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Post by iceice on Dec 16, 2010 15:53:28 GMT -6
They want to announce the new AD within the next 10 days. They are moving really fast with this search.
From what I've heard, Grace Calhoun and Paul Plinske are really sharp and very well respected in the industry.
In my opinion, I hope Plinske gets the job, UWM needs someone with a fundraising/revenue generating background, because god knows they don't have anyone in the department that currently thinks with that mindset.
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Post by PantherU on Dec 16, 2010 16:07:11 GMT -6
I don't want to endorse anyone until I hear Costello.
Both Plinske and Calhoun are good candidates, although there was one point where I thought Plinske set himself apart.
Dr. Erika Sander, faculty emerita, asked essentially the same question of both: student seg fees are going through the roof, money needs to come from elsewhere, you need to solicit donations, how are you gonna do it and give examples of how you've done it in the past.
Plinske hit a homer, as you can hear in the video. Calhoun kind of danced around it before finally getting to the fact that she solicited major gifts for her academic center at IU.
I think Plinske also really showed a wide variety of reasons to hire him with examples, and Calhoun really hammered home her credentials in the student-athlete experience and academics. That said, Plinske did NOT lack in that department, and the part where he was explaining compliance and integrity showed me how serious of a candidate he is.
There was a national champion athlete at UWW used their athletic event excuse form to skip class for a week. The teacher notified Plinske, who made the decision to remove the student-athlete from the program. That wouldn't have happened at many D-I schools.
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Post by PantherU on Dec 16, 2010 16:15:28 GMT -6
Grace's presentation is up at PantherU.
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Post by BBFran on Dec 16, 2010 16:40:20 GMT -6
Perhaps I'll get a chance to listen to the audio tonight. I would have loved to meet the candidates and perhaps have some input, but when you get notice about 36 hours in advance of public forums with the finalists it's not very easy (read: impossible) to change a professional schedule. Very frustrating being on the outside looking in. So I'll hope for the best, but I'm just going to be a ticket buying fan going forward.
At least there is no obviously spectacularly unqualified candidate this time -- as there was last time.
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Post by JG Panthers on Dec 16, 2010 17:56:58 GMT -6
If you have a chance, I strongly recommend listening to these presentations. Again, thanks a lot to Jimmy for posting these, and hilarious comment about being the team's point guard. So far, I wouldn't be disappointed with either hire... Still, I like Plinske...
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Post by flipper clark on Dec 16, 2010 22:09:51 GMT -6
I've had the chance to meet both Paul Plinke and Grace Calhoun. I'll be meeting Rick Costello tomorrow. So far, I have been VERY impressed with both. It sure seems like we are doing the AD search the right way this time. what was wrong with the last search process? all 3 of the Finalists were qualified... this search is moving way to fast... it started 3 weeks ago and they hope to have someone in position by Jan.1!!! |
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Post by cubanpanther on Dec 16, 2010 22:26:30 GMT -6
After going to the last 2 presentations, and I will be attending tomorrow morning as well, both Plinske and Calhoun are great! I am eager to hear what Costello has to say and how he responds to Dr. Erika Sander's questions.
If I had to choose today though, I am with Plinske! His resume was excellent. He answered all questions thoroughly and efficiently. I also really liked his comment on football when Jimmy asked about it. We need to focus on the situations on hand now that need to be solved before looking to far into the future and adding more debt or obstacles.
Looking forward to Costello in the morning and making a final analysis.
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Post by PantherLou on Dec 17, 2010 9:57:26 GMT -6
all 3 of the Finalists were qualified... If you believe this...then I don't know what to tell you. All 3 candidates THIS time around could run circles around the last group. Furthermore, if you don't believe that George Koonce was hand picked and rubber-stamped for the position last time, I have a bridge to sell you.... this search is moving way to fast... it started 3 weeks ago and they hope to have someone in position by Jan.1!!! The search has been going on for months. The finalists have been selected through a national search through the work of an outside firm. Now that the three finalists have been announced, why shouldn't they move forward with some momentum? Have you ever been involved with hiring someone? This is generally how it works. |
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Post by PantherLou on Dec 17, 2010 10:02:10 GMT -6
I would have loved to meet the candidates and perhaps have some input, but when you get notice about 36 hours in advance of public forums with the finalists it's not very easy (read: impossible) to change a professional schedule. I hear you on this. I am lucky enough that my schedule this week was open enough for me to make it, as I didn't get an invite until Monday as well. For what it is worth, the candidates as well did not know about this until Sunday, so they were also put on the spot. I actually like this, as I want to know what people's initial reactions are, not hear a speech that has been developed over several weeks. I think it has made the process much more 'real", and less rehearsed. For the record, I have absolutely NO say in the hiring process, and nor should I. I hope that my questions will help in the final decision, but I really don't know who will make that call. |
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Post by flipper clark on Dec 17, 2010 11:38:56 GMT -6
Panther Lou quote:
If you believe this...then I don't know what to tell you. All 3 candidates THIS time around could run circles around the last group. Furthermore, if you don't believe that George Koonce was hand picked and rubber-stamped for the position last time, I have a bridge to sell you....
