do well...much like Benson. And we saw a morphing of Benson in his tenure....his views changed to align better with his constituency. Just not a fan of the mob rules mentality that has taken over this country. Civility should be emphasized...differences of opinion embraced. Not the world we live in.
 
SDB said:
Your opinion. Kennedy has much more academic expertise, allies on the east coast, and in Washington DC. Since the preponderance of research dollars comes from the Feds...that is very important. I think he will do well...much like Benson. And we saw a morphing of Benson in his tenure....his views changed to align better with his constituency. Just not a fan of the mob rules mentality that has taken over this country. Civility should be emphasized...differences of opinion embraced. Not the world we live in.
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Where’s the evidence that Kennedy is an adept University fundraiser on Benson’s level (or close)?
 
SDB said:
Diversity of experience and contacts. Was very active in the corporate world.....very active in politics.....much experience in academia. Its all about contacts...and his resume is long and diverse.
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Out of curiosity- what tangible benefits do you think his contacts bring to the role?

What other achievements does he have that impress you?

Why do you think he's the best person for the role?
 
SDB said:
Your opinion. Kennedy has much more academic expertise, allies on the east coast, and in Washington DC. Since the preponderance of research dollars comes from the Feds...that is very important. I think he will do well...much like Benson. And we saw a morphing of Benson in his tenure....his views changed to align better with his constituency. Just not a fan of the mob rules mentality that has taken over this country. Civility should be emphasized...differences of opinion embraced. Not the world we live in.
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So now he is some big Washington insider ready to funnel research dollars? That is a stretch.

Benson's knowledge of Colorado politics and higher education in this state at the time of hire was inarguably miles ahead of Kennedy. Not my opinion, but a fact.

The guy got passed over for the UCF job and North Dakota seems mostly over him, but he is a good choice at CU? If you say so.
 
Denver_sc said:
Out of curiosity- what tangible benefits do you think his contacts bring to the role?

What other achievements does he have that impress you?

Why do you think he's the best person for the role?
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I am not a fan of a "single" finalist...so I have no insight into how he stacks up with the other potential candidates. Ive worked in Government for 30 years....its unfortunately the good old boy network....all my business is because of who I know...so I am intimately familiar with that process. SInce he served in Congress, he has contacts remaining that he will most certainly call upon in the budget process. Some of the issues he was asked about in the interview were intended, IMHO, as gotcha questions. Certainly valid but challenging to say the least. The Affirmative Action one is difficult. The ongoing Harvard case is going to have a big impact on the future of Affirmative action. So, where it is going? I have no idea. It has merits...but as the Asian Americans have stated in thier case, it has much negative. So is Kennedy the perfect hire? Of course not. Is there someone better? Of course. But who were the other candidates? His resume is pretty diverse I must admit.
 
Duff Man said:
So now he is some big Washington insider ready to funnel research dollars? That is a stretch.

Benson's knowledge of Colorado politics and higher education in this state at the time of hire was inarguably miles ahead of Kennedy. Not my opinion, but a fact.

The guy got passed over for the UCF job and North Dakota seems mostly over him, but he is a good choice at CU? If you say so.
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Since the state funds the school very little, dont see that as a huge plus. My discussions with the Dean of Engineering in the past was that they must continue to keep peace with the state legislature given that the land that the school is on is land owned by the state...lol. But the funding the state provides is a pittance in thier overall budget.
 
SDB said:
Since the state funds the school very little, dont see that as a huge plus. My discussions with the Dean of Engineering in the past was that they must continue to keep peace with the state legislature given that the land that the school is on is owned by the state...lol. But the funding the state provides is a pittance in thier overall budget.
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The state has more control than just funding.
 
Keep peace with a Democratic state legislature by hiring a conservative Congressman from Minnesota and North Dakota? Nice!
 
