Schlissel losing confidence of Board of Regents
Has to deal with the Martin Philbert sexual misconduct case (haven't heard of that one before), as well as his abandonment of the U-M Detroit Center of Innovation project. Sorry if my link is faulty as I'm posting from my phone right now
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.freep.com/amp/8271355002
September 17th, 2021 at 1:16 PM ^
was going to share a link but then saw it was the Free Press.........
September 17th, 2021 at 4:02 PM ^
Not only that, but the OP offers his header as if it were cold fact, when scrutiny of the article and its source reveal that. . . we're gonna have to wait for real evidence. The article opens with a quote from a regent who SUPPORTS Schlissel, then goes on to say that no other regent would even speak to them about dissatisfaction. Then it quotes people who SAY that some regents are dissatisfied. Bad journalism, from a long-discredited source. To post THIS article and say "Schlissel Losing Confidence, etc. . ." this one probably needs to be yoinked by the mods.
September 17th, 2021 at 5:39 PM ^
I know several people who work at the university, and it's long been a given that Schlissel is at odds with several regents. It's also been reported elsewhere. And the newspaper as a whole has not been discredited. Stop talking like a Trump supporter.
September 17th, 2021 at 6:12 PM ^
Guess you haven't been here long. The Freep, at one time, was banned here for its wrongful role in getting Michigan punished during Stretchgate. Bone up. As someone who grew up in Michigan and has read the paper since childhood, I could offer a fairly detailed chronology of the paper's decline.
Wrong, quite wrong, on the politics, too.
I'm looking at a pack of Critical Thinking playing cards that I gave my 17-year-old. Card number three in the logical fallacies set is 'anecdotal evidence.' The fact that mackbru--or anyone--happens to know some people at the university (congrats) hardly amounts to proof of the article's title. Lots of us 'know people who work at the university.' And 'several' hardly amounts the unanimous disapproval the title implies.
September 17th, 2021 at 6:28 PM ^
The Freep, at one time, was banned here for its wrongful role in getting Michigan punished during Stretchgate
1. Was it officially banned or just a board agreement/protest to boycott the Freep?
2. Drew (notso)Sharp.
September 18th, 2021 at 10:18 AM ^
I love the critical thinking and logical fallacies decks. I keep them on my desk at work. we must be watching the same Facebook ads.
Have you shown your 17 yo Clearerthinking.org?
September 17th, 2021 at 6:12 PM ^
Just to add (since I double-posted, and happen to know a little about the subject): As a grad who has been watching the U's Presidents since the mid-70s I can tell you that--yes--Schlissel has done various things I disagree with. Most or all did. That just doesn't prove that Regents are all fed up with him. God knows it could be true, but that's not proven here.
September 17th, 2021 at 9:00 PM ^
It really is ridiculous to insert your view of national politics into a discussion of Schissel. People who are obsessed about the good guys and bad guys as they see them, and feel the need to interject their perspective of national politics into unrelated discussions, is one of the reasons people in this country are at each others’ throats so much.
September 18th, 2021 at 11:27 AM ^
was going to share a link but then saw it was the Free Press.........
Freep can at times be a rag, however, David Jesse is one of the top higher ed reporters in the nation.
September 17th, 2021 at 1:17 PM ^
Schlissel has been all talk and little correct action for a long time. Seems like the only action he's taking is non-stop construction on campus. My family friend who has a daughter, who was class of 2020, says they still haven't heard a peep about a graduation ceremony for them. They're beginning to think that administration is just going to forget about them and move on
September 17th, 2021 at 1:25 PM ^
my daughter was class of 2020 as well.
they are doing nothing for them, the lame "virtual" ceremony is all they will ever get.
We have your money, see ya!
On to the next class who will overpay for college!
oh and donate money to us know that you graduated!
September 17th, 2021 at 2:32 PM ^
This is such a valid point that I am giving you an upvote, even though there is a spelling/grammatical error!
September 17th, 2021 at 1:46 PM ^
I was class of 2020. They sent out an interest inquiry several months ago for a ceremony and we never heard anything back
September 17th, 2021 at 1:55 PM ^
you joined when you were 12? Impressive
September 17th, 2021 at 2:04 PM ^
Remember this moment of realization if you ever contemplate arguing with someone on the internet...
September 17th, 2021 at 3:41 PM ^
This is the most intelligent thing I have ever read on the internet.
