This is the definitive place to discuss everything that makes life on & off campus so unique in Central Virginia.

Moderators: jcmanson, Sly Fox, BuryYourDuke

By JK37
Registration Days Posts
#651511
And anyone who brings that kind of big, splashy GOOD notoriety is likely smart enough to stay away. But maybe it’s been long enough, and tide is turning….
By Chippy
Registration Days Posts
#651513
Purple Haize wrote: February 4th, 2023, 8:03 pm
Chippy wrote: February 4th, 2023, 7:00 pm
Purple Haize wrote: February 4th, 2023, 6:25 pm

Not necessarily when it comes to raising money, awareness and notoriety
I think we've had enough notoriety.
I understand what you are saying but I disagree. If LU wants to be a true National University then it needs to have some (positive) notoriety. In fact due to the little notoriety LU has had recently being negative, I would argue they need a huge splash of a hire that can create positive notoriety, at least in segments LU wants to reach.
I understand what you're saying now. I guess I got thrown off by how you used the term "notoriety" as by it's very definition always connotates something not good. It would be nice to move out of the shadow of Jerry Jr. and the notoriety that's associated with Liberty and get a solid Christian educator, whether he /she is a big name or not. Let's save the "splash" hires for LU sports.
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By Ill flame
Posts
#651514
Purple Haize wrote: February 4th, 2023, 8:03 pm
I understand what you are saying but I disagree. If LU wants to be a true National University then it needs to have some (positive) notoriety. In fact due to the little notoriety LU has had recently being negative, I would argue they need a huge splash of a hire that can create positive notoriety, at least in segments LU wants to reach.
I'm curious what segments LU is wanting to reach in your mind and do those segments care if our president is a relative nobody or not? I could see the argument either way. I'm not sure who would be considered a splash hire in the academic world that would be a good fit. If we tried to go out and hire away an ivy league president we would get an instant spike in credibility in many circles but we would be mixing oil with water.

Since I don't understand the academic world I'm just going to assume it works like hiring a football head coach which means we essentially have four options.

1) Hire a coordinator (Provost or other administrator) from a P5 (R1 University)

First thought that comes to mind here is Baylor since they are pretty similar culturally and already a R1. I would like to think there is at least one evangelical christian in the administration of the 136 other R1 schools that could work though. This is my preferred option since a person from one of these schools will better understand what "right" looks like.

2) Hire the Head Coach (president) from a smaller school

There are plenty of small Christian Universities out there with competent leadership. Whether or not they would be ready to take on a project this big is another debate.

3) Promote a coordinator that's already in house

This isn't a bad choice if we were a "winning program" but we need things to go in another direction so this is probably the worst choice.

4) Make a splashy celebrity hire (think Deion Sanders to JSU)

I would put any politician into this category. It's typically a risky/ high upside decision made out of desperation. Somehow out of these four options I think option 3 and then 4 is the most likely but I hope I'm wrong.
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By Purple Haize
Registration Days Posts
#651515
I’ll answer your question as simply as I can because I don’t feel like typing :D
If the goal of LU is to be the ND and/or BYU of the Evangelical World a first step would be for most everyone in the Evangelical World know they actually exist. To this day I still run into quite a few people who should but have never even heard of LU. If you can’t get close to 100% name recognition with your core demographic you have some work to do.
How do you do that? IMO it’s a 2 pronged approach. You need a Big Time Fund Raiser with a Characteristic personality who can get the Word out (sounds familiar). Then you need a person running the Academic side who knows what it takes to run a University. They don’t need to be that dynamic or engaging but that would be nice. They certainly need to be competent and raise the Academic perception of LU amongst the Ivory Tower types. Label one President and one Provost. But it’s time to revamp LU’s image
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By Sly Fox
Registration Days Posts
#651521
My understanding is they are looking at Chancellor & President format once again. I mean come on ... we have had a president for several years who is still claiming an honorary doctorate from Jack Hyles' clown college as his educational credentials. Anybody would be a step forward if they have even attended a postgrad class.

