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No Compliance Dir, Academic Advisor or SID at Chicago St
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SoCalBobcat78 Offline
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Post: #21
RE: No Compliance Dir, Academic Advisor or SID at Chicago St
(08-10-2019 11:16 PM)Lopes87 Wrote:  https://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/co...story.html

it looks worse than I thought it could ever get...

How does it look worse? Do you know why he was fired? The article only states that he was fired without cause and received a settlement. What new information did you learn from that?
08-11-2019 12:02 AM
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Lopes87 Offline
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RE: No Compliance Dir, Academic Advisor or SID at Chicago St
They hired a guy who ran a foundation and misused funds to the tune of 300K that he had to pay back.... Thats bad judgement .
CSU had to pay him 78K for firing him w/o cause then paid the auditor 50k for him to tell them to drop to D2, which is something anyone on this board could have told them for free.

No one knew that they paid him a buyout and was fired w/o cause to this point correct?
08-11-2019 11:17 AM
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CrimsonPhantom Offline
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Post: #23
RE: No Compliance Dir, Academic Advisor or SID at Chicago St
(08-11-2019 11:17 AM)Lopes87 Wrote:  They hired a guy who ran a foundation and misused funds to the tune of 300K that he had to pay back.... Thats bad judgement .
CSU had to pay him 78K for firing him w/o cause then paid the auditor 50k for him to tell them to drop to D2, which is something anyone on this board could have told them for free.

No one knew that they paid him a buyout and was fired w/o cause to this point correct?

Correct
08-11-2019 11:54 AM
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CrimsonPhantom Offline
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Post: #24
RE: No Compliance Dir, Academic Advisor or SID at Chicago St
(08-10-2019 11:16 PM)Lopes87 Wrote:  https://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/co...story.html

it looks worse than I thought it could ever get...

Quote:Former Bears and Notre Dame star Chris Zorich was terminated without cause from his position as Chicago State athletic director, according to documents the Tribune obtained.

The university announced July 30 it had parted ways with Zorich, whom it hired in May 2018. Chicago State did not respond to questions from the Tribune about the reason for his departure, and the documents the Tribune obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request did not reveal why he was fired.

Zorich declined to comment when the Tribune reached him Thursday.

The separation agreement between Zorich and Chicago State states: “I have been informed that the University has decided to terminate my employment. As stated in Section 5.2 of my employment agreement, this termination is without cause.”

The documents show the university agreed to pay Zorich a lump sum of six months of his salary ($67,500) plus payment for vacation time owed ($10,450.49).

The records show Zorich was fired July 25. Chicago State named Jimell Bryd-Reno interim athletic director.

The agreement says Zorich agreed not to sue the university except to enforce terms of the deal. The documents included a confidentiality agreement about his termination.

A tweet July 30 from Zorich’s Twitter account read: “We strived to keep the welfare of our student-athletes as our primary mission. I want to thank the administration, coaches, staff and student-athletes for providing me with the opportunity to serve them.”

Zorich, a Chicago native who graduated from Vocational High School, played defensive tackle on Notre Dame’s 1988 national championship team and was a consensus All-American in 1989 and ’90. He played for the Bears from 1991 to ’96 and the Redskins in ’97.

Before serving as Chicago State’s athletic director, he held the same position since 2015 at Prairie State College, a community college in Chicago Heights.

After taking over at Chicago State, he quickly hired Lance Irvin to coach the men’s basketball team and Misty Opat to coach the women’s basketball team. Both teams struggled last season, as they have historically, with the men finishing 3-28 and the women 2-28.

Zorich replaced interim athletic director and former men’s basketball coach Tracy Dildy as the school tries to recover from years of financial turmoil and administrative turnover. Chicago State was among the hardest-hit public institutions during the state’s budget crisis, leading trustees to declare a state of financial emergency in 2016.

The university laid off employees, and its accreditation agency issued sanctions while the 2015 graduation rate fell to about 11 percent and the 2016-17 freshman class plummeted to 86 students.

A USA Today report showed Chicago State’s athletic department revenue of $5,249,433 in 2016-17 ranked 226th out of 230 public Division I colleges. Before Zorich’s hiring, athletic department members discussed how they had to scrimp on travel and equipment to keep their programs functioning.

Zorich’s past financial issues raised questions when he was hired. The Illinois attorney general’s office launched an investigation into his charity foundation after a 2010 Tribune report found its finances in disarray. In August 2012, Zorich agreed in court to pay back more than $300,000 in unaccounted funds.

