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Post by jh on Jul 5, 2014 6:06:01 GMT -5
BVA Does marketing/advertising have anything to do with student enrollment?
Does basketball have any role in the marketing program at SBU?
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Post by firstdev on Jul 5, 2014 7:45:41 GMT -5
The fact remains that Sr. Margaret's letter to the SBU community tells all about her negative future outlook, its a window into her mindset. That is just the type of attitude we do not need at this university. She fails to even mention the uptick in frosh enrollment for the year (up over 10%), a very positive trend. She fails to mention the very positive initiatives underway in renovating Rob/Fal, initiatives that many alums have been pushing for many years. She fails to mention the renovations of the athletic fields at MCGraw- Jennings a major undertaking for our women's and men's sports teams. Why does she fail to mention these positive developments? Because her negative bent is all part of a contrived set up for her own draconian merger plan with Hilbert. She in actually setting up the negative scenario so her own wrongheaded proposal is viewed as the only alternative, which it is not. Again an obvious failure to keep enrollment and financial health of Bonas as her number one objective, our main focus. The result is that we have again taken our eye off the ball, the ball being the furtherance of SBU as a traditional and outstanding Catholic university, and not some regional one shot plan secular consolidation plan. The ball in this particular case is recruiting for Bonas. The ball is utilizing alums and alum chapters to assist in recruiting for Bonas. The ball is to utilize our outstanding D1 sports programs as an entre for recruiting for Bonas. The ball is listening carefully to alum suggestions for more diverse majors i.e.: nursing, computer science,etc., and for establishment of a law school (there are no Catholic law schools in New York State outside of NYC) for Bonas. The future of this outstanding university, this special place in the world, on one of the most beautiful campuses in America is the only concern alums should have, not on the future of some careerist administrator, an administrator who never once lived on our campus, or took even a single undergrad course at Bonas. Administrators come and administrators go, but Bonas is timeless, truly timeless. Time to step up and defend Bonas against those who seek to tarnish and diminish her and turn her into some type of secular higher education experiment. The ball is now in court of the Board of Trustees. Time to step up.
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Post by Pinnum on Jul 5, 2014 9:10:52 GMT -5
Firstdev - I do not consider a letter to the faculty to be a need to mention all the positives. That letter is just a final notification of what has been previously discussed. You mentioned a month or two back that faculty wouldn't be getting raises and were using it as a reason to take a shot at the President. You can't say that the faculty knew all this and then claim the letter wasn't informative enough.
I get the fealing you live local to SBU.
In regard to your other posts, I stopped reading when you advocated for a law school. That is the most obsurd thing you've said yet! Clearly you don't understand the market...
(Sent via mobile)
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Post by class70 on Jul 5, 2014 9:34:59 GMT -5
I trust everyone is enjoying the Independence Day weekend. There are many interesting and useful comments on this thread. There seems to be an underlying agreement that boosting the quality and quantity of the student body and financial resources are key objectives. To add some clarity to the situation I am offering a bit of information on SBU's credit rating. Standard and Poor Corporation evaluates dozens of metrics in rendering its opinion of the private academic institutions that issue debt. Those interested in reading the report done one year ago will find it here: www.standardandpoors.com/spf/upload/Events_US/US_PF_Event_HigherEd71113Article1.pdfBona's is currently rated BBB- with a stable outlook. BBB- is the lowest rating that still qualifies as investment grade. Here are ratings for some other institutions in NY State: Colgate AA Cornell AA Syracuse A+ St. John Fisher BBB+ Niagara BBB+ Nazareth BBB+ Iona BBB And here are ratings for some other A10 schools: Dayton A Fordham A Duquesne A- Davidson AA+ Richmond AA+ GWU A+ SJU A- LaSalle BBB We have our work cut out, but it all boils down to recruiting and alumni generosity. I am agnostic on the Hilbert merger and trust that our board has got both eyes open and is reviewing all the pros and cons.
