Big news in the wind

[UND92,96]

Herald article on the results of the recent survey of UND athletic department employees: [url="http://www.grandforksherald.com/articles/index.cfm?id=50885

[so.cal.sioux]

Herald article on the results of the recent survey of UND athletic department employees: [url="http://www.grandforksherald.com/articles/index.cfm?id=50885

[bisonguy]

What I'm gathering from media reports is that Buning requested this LoA. Interesting.

The WDAY 6:00 news, along with a little help from the North Dakota open records law, reported tonight that Buning's LoA was requested by an employee of UND, not Buning himself.

[Diggler]

Why do some employees think Bunning should stop doing pushups at FB games? How is that a bad thing? And how is it really at all an important thing when it comes to this situation?

[star2city]

Can we please get someone with experience in here and pay them accordingly? We took the cheap route last time and look where it got us. Quit being cheap UND.

Buning had the type of DI experience at West Point that UND apparently was looking for, which none of the other candidates possessed. Not sure how this would be considered "cheap".

If the last AD hiring had a difficult time finding candidates, the next one could be even worse.

[Astronomicus]

[dagies]

Interesting that it wasn't just Buning receiving the low marks in that survey, but his "staff" as well.

I agree on the pushups. I always thought that was pretty cool. And anyone who can get so many gopher fans panties in a bunch can't be all bad.

[andtheHomeoftheSIOUX!!]

I have waited long enough. --The Big East Conference just announced that the University of North Dakota is joining the league next year!!! Hey if North Dakota State can be in a league with the New Jersey Institute of Technology, there is no reason the Fighting Sioux and Scarlet Knights can't be in the same conference.

GO NORTH DAKOTA!

GO RUTGERS!

That would be sweet!

[bincitysioux]

Buning had the type of DI experience at West Point that UND apparently was looking for, which none of the other candidates possessed. Not sure how this would be considered "cheap".

If the last AD hiring had a difficult time finding candidates, the next one could be even worse.

I agree with those sentiments. IIRC, three of the four finalists were Buning, Bollinger, and the guy from Gustavus Adophus. I can't remember the fourth. But of the four, Buning was known as a fundraiser, and had experience with DI in general, and DI hockey in particular. That's why I liked the hire. It will be hard to find an A.D. that can be both "a man of the people/coaches" (RT, Gino Gasparini), and a "numbers cruncher" (Buning, Wanless).

[star2city]

I agree with those sentiments. IIRC, three of the four finalists were Buning, Bollinger, and the guy from Gustavus Adophus. I can't remember the fourth. But of the four, Buning was known as a fundraiser, and had experience with DI in general, and DI hockey in particular. That's why I liked the hire. It will be hard to find an A.D. that can be both "a man of the people/coaches" (RT, Gino Gasparini), and a "numbers cruncher" (Buning, Wanless).

The fourth interviewee was John McCarthy, athletic director at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Fla.

In the survey, Buning actually received reasonable scores on DI implementation, which IMHO was the primary reason for him being hired. One can only imagine his score if "other issues" hadn't lowered his standing.

On the question whether the athletic director demonstrates a strong commitment to the implementation of the move to Division I, Buning received higher marks. He received an average score of 4.7 out of 7. Coaches gave him a 4.9 out of 7 in the category. UND is in an exploratory year in its move to NCAA Division I.

This has been posted before, but the Athletic Director of the Year, Tom Jurich of Louisville, was nearly run out of Louisville within his first few years because he dared to be bold and piss off a large base of vocal boosters.

Today's bar bet for college sports fans: Name the only two schools in the country to play in the College World Series, a BCS bowl game and the Final Four in the last three seasons.

Answer: Florida and Louisville.

Louisville? Nobody could have expected this. Not with a budget half of Florida's, with a medium-sized recruiting base, with Midwestern weather and with a paucity of broad-based tradition.

In real terms, very little was going Louisville's way. The football program was backsliding after patriarch Howard Schnellenberger left for Oklahoma, slipping to 1-10 in 1997. The basketball program was creaking toward irrelevance in the final years under Denny Crum, finding its way onto NCAA probation twice. Academics were shaky, and the non-revenue sports were largely a wreck -- out of Title IX compliance and out of step competitively.

Today the Cardinals are the can-do model for the rest of the nation to envy and emulate. They have proven that with the right mix of administrative vision, brilliant coaching hires, aggressive talent procurement and really good timing, anything is possible. They have proven that a one-trick, urban public school can reinvent itself as a national all-sports heavyweight -- and do it in a decade or less.

