Announcement comes less than a year after Purdue trustees gave Chiang a raise and extended contract, knowing he was ‘in high demand.’ He starts in Evanston July 1.
A half million retention bonus on June 30 and starts the new job July 1? Well played, Mung, well played.
While I shouldn't rule out anything with this Board of Trustees I'd hope the no confidence vote will ensure that the provost will not be appointed interim president.
There is zero chance he won't take the $500k. The $500k was so that he'd stay until June 30th, which he is fulfilling. Is it a bad look? Of course, but not for him but for those that decided to give him that bonus while the overextended staff that have kept the place running through a decade of cuts and illogical extensions to the tuition freeze are still a few years from having the same purchasing power they had half a decade ago. 2% "raises" for the people figuring out how to make it work, 50% bonus for those taking the credit.
I would like them to hard wire a requirement into the job ad that the next president should be in it for Purdue, not for themselves. The only question about Mung Chiang leaving, from Day 1, was when. Purdue was and always was a stepping stone; a chance to add some lines to a resume. Frustratingly, we had a top internal candidate in our last search that was committed to Purdue above all (or I thought so). Mung got bonuses for not giving employees cost of living raises, year after year. And he took the bonuses without a second thought. I kept waiting for Mung to say he was freezing his own salary, in solidarity with the rest of Purdue who were holding up the tuition freeze. But no, he just kept racking up - and accepting - his bonuses. It's gross and antithetical to what most of us think of as our mission and true rewards are as educators here at Purdue.
As stated earlier I am hoping Jay Akridge is considered for interim and permenent presidency. His temperament and style of governance would be appreciated by many.
Tim Sands (VaTech) Randy Woodson (free agent so to speak) would be two other good names.
Depending on the direction the BoT wants to go Keith Krach could be an option if they want more of an entrepreneurial / business/ economic focus.
Any other possible names?
As a supporter of Athletics it will be imperative for the new candidate to commit to the max $20.5M rev-share so Purdue can be competitive in athletics and get football back to being competitive. Full Ross-Ade Stadiums are important for our local economy and add "juice" to our community!
Couldn't care less about Purdue football, though. I just want them to be barely good enough to stay in the Big Ten, so that we can fund the basketball team. Sorry about your "investment". :P
Oh I am a basketball guy #1. Saturdays are "social time" for me, but football pays the bills for every Division 1 Athletic Department. Big crowds boost the local economy for restaurants and hotels. Also at the stadium a couple thousand plus are employed as ushers and non-profits staff concession stands to earn money for their respective organization.
And if you want basketball to continue to thrive, Purdue needs a president to see the complete picture of a university and commit to the full $20.5 million rev share. Another France Cordova would be terrible. (brilliant person, but terrible president)
Yeah, I'm legitimately torn on a lot of this stuff.
As much as I love Purdue basketball, D1 sports really shouldn't even exist. These are minor league professional teams, with full-time athletes who just happen to have the extra requirement of needing to take classes on the side. Our teams might as well be called the Lafayette Boilermakers and have no relation to the university.
On the other hand, one of the lessons from Finding Equilibrium is that marketing Purdue's value to our neighbors in Indiana is extremely important in service of the academic mission (and frankly, avoiding political retribution), and sports are a great way to do that. As much as I hate the fact that our economy values sports communication more than the actual press, it means that our athletic department is able to fill a lot of the marketing gap.
I'm less bought into the economic impact of people driving into town to watch games. The overwhelming majority of collegiate sports revenue comes from selling media rights. There aren't _that_ many game days.
Which is why I think the goal really isn't to win anything; it's to stay in the Big Ten at the lowest possible cost for as long this insane industry exists. If I had my way, I'd never pay any public employee more than half a million dollars a year, including our coaching staff. If that means not competing at the highest level, so be it. At least we'd keep our integrity.
I agree with your argument against value coming into the community from reinvestment in college sports. Even if there was a population like West Lafayette 30 years ago to put asses in stadium seats (we will never see that WL “townie” population again), the money we see going into college sports does not come out for the community.
We would be better to accept Purdue needs to refocus on its students and learning as well as taking care of nonathletic staff.