Let me know where that bridge is.... Paul Schlickmann and Monty Porter, and George Koonce was a way better pool than these 3...
whomever is offered this position has a daunting task ahead of them.... if Milwaukee was smart, they would have brought in 2 people last go around. IMO.... Schlickmann and George fit the bill.
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Post by PantherU on Dec 17, 2010 14:17:41 GMT -6
flipper clark, lemme tell you something:
I served on the search and screen committee last time. I sifted through upwards of 80 resumes, cover letters, and did over a dozen phone interviews in the process. I got to meet with each of the candidates last year three times: once with the Athletic Board, once with the Search and Screen, and once in the public presentation.
So I can tell you this without a shadow of a doubt: as a whole, this group of three candidates runs circles around the four candidates last time. The only person from last time that I feel would be a fourth finalist for this position this time would be Paul Schlickmann, and he is now an Athletic Director at Central Connecticut State.
I would be happy with any of the three finalists. You will have to wait until later for me to give my recommendation, but you can bet your ass it's one of these three and not people from the past.
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Post by PantherU on Dec 17, 2010 14:22:40 GMT -6
By the way, Rick Costello's presentation is now on the website, and I changed the posts so you can listen to them on the same page, just press play.
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Post by Hack on Dec 17, 2010 14:26:48 GMT -6
Good to hear that the current candidates appear to be very solid on paper and in presentation.
Curious to know why this crop is better than the last go around...
- Better search committee?
- Better analysis of incoming applications? (i.e. halfway decent, professional-looking resume ... yes, I'm looking at you George Koonce)
- Absence of a certain tan-jacket clad former AD muddling up the process?
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Post by flipper clark on Dec 17, 2010 15:32:25 GMT -6
flipper clark, lemme tell you something: You will have to wait until later for me to give my recommendation, but you can bet your ass it's one of these three and not people from the past. Funny BP.... cosidering how high you and the entire Athletic Department were on George 2 years ago..... I sure hope one of these 3 carries a magic wand, but until they do some some house cleaning... it is never going to change regardless of who steps in as AD! |
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Post by wauker on Dec 17, 2010 15:48:01 GMT -6
After listening to all three AD candidates' presentations I would say Plinkske seems to have the best understanding of what this school needs right now. Although, Costello and Calhoun both come from Division 1, eirther of them could relate to the UWM athletic experience as well as Plinske did.
Costello sounded very excited about the Rutger's athletic program and the amount of donations coming in, and while fundraising was his main job I'm sceptic how much he really had to do with those donations. Rutgers has a great athletic tradition and has one of the biggest athletic programs in the New Jersey/ New York area. I'm not sure he realizes the challenges of fundraising in Milwaukee, where UWM doesn't exactly have the community's automatic support like Rugters does on the East Coast. Rugters is the Madison of New Jersey. We don't have over 100 years of tradition, so building relations within the community and the state is going to be a project that takes some time, and we need a AD who is going to be here for a while. It didn't sound like Costello was planning on making UWM his life time project. And I know that an energetic person like him could be the personally we need to jump start school spirit on campus, but honesty his ideas to get students to the games were very basic. "Shooting competitions", "T-Shirt give a ways", and "White-Out Games", tell me what school isn't doing that already. He didn't have a plan or any kind of ideas for UWM specify, the only thing he knew about UWM was within the first paragraph of the wiki page. He could have given that speech at any school and probably already has, that why he didn't sound genuine to me.
I liked Plinske understanding of the Mid-west, and Mid- west recruiting. He has relationships with the UW system, U Illinois, and U Minnesota. Plinske also seems like a guy who wants to stay in the Mid-west, and wants to make UWM his last stop. I liked his community approach to building the school spirit. I liked his ideas about starting tradition with the freshmen and the parents, those are very smart approaches. Whitewater used to be known for it's reputation of being a commuter college, but in the last couple of years Whitewater has been the hottest school in the system. Last year, every university in the state decreased it's numbers of applicants except for one, Whitewater. Whitewater is one of the fasting growing schools in the country, and athletics plays a big part. Whitewater might be a small school, but maybe a small school approach could be just the thing we need to be our campus and community closer together.
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