talksalot83

Still a solid "D." On merchandise it looks like like a green and white block with no definition. I do, however, like the typeface for text. That's about it, though.

Every email that is sent out campus-wide by UND or NDSU's Presidents are, basically, a press release without the formality. He cannot be stupid enough to think that the Herald wouldn't have questions. Peter Johnson isn't that stupid either. The interesting bits last night from a Twitter exchange are that, it seems, Kennedy/Johnson/UND said that the Herald could submit their interview questions via email and they would get back to the Herald. The Herald is not going to be OK with emailing questions in. That's not the way it works.

I can't wait for the students who have enough time on their hands to track the gps patterns, locations and times of the rovers/robot/whatever.

Running higher education like a business.

What prevents multiple students from using the same electronic permit?

It's my understanding that this fall the Parking Office is going without permit. Permits will be digital and, supposedly, there are going to be little GPS rover things patrolling the parking lots. Or that was the plan before I left; there was an email about digital permits as one point in May. I heard that institutions who use this system end up having way more parking tickets the first semester it has been implemented because it's like the wild, wild west.

UND will cut another 2.5 percent across the board. http://www.grandforksherald.com/news/education/4085765-und-allocate-59-million-budget-cuts-evenly-launches-strategic-planning-phase

It's a fair point that if a forecast is unreliable, it would make it hard to budget and the biennium system doesn't help. If Kelley gets a lot of guff for being asleep at the wheel, Brekke saw all the finances and has done so for years. I'm not trying to be a jerk here. Enrollment declining over the past few years should have probably been a bigger discussion than UND trying to create a committee/task force for it now. That's $7.9 million (if all those students are ND residents) when UND was living larger and spending money to accommodate for its rise in enrollment between 2005 and 2012. And then enrollment started sliding; maybe because of higher admission standards, maybe not. Before I left UND last month, there was a lot of talk about how the incoming numbers weren't going to be as good as they wanted them to be.

I wouldn't exactly call it a "blank slate." With low oil prices, everyone may be forced to do more cutting. Kennedy may just have to remove a portion of the slate for the next biennium, too. Make no mistake, this was about restructuring and the way he wanted things done because that's the kind of person Schafer is. The same with the logo and a couple more things that I'm not going to really go into here. I know that the SBoHE knew who they were hiring. I've been in the NDUS system as a student, student employee and a full-time benefited employee in the timespan of about 11 years now. I've watched a lot of things happen and some turmoil. I haven't seen anything like this. I've followed the SBoHE a lot, especially as a student since I was actively involved in NDSA and student government. I can't even begin to understand what the end game is with some of their decision making. But then again, I'm beginning to believe that I'm on the wrong end of the political thought for this state and system. I'm still waiting for someone to ask why Alice Brekke still gets to keep her job. She's been in finance and ops at UND for many, many years. She oversaw all of it. She should have known about the deficit (even if she couldn't predict the state-wide budget cuts). UND didn't budget for a drop in enrollment which is about 1,000 fewer than a few years around when UND topped out at around 15,500.

I'm not saying they should or shouldn't cut baseball, but for crying out loud. What a hot mess! First it's cut, then it isn't. Then they're cut again and now they might not be. Why wasn't this same leniency offered to other programs or departments? That I'm aware of, no other department or cut was offered this kind of (false) hope. I'm still not convinced that the restructuring is going to end up being everything Schafer wants it to be. But who cares? He's out. Hey, maybe they'll send him to NDSU after they oust DB. So Schafer can "clean up" the "mess."

You're forgetting that Ed Schafer said he was hands-on because he had the business background to do so. Yes, he was a part of the administration, but he is a business "outsider." That's why he could make all the tough decisions, right? He had the final say and he is going to take credit for it. If Kelley is held responsible for the nickname process and voting, then Ed should be responsible for this as well, right? The logo is OK at best. I don't think it fits the criteria that was set forth by the focus groups. I know the name doesn't, but I actually think they had an opportunity and they just kind of landed on "meh."

He sent out an email about an hour ago saying that he was signing off on it with no changes and a 2 percent tuition increase.

No surprises, unfortunately.

I spoke with one of my former instructors and she said that they're having to eliminate graduate assistants for their department. No more tuition waivers there.

You're correct. They will backfill from other departments; kind of. To be fair, we're understaffed as it is. And the departments are backfilling are letting people go too (Student Account Services, Registrar's and Financial Aid).