September 17th, 2021 at 4:54 PM ^
Funny, 20 years ago a young man on a sports board thought I was really old. Oh, well.
September 17th, 2021 at 2:05 PM ^
Hahaha yeah, I believe I joined the day after Michigan lost to Ohio State 37-7 in 2010?
September 17th, 2021 at 2:21 PM ^
God bless anyone who was not old enough to know UM football before the early 2000s. You deserve an award for being a fan.
September 17th, 2021 at 3:18 PM ^
Thanks so much! I have no conscious memory of Michigan winning the Big Ten. Can my award be dinner after the game tomorrow?
September 17th, 2021 at 3:59 PM ^
The only possibility that gets you dinner is if you're in grad school. If you have a job, buy your own dinner. If you don't have a job, leave the basement and have dinner with mom and dad!
September 17th, 2021 at 6:53 PM ^
I'm much older than you but I can remember it was misery that brought me to Mgoblog as well.
September 17th, 2021 at 4:02 PM ^
You would be disgusted if you knew how much UM overspends on construction, my company is supplying concrete for the Ruthven renovation.
September 17th, 2021 at 8:53 PM ^
Probably not surprising considering they’re a large public entity with money to burn (mind you, this is without taking into consideration construction costs in the COVID era)
While I’m only an architectural designer and not plugged into the project management side of things, I could probably count on one hand the number of big projects that came in under budget. Also, if Michigan’s facilities dept is anything like Ohio State, then they’re probably awful to deal with.
This is all third hand hearsay for a coworker so I am probably getting a lot of details wrong, but one of the most prestigious architectural firms in Columbus was Karlsberger until they suddenly went out of business nine years ago. They were working at-risk on the Wexner Medical Center until they were abruptly fired and replaced with HOK. Apparently there was a meeting where one of Karlsberger’s PMs said ‘who the eff cares what Les Wexner wants’, while being unaware that Wexner was in the room.
September 17th, 2021 at 1:21 PM ^
I assume the OP is referencing this article - LINK
There's a lot of stuff in here that has come out piecemeal over the years, but the DCI stuff comes across as especially bizarre in the way in which it was mismanaged and generally turned into a massive clusterfuck.
September 17th, 2021 at 1:25 PM ^
Didn’t update the Board, but was talking to UM’s biggest donor, eh? You should interpret this as, “his job is safe.”
September 17th, 2021 at 1:31 PM ^
Why would they do an innovation center in Detroit vs Ann Arbor? Isn't the point to collaborate with students and the University? If the students are in A2, how is this possible in person if not on or close to campus?
September 17th, 2021 at 1:48 PM ^
According to U-M spokesman Rick Fitzgerald: “Stephen Ross and his Related Cos. are involved in the Detroit Center for Innovation, but the Ross School of Business, named in recognition of Stephen Ross’ support for the school, is not involved. U-M is working with Mr. Ross on the academic programming for the DCI, but there is no direct connection between the DCI and the Ross School.”
ttps://www.dbusiness.com/daily-news/u-m-ross-launches-health-care-accelerator-eyes-new-sites-for-detroit-center-for-innovation/
The DCI is obviously still developing and hope that it works out for all of us.
September 17th, 2021 at 6:32 PM ^
Why would they do an innovation center in Detroit vs Ann Arbor?
Because Staee and directional Michigan has learning/urban/innovation centers in Detroit too -- arms race?
September 17th, 2021 at 1:34 PM ^
The majority of people associated with the Ivy League brand or top schools like ours tend to be no intellectually better than anyone else beyond the academic memorization and regurgitation of data. They are no better when it comes to qualities such as prioritization, emotional IQ, pragmatism, common sense, sense of humor, etc.
They're just regular people prone to having any raw intellectual edge balanced out by their arrogance. Not surprised at all when they, or Schlissel in this matter, fuck up.
September 17th, 2021 at 2:52 PM ^
Seems like some of these people need a copy of John U. Bacon's new book "Let them Lead." It's about leadership lessons from his time as hockey coach at Huron but might be useful elsewhere, like U-M.
September 17th, 2021 at 8:16 PM ^
Yeah, I’m not sure a guy who managed to get a gig as a university president should be taking leadership advice from John U Bacon’s massively successful youth hockey coaching tenure. Not to mention nearly all leadership books are platitudes combined with pure bullshit.
September 17th, 2021 at 3:23 PM ^
They just had rich and/or well connected parents.
