12-29-2008, 04:15 PM
Anything to sell newspapers or advertising,
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Give Zimpher the credit
By Paul Daugherty • pdaugherty@enquirer.com • December 29, 2008
Nancy Zimpher was on the road somewhere, hanging out in the hotel bar, club sandwich at one elbow, big beer at the other, yelling at the television. Game updates crawled across the bottom of the screen. She wanted a score from the UC-West Virginia football game. What a fan.
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Well, OK. Maybe she wasn’t at the bar. Certainly not hanging out. University presidents aren’t likely to hang, unless the Chronicle of Higher Education is involved. But the president of the University of Cincinnati was in a hotel, watching one college football game to monitor the progress of another.
The Bearcats were leading 20-7, very late in the game. “At one minute, 18 seconds (to play), you shouldn’t be worried,’’ Zimpher said recently. She stayed with the TV, even after UC had won in overtime. “I had to watch the postgame show,’’ Zimpher explained.
Some still would judge the UC president on how she handled Bob Huggins’ mutually agreed-upon departure. These are the folks who booed Zimpher’s appearance on the court at the Crosstown Shootout earlier this month.
“For some people I guess that will always be their issue,’’ she said. “I have a job to do, I have to move on. Out of respect for (current UC basketball coach) Mick Cronin, they should move on.’’
That’s right, isn’t it? The Huggs-Zim 15-rounder was great theatre for some of us. For the university, it affirmed a fundamental truth: In a fight between a school president and a basketball coach, the president has to win, every time, lest the place become Sneaker U. Agreed? If there isn’t a statute of limitations on grudges, there should be.
Zimpher hired Mike Thomas who hired Brian Kelly, who has UC in the Orange Bowl on Thursday night, a feat as likely as orange trees growing on Ludlow. She was fundamental to UC’s admission to the Big East, because she saw the league as something greater than Big Monday.
Zimpher and then-athletic director Bob Goin interviewed with the presidents of Pitt and West Virginia. Goin had prepared information describing UC and its athletic programs, but the interviewers were more interested in the school’s academic aspirations. “I found that very interesting,’’ Zimpher said.
“For us, it was a process of raising the bar across the board. Since entering the Big East, we have really expanded our recruitment profile,’’ she said. “There was a lot riding on the Big East, beyond what a fan would think.’’
You are judged by the company you keep. Memphis? Or Georgetown?
You can’t point to Big East membership as a definite reason for UC’s academic gains since 2003. But you do have to give Zimpher her due. Since ’03, the graduation rate is up 7 percent, research funding has never been higher, the school’s number of National Merit Scholars is up from 53 to 146 and enrollment is up almost 10 percent.
Zimpher is of the Ivory Tower, but not often in it. She was a member of her high school band in Gallipolis, she worked at Ohio State, where she was on the athletic council. The Buckeyes have the biggest quasi-amateur athletic budget in the country. You don’t have to be a fan to understand what sports mean at OSU.
Zimpher can be a bit of a wonk. She uses words like “paradigm’’ and “continuum.’’ It must be the academic version of having “good’’ success taking ‘em one game at a time.
I asked her about Thomas’ autonomy. “I think there’s a huge expectation on the part of the NCAA that presidents of universities are fully apprised of the array of issues facing their athletic programs,’’ she said. “My relationship with Mike Thomas is no different than my relationship with a dean or the provost. My expectation is that Mike will create the vision for his division.’’
She attended the only interview UC needed with Brian Kelly, and knew instantly that other candidates needn’t bother. “It’s never just one thing. You start out with a set of criteria: Track record, the ability to recruit and retain a staff, his record, his personality, his values,’’ Zimpher said. “All the way down to coaching style, which was an interesting place for me to find myself. I don’t know much about coaching style.’’
Kelly “has been in leadership roles where constancy of the message is important. The way he interacts with the community is extraordinary and greatly appreciated,’’ she said.
She’s also dealing with the cost of success, something Zimpher concedes was overwhelmed by the elation of the Big East invitation. Keeping football thriving while also resurrecting basketball ain’t cheap.
“It’s very helpful for any team thinking of moving up to have a very strong business plan. We had that (plan) post-admission rather than pre-admission,’’ Zimpher said. “It’s a work in progress.’’
She majored in English at Ohio State, where she became Dean of the College of Education. I asked her what she was reading now. “A self-study report for the University of Maine,’’ Zimpher said. Oh.
“I’m carrying around a pile of leadership books. I carry a little book (titled) Be My Guest’’ the Disney Co.’s take on customer service “to remind me to put students first.
“Right now I’m reading how Obama is putting together his cabinet,’’ she said.
She will be at the game Thursday night. Zimpher is a sports fan, but in the way a chef is a fan of spices. Zimpher assigns sports its place in the, um, continuum. It builds student morale, increases national recognition, helps alums feel good.
