UNA's Revenge!

[Sandram]

Ok - UND may have won the football game vs. UNA in December and treated our fans poorly, but at what cost? UNA's revenge will be the new North Dakota Univ. system Chancellor, Dr. Robert Potts, the president of UNA! You may have won the battle, but we won the war!! Lots of luck!!

http://siouxsports.com/forums/index.php?act=Post&CODE=00&f=5

[PCM]

Does he play football?

[jimdahl]

Very tricky-- the link above leads to a new posting screen. Trying to up the traffic, eh? Don't fall for it Sioux fans!

The Bismarck Tribune coverage has this interesting tidbit:

In November 2000, North Alabama's faculty voted to approve a resolution of no confidence in Potts' leadership. Faculty members said then Potts was insufficiently devoted to academics, instead choosing to spend $8.6 million for a parking deck and $200,000 for a lion habitat for the school's mascot.

North Dakota board members were briefed on the dispute. Allen Koenig, a consultant who was hired to help recruit the new chancellor, said faculty members who were interviewed about the matter said they believed Potts responded well to the criticism.

Lynne Butler, an English professor at the school, told an interviewer that Potts "has been willing to change his leadership style. He has been willing to work closely with groups who had a great deal of animosity toward him."

Butler is chairwoman of a university committee that promotes broader participation among faculty and administrators in school decision-making.

UND could use some new parking. We don't have a mascot, so there shouldn't be any habitat problems.

[redwing77]

Very tricky-- the link above leads to a new posting screen. Trying to up the traffic, eh? Don't fall for it Sioux fans!

The Bismarck Tribune coverage has this interesting tidbit:

UND could use some new parking. We don't have a mascot, so there shouldn't be any habitat problems.

No Confidence votes? Gee, I remember back in the day that was the kiss of death for a career.

Makes me feel better about if I end up a professor and I make a mistake, I'll still be able to become ND's Chancellor

[CoteauRinkRat]

I don't see anything wrong with spending 200K on a mascot habitat.

[Sandram]

Sorry about my attempt to link to a newspaper article about Dr. Potts going to N. Dakota. Don't know what went wrong. As for Dr. Potts going to N. Dakota, you are actually getting a very high quality individual to be the Chancellor of your university system. He was a controversial figure at times at UNA, but he always had the well-being of the university at heart. His problems arose primarily due to an antagonistic relationship with some members of the faculty who felt more resources should have gone to academics (teachers salaries). To his credit, he implemented systems to improve communications and involved university employees in budget decisions.

As for the Lion habitat and some of the other improvements made at UNA, they came from donors who stipulated their money for specific projects. Either use it for the designated purpose, or lose the money. All this came at a time when the state was cutting funding for all education. The perception was created that Potts was spending money on unnecessary things while cutting back on academics. He has been a great university president and the N. Dakota university system will benefit from his leadership.

Best of luck and may our universities meet again on the gridiron!

Sandram