(01-26-2023 11:58 AM)MattBrownEP Wrote: The thing that makes Chicago State so unique isn't that their primary sports are pretty bad. Todor is right, Chicago State basketball has plenty of company among low majors for basketball futility. I don't think there's a huge difference between Cougar basketball over the last six years and like, a bad NEC, AEC or Ivy team.
What sets them apart is the administrative chaos. Not many schools have had to cancel games because of improperly filed compliance paperwork like CSU has. Not many schools have hired a new AD like, every three years, like CSU has. Not many D1 schools were flirting with outright closure over the last decade, or have struggled to staff key internal roles, like CSU.
I don't know if it is the most dysfunctional department in D1, but it's probably close, and that's for a lot of reasons that have nothing to do with what you see in a box score or on the NET.
I wouldn't put Rice anywhere close to the worst athletic department list. FIU under Pete Garcia might have been in that conversation, but I can't think of any FBS school in that world right now.
I think you are right on many of those points. But I would add, when a school loses millions in funding, which (in part at least) contribute to smaller enrollment and an even smaller budget, things can hairy. In situations like that, good people move on to better positions elsewhere. You get less, and less qualified candidates applying. New staff need time to get their feet wet and can make mistakes an experienced AD, financial aid person, or registrar might not make.
The last few years haven’t been great for Chicago State. Not by a long shot. But please keep in mind, Chicago State is not a new school and has spent most of its history as a growing institution. Not that long ago it was around 10,000 students. Now, after rebounding some, it’s about 4,500.
I know, people love to look up how many Freshman they had 5 years ago and laugh and say they should be shut down. Of course, they don’t know that there is a community college that is much cheaper literally across the road, and they have always been very light on Freshman and heavy on transfers. Graduation rates are another poor indicator of quality where a large percent of students are part time and take longer to get thru. Many other schools face the same challenge, but it’s mostly comparing apples and oranges.
Given the same challenges, I’m not sure other schools would do much better. Oh, they think they would. (That would never happen at my school) But once you get low morale due to cutbacks that had nothing to do with CSU, start having attrition issues with both staff and students, deal with outside political meddling, etc, it takes time to right the ship. I think that has largely been done. But it takes time to completely turn a place around. All the news was bad news on every front for a number of years, but it remains a affordable, accredited, public opportunity college with a decent location and a nice campus, all in an area where kids need all of the opportunities they can get.
The administrative chaos is (in part) a product of funding issues. They could have, and would have, done many things differently if they simply had the resources to do them. Poor management can thrive in chaos better than anywhere else. But when you are scrambling every single year trying to preserve what you have, that is inevitably going to have an impact. To me, things are definitely looking up there, whether anyone chooses to see it or not.