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Post by Bona84 on Jul 5, 2014 10:38:48 GMT -5
We all know the economy has been a way to slow recovery. You can't blame Sister Margaret for the economic problems in our country. That's correct, you can't blame Sister Margaret. But, in the mind of firstdev, the graduates of the St. Bonaventure School of Business are to blame for the economic problems in our country. Well, that, and blocking the view of Merton's Heart.
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Post by Bona84 on Jul 5, 2014 10:41:28 GMT -5
Personal agendas have no place in our collective or in this university's planning process. However, it seems very important to you to continue to express your personal agenda. Priceless.
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Post by bva on Jul 5, 2014 10:59:46 GMT -5
JH, I'm not advocating the dismantling or dimunition of the basketball program/ahletics. I actually agree with firstdev's comment "to utilize our outstanding D1 sports programs as an entre for recruiting for Bonas." In fact, I suggest following the women's soccer and basketball models for recruiting in the midwest/south atlantic. That's why when someone pointed out some months ago that they didn't care for press releases on the "minor" sports recruits, I totally disagree, as I find it provides a fascinating window into the broadening geographic possibilities for attracting students. I recently read a statement by Andi Doneth, who said she had never heard of St. Bonaventure upon being recruited there and now she is a "diehard" Bona alum (same for MVT and other teammates, I'm sure). Michigan and around to Wisconsin should be fertile recruiting grounds, despite their also "not so great" demographics. Coach Crowley has stated that he got tired of recruiting the same kids from NY/NJ/PA that every other school was also after, so he changed his recruiting territory. Currently, Bona offers approx. half-tuition scholarships for academically talented students from outside NY. I believe if we had more money to allocate here, we could compete for students in the midwest that would like an alternative to going to large state schools.
I agree Bonnies basketball is an important part of the culture and a source of pride for alumns -- it was and still is for me. I'm just saying more money and "winning" is not the panacea for the existing fundamental problems (i.e. declining demographics in its traditional recruiting footprint). When I visited campus almost thirty years ago, Bob Lanier's sneaker and college basketball in the RC certainly made an impression on me ... but what first attracted me to the university was the strong intramural program/student activities and ultimately scholarships, and of course having my desired majors in the business school (accounting/economics -- I chose the latter; I can tell you're a marketing guy and I claim no expertise there -- just using my economics "hat").
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Post by jh on Jul 5, 2014 11:43:44 GMT -5
JH, I'm not advocating the dismantling or dimunition of the basketball program/ahletics. I actually agree with firstdev's comment "to utilize our outstanding D1 sports programs as an entre for recruiting for Bonas." In fact, I suggest following the women's soccer and basketball models for recruiting in the midwest/south atlantic. That's why when someone pointed out some months ago that they didn't care for press releases on the "minor" sports recruits, I totally disagree, as I find it provides a fascinating window into the broadening geographic possibilities for attracting students. I recently read a statement by Andi Doneth, who said she had never heard of St. Bonaventure upon being recruited there and now she is a "diehard" Bona alum (same for MVT and other teammates, I'm sure). Michigan and around to Wisconsin should be fertile recruiting grounds, despite their also "not so great" demographics. Coach Crowley has stated that he got tired of recruiting the same kids from NY/NJ/PA that every other school was also after, so he changed his recruiting territory. Currently, Bona offers approx. half-tuition scholarships for academically talented students from outside NY. I believe if we had more money to allocate here, we could compete for students in the midwest that would like an alternative to going to large state schools. I agree Bonnies basketball is an important part of the culture and a source of pride for alumns -- it was and still is for me. I'm just saying more money and "winning" is not the panacea for the existing fundamental problems (i.e. declining demographics in its traditional recruiting footprint). When I visited campus almost thirty years ago, Bob Lanier's sneaker and college basketball in the RC certainly made an impression on me ... but what first attracted me to the university was the strong intramural program/student activities and ultimately scholarships, and of course having my desired majors in the business school (accounting/economics -- I chose the latter; I can tell you're a marketing guy and I claim no expertise there -- just using my economics "hat"). bva Message boards are often not the best vehicle for communicating,, I actually agree with the look to the midwest - in