Studio One won't have enough time before they approve the budget to save itself.

Walton leaving means that they can easily give Peter Johnson a raise when his annual review comes around since he'll be assuming many of her duties. My position on Campus was in a new department established to provide customer service and help students navigate UND's large, bureaucratic system. Many other schools have this department because it improves retention and satisfaction. We actually keep data to back that up. The department will continue to exist because of restructuring, but it was gutted. I don't feel that I was being cut to make the institution better. It was purely a cost-saving method to maintain the jobs of people who have been at the institution longer. But, then again, another person being cut along with me was at UND for 13 years. Another was at UND for several and held prominent positions in lower administration. I remember talking about this with a friend of mine in December and January; I was a little worried, but she suspected that there would be cuts to travel and some other line items. I don't think anyone expected this. We thought that it was possible that most departments would sacrifice a little and there might be some restructuring. I thought, worst case scenario, "I'm cross trained in 5/6 admin offices. Even though I'm new, I'm very valuable because of my knowledge base. They'll probably push me into another department." The hardest part is that I should have been off the mandatory six-month probation before the budget goes into effect. They can legally extend my probation by a month for no reason. Not that letting me hit my probation would have saved me, but it would have allowed me to apply for potential, internal positions in the future at UND. Individuals who are not on probation are allowed to have priority when applying for jobs. I will not have that benefit. I also think there are going to be more cuts the next fiscal year as well. I'm sure some people think UND is simply cutting the fat, but I think this is a whole lot deeper than that. I'm telling my story because I want to put a small voice to the cuts. I'm going to miss UND. I have many friends who work there and they are wonderful people. I don't feel as if I got the opportunity to make the impact that I wanted to. I gave UND my money (tuition), my sweat (working various positions on campus) and now my tears. I have nothing left to give it.

I'm a casualty of these cuts. I started a position at UND before the hiring freeze. In my department, four of the six of us are being let go. While I have only been a full-time employee for four months, I'm two-times an alumnae and worked in various departments across campus when I was in school. I loved UND and now I can barely imagine the thought of ever wanting to step foot on campus once I leave and it saddens me. While my livelihood is important, I loved my job for four+ months and I loved the students I worked with for this short period of time. I loved being able to talk about how much I loved UND to current and prospective students; to help them on start or walk them through their journey. I work with good people who do exceptional work. We are never without work answer the customer service questions and inquiries. They are allowing us to stay until the end of June, however, one person will be leaving effective tomorrow. It is devastating to love your job, even for a short period of time, and then to have to go back to it knowing that you're not going to have it in 10 weeks. Yes, it was "kind" of them to let us stay, but ultimately it's crushing because you know the institution doesn't need/can't afford you. These cuts are going to be much, much deeper than anyone expected.

You are my favorite SS person of the evening. So much truth.

The bottom line is that students weren't the only ones voting for Fighting Hawks. In order for it to get 50 percent or more, it would have needed to be more than students. It's silly to blame students and, in addition, I also think it's off base. I wish there was a published list for the vote count because I think a lot people would be surprised with the results.

In the presser today, Idalski said that there is no inclination to change the PRW system at all which means that the WCHA is going to have to change to an unbalanced schedule system... if the WCHA will be willing to do that.

If you're interested in watching the women's game, there is a free stream (as long as you have an account) of the UND/MN game tonight on America ONE Sports. http://www.americaonesports.com/partner_members.asp?id=482

We had seats behind the home bench at the Final Five for the past three years. We actually enjoyed it. It might have helped that UND won the Broadmoor two of the three times we sat there... and we spanked the Gophers when the Gophers were sitting right in front of us. With that said, the seats were definitely obstructed and we spent a lot of time watching the scoreboard during the game. I can see why it's not for everyone. There is the hockey stink and the view is obstructed at the X. But it was a fun experience to watch players and coaches on both teams during time outs and such. I love watching a game play and seats higher in the lower bowl of the X would have been excellent. We happened to get the tickets not knowing exactly what it was like and we enjoyed the experience so we continued to renew. We've sat behind the bench in Bemidji and the view is much better to watching more of the game play out.

Big enough for me to cheer for the Purple Cows today even though they swept our ladies at home two weekends ago... which I'm still pressed about.

Ladies get the sweep of Mankato this weekend. Next conference series is Jan 11th against Wisco.