http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local_state/story/139002.html

Does this mean they're going to start harassing me for money again?

10/13/2009 7:07:30 AM

The Easley scandal is like a black hole--it sucks in anything that's near it.

10/13/2009 7:17:01 AM

Quote :

"N.C. State University's interim chancellor has fired the head of the alumni association, saying the group was struggling financially and its membership had been stagnant for years."

maybe our athletic department will receive a similar shake up

10/13/2009 8:26:44 AM

^

10/13/2009 8:30:47 AM

^^

10/13/2009 9:04:01 AM

^^^

10/13/2009 9:06:05 AM

haha yeah last time i got called by the AA, it was like "would you join for this much... no? how about a $100 donation? no? ok, we'll take donations as low as $10."

really? you're calling me asking for $10?

10/13/2009 9:06:06 AM

NCSU Alumni Association: lowering our expectations, since you've lowered yours.

10/13/2009 9:07:13 AM

"N.C. State University's interim chancellor has fired the head of the athletic department, saying that he believed the man was actually severely mentally handicapped."

10/13/2009 9:08:21 AM

NC State has only had an alumni association for 11 years?!?

10/13/2009 9:15:24 AM

wallace has sacked york

10/13/2009 9:22:28 AM

http://www.alumni.ncsu.edu/join/types.php

10/13/2009 9:26:00 AM

[Edited on October 13, 2009 at 9:33 AM. Reason : Ø]

10/13/2009 9:32:37 AM

i totally read this as



NCSU sacks head off Alumni Association

10/13/2009 9:32:47 AM

Those responsible for the sacking have been sacked.

10/13/2009 9:34:28 AM

The alumni association keeps sending me stuff with my name misspelled on it. It's funny how when I owed the university money they damn well got my name right. Each time they call me I tell them "I'll donate some money when you spell my name right" then I hang up. Each time they fail.

10/13/2009 9:36:34 AM

Hmm for lack of membership and financial troubles. Stop going to athletics games and maybe they'll finally sack Fowler.

10/13/2009 9:38:58 AM

This is actually a pretty crappy move. The guy has worked at NCSU for over 30 years, made huge accomplishments within the Alumni Association, but he's fired because there aren't as many members as there are in UNC's, which is about 100 years older.

Also, that crap about him not censoring the story on the Easley fiasco, good for him. I wouldn't want to be a member of an association where they promoted censorship of news stories just because it would upset some people.

10/13/2009 9:53:59 AM

What were his huge accomplishments?

10/13/2009 10:09:29 AM

surviving in a cutthroat academia administration culture for 30 years?

10/13/2009 10:21:04 AM

this is a step in the right direction

every time we had to deal with the alumni association, they didnt have a clue what was going on

but i never met this guy, we had to deal with a guy named Brian i think, but he was about as bright as a fencepost

looks like that sentiment went all the way to the top

10/13/2009 10:25:48 AM

Quote :

"Some alumni association officials think Barton was fired for other reasons. In a letter obtained by The News & Observer, seven members of the association's board of directors wrote Woodward on Sept. 9 and asked him to reconsider the idea of firing Barton. They wrote that someone had told them Barton was going to be fired because he hadn't censored a story in the fall edition of the alumni magazine about the Mary Easley scandal to ensure it didn't contain criticism of university leaders. The story, an edited transcript of a roundtable discussion on the roles of campus culture, university governance and media relations in the scandal, was published recently. Participants include former UNC-system President Bill Friday and former NCSU faculty senate chairman James Martin, who has been a critic of administration behavior. In the letter, the directors wrote they had been told that negative comments about the university administration by the panelists led the administration to feel that Barton should have anticipated such comments and kept some known university critics off the panel. "At a time where the public, lawmakers, and alumni are clamoring for more openness, transparency and accountability in the administration of our public universities, we believe, if the above-stated facts are indeed correct, that to punish Dr. Barton for failing to censor voices critical of the University is in direct contravention of the best interest of the university," they wrote. Barton, they wrote, had performed his duties "in an exemplary fashion." They said that firing Barton without consulting their board would not be consistent with "the spirit and letter" of the relationship between it and the university. They attached a long list of association accomplishments under Barton, saying that it had raised $8 million for the alumni center and that Barton was personally responsible for raising $3 million of it. In the letter, the board members noted several times that they had not been given all the facts. It's unclear whether any of them changed their views after Woodward gave them his reasons for the decision to fire Barton. Several who signed the letter declined to comment, saying that it was a personnel matter that they could not legally discuss."

[Edited on October 13, 2009 at 10:29 AM. Reason : ]

10/13/2009 10:27:07 AM

Quote :

"What were his huge accomplishments?"

