(01-18-2018 10:59 AM)quo vadis Wrote:  

(01-18-2018 06:06 AM)The Cutter of Bish Wrote:  

(01-17-2018 04:41 PM)quo vadis Wrote:  Pretty simple explanation: How does a charter member of the ACC have a long, drawn-out, public process of debate and discussion about leaving the ACC and joining the B1G? It would be highly embarrassing for everyone.

These decisions will always be made behind closed doors, and quickly. And if they are proceeded by some kind of protracted negotiations, those will be behind the scenes, hush-hush.

What's simple about it when a move isn't universally desired or seen as beneficial? The things Penn State (who had about a decade to work on the move), Nebraska (about a century), and Rutgers (since the 90's?) had going for them was faculty support behind the moves. It's not embarrassing for the university. It's embarrassing for the President, who did the negotiations, and the Board who endorsed it...in a closed session. I mean, the move was embarrassing enough that the school had to invest a few million in PR to defend it. And, rightfully, academic journals picked up on the marginalization of the faculty.

And the board gagging is just bad form in general. Whether or not UMS will later have your back, it's terrible precedent. And, that's probably why faculty were so upset...it's a terrible, untrustworthy culture it evokes. And maybe it is.

Seriously? What if for a year or so, FSU was publicly negotiating with the SEC for membership. You don't think that wouldn't be embarrassing in terms of how it interacts with its current partners in the ACC, and wouldn't cause acrimony? And then what if the negotiations fall through and they remain in the ACC. Hard feelings, anyone? Absolutely.

As for the internal angle, I'm faculty, and strongly defensive of faculty prerogatives and input when it comes to administrative decisions. In the past, I've served on our Faculty Senate and long ago learned to keep a sharp eye out for administrative maneuvers.

But conference affiliation is essentially an athletic issue. If my administration decided to move us from conference A to conference B, I might have strong feelings about that as a fan of our athletic teams, but it wouldn't bother me at all that the Faculty Senate wasn't consulted with, as it is not an academic issue. Any faculty at MD who are angry about a lack of input got angry over very little IMO, and aren't picking their battles correctly.

I don't disagree with that last paragraph, except when your leadership is praising the academic prestige of conference affiliation in an official release, and saying there would be transformational cultural benefits from the new affiliation; now you're talking for me. I would find that pretty reprehensible if that became part of the official college message when the decision was kept completely away from faculty. If you keep it about sports, about what athletic possibilities you get when you pair UMD football with Michigan and Ohio State, or hoops with Indiana and Michigan State, and just that...but that's not what UMD did. Stay in your lane, and you're good, I would think. UMD didn't, and the faculty were quick to speak out accordingly.

I can't speak for how school representatives conduct themselves with conference colleagues. We get snippets and quotes here and there from angered coaches, wishful AD's, and other folks...it's not them who get the votes. I think the balance issue is tough, but the schools who communicate their frustrations (and that included Florida State), you can still be civil about this stuff. You had Missouri who seemingly didn't handle their business well, but Colorado did.

It's unfortunate the previous administration at Maryland didn't address this matter with the weight it required, but Loh and the Board cut corners to get to their "desired" result. I think it's more the Board than Loh, though. They are supposed to keep Loh in check. This didn't need to get to a gag order, and the Board should have sent a strong message condemning that gesture. Sports shouldn't be this destabilizing to policy and procedure.