Author Topic: Making SB better- Idea Thread (Read 20522 times)

OldSeawolf · « **Reply #390 on:** November 03, 2021, 03:00:47 pm »

Quote from: Chairman of the Board on November 03, 2021, 02:46:45 pm

true. whether we agree or not- athletics raises the prominence of the university, brings in money, better students, better faculty. it's simply a must-have these days. even MIT has sports.

lists you do NOT want to be on:

2017
https://poetsandquantsforundergrads.com/2017/06/16/universities-least-happy-students/

2010
https://www.sbstatesman.com/2010/01/28/stony-brook-the-unhappiest-school-in-america/

2009
https://www.newsday.com/long-island/education/list-merchant-academy-has-least-happy-students-1.1330693

2008
https://www.neogaf.com/threads/top-10-universities-with-the-least-happy-students.329263/

1974
https://www.nytimes.com/1974/01/20/archives/stony-brook-seen-as-unhappy-place-study-by-students-and-staff-cites.html

Ahhh, 1974, the good 'ol days. Actually, I was a sophomore in High School then, but a time I could relate to. Cement, mud, extreme weather, student apathy galore.....brings back the memories.

Been reading the posts, and I do agree that NCAA athletics is a boon for a University these days, even if ticket sales are less than cost of doing business. There are certainly intangible benefits for promoting sports, which will increase the value of the University for sure.

Any way you slice it, unless she's a closet pro-Sports-agenda person, the fact that President McGinnis doesn't even whisper the words "sports" or "athletics" publicly, is probably an ominous sign for any sort of growth in that area. I do believe that academics comes first, but that sports and academics can and should have a symbiotic relationship. The fact that a lot of this social stuff is being elevated in the agenda is a function of the times and a function of our region. Not saying that it's good or bad, since I want to remain apolitical in this discussion, but I am yawning.

Accelerator · « **Reply #391 on:** November 03, 2021, 04:04:52 pm »

Who even approved her as a president in the first place then? Did she promise a lot about sports then only to close her mouth once she actually got the job?

Hammertime · « **Reply #392 on:** November 03, 2021, 05:47:12 pm »

Quote from: Chairman of the Board on November 03, 2021, 12:29:51 pm

just got my copy of Stony Brook Magazine. summaries-

-interview with pres mcinnis on what's next. no mentions of athletics nor student life; top priority is supporting faculty in their ambitions. many are nearing retirement so there have been new hires. heavy focus on bolstering research in all disciplines. for the next 5 years, the goals are to enhance equity, accessibility, socioeconomic mobility, climate change, healthcare, etc.

-interview with new provost paul goldbart, no specifics on student life.

-discussion on the revised student orientation (note, limited to the transition to campus and not overall student life). new change to enable all 1st years on campus to live in corridors. (i suggested this in 2012! see hierarchy http://sbufan.createaforum.com/around-stony-brook/making-sb-better-idea-thread/)

-welcome week now has a goal for students to make 5 friends (unenforceable, and yet sad that we attract students that need this directive), with the correct intention of course to build spirit.

-VP of student affairs rick gatteau said we need to do more to build a community connection (great) and a sense of belonging right from the start (great), need greater community involvement (great), but then it goes into required diversity workshops (is SB not diverse???), multicultural training ().

Stony Brook University must be the most Liberal school in the North East. My son is a Junior transfer student at SBU, and he hates it to the core. He fits in like a sore thumb, a right glove on the left hand at SBU. I told him he only has two, fast years left to get his Business degree, and then off the Law School. Hopefuuly in Florida he says.

I had a feeling this President was hired for all these ambitions you mentioned. I just knew it. She could care less about athletics. Something this school dearly needs to keep the student body together, and give them something to do.

Oh, well. SBU athletics is going down the dark road with their athletics department. If you read my many posts. You will see that I've been saying this for a few years now. Maybe LIU might be the better choice for athletics. Going foward.

Chairman of the Board · « **Reply #393 on:** November 04, 2021, 11:43:16 am »

just got a newsletter from SBU, where mcinnis spoke before the State Senate Higher Education Committee, and i thought his was relevant:

Quote

The President emphasized the University’s rankings in the Top 10 Most Diverse universities in the nation and one of the most diverse public universities in the state. Plus, she advised the panel that 40% of the University’s 15,000 undergraduate students pay no tuition because their financial need is so great.

Chairman of the Board · « **Reply #394 on:** November 08, 2021, 11:27:41 pm »

https://www.longislandpress.com/2021/11/08/labor-union-protests-out-of-state-contract-at-stony-brook-university/

Hammertime · « **Reply #395 on:** November 09, 2021, 05:06:07 am »

Quote from: Chairman of the Board on November 08, 2021, 11:27:41 pm

https://www.longislandpress.com/2021/11/08/labor-union-protests-out-of-state-contract-at-stony-brook-university/

Since when does NYS care about saving money?. Local Union contractors should be doing the work at SBU. Local 290, carpenters union, and Local 66 labors union. Politics runs ramped between the Hospital and the University. some things will never change.