I sense we may get familiarity in chancellor announcement and I hope fresh blood with legitimate academic credentials in the president. But I am VERY cynical at this stage.
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By lawdawg2002
Posts
#651526
I am beginning to wonder if/when we will start to see some names emerge. My institution has also recently conducted a president search by the same group (they seem to do them all now). Based on our timeline, this should be right around the time a list of candidates is submitted to the search committee to get serious. If anyone has any knowledge of where they are in the process, please share.

A couple of things I've noticed lately, Scott Hick's salary was decreased a couple of years ago, but his wife's was increased to the point that they had to report her on the 990. Now she is no longer listed on the business school's website as associate dean. Stacey Rhodes has been promoted to associate dean. David Brat, dean of the business school, has become a lot more active on LinkedIn lately. Is this because he wants to impress the new president or because he is a candidate for president? Maybe I'm reading too much into the timing of these moves, but being in business school administration, we don't see this much movement mid-year. These are the types of moves we make in the summer.
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By Sly Fox
Registration Days Posts
#651532
Perhaps Dave Brat is thinking of his next electoral opportunity. I can't imagine that he'd be the choice for university president. But then again this board keeps surprising us with how far their heads are in the sand. Scott Hicks has to have ridden the LU train well beyond where most would have expected it to take him. I suspect he is focused on maintaining his current role once new blood enters the administration.

But keep in mind, this board under Prevo's "guidance" makes the final decisions. Most are not alumni. They typically are octogenerians or close to it. They are not focused on the future but leaving a legacy based on the past.

Are you more worried now after that last paragraph? You should be.
By Tothehoopyall1
Posts
#651536
Sly Fox wrote:Perhaps Dave Brat is thinking of his next electoral opportunity. I can't imagine that he'd be the choice for university president. But then again this board keeps surprising us with how far their heads are in the sand. Scott Hicks has to have ridden the LU train well beyond where most would have expected it to take him. I suspect he is focused on maintaining his current role once new blood enters the administration.

But keep in mind, this board under Prevo's "guidance" makes the final decisions. Most are not alumni. They typically are octogenerians or close to it. They are not focused on the future but leaving a legacy based on the past.

Are you more worried now after that last paragraph? You should be.
Dr. Brat is most likely at least under consideration. I’m not sure how he could not be. I’ll stick with what I said earlier. I believe Dr. Hicks is the favorite for the president role and the Chancellor will be Jonathan Falwell.
By Tothehoopyall1
Posts
#651537
lawdawg2002 wrote: February 5th, 2023, 9:42 am I am beginning to wonder if/when we will start to see some names emerge. My institution has also recently conducted a president search by the same group (they seem to do them all now). Based on our timeline, this should be right around the time a list of candidates is submitted to the search committee to get serious. If anyone has any knowledge of where they are in the process, please share.

A couple of things I've noticed lately, Scott Hick's salary was decreased a couple of years ago, but his wife's was increased to the point that they had to report her on the 990. Now she is no longer listed on the business school's website as associate dean. Stacey Rhodes has been promoted to associate dean. David Brat, dean of the business school, has become a lot more active on LinkedIn lately. Is this because he wants to impress the new president or because he is a candidate for president? Maybe I'm reading too much into the timing of these moves, but being in business school administration, we don't see this much movement mid-year. These are the types of moves we make in the summer.
Dr. Hicks wife has been with LUCOM for some time now.
By ballah09
Registration Days Posts
#651541
Nothing like having a president that has a PhD from a for profit online school. I mentioned earlier in this thread but in one of Jr's IG post, he said the Grahams are supposedly pushing for Fairmont State's president.
By lawdawg2002
Posts
#651544
The percentage of presidents who come from academia has been going down in recent years. I believe it has to do with the money being thrown around and the excellent retirement benefits.

That being said, I believe Liberty needs someone who thoroughly understands the academic world because it has never had a leader who does. Not many in Liberty's upper administration have.

If everyone in the Provost's office and all the Dean's had a great deal of higher education experience from peer or aspirational institutions, then I would say Liberty just needs a good leader. That is not where Liberty is. If Liberty's goal is to improve academics and institutional stability, it really needs someone who understands what this looks like.