SDB said:
I am not a fan of a "single" finalist...so I have no insight into how he stacks up with the other potential candidates. Ive worked in Government for 30 years....its unfortunately the good old boy network....all my business is because of who I know...so I am intimately familiar with that process. SInce he served in Congress, he has contacts remaining that he will most certainly call upon in the budget process. Some of the issues he was asked about in the interview were intended, IMHO, as gotcha questions. Certainly valid but challenging to say the least. The Affirmative Action one is difficult. The ongoing Harvard case is going to have a big impact on the future of Affirmative action. So, where it is going? I have no idea. It has merits...but as the Asian Americans have stated in thier case, it has much negative. So is Kennedy the perfect hire? Of course not. Is there someone better? Of course. But who were the other candidates? His resume is pretty diverse I must admit.
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The dude is supposedly (at least) a good politician but can’t answer questions about major political issues related to academia. Those types are gotcha questions?

Where’s the evidence of the outstanding Kennedy University fundraising chops?

Without this evidence, your argument about him being criticized solely on his politics is barren. “Connections” didn’t add up to much for North Dakota. No one knows why that’ll do much for Colorado.
 
dio said:
Keep peace with a Democratic state legislature by hiring a conservative Congressman from Minnesota and North Dakota? Nice!
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Didnt say Kennedy was the best to do that...but relying on state funding to grow and expand is fools gold...since no President has been able to change that funding profile, I dont see it changing. Regents understand that well.
 
Comparing CU and UND is a bit of a stretch. UND has a history of reliance on state funds that were heavily cut during his first two years. He was caught in a transformation to become more independent of the state's coffers, looking at things like expanded ONLINE school opportunities. THey relied on the state for 26% of thier revenue. He had to make immediate cuts to accommodate less funding while at the same time start to create a more independent set of funding streams. Did he succeed? Dont know. Was his interview for the UCF job problemmatic after a year? Of course. The foundation at CU is already there as it relates to the budgets....he needs to build on an already pretty healthy budgetary environment not relying on state funds. Can he do that? Guess we will see.
 
manhattanbuf said:
The dude is supposedly (at least) a good politician but can’t answer questions about major political issues related to academia. Those types are gotcha questions?

Where’s the evidence of the outstanding Kennedy University fundraising chops?

Without this evidence, your argument about him being criticized solely on his politics is barren. “Connections” didn’t add up to much for North Dakota. No one knows why that’ll do much for Colorado.
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UNDs budget climate is a mess.....
 
SDB said:
I am not a fan of a "single" finalist...so I have no insight into how he stacks up with the other potential candidates. Ive worked in Government for 30 years....its unfortunately the good old boy network....all my business is because of who I know...so I am intimately familiar with that process. SInce he served in Congress, he has contacts remaining that he will most certainly call upon in the budget process. Some of the issues he was asked about in the interview were intended, IMHO, as gotcha questions. Certainly valid but challenging to say the least. The Affirmative Action one is difficult. The ongoing Harvard case is going to have a big impact on the future of Affirmative action. So, where it is going? I have no idea. It has merits...but as the Asian Americans have stated in thier case, it has much negative. So is Kennedy the perfect hire? Of course not. Is there someone better? Of course. But who were the other candidates? His resume is pretty diverse I must admit.
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You'll have to forgive me, but I'm still not understanding what else makes you think he is the right candidate for the job (note: I'm not saying "best" candidate; I'm saying "the right" candidate. I'm more concerned with understanding why you think he's the right person rather than debating who would be better or how he's been received so far). You seem to be one of the few people that is behind his candidacy and I'm genuinely curious to understand your perspective.

As an aside, I'd also point out that he hasn't served in congress in over a decade, so I also think it's fair to question how many connections he still has.
 
IMHO, the 3 most important things for a CU President are ability to raise money, political connections at the statehouse, and having a leadership vision for the university system.

Benson had all of those things in spades.

I don’t see much evidence of Kennedy having any of those things.
 