There is tons of value for our community from the fact Purdue University has an athletics department. I would imagine the new university president will authorize the full $20.5M rev share because he /she (or they/them for your liberal tastebuds) will understand and embrace the value of major college athletics and its symbiotic relationship with academics.
What do you mean less bought into the economic impact of people driving into town to watch games? Yes, media rights are why absurd amounts of money is being paid out to B1G Conference schools but that is separate from local impact.
15K come for 18 Men's Basketball games per year. Between 50K-58K come 6-7 times per year for football games. Hotels in our area are sold out and restaurant reservations in town booked with tables turning-over multiple times.
West Lafayette would not be what it is without Purdue Football and Men's Basketball. (not ignoring other sports, but other sports are not revenue drivers) Our hospitality tourism industry would suffer greatly with exception for graduation weekends. If over 500K people just did not come to this town for a year business would most definitely notice. Why else and for what else do people that amount of people come to our town for? A couple of afternoons of the PMO Christmas Show? Springiest?
With regards to public relations/advertising go ask Butler what happened to their applications and admissions during their consecutive Final Four years. It is actually called the "Butler Phenomena" and illustrates the power of what athletics can do for a school exposure and reputation.
With all due respect as a city resident who doesn’t care about Purdue sports, I resent you saying that WL would be nothing without the… Purdue football and basketball apparatus? No, please don’t go and leave us in the lurch. Surely the town would collapse if we stopped being the 24/7 365 facilitator for all of Purdue’s bullshit.
Radical idea, maybe WL doesn’t need Purdue or its sports. Take the university and all its associated BS, pack it up, and haul it to New York Ave in Indy (where it would truly prefer to be, anyway). It’s this sort of Purdue all the way mentality that makes folks who live in WL hate Purdue FYI
I think the issue is that when you build aspects of Purdue as necessities for our communities existence and long term survival into the driving narrative of future, but then when Purdue also does all it can to hurt the community (students included), does that not look horrible and itself necessitate a massive second glance at why WL residents even allow Purdue this much leeway in our lives?
He was never going to be here for the long term as he has elite university aspirations, and NU probably shouldn't plan for him to stick around more than a handful of years before he leaves them too.
Mung will follow a guy who was a disaster from Day 1, never passed a rake without stepping on it. Say what you like about Mitch Daniels, but he wasn't that, and he seemed to try to set up Mung to succeed. (Apart from the anchor around the neck that is Purdue Indy.) He won't get that in Evanston.
Your comment is puzzling regarding Emeritus President Mitchell Daniels. Was he (1) "a disaster from Day 1" or (2) "Say what you like about Mitch Daiels, but he .wasn't that"? We can probably all agree that Daniels set up Mung to succeed and so now Mung has EXCEEDED!!. And then, in some one else's post the INTERESTING REFERENCE (See "A Person"'s comment): "While I shouldn't rule out anything with this Board of Trustees") When will Based in Lafayette open up a discussion about the makeup of the current Purdue Board of Trustees. That would be an interesting line to pursue, peruse, Go Purdue? or not?
Apologies! He is following Schill at Northwestern; Schill is the disaster. NU brought emeritus president Henry Bienen (age 83?) out of cold storage to be a steady hand.
I thought Daniels was a skilled and smooth operator. When he bought Kaplan (aka Purdue Global), he flipped the faculty senate like a turtle. And yes, he endowed Purdue with a self-perpetuating Board of Trustees that is slightly more agreeable to leadership than the Supreme People's Assembly of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
OK, I missed 'will follow' in your earier post. Now I understnad what you intially posted. Re: Mitch Daniels --his governorship--not a topic suggested here was an utter disaster for public education (K-12), government workers, the labor movement, and intercity passenger rail (a special interest of mine.) But I guess he was a consequential PU President. That I will grant, grudgingly.
Is Northwestern interested in s provost, too?
A half million retention bonus on June 30 and starts the new job July 1? Well played, Mung, well played.
While I shouldn't rule out anything with this Board of Trustees I'd hope the no confidence vote will ensure that the provost will not be appointed interim president.