From the article:

Quote :

"They attached a long list of association accomplishments under Barton, saying that it had raised $8 million for the alumni center and that Barton was personally responsible for raising $3 million of it."

10/13/2009 11:02:32 AM

Quote :

"Woodward said, even after Barton projected growth to 30,000 by fiscal year 2008-2009. The association has about 1,200 life members. The alumni association at smaller UNC-Chapel Hill, meanwhile, has about 70,000 members and 35,000 life members."

wow, either our alumni's suck, or our alumni association sucks
we shall soon find out

10/13/2009 11:13:44 AM

Well, our Alumni Association is only 11 years old. Compared to 100 years old for UNCs. But I think our Alumni in general don't want to give money back to the school, and the AA hasn't done a good job of creating an incentive to.

10/13/2009 11:17:34 AM

^Agreed. I would love to have a reason to give back to NCSU, but for now I'll have to do that by paying off my student loans.

10/13/2009 11:26:15 AM

Quote :

"wow, either our alumni's suck, or our alumni association sucks "

hmmm...your answer is in the very post you made

Quote :

" But I think our Alumni in general don't want to give money back to the school, and the AA hasn't done a good job of creating an incentive to."

Gee, I wonder if the reason alumni keep their money from NCSU after graduation has anything to do with how NCSU nickels and dimes their students while they're here, or whether it has anything to do with the attitude of the administration towards students?

Nah, never mind. Those both make too much sense.

10/13/2009 11:33:23 AM

I highly doubt that's an NC State exclusive sentiment.

10/13/2009 11:34:06 AM

^Seriously, I'm more fed up with UNC for lack of common sense and "nickle and diming" the students than I ever was at NCSU.

[Edited on October 13, 2009 at 11:37 AM. Reason : ]

10/13/2009 11:36:49 AM

Quote :

"I highly doubt that's an NC State exclusive sentiment. "

I don't know either way.

And I sure as hell have no plans to find out

But I do wonder how many schools are as hostile to their students as NCSU, with crap like paul cousins, "working with" RPD so that behavior off campus is suddenly an issue NCSU feels is critical, and all the other little things ncsu does to say "yeah, you students pay the bills. But you need your piece of paper, and there are plenty more of you where you come from. In other words, bend over and figure out a way to enjoy it."

[Edited on October 13, 2009 at 11:40 AM. Reason : dsf]

10/13/2009 11:37:51 AM

Quote :

"Gee, I wonder if the reason alumni keep their money from NCSU after graduation has anything to do with how NCSU nickels and dimes their students while they're here, or whether it has anything to do with the attitude of the administration towards students? "

That's exactly it.

Shit, I bet I paid over $1000 in parking tickets while I was in college. They've already gotten all the money they'll ever get out of me.

[Edited on October 13, 2009 at 11:39 AM. Reason : ]

10/13/2009 11:38:45 AM

If we had a national athletic program that didn't fail every year, we'd have droves of people giving back to the school. NCSU is a practical education that lands you a practical vocation in the real world. It's not practical to give back to NCSU currently, unless you see great things coming out of the institution. So far, we don't have much national recognition that nurtures pride in it's graduates and therefore monetary compensation for said pride. Either do great things with research, or do great things with our athletic programs, or continue to get snubbed.

[Edited on October 13, 2009 at 11:47 AM. Reason : -]

10/13/2009 11:44:48 AM

^ Win.

10/13/2009 11:48:55 AM

This is too bad. I've met Lennie before and he was extremely passionate about nc state and growing the alumni association. I was shocked to learn about how young the program was, but he did a tour of various alumni clubs throughout the country last year trying to get more people involved. I thought he was great.

I am a member of the alumni association and I donate money back to the school. I do so because I benefited from the networks I made and education I received while I was in school and I hope that others can benefit as well.

Having a good sports program is nice, but I'd rather encourage good education, as that boosts the strength of my diploma. The school is doing some pretty cool things, it just don't make the news like winning a football game does.

10/13/2009 12:24:22 PM

Quote :

"I'd rather encourage good great and accessible education."

Chapel Hill has this. We do not.

10/13/2009 12:29:21 PM

Spontaneous, we get it, you have some beef with the institution. Get over it, dude. Stop being a passive aggressive nancy boy.

10/13/2009 12:32:20 PM

I disagree. I'll agree that we don't have the same name recognition as unc, but many of our schools are well known and highly regarded in areas that count. From what I've seen living in various areas of the country, NC State is extremely accessible and affordable.

10/13/2009 12:33:21 PM

Quote :

"Spontaneous, we get it, you have some beef with the institution. Get over it, dude. Stop being a passive aggressive nancy boy."