The world of higher ed can have a drastic learning curve for those with no experience in it.
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By Ill flame
Posts
#651545
Purple Haize wrote: February 4th, 2023, 9:44 pm I’ll answer your question as simply as I can because I don’t feel like typing :D
If the goal of LU is to be the ND and/or BYU of the Evangelical World a first step would be for most everyone in the Evangelical World know they actually exist. To this day I still run into quite a few people who should but have never even heard of LU. If you can’t get close to 100% name recognition with your core demographic you have some work to do.
How do you do that? IMO it’s a 2 pronged approach. You need a Big Time Fund Raiser with a Characteristic personality who can get the Word out (sounds familiar). Then you need a person running the Academic side who knows what it takes to run a University. They don’t need to be that dynamic or engaging but that would be nice. They certainly need to be competent and raise the Academic perception of LU amongst the Ivory Tower types. Label one President and one Provost. But it’s time to revamp LU’s image
Out of curiosity I looked up how both schools were able to reach their current status. Notre Dame already had multiple national championships and became the flagship university for Catholics and Irish Americans by the 1920s long before it started to gain a solid academic reputation in the 1950s. Ultimately it took Notre Dame several decades to go from its football school reputation to what it is today. BYU took a different path than Notre Dame. They've been the LDS flagship since its early days around 1900 since it was the only option but it wasn't taken seriously as a University until much later. They weren't even accredited until the 1940s. I couldn't find as much on them but I would venture to guess it really didn't become a household name outside of LDS circles until the 70s since their rise in football coincided with a rise in academic reputation around that time. Both schools found a long time president that took them from essentially where we are now to academic prominence. Neither of them were necessarily charismatic leaders who got the word out. In both cases they drastically increased academic resources, facilities and improved the quality of faculty. Interestingly BYU specifically took steps to encourage faculty to get post grad degrees from other institutions to reduce their "academic inbreeding" issue which sounds familiar. I think a charismatic leader is always nice but not necessary.

On another note don't underestimate how big of a difference our move to FBS has already made. 10 years ago I had no idea Liberty even existed let alone heard anything positive or negative about it. Nowadays I meet people pretty regularly that have either attended or are fans of the school to various degrees without stepping foot in Virginia. That's just anecdotal, there's plenty of evidence that the brand is growing. 100% name recognition is awhile off but we are well on our way.
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By Sly Fox
Registration Days Posts
#651548
Before Haize can reference it, LU has had a guy in the president role who did get the academic world and continues to sit on the board. Sadly he had other flaws.

Here is the profile of the Fairmont State President:

Dr. Dianna Phillips

Not sure I would consider her the gamechanger some have openly pined to discover.
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By Purple Haize
Registration Days Posts
#651550
Ill flame wrote: February 5th, 2023, 4:35 pm
Purple Haize wrote: February 4th, 2023, 9:44 pm I’ll answer your question as simply as I can because I don’t feel like typing :D
If the goal of LU is to be the ND and/or BYU of the Evangelical World a first step would be for most everyone in the Evangelical World know they actually exist. To this day I still run into quite a few people who should but have never even heard of LU. If you can’t get close to 100% name recognition with your core demographic you have some work to do.
How do you do that? IMO it’s a 2 pronged approach. You need a Big Time Fund Raiser with a Characteristic personality who can get the Word out (sounds familiar). Then you need a person running the Academic side who knows what it takes to run a University. They don’t need to be that dynamic or engaging but that would be nice. They certainly need to be competent and raise the Academic perception of LU amongst the Ivory Tower types. Label one President and one Provost. But it’s time to revamp LU’s image
Out of curiosity I looked up how both schools were able to reach their current status. Notre Dame already had multiple national championships and became the flagship university for Catholics and Irish Americans by the 1920s long before it started to gain a solid academic reputation in the 1950s. Ultimately it took Notre Dame several decades to go from its football school reputation to what it is today. BYU took a different path than Notre Dame. They've been the LDS flagship since its early days around 1900 since it was the only option but it wasn't taken seriously as a University until much later. They weren't even accredited until the 1940s. I couldn't find as much on them but I would venture to guess it really didn't become a household name outside of LDS circles until the 70s since their rise in football coincided with a rise in academic reputation around that time. Both schools found a long time president that took them from essentially where we are now to academic prominence. Neither of them were necessarily charismatic leaders who got the word out. In both cases they drastically increased academic resources, facilities and improved the quality of faculty. Interestingly BYU specifically took steps to encourage faculty to get post grad degrees from other institutions to reduce their "academic inbreeding" issue which sounds familiar. I think a charismatic leader is always nice but not necessary.