Accelerator · « **Reply #396 on:** November 09, 2021, 08:54:39 am »

Quote from: Chairman of the Board on November 04, 2021, 11:43:16 am

just got a newsletter from SBU, where mcinnis spoke before the State Senate Higher Education Committee, and i thought his was relevant:

Quote
The President emphasized the University’s rankings in the Top 10 Most Diverse universities in the nation and one of the most diverse public universities in the state. Plus, she advised the panel that 40% of the University’s 15,000 undergraduate students pay no tuition because their financial need is so great.

Should we even be targeting these students? 40% is a goddamn lot! That’s so much revenue lost and makes it unlikelier that they’ll attend football games or donate back to the university in the future.

ecasadoSBU · « **Reply #397 on:** November 09, 2021, 10:07:47 am »

Quote from: Accelerator on November 09, 2021, 08:54:39 am

Quote from: Chairman of the Board on November 04, 2021, 11:43:16 am
just got a newsletter from SBU, where mcinnis spoke before the State Senate Higher Education Committee, and i thought his was relevant:

Quote
The President emphasized the University’s rankings in the Top 10 Most Diverse universities in the nation and one of the most diverse public universities in the state. Plus, she advised the panel that 40% of the University’s 15,000 undergraduate students pay no tuition because their financial need is so great.

Should we even be targeting these students? 40% is a goddamn lot! That’s so much revenue lost and makes it unlikelier that they’ll attend football games or donate back to the university in the future.

I dont think that SBU is missing out on the revenue. I think its just the state covering their tuition via the excelsior scholarship. Otherwise the school would be bankrupt as this point

guest410 · « **Reply #398 on:** November 09, 2021, 10:15:15 am »

Quote from: Accelerator on November 09, 2021, 08:54:39 am

Quote from: Chairman of the Board on November 04, 2021, 11:43:16 am
just got a newsletter from SBU, where mcinnis spoke before the State Senate Higher Education Committee, and i thought his was relevant:

Quote
The President emphasized the University’s rankings in the Top 10 Most Diverse universities in the nation and one of the most diverse public universities in the state. Plus, she advised the panel that 40% of the University’s 15,000 undergraduate students pay no tuition because their financial need is so great.

Should we even be targeting these students? 40% is a goddamn lot! That’s so much revenue lost and makes it unlikelier that they’ll attend football games or donate back to the university in the future.

I was not targeted by the school, stumbled onto it accidentally, but have no problem or shame in saying most of my tuition was covered by Tap and FAFSA due to my family having an almost zero income. Now I wasn't covered fully and took out many, many students loans, but I would probably be considered part of that 40% category. And I'm grateful for all the help NY State gave me.

VA_Seawolf · « **Reply #399 on:** November 09, 2021, 11:09:34 am »

The alternative is SBU becomes more like UCLA where they accept more/mostly OOS students who stay on campus and improve the atmosphere because they can't run home to mommy on the weekends. There'd be significant political backlash if they did that though.

ecasadoSBU · « **Reply #400 on:** November 09, 2021, 11:19:33 am »

Quote from: AirTurn on November 09, 2021, 10:15:15 am

Quote from: Accelerator on November 09, 2021, 08:54:39 am
Quote from: Chairman of the Board on November 04, 2021, 11:43:16 am
just got a newsletter from SBU, where mcinnis spoke before the State Senate Higher Education Committee, and i thought his was relevant:

Quote
The President emphasized the University’s rankings in the Top 10 Most Diverse universities in the nation and one of the most diverse public universities in the state. Plus, she advised the panel that 40% of the University’s 15,000 undergraduate students pay no tuition because their financial need is so great.

Should we even be targeting these students? 40% is a goddamn lot! That’s so much revenue lost and makes it unlikelier that they’ll attend football games or donate back to the university in the future.

I was not targeted by the school, stumbled onto it accidentally, but have no problem or shame in saying most of my tuition was covered by Tap and FAFSA due to my family having an almost zero income. Now I wasn't covered fully and took out many, many students loans, but I would probably be considered part of that 40% category. And I'm grateful for all the help NY State gave me.