Wonder if Dave can find out from BoT or Chiang if he will indeed accept that retention bonus the day before starting a new job.
That would be such a bad look, surely he would decline accepting it given the circumstances…
There is zero chance he won't take the $500k. The $500k was so that he'd stay until June 30th, which he is fulfilling. Is it a bad look? Of course, but not for him but for those that decided to give him that bonus while the overextended staff that have kept the place running through a decade of cuts and illogical extensions to the tuition freeze are still a few years from having the same purchasing power they had half a decade ago. 2% "raises" for the people figuring out how to make it work, 50% bonus for those taking the credit.
It's a bad look for him too, lol
I would like them to hard wire a requirement into the job ad that the next president should be in it for Purdue, not for themselves. The only question about Mung Chiang leaving, from Day 1, was when. Purdue was and always was a stepping stone; a chance to add some lines to a resume. Frustratingly, we had a top internal candidate in our last search that was committed to Purdue above all (or I thought so). Mung got bonuses for not giving employees cost of living raises, year after year. And he took the bonuses without a second thought. I kept waiting for Mung to say he was freezing his own salary, in solidarity with the rest of Purdue who were holding up the tuition freeze. But no, he just kept racking up - and accepting - his bonuses. It's gross and antithetical to what most of us think of as our mission and true rewards are as educators here at Purdue.
a top internal candidate like Jay Akridge? I am hoping he looked at for interim and possibly permanently named.
As stated earlier I am hoping Jay Akridge is considered for interim and permenent presidency. His temperament and style of governance would be appreciated by many.
Tim Sands (VaTech) Randy Woodson (free agent so to speak) would be two other good names.
Depending on the direction the BoT wants to go Keith Krach could be an option if they want more of an entrepreneurial / business/ economic focus.
Any other possible names?
As a supporter of Athletics it will be imperative for the new candidate to commit to the max $20.5M rev-share so Purdue can be competitive in athletics and get football back to being competitive. Full Ross-Ade Stadiums are important for our local economy and add "juice" to our community!
In a perfect world, Jay Akridge would be our representative in Congress. 😔
Couldn't care less about Purdue football, though. I just want them to be barely good enough to stay in the Big Ten, so that we can fund the basketball team. Sorry about your "investment". :P
Oh I am a basketball guy #1. Saturdays are "social time" for me, but football pays the bills for every Division 1 Athletic Department. Big crowds boost the local economy for restaurants and hotels. Also at the stadium a couple thousand plus are employed as ushers and non-profits staff concession stands to earn money for their respective organization.
And if you want basketball to continue to thrive, Purdue needs a president to see the complete picture of a university and commit to the full $20.5 million rev share. Another France Cordova would be terrible. (brilliant person, but terrible president)
Yeah, I'm legitimately torn on a lot of this stuff.
As much as I love Purdue basketball, D1 sports really shouldn't even exist. These are minor league professional teams, with full-time athletes who just happen to have the extra requirement of needing to take classes on the side. Our teams might as well be called the Lafayette Boilermakers and have no relation to the university.
On the other hand, one of the lessons from Finding Equilibrium is that marketing Purdue's value to our neighbors in Indiana is extremely important in service of the academic mission (and frankly, avoiding political retribution), and sports are a great way to do that. As much as I hate the fact that our economy values sports communication more than the actual press, it means that our athletic department is able to fill a lot of the marketing gap.
I'm less bought into the economic impact of people driving into town to watch games. The overwhelming majority of collegiate sports revenue comes from selling media rights. There aren't _that_ many game days.
Which is why I think the goal really isn't to win anything; it's to stay in the Big Ten at the lowest possible cost for as long this insane industry exists. If I had my way, I'd never pay any public employee more than half a million dollars a year, including our coaching staff. If that means not competing at the highest level, so be it. At least we'd keep our integrity.
It's a good thing I won't be president. :)
I agree with your argument against value coming into the community from reinvestment in college sports. Even if there was a population like West Lafayette 30 years ago to put asses in stadium seats (we will never see that WL “townie” population again), the money we see going into college sports does not come out for the community.