fact its been said before that culturally Buffalo/WNY is the eastern tip of the midwest/great lakes culture - so it fits well... You actually caught my eye regarding bus trips to "pull in" interested students - I've been pushing that general concept for years targeting mostly the catholic schools in Buffalo/rochester/erie pa/cleveland... Go Bonas !! I love the expansion to Hilbert with the immediate 50% increase in student body and the close proximity to the billion dollar medical corridor in Buffalo - its a no brainer !!! and of course the Toronto potential in hoops recruiting which in the end can get our name out there even more to those midwest pockets you are correctly thinking of... One other item regarding the 'natural fit' of Hilbert to St Bonas. I would like to see Hilbert referred more often as "Mother Hilbert" rather than just Hilbert - many people even in the Buffalo area are not aware Hilbert = a Catholic/Franciscan institution - referring to it correctly as "Mother Hilbert" would send that message more clearly. A northern Mother Hilbert campus of St Bonaventure rings well... Also Hilbert is located on South Park Ave in Hamburg NY - its few minutes away from an I90 exit and is 15 minutes to downtown Buffalo (and the medical corridor). Next door to Hilbert is the campus of Immaculata high school - an all girls high school taught by nuns. Their campus grounds roll into each other. Across from Hilbert is a retirement convent - so when you drive along south park and you see the complex there often is the sight of nuns walking the grounds - again sending a message that translates well to us.
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Post by bigdobber on Jul 5, 2014 11:46:29 GMT -5
Strategic alliances are important and if Hilbert makes sense we need to embrace it and pray it works. Has anyone gotten the temperature on the Hilbert side of the equation?
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Post by firstdev on Jul 5, 2014 13:59:17 GMT -5
A law school is perfect fit for Bonas. No Catholic law schools exist in this entire region, none in fact in upstate New York. The closest Catholic law school is located at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, three and one half hours south of campus. A moderately priced law school program would be a prestigious addition to our graduate offerings, will allow many of our own undergraduates to enter the program, and will boost enrollments. It would be a positive revenue generator. No negatives here, only positives. Law is still a very popular and honorable course of study in the U.S. By the way, an SBU law school was considered about 30 years ago, but never implemented.
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Post by Pinnum on Jul 5, 2014 14:53:47 GMT -5
A law school is perfect fit for Bonas. No Catholic law schools exist in this entire region, none in fact in upstate New York. The closest Catholic law school is located at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, three and one half hours south of campus. A moderately priced law school program would be a prestigious addition to our graduate offerings, will allow many of our own undergraduates to enter the program, and will boost enrollments. It would be a positive revenue generator. No negatives here, only positives. Law is still a very popular and honorable course of study in the U.S. By the way, an SBU law school was considered about 30 years ago, but never implemented. You clearly don't understand the current legal climate or the issues facing law schools. Launching a law school would be horrible for SBU. There would be no prestigue from the addition. SBU would become the Cooley Law and be a black-eye for the school. I suggest you educate yourself before making such suggestions. We need focus and real solutions not a bunch of out of left field suggestions that distract people and don't offer any posible sense of reality.
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Post by bva on Jul 5, 2014 15:55:52 GMT -5
The Catholic law schools that I can think of are all located in major urban centers; plus they have much larger undergraduate populations to draw from. Good luck trying to get law faculty to come to Olean, unless you suggest housing the program at Hilbert(?) ....
Doubling down on this idea just proves you're out of touch with market/world realities!
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Post by sbu79 on Jul 5, 2014 19:50:01 GMT -5
The Catholic law schools that I can think of are all located in major urban centers; plus they have much larger undergraduate populations to draw from. Good luck trying to get law faculty to come to Olean, unless you suggest housing the program at Hilbert(?) .... Doubling down on this idea just proves you're out of touch with market/world realities! Establishing a law school and/or a nursing program screams for a campus nearer an urban center - both those moves strongly make a case for the Hilbert strategic alliance.
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Post by jh on Jul 6, 2014 6:01:10 GMT -5
It would be difficult for anyone to argue that Hilbert does not align with SBU in its core values and mission A little about the Hilbert culture and what we may be acquiring/merging....