Same. the NYS TAP and FED PELL Grants were very very helpful. Still came out with about 35k in loans (which I proudly paid off 2.5 years after). But the financial aid made a huge difference nonetheless. I was definitely part of that 40%. lol

I think a lot students do get financial grants one way or another. But I don't think that makes a difference in terms of revenue from the school. The only thing that would make a difference is getting more out-of-state and international students to boost revenues as they would pay higher tuition (this would be a huge political conflict though). The thing with OOS students is that they can claim in-state residency after year one so the benefits of a higher OOS tuition for the school only occurs during year-1

Accelerator · « **Reply #401 on:** November 09, 2021, 01:34:15 pm »

Those decisions shouldn't be politically unpopular if it's framed as following the mantra of the way Big Ten schools operate. Those schools are clearly doing something right given how much more notable they are — we're just following their model.

Chairman of the Board · « **Reply #402 on:** November 23, 2021, 10:39:47 am »

there's a lot of chatter in the other threads on this topic. it's heating up, what with bad attendance and scant fan support. i feel like people are interested now.

let's revive this thread but let's make it more constructive- what SHOULD the U be doing to fix this problem? i'll throw out a few detail-free high level ideas:

1. source students from places other than LI/NYC, if all other things are equal

2. start constructing the campus with a thought to social interaction. if you isolate, or put distance in between anything, you lose interaction. for example, dont put anything at south P

3. gotta start making buildings and grounds look nicer for people to spend time. kids dont think of glass skyscrapers when they think of college. ESS/Javits is an eyesore, so the opportunity exists. and the van de graaf accelerator looks like it might explode at any moment in the center of campus

4. let private enterprise build housing, either on campus or just off it. there's room, sell the land, we have a perpetual housing crisis anyway

5. please, get all the freshmen into G/H. apartments and honors college should be for upperclassmen and those who earn it in the classroom

6. start promoting events like sports, and use social media, signage, promotions (food, tuition, gifts, etc.)

7. food has come a long way. now keep them open on weekends

8. for god sakes build a pub or beer garden somewhere even if it means buying space in the new retail center https://libn.com/2018/07/10/stony-brook-retail-center-is-home-cooking-for-developer/

9. the application should ask about school spirit, staying on campus, participation in events, etc. if yes, you get preference. if no but youre qualified, you're welcome in but you now live in tabler quad, as far back as possible

10. if the administration is going to come up with BS events like strawberries and bouncey castles, then get outta the way and let private enterprise fix this problem and make some money while they're at it

11. start renaming the buildings for big donors (not corporates). and call them halls

12. hire a consulting firm NOW to analyze and address student disaffection and unhappiness

13. the colleges need names. everyone knows wharton and barnard. we have the college of arts & sciences. take a famous professor/administrator and give them the honor. fix it

OldSeawolf · « **Reply #403 on:** November 23, 2021, 10:48:18 am »

Re-post from something I posted today in the 20-21 Football Thread:

It's been like this forever - I attended in the late 70's, and the apathy/disinterest has been there since then, with small pockets of interest (noted in this thread). Covid definitely reversed momentum, but it's definitely more than that.

If I were in charge, I'd revert to old school, brute force marketing, before each and every game:

1) In addition to SM advertising, I'd put signs up by every dorm on game days;
2) I'd post game day signs throughout campus;
3) I'd get the Athletic interns to "storm the dorm" knocking on doors reminding students of games on game days;
4) I'd have semester tuition giveaways every weekend for student attendees;
5) I'd make sure that all campus newspaper prominently display schedules in every edition;
6) I'd make sure that WUSB frequently advertises schedule;
7) Encourage local vendors to have discounted prices on game days (need to show your ticket);

I'd hire an AD that is a marketer! Fiore, although he did some bad things, was a marketer extreme! Pikiell was a marketer extreme! You need someone that wants to grow demand.

Does the above take work? You bet. Will it fix things in a day, week, month, semester? No way. But it's a start, and you need to cultivate culture. You need to ingrain in students' heads that today is game day and I need to be there to support my team and University. And you need to pound the pavement, day after day after day. Sitting on your ass, firing off FB posts and Twitter Tweets is certainly part of the equation, but it's clearly not enough. Back to old school. It can be done.

Chairman of the Board · « **Reply #404 on:** December 13, 2021, 02:36:55 pm »

https://news.stonybrook.edu/alumni/accelerating-our-highest-ambitions/?utm_source=SBUSocial&utm_medium=Linkedin&utm_campaign=News

Quote

Q: How will dollars from the Presidential Innovation and Excellence Fund advance excellence across campus?

Stony Brook is known for interdisciplinary research. We are resolute in strengthening this advantage. The funds will encourage, expand and accelerate the new discoveries, new solutions and new knowledge that are needed to address the challenges that lie ahead. We’ll do it by investing in our exceptional faculty, recruiting established scholars with outstanding national and international reputations. We’ll support innovative ideas that will lay the groundwork for big research awards, multi-investigator grants and groundbreaking research that uncovers promising new solutions to society’s most pressing challenges.

Seawolves Fans

News:

Author Topic: Making SB better- Idea Thread (Read 20522 times)

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guest410

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