“There’s no exposure like athletic exposure to shine the spotlight on everything at an institution,’’ Zimpher allowed. “You need to be aspirational.’’
http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll...ckcomments
Give Zimpher the credit
By Paul Daugherty • pdaugherty@enquirer.com • December 29, 2008
Nancy Zimpher was on the road somewhere, hanging out in the hotel bar, club sandwich at one elbow, big beer at the other, yelling at the television. Game updates crawled across the bottom of the screen. She wanted a score from the UC-West Virginia football game. What a fan.
Advertisement
Quantcast
Well, OK. Maybe she wasn’t at the bar. Certainly not hanging out. University presidents aren’t likely to hang, unless the Chronicle of Higher Education is involved. But the president of the University of Cincinnati was in a hotel, watching one college football game to monitor the progress of another.
The Bearcats were leading 20-7, very late in the game. “At one minute, 18 seconds (to play), you shouldn’t be worried,’’ Zimpher said recently. She stayed with the TV, even after UC had won in overtime. “I had to watch the postgame show,’’ Zimpher explained.
Some still would judge the UC president on how she handled Bob Huggins’ mutually agreed-upon departure. These are the folks who booed Zimpher’s appearance on the court at the Crosstown Shootout earlier this month.
“For some people I guess that will always be their issue,’’ she said. “I have a job to do, I have to move on. Out of respect for (current UC basketball coach) Mick Cronin, they should move on.’’
That’s right, isn’t it? The Huggs-Zim 15-rounder was great theatre for some of us. For the university, it affirmed a fundamental truth: In a fight between a school president and a basketball coach, the president has to win, every time, lest the place become Sneaker U. Agreed? If there isn’t a statute of limitations on grudges, there should be.
Zimpher hired Mike Thomas who hired Brian Kelly, who has UC in the Orange Bowl on Thursday night, a feat as likely as orange trees growing on Ludlow. She was fundamental to UC’s admission to the Big East, because she saw the league as something greater than Big Monday.
Zimpher and then-athletic director Bob Goin interviewed with the presidents of Pitt and West Virginia. Goin had prepared information describing UC and its athletic programs, but the interviewers were more interested in the school’s academic aspirations. “I found that very interesting,’’ Zimpher said.
“For us, it was a process of raising the bar across the board. Since entering the Big East, we have really expanded our recruitment profile,’’ she said. “There was a lot riding on the Big East, beyond what a fan would think.’’
You are judged by the company you keep. Memphis? Or Georgetown?
You can’t point to Big East membership as a definite reason for UC’s academic gains since 2003. But you do have to give Zimpher her due. Since ’03, the graduation rate is up 7 percent, research funding has never been higher, the school’s number of National Merit Scholars is up from 53 to 146 and enrollment is up almost 10 percent.
Zimpher is of the Ivory Tower, but not often in it. She was a member of her high school band in Gallipolis, she worked at Ohio State, where she was on the athletic council. The Buckeyes have the biggest quasi-amateur athletic budget in the country. You don’t have to be a fan to understand what sports mean at OSU.
Zimpher can be a bit of a wonk. She uses words like “paradigm’’ and “continuum.’’ It must be the academic version of having “good’’ success taking ‘em one game at a time.
I asked her about Thomas’ autonomy. “I think there’s a huge expectation on the part of the NCAA that presidents of universities are fully apprised of the array of issues facing their athletic programs,’’ she said. “My relationship with Mike Thomas is no different than my relationship with a dean or the provost. My expectation is that Mike will create the vision for his division.’’
She attended the only interview UC needed with Brian Kelly, and knew instantly that other candidates needn’t bother. “It’s never just one thing. You start out with a set of criteria: Track record, the ability to recruit and retain a staff, his record, his personality, his values,’’ Zimpher said. “All the way down to coaching style, which was an interesting place for me to find myself. I don’t know much about coaching style.’’
Kelly “has been in leadership roles where constancy of the message is important. The way he interacts with the community is extraordinary and greatly appreciated,’’ she said.
She’s also dealing with the cost of success, something Zimpher concedes was overwhelmed by the elation of the Big East invitation. Keeping football thriving while also resurrecting basketball ain’t cheap.
“It’s very helpful for any team thinking of moving up to have a very strong business plan. We had that (plan) post-admission rather than pre-admission,’’ Zimpher said. “It’s a work in progress.’’
She majored in English at Ohio State, where she became Dean of the College of Education. I asked her what she was reading now. “A self-study report for the University of Maine,’’ Zimpher said. Oh.
“I’m carrying around a pile of leadership books. I carry a little book (titled) Be My Guest’’ the Disney Co.’s take on customer service “to remind me to put students first.
“Right now I’m reading how Obama is putting together his cabinet,’’ she said.
She will be at the game Thursday night. Zimpher is a sports fan, but in the way a chef is a fan of spices. Zimpher assigns sports its place in the, um, continuum. It builds student morale, increases national recognition, helps alums feel good.
“There’s no exposure like athletic exposure to shine the spotlight on everything at an institution,’’ Zimpher allowed. “You need to be aspirational.’’