Bernadette Gray-Little

[T42YS]

I guess with all this talk about Lew retiring early, maybe being forced out, what have you, another question sprung up in my mind: Why are there so many KU fans that are unimpressed with the Chancellor Gray-Little? That's at least the sentiment I seem to read on this board and especially on the phog. About the only thing I can grasp from the limited posts I have read is that she is viewed as a "do-nothing, ineffective" chancellor. What exactly has she done to earn this reputation from her detractors? Is she actually doing a good job, and are her detractors off-base?

I ask this from a completely uninformed position of curiosity, as I have no idea what she has done or not done over her tenure from either an academic or athletic perspective. I'd be especially interested to hear from an academic viewpoint regarding what she has or hasn't done.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to warm up my tractor while I wait for your responses. :mexican

[Evolvehawk]

Re: Bernadette Gray-Little

she's a woman

[T42YS]

Re: Bernadette Gray-Little

[quote author=Evolvehawk link=topic=957.msg10211#msg10211 date=1283907153]
she's a woman
[/quote]

/thread

[RandytheHelpfulPineapple]

Re: Bernadette Gray-Little

The only time I've seen her in the public eye has been during the ticket scandal reports. She came off as stern and you could tell what ever conversations she had with Lew had left him very uncertain about his future. She seems to value academics and integrity by the way she presents herself.

I guess I should pay more attention to our Chancellor's performance, considering I'm in the Alumni Association now.

[ElJefe58]

Re: Bernadette Gray-Little

[quote author=T42YS link=topic=957.msg10212#msg10212 date=1283907206]
[quote author=Evolvehawk link=topic=957.msg10211#msg10211 date=1283907153]
she's a woman
[/quote]

/thread
[/quote]

:mexican

[Evolvehawk]

Re: Bernadette Gray-Little

[quote author=ElJefe58 link=topic=957.msg10227#msg10227 date=1283911935]
[quote author=T42YS link=topic=957.msg10212#msg10212 date=1283907206]
[quote author=Evolvehawk link=topic=957.msg10211#msg10211 date=1283907153]
she's a woman
[/quote]

/thread
[/quote]

:mexican
[/quote]

a woman in Lawrence that hasn't seen the Aidz couch that is

[Jayhawker]

Re: Bernadette Gray-Little

During the whole conference realignment clusterfuck, she was on a European vacation, and basically said she thought Lew had it under control. However Lew was being investigated so basically, it was all on Bill Self to be the public image of KU during that whole mess. She was no where to be seen during all of that.

[pieces of eight]

Re: Bernadette Gray-Little

She is so new, I don't have an opinion yet. Incomplete.

I like her priorities on the academic side, with retention and graduation. Not sure if what we're talking about implementing (a lot of monitoring and hand-holding) is going to truly address that, though.

[CStop]

Re: Bernadette Gray-Little

[quote author=pieces of eight link=topic=957.msg10295#msg10295 date=1283965492]
She is so new, I don't have an opinion yet. Incomplete.

I like her priorities on the academic side, with retention and graduation. Not sure if what we're talking about implementing (a lot of monitoring and hand-holding) is going to truly address that, though.
[/quote]

Pretty much the same. She is saying the right things, but I've struggled with how the message gets communicated/interrupted from the tops to those of us on the front lines. KU should be much better at retaining its current students, but people have always been too worried about recruiting new students.

[KTSHawkman]

Re: Bernadette Gray-Little

I'm not a fan. Her public appearances and fumbling, bumbling oratory make Hemenway look like Aristotle, and let's face it, she's looked like a complete deer in the headlights whenever she gets a tough question. We've slipped in academic standing and non-athletic fundraising, and that isn't just related to the issue of open admissions.

However, what's worse is she doesn't get the idea that athletics, for better or worse, are the public face of a university, and she doesn't understand the importance of a strong athletic department. Here's an example of her public comments on college athletics, "Hmm. I’ll have to think about that a little bit more. [Money] certainly seems to be an important factor in college athletics. Anybody can see that. I think the question of whether we might return to a time where it had less importance, where sports were not so big a component and weren’t so expensive, those are all legitimate questions and issues for consideration and discussion. And I think it’s something we have to think about."

I just don't see strong leadership coming from the Chancellor's office at this point, she seems more to be at the beck-and-call of the Board of Regents rather than charting a bold path forward, and because of that, I think she probably should go as well.

[CStop]

Re: Bernadette Gray-Little

So the more I think about this, the more I'm worried about KU as a whole. How does your Chancellor not go in front of the cameras versus sending the interim AD and basketball HC? That move does not look strong.

[RandytheHelpfulPineapple]

Re: Bernadette Gray-Little

Gray-Little is meeting with the Board of Regents to give a status update on the Athletic Dept. Interesting timing-- she cleaned a little house before the meeting.

Gray-Little

[T42YS]

Re: Bernadette Gray-Little

[quote author=KTSHawkman link=topic=957.msg10318#msg10318 date=1283968326]
I'm not a fan. Her public appearances and fumbling, bumbling oratory make Hemenway look like Aristotle, and let's face it, she's looked like a complete deer in the headlights whenever she gets a tough question. We've slipped in academic standing and non-athletic fundraising, and that isn't just related to the issue of open admissions.

However, what's worse is she doesn't get the idea that athletics, for better or worse, are the public face of a university, and she doesn't understand the importance of a strong athletic department. Here's an example of her public comments on college athletics, "Hmm. I’ll have to think about that a little bit more. [Money] certainly seems to be an important factor in college athletics. Anybody can see that. I think the question of whether we might return to a time where it had less importance, where sports were not so big a component and weren’t so expensive, those are all legitimate questions and issues for consideration and discussion. And I think it’s something we have to think about."

I just don't see strong leadership coming from the Chancellor's office at this point, she seems more to be at the beck-and-call of the Board of Regents rather than charting a bold path forward, and because of that, I think she probably should go as well.
[/quote]

That's a pretty non-committal answer, really. I can see why it doesn't engender confidence, although I wouldn't necessarily assume that Gray-Little is going to try to nuke KU's AD because of this. I definitely agree that it's not the type of answer that a strong leader would make.