I'm curious how people saw the recent hiring of CSU's president. She didn't seem to check any boxes folks here are throwing out. Or is CSU managed in a way as a land grant institution that it's totally irrelevant to CU?

(I put out CSU because it was a recent hire, same state, same legislature, perhaps partially same donor pool, etc. obviously many other differences between the schools, so save the snarky bs)
 
I like their hire. For CU, I would have liked her background to have more executive experience or to have been a rising star at a peer system
 
Creebuzz said:
I'm curious how people saw the recent hiring of CSU's president. She didn't seem to check any boxes folks here are throwing out. Or is CSU managed in a way as a land grant institution that it's totally irrelevant to CU?

(I put out CSU because it was a recent hire, same state, same legislature, perhaps partially same donor pool, etc. obviously many other differences between the schools, so save the snarky bs)
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Yes completely different jobs though right? CSU pres only looks over the Fort Collins campus I thought? And frank took a promotion from that campus so he will likely maintain a lot of control.
 
Creebuzz said:
I'm curious how people saw the recent hiring of CSU's president. She didn't seem to check any boxes folks here are throwing out. Or is CSU managed in a way as a land grant institution that it's totally irrelevant to CU?

(I put out CSU because it was a recent hire, same state, same legislature, perhaps partially same donor pool, etc. obviously many other differences between the schools, so save the snarky bs)
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I honestly had no idea they had switched Presidents...
 
dio said:
I like their hire. For CU, I would have liked her background to have more executive experience or to have been a rising star at a peer system
Click to expand...

But was her resume better than Kennedy? Law professor, then moved into admin, previous role at West Virginia in a provost type position. To me, seemed a good bit lighter than Kennedy. However, as other have said, different jobs.

(Again, Kennedy hasn’t impressed since his announcement as the finalist, but I’m trying to figure out what we are really looking for in a candidate)
 
I looked up best current college presidents, and it put up most interesting presidents, had a top 20 list. E. Gordon Gee was #7. A woman named Gwendolyn Boyd was #1, Idk who she is? She went to Johns Hopkins, so she isn't a dumbass. Seemed like most of them were at smaller schools, Arizona State's peckerwood was #4, I think.
 
AeroBuff99 said:
This feels like a bad coaching hire. Why do we reach down into the FCS ranks when we should be going after an accomplished P5 president or Chancellor?
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Yep. That is exactly how I was thinking of it.

My line of thought was: “Imagine if we hired the head football coach from U North Dakota and the guy hadn’t distinguished himself on how we’d measure greatness for an FCS program.”

Maybe I’m being harsh, but it looks like Kennedy’s entire career in academe is undistinguished. Reads as political payback for a former HoR member who got drafted to run for Senate & couldn’t even pull 40% of the vote, ending his political career.
 
Creebuzz said:
But was her resume better than Kennedy? Law professor, then moved into admin, previous role at West Virginia in a provost type position. To me, seemed a good bit lighter than Kennedy. However, as other have said, different jobs.

(Again, Kennedy hasn’t impressed since his announcement as the finalist, but I’m trying to figure out what we are really looking for in a candidate)
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Hard to judge, since it is a single campus and she isn't the head honcho.

What about this. Would you feel better hiring Tony Frank or Mark Kennedy?

Tony Frank is light on private sector experience, but I think he is much more qualified for the role than Kennedy.
 
dio said:
Hard to judge, since it is a single campus and she isn't the head honcho.

What about this. Would you feel better hiring Tony Frank or Mark Kennedy?

Tony Frank is light on private sector experience, but I think he is much more qualified for the role than Kennedy.
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Maybe. I don’t follow CSU closely, but it seemed like Frank was a big thinker...but also a big spender. He may have set CSU up for some tough financial hurdles down the line, no?

The main themes I keep hearing from the crowd is that CU President must have ties to Colorado for both fundraising and dealing with the legislature. To use Buffniks football coach analogy, it seems like everyone wants an I-25 hire.
 
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