UNH Wildcats - Marty Scarano

[Aerman]

Re: UNH Wildcats - Marty Scarano

You're hilarious. Would you like to sit down one day and discuss the accomplishments of the "weasel", Snively? You really want to go there? There's a reason why he blew right through the idiotic "vote of no confidence (where less than 50% voted, and **** near 40% of those that voted voted in confidence) and has gone on to be the longest-serving Prez since McConnell himself.

If you don't think he had a right to call out some of the privileged, tenured class, I have a dozen stories that will set you straight, right quick. Transformational change requires transformational leaders that are willing to challenge the comfortable status quo - that's what he's done, and what he continues to do. At this point, I only hope he doesn't get snapped up by another school.

Keep looking a gift horse in the mouth, guys. I have been the FIRST to acknowledge the admin's shortcomings (just read back down the thread, please). And I am NOT a MS fan in the least. BUT, c'mon, if you claim that you haven't seen the tremendous progress during Hudd's tenure, then you're being intellectually dishonest in the worst way. Your arguments lose all credibility, especially when you call the guy a "weasel" - anybody who knows his passion for UNH would be confused and disgusted by the comment.

I have a great deal of respect for all of my fellow 'Cat posters, and learn a ton from each of you... but this hammering of Hudd is a joke. Misplaced frustration.

You may recall that earlier in this thread I acknowledged your broader perspective of Hudd's performance is probably accurate (and I liked the Christmas card ). Just don't be surprised, in the context of this specific thread, that he is taking abuse. For better or worse, Hudd is the face of the school, and UNH doesn't look so hot in the narrow focus of the McCloskey mess.

 

[Aerman]

Re: UNH Wildcats - Marty Scarano

And now, based on your rules above, I'm issuing myself a game misconduct, because it IS in the lawyer's hands.

At lease it's not a game DQ. You don't have to miss any posts!

 

[Snively65]

You're hilarious. Would you like to sit down one day and discuss the accomplishments of the "weasel", Snively?

If you don't think he had a right to call out some of the privileged, tenured class, I have a dozen stories that will set you straight, right quick.

At this point, I only hope he doesn't get snapped up by another school.
Your arguments lose all credibility, especially when you call the guy a "weasel" - anybody who knows his passion for UNH would be confused and disgusted by the comment.

You are right, weasel was probably the wrong word in this case, although I think that you need to be a weasel some of the time to be a change agent and survive in these positions. I realize that there is always dead wood in any organization, but calling out the entire faculty in front of the state legislature was the wrong approach, I think, as that just gives the MUL and others more fodder for attacking UNH. I believe that the average tenure of a university president is about eight years, so would not be surprised if he gets snapped up for a bigger salary somewhere.

 

[Darius]

Re: UNH Wildcats - Marty Scarano

Ramping up the marketing, and having some pretty solid success, with the non-athlete population. Focused heavily on the Pennsylvania/NY/NJ area, trying to draw top students to the big anchor schools (PTP, CEPS, Comms, among others).

Connected thru JFK on a trip back from Brazil a couple months ago and saw a nice UNH ad in the terminal.

Thanks for this. I’ve been wondering about the marketing effort beyond the NH border. I think I’ve seen ads on the Boston TV stations as well.

The "weasel" referred to earlier has more passion about making this a highly-respected University than any other faculty member or administrator I've ever seen in my connection with UNH.

Yes!

At this point, I only hope he doesn't get snapped up by another school.

If it comes down to money I think it is inevitable unless P-Hudd really likes the NH seacoast life style and wants to keep his family here. Sooner or later other schools will notice what he has done at UNH, and tempt him with big $$$ that the State does not have the financial or visionary wherewithal to match.

 

[Darius]

Re: UNH Wildcats - Marty Scarano

An ad at JFK and ads on WMUR. That's the key to success. I live 10 miles from JFK and I focus on the plane I am catching. I doubt anybody chooses a college based on an airport ad. As far as WMUR goes, the few people that watch that station already know UNH exists.

18 - 24 months(?) ago UNH determined that their in state recognition was disproportionally high in the Seacoast compared to the distribution of alums and potential students through out the rest of the state. WMUR ads, Lakes region gatherings, a single logo for all the state schools, etc. are designed to raise state wide awareness of the University system, especially the Durham flag ship.

I suspect that there are more than a "few" parents watching the 6 o'clock news while preparing dinner for multiple soon to be college age children. The idea is to put UNH on their radar. The U has a good story, it is not just the State safety school. Even with relatively high in state tuition and expenses it is an excellent value.