Obviously, UND is not Louisville. But I do believe that Buning had a vision for UND that was much greater than what much of the UND athletic department and boosters could embrace or believe in.

[so.cal.sioux]

Buning had the type of DI experience at West Point that UND apparently was looking for, which none of the other candidates possessed. Not sure how this would be considered "cheap".

If the last AD hiring had a difficult time finding candidates, the next one could be even worse.

When Buning was hired, they were not looking for someone with D-1 experience as D-1 was not being seriously considered at that point. By serious I mean, exploratory committee, etc not just being discussed by the fans.

I would much rather have an AD with experience in that position than an Assoc AD with no AD experience. They are completely different positions with much loftier goals and expectations, as we obviously saw with Buning.

Bottom line: UND needs someone that is a man of the people and can lead a athletic dept.

[star2city]

When Buning was hired, they were not looking for someone with D-1 experience as D-1 was not being seriously considered at that point. By serious I mean, exploratory committee, etc not just being discussed by the fans.

DI wasn't being talked about publicly, but believe me, the administration was privately discussing it and was weighing a decision. When Roger Thomas left the AD position, the decision to go DI had already effectively been made. A new AD was needed that would lead the DI change. The exploratory committee didn't even make a recommendation: Kupchella made the final decision himself.

[star2city]

I would much rather have an AD with experience in that position than an Assoc AD with no AD experience. They are completely different positions with much loftier goals and expectations, as we obviously saw with Buning.

Bottom line: UND needs someone that is a man of the people and can lead a athletic dept.

So by those requirements, Bollinger is out, but the ADs at Mayville State, Crookston, or Moorhead State qualify.

Sure, UND may be able to attract an AD from an existing DI school, with pre-existing issues, like Northern Colorado, Montana State, Southern Utah, or Centenary. Otherwise, it's Assoc AD time again. Why go somewhere that has a repuation for career damage?

[UND92,96]

I'm a Rob Bollinger fan, but if he's not interested, and if Ray Purpur still isn't interested, I'd give Terry Wanless a call. And yes, I'm serious. I never had any big problems with him, and any mistakes he made were early on. I always thought he was a pretty good guy, and he could manage a budget, and NOT have all the coaches hate him.

[The Sicatoka]

The WDAY 6:00 news, along with a little help from the North Dakota open records law, reported tonight that Buning's LoA was requested by an employee of UND, not Buning himself.

I saw it at 10:00.

Given how that document had to be modified (to protect privacy per NDUS policy and ND law) how could anyone decipher who signed that? The signer block was covered!

They flashed it on screen for a second and the key sentence highlighted (by WDAY) said something like (not sure on exact wording) "I request a leave of absence". Who else would "I" be?

I'd like to see the document for longer than a flash on the screen.

[PCM]

I'd like to see the document for longer than a flash on the screen.

The WDAZ story is available on the Web (there's a link to it on the Herald's Web site) and goes into a bit more detail. I'm not sure I understand what big secret they think they've uncovered. The partial sentence shown reads, "I am requesting that he be placed on immediate..."

Here's what the North Dakota University System Human Resources Policy Manual says about leave without pay (empahsis added):

21. LEAVE WITHOUT PAY

21.1 Leave without pay may be granted to regular staff employees who have maintained a satisfactory service record. Such leave may be taken for the following reasons: (a) extended absences in the interest of the institution such as for research or advanced training leading to improved job ability, (b) necessary absences due to illness or other important matters.

21.2 Leave without pay may be authorized by the appropriate administrative officer for a period less than twenty-one working days. Leave without pay of twenty-one or more days requires approval of the appropriate administrative officer. In cases when a leave is requested due to sickness, the appropriate administrative officer, or designee may request the employee to provide a letter from the employee's physician indicating the physician's opinion when the employee will be able to return to work. Leave may not be granted for a period in excess of one calendar year, except for military service or Worker's Compensation paid disability. Failure of an employee to report for duty on expiration of leave granted is cause for termination.

I could be wrong, but it appears to me that what is being shown relates to the authorization for request from "the appropriate administrative officer." If Buning's request itself contained information that NDUS policy says must be kept confidential, then there's no way that UND can make it public.

[GeauxSioux]

Could the request for LOA have come from his wife? If that were the case, it would quiet a certain Bison fan, who claims UND is lying. I don't think too many people would call Harmeson a liar for saying that Buning requested a LOA if it actually came from his wife.

