(09-11-2014 09:31 AM)Purple Pilgrim Wrote:  It is a tough job. Those under him have deeply embedded emotions that he is having to deal with. I didn't set out to defend Alger, but I can see where his demeanor may have been what was needed to get us back to a neutral position. Hopefully Alger will see his skills maximized at JMU in a much shorter time frame than past presidents.

Therein lies a big part of the problem IMO. The people that are under him are the same people who were under Rose, many of whom have become way too comfortable in their jobs particularly when it comes to fundraising. You can't expect one guy to change an entire culture. I'd rather go the Withers route and "blow it up". I'm not saying JMU doesn't have any talented, bright people by any means. I just don't see anything really changing under Alger and you have to think that same thinking under him has something to do with it. All the guy seems to do differently than Rose is talk a lot more even though he says nothing and there's no real action.