In July 2013, he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges for failing to file federal income tax returns from 2006 to ’09. Zorich’s three-year probation was dropped after a year once he completed his community service and paid a fine.

“Those mistakes, I learned from them,” Zorich told the Tribune shortly after he was hired by Chicago State. “Those financial issues were not because of a lack of financial acumen. It was unfortunate that I wasn’t in charge of that aspect. I took full responsibility. … I learned from it, I owned up to it. Now I’m ready to go to the next step in my life. I’m excited about the future.”
08-11-2019 11:57 AM
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SoCalBobcat78 Offline
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Post: #25
RE: No Compliance Dir, Academic Advisor or SID at Chicago St
(08-11-2019 11:54 AM)CrimsonPhantom Wrote:  
(08-11-2019 11:17 AM)Lopes87 Wrote:  They hired a guy who ran a foundation and misused funds to the tune of 300K that he had to pay back.... Thats bad judgement .
CSU had to pay him 78K for firing him w/o cause then paid the auditor 50k for him to tell them to drop to D2, which is something anyone on this board could have told them for free.

No one knew that they paid him a buyout and was fired w/o cause to this point correct?

Correct

When did an auditor recommend dropping down to D2? I read where they were hiring an auditor, which Chicago State would not confirm. Zorich's employment ended at Chicago State. We did not know and still do not know what happened regarding his termination. Why did Chicago State want to fire him? The payoff settlement is to avoid a lawsuit.
08-11-2019 12:47 PM
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Lopes87 Offline
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Post: #26
RE: No Compliance Dir, Academic Advisor or SID at Chicago St
CollegiateConsulting
@CollConsulting
Chicago State spends $78k for buyout plus $50k to Mike Alden to tell them they need to return to DII, not good use of resources
08-11-2019 01:11 PM
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CrimsonPhantom Offline
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Post: #27
RE: No Compliance Dir, Academic Advisor or SID at Chicago St
(08-11-2019 12:47 PM)SoCalBobcat78 Wrote:  
(08-11-2019 11:54 AM)CrimsonPhantom Wrote:  
(08-11-2019 11:17 AM)Lopes87 Wrote:  They hired a guy who ran a foundation and misused funds to the tune of 300K that he had to pay back.... Thats bad judgement .
CSU had to pay him 78K for firing him w/o cause then paid the auditor 50k for him to tell them to drop to D2, which is something anyone on this board could have told them for free.

No one knew that they paid him a buyout and was fired w/o cause to this point correct?

Correct

When did an auditor recommend dropping down to D2? I read where they were hiring an auditor, which Chicago State would not confirm. Zorich's employment ended at Chicago State. We did not know and still do not know what happened regarding his termination. Why did Chicago State want to fire him? The payoff settlement is to avoid a lawsuit.

I was responding to 87's question.
08-11-2019 01:18 PM
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CrimsonPhantom Offline
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Post: #28
RE: No Compliance Dir, Academic Advisor or SID at Chicago St
(08-11-2019 01:11 PM)Lopes87 Wrote:  CollegiateConsulting
@CollConsulting
Chicago State spends $78k for buyout plus $50k to Mike Alden to tell them they need to return to DII, not good use of resources

Encase anyone needs verification.

08-11-2019 01:21 PM
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SoCalBobcat78 Offline
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Post: #29
RE: No Compliance Dir, Academic Advisor or SID at Chicago St
(08-11-2019 01:18 PM)CrimsonPhantom Wrote:  
(08-11-2019 12:47 PM)SoCalBobcat78 Wrote:  
(08-11-2019 11:54 AM)CrimsonPhantom Wrote:  
(08-11-2019 11:17 AM)Lopes87 Wrote:  They hired a guy who ran a foundation and misused funds to the tune of 300K that he had to pay back.... Thats bad judgement .
CSU had to pay him 78K for firing him w/o cause then paid the auditor 50k for him to tell them to drop to D2, which is something anyone on this board could have told them for free.

No one knew that they paid him a buyout and was fired w/o cause to this point correct?

Correct

When did an auditor recommend dropping down to D2? I read where they were hiring an auditor, which Chicago State would not confirm. Zorich's employment ended at Chicago State. We did not know and still do not know what happened regarding his termination. Why did Chicago State want to fire him? The payoff settlement is to avoid a lawsuit.