Sometimes there are things that are better left confidential, to protect individuals (Buning).

[so.cal.sioux]

DI wasn't being talked about publicly, but believe me, the administration was privately discussing it and was weighing a decision. When Roger Thomas left the AD position, the decision to go DI had already effectively been made. A new AD was needed that would lead the DI change. The exploratory committee didn't even make a recommendation: Kupchella made the final decision himself.

You are dead wrong on both accounts. The decision was NOT made to go D-1 at that time, far from it. And the exploratory committee DID give a recommendation.

[so.cal.sioux]

So by those requirements, Bollinger is out, but the ADs at Mayville State, Crookston, or Moorhead State qualify.

Sure, UND may be able to attract an AD from an existing DI school, with pre-existing issues, like Northern Colorado, Montana State, Southern Utah, or Centenary. Otherwise, it's Assoc AD time again. Why go somewhere that has a repuation for career damage?

Are you kidding?

Obviously if you are an AD of a NAIA school, you would not be suitable for the AD job at UND. My comments were directed more at AD's at bigger budget D-2 or Mid Major D-1 schools. With our facilities and declaration for D-1, hopefully we can attract some good candidates. Given the current situation, I wouldn't blame anyone for staying away.

I have a lot of respect for Rob but I don't think this is the job for him at this time. Need someone with experience.

[PCM]

Could the request for LOA have come from his wife? If that were the case, it would quiet a certain Bison fan, who claims UND is lying. I don't think too many people would call Harmeson a liar for saying that Buning requested a LOA if it actually came from his wife.

I think the most likely explanation is that Buning's written request contained information that NDUS policy says must be kept confidential. UND released everything it could and WDAZ found a partial sentence that appears at odds with the official story. I don't see what UND has to gain by lying about the situation, which is bad enough as it is.

Sometimes there are things that are better left confidential, to protect individuals (Buning).

And sometimes you have no choice but to follow the law and keep information confidential, which appears to be the case here.

[GeauxSioux]

And sometimes you have no choice but to follow the law and keep information confidential, which appears to be the case here.

Thanks for the help PCM, I meant to say to "lawfully protect individuals". I blame fatigue for the omission of the word.

[GeauxSioux]

McFeely weighs in...Buning situation butchered

Tom Buning has disappeared, Charles Kupchella is overseas and everybody else at the University of North Dakota has jumped into the Ralph Engelstad Memorial Bunker and locked the door behind them.

In other words, it

[nodak hockey fanatic]

People didn't want this in the hockey section, so I guess it goes here, even though it is sports related, not community. Here's the most recent GF Herald story (via the Forum) in reguards to Bunings LOA. I guess the grumblings were true. Can we start to speculate who the new AD will be now?

http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=178678

Hope the link works, first time posting one. Not much of a surprise, but interesting it was made public.

[sIoUxPeRsTiTiOuS]

I agree with those sentiments. IIRC, three of the four finalists were Buning, Bollinger, and the guy from Gustavus Adophus. I can't remember the fourth. But of the four, Buning was known as a fundraiser, and had experience with DI in general, and DI hockey in particular. That's why I liked the hire. It will be hard to find an A.D. that can be both "a man of the people/coaches" (RT, Gino Gasparini), and a "numbers cruncher" (Buning, Wanless).

I have a theory about the whole Buning hiring in the first place. Call me crazy, but maybe there is some credence to it. Maybe the idea the whole time for the hiring committee was to bring in a guy who had no ties to the program, was a chain-of-command guy, and had no problem pissing people off to get the "bottom line" numbers in line (budget). Who better to do it than a guy from the Army who won't question any order given to him to execute. Maybe the people making the hiring decisions knew all along that by the time it was done, the new A.D. would not be well liked because of the tough calls he was going to have to make. And maybe, just maybe, they had every intention of only having the A.D. around for a certain amount of time until numbers got fixed and moves were made(D1). It will probably make the next A.D.'s job a little less painful and easier to succeed. Enter the new A.D. with UND athletic experience and ties.

Bottom line is I think maybe the minute they hired Buning, they had a timeline for his firing. Anyone think this may be a remote possibilty?

By the way, keep in mind that I also believe that Lee Harvey Oswald was NOT the lone assassin.

[UND92,96]

Almost unbelievably (at least to me), if you read the "comments" to the Herald story on the Buning survey, they're mostly supportive of Buning! I guess we're supposed to bring him back and get rid of everybody else in the department and start over.