 

[Greg Ambrose]

Re: UNH Wildcats - Marty Scarano

It's about brand recognition, not about decision-making. Marketing 101. (Well, that would be 401 at UNH, but all the same).

And if you don't think that things like page views, consumer "impressions" (like airport billboards), etc., matter, than I guess you probably have the keys to restructuring the $495B global marketing industry.

I am going to focus on the word "matter." "Matter" to do what? Attract more student applicants? I am not up on the admissions rate now but I was 10 years ago when my daughter applied (and got in but sadly didn't go). To me, a largest determining factor on how many apply and how many enroll is finances, not advertising. Yes, advertising can make a prospective take notice of a school that they may not have considered but, frankly, UNH has done a pretty good job of that over the years. It consistently is one of the more attractive schools for kids from the Northeast and I doubt that is going to change much by introducing a new logo and plastering it all over airport billboards. To me and, I would guess, most parents who are paying the freight, it is the academic opportunities available and the cost of going to the school for four years. UNH faculty has had a long history of disagreement with the administration, board of trustees, and the state going back decades. Reading Huddleston's words today are little different than the ones I read 20 years ago, 30 years ago or 40 years ago when I was at UNH. The ongoing spotty relations between faculty and the school can be nothing but a detriment in attracting top level faculty to the school. The second issue is the cost of the school. The fact that the state of New Hampshire ranks dead last in support for higher education and has been at the bottom or near the bottom for the last 40 years again puts the school at a distinct disadvantage. Lack of support leads to the impression that the citizens of New Hampshire really don't care about higher education. That has led to higher and higher tuition/room/board bills for both in state and out state students. When you compare UNH to its peers - public universities in the Northeast - it can come up short in this regard. The fact that UNH still attracts a healthy pool of applicants has a lot to do with its location with 5-6 hours of some of the major population areas of the Northeast, its beautiful campus and its semi-rural but close to urban center location. A new logo, a few billboards, and some on-line videos will never have the impact that more affordable costs and and a motivated faculty will.

 

[Chuck Murray]

Bottom-line - who is in charge here?

Bottom-line - who is in charge here?

And now, based on your rules above, I'm issuing myself a game misconduct, because it IS in the lawyer's hands.

It is ONLY in the lawyers' hands if the people who retain AND pay the lawyers leave it there.

The final direction of ANY litigation is ultimately in the hands of the client(s), no??

 

[Darius]

Re: Bottom-line - who is in charge here?

Re: Bottom-line - who is in charge here?

Cowell Stadium Renovations (May 8, 2014):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1eL77d1qWA

 

[wildcatdc]

It is ONLY in the lawyers' hands if the people who retain AND pay the lawyers leave it there.

The final direction of ANY litigation is ultimately in the hands of the client(s), no??

All due respect, Chuck, we are definitely going in 2-month circles. I value your opinion, even if I don't agree with some of your premises. I'm going back to the locker room!

 

[wildcatdc]

You may recall that earlier in this thread I acknowledged your broader perspective of Hudd's performance is probably accurate (and I liked the Christmas card ). Just don't be surprised, in the context of this specific thread, that he is taking abuse. For better or worse, Hudd is the face of the school, and UNH doesn't look so hot in the narrow focus of the McCloskey mess.

Excellent point.... Very fair.

 

[sonar]

Re: UNH Wildcats - Marty Scarano

http://www.unh.edu/unhtoday/2014/05/other-wildcats

Nice ................

 

[freak]

Re: UNH Wildcats - Marty Scarano

The U has a good story, it is not just the State safety school. Even with relatively high in state tuition and expenses it is an excellent value.

http://www.usnews.com/education/bes...xpensive-public-schools-for-in-state-students

UNH is the third most expensive public school for in state students. "Relatively high" is an understatement.

 

[Snively65]

http://www.usnews.com/education/bes...xpensive-public-schools-for-in-state-students

UNH is the third most expensive public school for in state students. "Relatively high" is an understatement.

For all practical purposes, UNH and UVM function more like tuition-driven private universities, as opposed to public academic institutions. But, one area in which UNH excels is per capita faculty attraction of external research funding, which not only generates lots of indirect costs on grants that UNH admin can use any way that it sees fit, but also supports hundreds of both graduate and undergraduate students. For the past two or three decades, UNH has ranked in the top ten in per capita external research funding.

 

[scoreboard]

http://www.usnews.com/education/bes...xpensive-public-schools-for-in-state-students

UNH is the third most expensive public school for in state students. "Relatively high" is an understatement.

It has to be expensive. They have to pay for all those unfocused ads at JFK and running those commercials on super station WMUR.