We would be better to accept Purdue needs to refocus on its students and learning as well as taking care of nonathletic staff.
There is tons of value for our community from the fact Purdue University has an athletics department. I would imagine the new university president will authorize the full $20.5M rev share because he /she (or they/them for your liberal tastebuds) will understand and embrace the value of major college athletics and its symbiotic relationship with academics.
What do you mean less bought into the economic impact of people driving into town to watch games? Yes, media rights are why absurd amounts of money is being paid out to B1G Conference schools but that is separate from local impact.
15K come for 18 Men's Basketball games per year. Between 50K-58K come 6-7 times per year for football games. Hotels in our area are sold out and restaurant reservations in town booked with tables turning-over multiple times.
West Lafayette would not be what it is without Purdue Football and Men's Basketball. (not ignoring other sports, but other sports are not revenue drivers) Our hospitality tourism industry would suffer greatly with exception for graduation weekends. If over 500K people just did not come to this town for a year business would most definitely notice. Why else and for what else do people that amount of people come to our town for? A couple of afternoons of the PMO Christmas Show? Springiest?
With regards to public relations/advertising go ask Butler what happened to their applications and admissions during their consecutive Final Four years. It is actually called the "Butler Phenomena" and illustrates the power of what athletics can do for a school exposure and reputation.
With all due respect as a city resident who doesn’t care about Purdue sports, I resent you saying that WL would be nothing without the… Purdue football and basketball apparatus? No, please don’t go and leave us in the lurch. Surely the town would collapse if we stopped being the 24/7 365 facilitator for all of Purdue’s bullshit.
Radical idea, maybe WL doesn’t need Purdue or its sports. Take the university and all its associated BS, pack it up, and haul it to New York Ave in Indy (where it would truly prefer to be, anyway). It’s this sort of Purdue all the way mentality that makes folks who live in WL hate Purdue FYI
I think the issue is that when you build aspects of Purdue as necessities for our communities existence and long term survival into the driving narrative of future, but then when Purdue also does all it can to hurt the community (students included), does that not look horrible and itself necessitate a massive second glance at why WL residents even allow Purdue this much leeway in our lives?
I'd be interested in reading a follow-up which focuses on what happened behind the scenes to cause President Chiang to make this change.
It's less of a surprise when you know there's a kid finishing high school this week.
He was never going to be here for the long term as he has elite university aspirations, and NU probably shouldn't plan for him to stick around more than a handful of years before he leaves them too.
Mung will follow a guy who was a disaster from Day 1, never passed a rake without stepping on it. Say what you like about Mitch Daniels, but he wasn't that, and he seemed to try to set up Mung to succeed. (Apart from the anchor around the neck that is Purdue Indy.) He won't get that in Evanston.
Your comment is puzzling regarding Emeritus President Mitchell Daniels. Was he (1) "a disaster from Day 1" or (2) "Say what you like about Mitch Daiels, but he .wasn't that"? We can probably all agree that Daniels set up Mung to succeed and so now Mung has EXCEEDED!!. And then, in some one else's post the INTERESTING REFERENCE (See "A Person"'s comment): "While I shouldn't rule out anything with this Board of Trustees") When will Based in Lafayette open up a discussion about the makeup of the current Purdue Board of Trustees. That would be an interesting line to pursue, peruse, Go Purdue? or not?
Apologies! He is following Schill at Northwestern; Schill is the disaster. NU brought emeritus president Henry Bienen (age 83?) out of cold storage to be a steady hand.
I thought Daniels was a skilled and smooth operator. When he bought Kaplan (aka Purdue Global), he flipped the faculty senate like a turtle. And yes, he endowed Purdue with a self-perpetuating Board of Trustees that is slightly more agreeable to leadership than the Supreme People's Assembly of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
OK, I missed 'will follow' in your earier post. Now I understnad what you intially posted. Re: Mitch Daniels --his governorship--not a topic suggested here was an utter disaster for public education (K-12), government workers, the labor movement, and intercity passenger rail (a special interest of mine.) But I guess he was a consequential PU President. That I will grant, grudgingly.
I think you and I are in total agreement.