The Legacy of the Franciscan Sisters of St. Joseph
Agnes Victoria Hilbert Agnes Victoria Hilbert, was educated in a private academy in Cieszyn, the territory of Austrian Poland, by the Sisters of Charity of St. Charles Borromeo. Agnes was received into the Charity Sisters’ Congregation in 1883 and given the name of Sister Mary Colette. The seed of her missionary vocation was realized not to minister to the Church in Africa, but across the Atlantic Ocean to the Church of the United States.
“Birth” of a New Congregation In 1889, Sister Colette and four Sisters of St. Charles Borromeo were sent to educate the children of St. Stanislaus Parish in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Eight years later, Sister Colette was transferred to Trenton, New Jersey and was asked to end her affiliation with her Congregation in Europe and establish a new Congregation of Sisters in the United States. With the assistance of the Order of Friars Minor Conventual, Pope Leo XIII had granted Sister Colette permission to establish a new Congregation of Sisters with the mission of service to God’s people through education and charitable works.
Franciscan Sisters of St. Joseph On September 8, 1897, Sister Colette and four American novices adopted the Rule of the Third Order Regular of St. Francis as their way of life in God’s service. In 1928, after having been granted permission and a blessing for the new venture by Pope Leo XIII, Sister Colette became the first General Minister of the newly-established Congregation of the Franciscan Sisters of St. Joseph (FSSJ). Because of the Congregation’s growth in the number of women applying to this new way of life, the Sisters moved from Buffalo, New York to the convent in Hamburg, New York.
New Beginning After their acceptance into the FSSJ Congregation, the five Sister “pioneers” settled in Trenton, New Jersey – but not for long. Pope Leo XIII granted the necessary permission to the Bishop of Buffalo, New York to establish a convent for the new community of Franciscan Sisters. Because of her leadership qualities, Sister Colette was recognized as the Foundress of the new Congregation, was lovingly called Mother Colette, and became the principal of Corpus Christi School.
Ministries to Continue the Mission Although the FSSJ continue in their ministries of teaching, health care, and pastoral ministry, countless times the Sisters are challenged by the evolving needs of the Church to translate the Gospel into effective action. So, they answer the call by assuming new ministerial responsibilities. Sisters continue their involvement in peace and justice issues, outreach to the poor, and serve on Boards of Trustees of various organizations. They also volunteer their services in areas of need. The source of spiritual strength not only for the Congregation but also for the people of God comes from the Sisters’ communal prayer life and the untiring prayers of the Sisters retired from active ministry and those residing in the health care community. Called by God, the Franciscan Sisters of St. Joseph serve the Church and continue the legacy of St. Francis of Assisi and their Foundress – Mother Colette Hilbert.
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Post by thesenator on Jul 6, 2014 8:57:09 GMT -5
The Catholic law schools that I can think of are all located in major urban centers; plus they have much larger undergraduate populations to draw from. Good luck trying to get law faculty to come to Olean, unless you suggest housing the program at Hilbert(?) .... Doubling down on this idea just proves you're out of touch with market/world realities! thanks to bva and jh for some stimulating thoughts...i'd like to build on what they offered...bva mentioned michigan and wisconsin...when i first read these thoughts, my mind thought of ohio, indiana, and illinois, and then i thought why not michigan and wisconsin, too?...so along those lines, i would propose, (if and when the funds were ever available to make it a reality) creating position(s) in the admissions dept whose sole responsibility would be recruiting the midwest states of ohio, indiana, illinois, michigan and wisconsin...in the beginning this might mean 1 position to cover all 5 states, but hopefully, over time, a 2nd position could be added to make the work load more manageable and increase visibility within each state...jh mentioned "bus trips" to bring potential students to campus...i think this is a great idea...they could see we have a beautiful campus (as firstdev noted, although i would exclude plassman, rob-fal, and the maintenance building in the middle of campus as part of the term "beautiful" and emphasize the surrounding enchanted mts) while at the same time seeing if they could handle a 9 hr ride (if coming from chicago)...
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