 

[zoofer]

Re: UNH Wildcats - Marty Scarano

Interesting article in today's Fosters saying that a dozen employees have lost or changed jobs in the Communication Office....of course, it's supposedly based on the new marketing initiative, however if that's true, how about some consequence due to their "perfectly " worded press release in the McCloskey incident? Nah, nothing but good things happening over in Durham....

 

[DC78-82]

Re: UNH Wildcats - Marty Scarano

Interesting article in today's Fosters saying that a dozen employees have lost or changed jobs in the Communication Office....of course, it's supposedly based on the new marketing initiative, however if that's true, how about some consequence due to their "perfectly " worded press release in the McCloskey incident? Nah, nothing but good things happening over in Durham....

Just read it, and hopped over here to see if it has created a buzz...


UNH Office of Communication to dismiss 12 employees

BY MORGAN PALMER
Friday, May 9, 2014

DURHAM — The University of New Hampshire announced its plan to let go 12 employees in its Office of Communications on Thursday.

“At this time we expect there will be about a dozen layoffs and early retirements. Other staff have been placed in higher positions,” Erika Mantz, the Director of Media Relations at UNH, said.

Mantz explained that despite the huge change in marketing and communications, going from print to digital, there have been “limited changes at the University in terms of staffing.”

Mantz cited UNH President Mark W. Huddleston's state of university address earlier this year as the starting point for the University's thought process for this change.

The speech, given on February 4, emphasized the importance of branding and marketing for the University.

“We must do a better job of engaging our alumni, reaching new pools of prospective students and making a convincing case to the people of New Hampshire for public support. Our new visual identity, compelling as it is, is only a small element of our new emphasis on branding and marketing. We've launched aggressive new advertising campaigns, in both traditional and new digital media. We're also working toward ensuring that all parts of our large and diverse university community are aligned as we get our messages out,” Huddleston said.

With this in mind, Mantz explained that the Office of Communications would be looking to find employees who would have the skill set to market UNH using up to date technologies and social media.

For now, the list of employees who were let go has not been made public.

In addition, the school has not announced how many positions will be open externally as not all current employees have accepted their new positions. ​

 

[Chuck Murray]

Re: UNH Wildcats - Marty Scarano

With all due respect to those who actually were let go without a "golden parachute" or friendly bump up the pay grade into another job, to me this looks like a proverbial re-arrangement of the deck chairs on the Titanic.

I'm sure that like myself, you are all relieved that the two people atop the whole McCloskey mess (Mantz and BS35-soon-to-be-36) have finally been held accountable for their roles ... oh, wait ...

 

[Greg Ambrose]

Re: UNH Wildcats - Marty Scarano

For all practical purposes, UNH and UVM function more like tuition-driven private universities, as opposed to public academic institutions. But, one area in which UNH excels is per capita faculty attraction of external research funding, which not only generates lots of indirect costs on grants that UNH admin can use any way that it sees fit, but also supports hundreds of both graduate and undergraduate students. For the past two or three decades, UNH has ranked in the top ten in per capita external research funding.

Not sure about UNH but UVM's enrollment is majority out of state. Given that UNH has ratcheted up their admissions requirements I would imagine it is more difficult to get into the school than it was 10 or 20 years ago. A cynic would presume this is by design, to garner more of the out of state tuitions.

As for the layoffs in the Office of Communications, sounds like a "shoot the messenger" rationale to me.

 

[Darius]

Re: UNH Wildcats - Marty Scarano

With all due respect to those who actually were let go without a "golden parachute" or friendly bump up the pay grade into another job, to me this looks like a proverbial re-arrangement of the deck chairs on the Titanic.

UNH is not the Titanic. It is underway and on course. A tender in some difficulty is being stabilized with repair preparations underway. I doubt anyone received a true golden parachute beyond typical layoff/early retirement payouts, but the chairs are being rearranged. Some will be removed from the boat entirely as the department is streamlined and modernized. This could happen in other departments as well over the next few months. I also feel for those who have faithfully served the U for many years and now lost their jobs. It is part of the price as P-Hudd moves UNH to the present and positions the school for the future.

 

[zoofer]

Re: UNH Wildcats - Marty Scarano

No offense P-Hudd, I mean Darius, but if you saw the sincerity in Marty's face when he was flabbergasted that,"the carefully worded release" was taken out of context....as if inappropriate physical contact is a phrase used everyday in his job! As is the case most everywhere, it's never the incident but the aftermath that costs....now as Chuck mentions, those at fault should be gone!!