September 17th, 2021 at 3:35 PM ^
The American proletariat face in the mirror loves itself - -
- - as the reflection is actually that of the bourgeoisie.
Go Blue.
September 17th, 2021 at 1:38 PM ^
One thing I have noticed in my organization is that the trend where people are getting sick of their bullshit jobs and leaving is having the effect of shining a light on bad management. A lot of managers, for better or worse, don't really do much except appear to make decisions and get paid (I do acknowledge that there are a lot of managers who actually do more than this). But when the people who actually have the knowledge in an organization (or who know how to get it put together from various data sources) leave and the organization is left with a "too many chiefs" problem, there starts to be a rot from the inside. Bad decisions start to be made and the fingerpointing starts.
September 17th, 2021 at 2:08 PM ^
Definitely agree. I think when textbooks are written about the Covid-19 pandemic, one of the effects that will be mentioned is a semi labor revolution in regards to virtual work, people's priorities, and views on labor hierarchy
September 17th, 2021 at 3:22 PM ^
It wouldn't also surprise me if the increase in obesity rates prove a major side effect that we didn't focus on. Lots of folks paid attention to masks, social distancing, and vaccines and rightfully so. But, many lost track of their most basic health protecting mechanism. Exercise, nutrient balance, and maintaining a healthy weight is preventative in many major illnesses, particularly early in life. An important tool in anyone's arsenal is being fit and we're seeing the #1 comorbidity for those hospitalized with Covid seems to be obesity. Lots of people seem to have adopted new, more sedentary, lifestyle habits with way too much screen time.
September 17th, 2021 at 3:40 PM ^
For sure. I'd be lying if I said I didn't put on 10 pounds over quarantine and am still trying to get it off which has become infinitely harder because I'm still working from home. I guess we're one step closer to Wall E becoming reality
September 17th, 2021 at 3:23 PM ^
Don't forget, managers/directors in additional to making decisions, they also attend an endless amount of meetings. I work at a major west coast university and the directors just have meetings all day, every day. They often have embarrassingly minimal knowledge of how systems actually work or the day-to-day issues their staff deal with.
Let's spend over $1 billion on a personnel and finance system that will work very poorly, cripple hiring and research fund management, and drive experienced staff in to retirement.
September 17th, 2021 at 9:50 PM ^
Ahh, I guess your employer is also implementing Workday.
September 17th, 2021 at 3:59 PM ^
Cool, but your next step should have been to adduce some evidence that this is what is happening at the University of Michigan.
September 17th, 2021 at 4:15 PM ^
From my experience managers seem to only get said jobs because they've been at a place a long time, not because they're qualified for it. And the Peter Principle is a very real thing.
September 17th, 2021 at 5:22 PM ^
Making Decisions is the number one job of Management. As far as I'm concerned it may as well be their only job and is definitely underrated as a management skill.
My job is to know what I do as best as I can, and enough about the other people's job who are connected to mine (something I think way too many people forget) to provide said manager with the appropriate information to make the needed decisions. If he or she can't make that decision, then they are useless, and that makes me useless.
September 17th, 2021 at 1:39 PM ^
Perception>Reality.
September 17th, 2021 at 1:47 PM ^
I have always appreciated that our Regents do their job and keep their names out of the paper, which isn't easy with one Ilitch and one Bernstein, both from high-profile families. They also have tended not to micromanage, but they seem to be sliding in that direction.
September 17th, 2021 at 2:25 PM ^
5 of the 8 regents are lawyers (including Illitch) and all of them are on the board mainly due to their ability to get a nomination from one of the political parties.
September 17th, 2021 at 1:47 PM ^
So “sources say” board is unhappy with Schlissel. The one board person who actually agreed to an interview denied any significant tensions. Did I miss the hard evidence of tensions? Listen, Schlissel sucks, but the board sucks too. Everyone only cares about their own self interest. If they feel the public hates Schlissel, they’ll publicly trash him. If not, they’ll stay quiet if they think their jobs are secure. It’s all self preservation. No one actually thinks the board is any more righteous than the president do they? It’s one big happy corrupt you-scratch-my-back-I’ll-scratch-yours family.
September 17th, 2021 at 2:18 PM ^
It's a Freep report - surprised they didn't imply Schlissel was doing extra stretching
September 17th, 2021 at 4:11 PM ^
^^^^ Drop Mic ^^^^ Comment of the day!