talksalot83

I agree that NDSU will either be pushed into online programs/courses or they will do it on their own accord. I was surprised at the lack of online course offering they had when I started there.

I don't blame Kennedy for the hand he was dealt. I'm also aware of what he walked into. I don't, however, agree with how he handled it. I don't think there's anything wrong with that. As I've said, it's not the only reason I stopped my donation. I don't know if UND will be positioned better in the future. It's up for debate and time will tell. I can't make that prediction. I'm not here to argue or get under people's feathers. I'm not even defending Kris. I was here to say that maybe there are other folks that Kennedy has alienated. And as I previously said, I hope he is able to find a way to regain and make up ground. I loved UND. I want it to be successful even if I don't agree with the leadership decisions.

When I was a student, there were several times where I was like, "I'm not sure this is a good financial idea." I expressed concerns, but usually to be shot down by staff/administration. Some of those people are still there in much higher positions so... Anybody know if the parking ramp is breaking even yet, 'cause it wasn't in 2016 as far as I was told??

I can't speak for the entirety of NDSU, only from my experience, but what I was always told when I asked my area leadership was that NDSU was more stable. However, that was mostly right after UND made its first round of cuts. There were many concerns during NDSU's first round (which would have been UND's second round). My area didn't lose any people; however, if NDSU needed to make more cuts, we would have probably lost staff. We did make cuts in other ways, though, just not people. There was talk about losing full-time employees and filling their jobs with student employees when and where possible. I have a tendency to believe NDSU was slightly better off in some ways. In my opinion, UND and NDSU are going to become less like each other as institutions. For good or for bad; I don't know. As someone who spent about 7 years (two degrees, student employee all those years) at UND and a couple years working for NDSU. Major programming is, obviously, different but seven years ago you probably could have gone to NDSU or UND for typical major and gotten a similar degree and experience. UND has been pushing more online programs and class offerings; when I worked at NDSU, they didn't even come close to those offerings. I have no idea what the strategic plan is for NDSU, but it feels like they're trying to maintain a traditional college. UND is, in some ways, moving forward from that. And that started before Kennedy. I should probably want to hate NDSU given my alma mater, but I had a great group of people in my office and the students were just as talented as folks I knew in college. I hope no higher education institution has to go through any more drastic budget cuts. Anyway, that's probably more than anything anyone wanted to know and semi off-topic.

My last position was at NDSU (two years). During that time, there were cuts. NDSU was in a better position than UND was financially. If we ignore athletics, NDSU did their budget cuts different than UND did. It's a tale of two different leaderships; whether you like Bresciani or not (and there's plenty not to like). NDSU definitely eliminated staff and made cuts, but not in the same way UND downsized. I emphasize that they were in different financial places. UND made a cut before NDSU had to think about their first cuts.

You're correct. Everybody has a different take. Folks have to decide what's right for their wallet. I have friends who lost their jobs. If they donated; which I don't know if those people did or not. I couldn't blame them if they ended their donations. I want to make it clear; I'm not implying that my donations were amazing or even worth the time to defend; really. All I really wanted to say is that I don't think Kennedy has simply alienated Kris. Hopefully, for UND, they are able to bring something special to the college experience and can get new donors who will support Kennedy's vision.

Budgets cuts are part of it. There's more to it than that. It feels disingenuous to think budget cuts wouldn't/can't/shouldn't matter to some people. It was not/is not the only reason for my decision.

There are many reason I stopped my donation. I'm not going to go into details because I don't want to argue with folks; I know I'm in the minority on this board in many opinion respects. What I can say is that I have valid reasons to stop my financial support. I don't want to be the President of a higher education institution, but I've spent a lot of time in one and there are certainly different paths I would have taken on some decisions. I'm not completely alone, though. I'm a somewhat young alum and many of my friends feel the same way. I have a lot of friends who graduated between '07-'14 who are not pleased with the past few years. Many of whom have stayed in the area; many of whom have stayed in contact with folks who work at UND/have close relationships with UND. These are the folks who might be at a place in their careers where they could afford to give, but they might be choosing other places to give to. Leadership is important. I don't think Kennedy has done a good job. That's simply my humble opinion and I think it's fair that we all get to decide what to do with dollars we want to donate.

I don't have even a small fraction of the money that Engelstad McGarry has, but I do not have an interest in donating. And I was a small donor at one time. I removed my donation while he's been President. I can't imagine I'm the only small donor/alum turned off. *shrug*

UND and NDSU have identical freshman admission standards. https://www.ndsu.edu/admission/admission_information/requirements/ http://und.edu/admissions/undergraduate/apply/ Minimum: 2.75 high school GPA with a 22 ACT and required core high school courses are the same.

I miss hating Gwoz.

Not everybody would have been going to Vegas to party it up and blow a bunch of money. I would have gladly gone to this game paying the premium $99+ fees for a ticket (which I think is kind of crazy for a college hockey game), but I had no intention of partying it up in Vegas. I realize I'm in the minority. This event is, basically, a Champions Club event and that's fine, but that's how it should be noted. I'm not really bitter and I'm over being annoyed. I understand why UND did what it did, but it definitely alienated some fans.

I think the President could probably do without the position for a while in a hiring freeze and budget cuts. If you want to show how much you care about a business/institution, you should show that you're willing to take hits, too. I'm sure he's not going to cut his salary. I don't begrudge Kennedy for filling position when it was already there, but it's leadership isn't just about making tough decisions that effect everybody else.

They are. Music therapy, integrated studies and it sounds like Women and Gender Studies, too. There will likely be more.

I have family in Vegas who are not tied to UND beyond me. They would have attended with me and at least one friend had there been an opportunity to go. I'm not super upset, but slightly disappointed. Getting ND/MN tickets are usually pretty difficult to get to begin with regardless of the venue. It just seems like UND would have known that this event would sell out based on the fact that transportation to Vegas is pretty good.