On another note don't underestimate how big of a difference our move to FBS has already made. 10 years ago I had no idea Liberty even existed let alone heard anything positive or negative about it. Nowadays I meet people pretty regularly that have either attended or are fans of the school to various degrees without stepping foot in Virginia. That's just anecdotal, there's plenty of evidence that the brand is growing. 100% name recognition is awhile off but we are well on our way.
ND and BYU were well known to their respective Sects apart from football. But it did help. Most colleges outside the Ivy League and a few others (university of Chicago etc) had a huge academic reputation Right now LU is kinda known to its Sect and certainly not respected much academically as a whole.
Yes the move to FBS did help and the Brand has grown. Whether it’s still growing to grow or stagnate is the question. Where it is now I’m going with the latter
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By Purple Haize
Registration Days Posts
#651551
Sly Fox wrote: February 5th, 2023, 5:36 pm Before Haize can reference it, LU has had a guy in the president role who did get the academic world and continues to sit on the board. Sadly he had other flaws.

Here is the profile of the Fairmont State President:

Dr. Dianna Phillips

Not sure I would consider her the gamechanger some have openly pined to discover.
The fact he’s still on the Board says a lot, unfortunately not all good
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By Just John
Registration Days Posts
#651752
TH Spangler wrote: February 14th, 2023, 7:26 am Need to bring in someone exactly like Dr Falwell Sr. Someone focused on training young Christians and bold enough to call it like it is. 👍
There was only one Falwell, Sr. and sadly we will never find another. But even he moderated over the years. Never on the essentials but on what he used to preach against as pretty close to essentials. :D
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By Sly Fox
Registration Days Posts
#651887
My completely uninformed guess is that CarterBaldwin has completed their search and presented a short list of candidates that the search committee has narrowed down to a favorite or top few. Whomever the Search Committee presents as their top choice will be rubber-stamped by the group because they are notoriously uninformed and easily persuaded by the inner circle. We can only hope they picked outside of the organization and someone who has the temerity to stand up to those who selected him. That's probably a huge ask on behalf of the Liberty community. But I remain cautiously optimistic.
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By Purple Haize
Registration Days Posts
#651892
Sly Fox wrote: February 19th, 2023, 10:46 am My completely uninformed guess is that CarterBaldwin has completed their search and presented a short list of candidates that the search committee has narrowed down to a favorite or top few. Whomever the Search Committee presents as their top choice will be rubber-stamped by the group because they are notoriously uninformed and easily persuaded by the inner circle. We can only hope they picked outside of the organization and someone who has the temerity to stand up to those who selected him. That's probably a huge ask on behalf of the Liberty community. But I remain cautiously optimistic.
Lucy called. Wants to know if you wanna go kick the football around :D
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By Sly Fox
Registration Days Posts
#652315
I have been hearing from multiple sources now that we are close to having a vote on the chancellor and president positions. Finally.

I am also hearing that the chancellor position will not be a surprise to most anyone who has been following this situation closely. But the president position will likely be a name that hasn't been bandied about on the board. That person likely will not have strong LU ties. That person has however likely been on campus in recent months.

That's just what I have now heard from different sources. But I wouldn't expect Prevo to be in hurry to let go of his personal piggy bank/gravy train. So a transition may take awhile. How many more private jet flights can he squeeze in to Anchorage & Arizona on "university business"? Just curious.
#652318
So Jonathan will be the chancellor.

I’m cautiously optimistic about the president, I know some of us were hoping for a good academic without the baggage of celebrity. Also, knowing it’s not someone we’ve discussed is good, I wouldn’t want us picking the president.
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By Sly Fox
Registration Days Posts
#652320
There are actually two obvious chancellor candidates and Jonathan is certainly one of them. I have also heard that there might be a mystery candidate. Not sure if that is actually the case.

As for the president position, I believe the names I have heard mentioned most seriously all have Ph.D. behind their name. But they are not brand names by any stretch of imagination. The shortlisted names that have been shared with me in the past couple of weeks have required some googling.
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