Nope. I deserve a quality education.

10/13/2009 12:42:18 PM

i'm not so sure that anyone "deserves" a quality education to be handed to them. why do you think you "deserve" it?

more importantly, why do you think NCSU doesn't offer a quality education?

i'm quite happy with my NCSU degree. ever since i graduated, i've had great jobs with increasingly higher pay, benefits, autonomy, flexible environments.

my NCSU education prepared me to enter the professional engineering workforce -- a solid foundation that i've since built my career success on. and the opportunities ive been given that allow to succeed in the first place, I would have never had without my degree at NC State.

so, back to your point: "deserving" or not, I think a quality education WAS given to you and you squandered it. sorry that you apparently wasted your time at State wallowing around in personal problems/emotional issues. maybe your next attempt will be more focused?





[Edited on October 13, 2009 at 1:43 PM. Reason : ]

10/13/2009 1:25:24 PM

I guess the only thing that I get caught up on with this is that the Interim Chancellor is firing people.

I probably would have preferred that Woodward made this an item to inform the new hire of, and let him deal with it.

10/13/2009 2:05:44 PM

Please Woodward make the one move that really needs to be made: "FIRE FOWLER"

10/13/2009 2:09:16 PM

Lenny Barton got me into NC State.


So, I'm sad to see him go.

10/13/2009 2:16:09 PM

I get letters from the alumni association asking me to give money saying it will go to help a student get an education at NCSU. But I'd rather apply that directly to paying for my education at NCSU. Not sure why they're asking me for money, I know a lot of grad students, and we aren't typically a wealthy bunch

10/13/2009 2:19:36 PM

Quote :

"wow, either our alumni's suck, or our alumni association sucks"

As stated, our alumni association is only 11 years old.

Also worth noting is that our booster club is one of the largest in the nation, and dwarfs UNCs. There was even an article in the NY times earlier this year about how large our donor base is, given the results on the field.

Given time and the right leadership, the alumni association will grow.

10/13/2009 2:24:39 PM

I don't really feel like NCSU did a whole hell of a lot for me. When you consider the shit they did while I was here (BS parking tickets, shut down brent road, shitty basketball teams, massive aggression against the student population in the form of the nuisance party ordinance, etc.) I don't feel particularly inclined to give them another dime.

Hell, their continued lack of commitment to excellence in sports has just further alienated me. As alumni I think most of us want something public about our university that we can be proud of and point out to other people. It'd be nice to be able to brag to friends and coworkers about our alma mater, and the most obvious and public way is through athletics. The other, and this is much less publicly visible, is through breakthrough research. Frankly I don't see a hell of a lot of either.

10/13/2009 2:25:11 PM

This alumni association is 11 years old which means most of the new alumni were created in the era during or after the death of the Brent Road party, camping out for tickets, and the clampdown on tailgating. I suspect membership would be greater if NCSU and the City of Raleigh hadn't gone through great lengths to squash some of the university's greatest traditions. As it is there is very much a "us against them" mentality with regards to the university. I can't say I blame the alumni who have pack pride, but don't want to give another dime to the actual school entity.

You reap what you sow.

[Edited on October 13, 2009 at 2:32 PM. Reason : l]

10/13/2009 2:27:55 PM

hate to admit it, but a lot of ^ and ^^ rings true. that definitely kind of shut down the fun while i was there. left a bad taste about the authoritarian admin folks. kind of dampend the RAH RAH spirit.

i'll join the alumni association just for the benefits, but i'm not ready to donate any money other than that.

when it comes down to it, though, the education was valuable, and the degree has paid for itself many times over. maybe when i get out from under student loans i'll be more ready to donate some money.








[Edited on October 13, 2009 at 2:51 PM. Reason : ]

10/13/2009 2:38:26 PM

I give to the University because I love it. It's a huge part of me, and has been since I was born. Whether thats as a booster, or now, through the Alumni Association, I am from a family of donors, and I myself will be a donor once this economy turns around.

10/13/2009 2:41:42 PM

Quote :

"i'll join the alumni association just for the benefits, but i'm not ready to donate any money other than that."

What are the benefits?

10/13/2009 2:43:53 PM

Quote :

"I give to the University because I love it. It's a huge part of me, and has been since I was born. Whether that's as a booster, or now, through the Alumni Association, I am from a family of donors, and I myself will be a donor once this economy turns around."

This. I could care less about parking tickets for people who can't follow rules, or shutting down parties, that has nothing to do with valuing my degree and my family history at NCSU. Yeah it sucks that they changed campout and tailgating, but that's life, and that doesn't change my perception of State.

10/13/2009 2:44:33 PM