I was responding to 87's question.

Sorry, I thought you were in agreement with everything else. Two things, first Collegiate Consulting is indicating that a recommendation has been made to drop to D2. No sources. The Chicago Crusader is stating that an outside audit is "upcoming to do an assessment of CSU athletics, who will then recommend if the school should remain in Division I." There was no comment from CSU. I think Collegiate Consulting is making an assumption before the auditor arrives.

Secondly, the termination of an employee happens for different reasons. I spent over twenty years in management and I have seen all sorts of changes, for good and bad reasons, fair and unfair. Without being there, we will not know what happened. It does not really matter if he was fired or quit. His employment was terminated. I assumed that he was fired with a settlement. That way, both parties can move on.
08-11-2019 02:34 PM
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dancingNMSUaggie Offline
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Post: #30
RE: No Compliance Dir, Academic Advisor or SID at Chicago St
Sounds like that Zorich guy is a flop wherever he has worked.
08-12-2019 08:08 AM
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PojoaquePosse Offline
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Post: #31
RE: No Compliance Dir, Academic Advisor or SID at Chicago St
(08-10-2019 11:16 PM)Lopes87 Wrote:  https://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/co...story.html

it looks worse than I thought it could ever get...

I read a couple of the embedded articles. This one really saddened me. It's a few years old, but gives a good picture of the situation the student athletes find themselves in:

https://www.chicagotribune.com/politics/...story.html

I feel real bad for the school, the students, the athletes and coaches. What a terrible situation.
08-12-2019 09:54 AM
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SDHornet Offline
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Post: #32
RE: No Compliance Dir, Academic Advisor or SID at Chicago St
(08-12-2019 08:08 AM)dancingNMSUaggie Wrote:  Sounds like that Zorich guy is a flop wherever he has worked.

That's my take as well. Shows Chi State admin was too lazy (or stupid) to do a background check on Zorich to know that he is financially incompetent (or worse). Not good when you are on a shoe string budget as it is.
08-12-2019 06:16 PM
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joshadam84 Offline
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RE: No Compliance Dir, Academic Advisor or SID at Chicago St
Just wondering where all these hot takes were when CSU hired Zorich? It was already well known about the prior financial issues he had related to his charity -- and he owned up to it. Additionally, there's been no indication that he has misused funds as an AD at Chicago State.

Also, why is it bad judgment to hire Zorich in the first place? From what I've taken out of the available articles is that he wasn't getting adequate financial support from the president. If you ever followed him on twitter, he frequently was involved in any and all CSU related activities. Additionally, he always supported Chicago State when he went out for Chicago Bears functions. I think he did a hell of a lot more university promotion in one year than the prior AD, Dr. Hendricks, did in two. Unfortunately, him and the new president seemingly didn't mesh -- mind you the current president did not hire Zorich. Another thing I noticed is that he was never involved with the Board of Trustees meetings either, which compared to prior ADs (Dildy, Hendricks, Schumacher) is completely out of the norm. I believe the last BoT meeting he was involved in was over a year ago.

One other thing I'll add since so many jump to conclusions is that it's still unknown what the "study" entails. Chicago State's University Budget Committee recommended a study to be done to determine whether the athletic programs should maintain D1 or consider D2. The reported auditor is Mike Alden who assisted UMKC wth a strategy study, which includes a marketing campaign, and eventually was hired as an adviser for UMKC athletics as well as at Cleveland State University.

My assumption is he was also paid a little bit of money at both of these institutions as well for his work. So once again, before we go jumping to conclusions that this is solely a hire to determine D1/D2.. it is entirely likely it's much more involved given his prior roles.
08-12-2019 09:01 PM
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IWokeUpLikeThis Offline
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Post: #34
RE: No Compliance Dir, Academic Advisor or SID at Chicago St
(08-12-2019 06:16 PM)SDHornet Wrote:  
(08-12-2019 08:08 AM)dancingNMSUaggie Wrote:  Sounds like that Zorich guy is a flop wherever he has worked.

That's my take as well. Shows Chi State admin was too lazy (or stupid) to do a background check on Zorich to know that he is financially incompetent (or worse). Not good when you are on a shoe string budget as it is.

CSU absolutely knew when they hired Zorich. Everyone did. Zorich is a big name in Chicago.

It’s just water under the bridge. Zorich was hired because he’s the most well connected guy in the industry CSU could land and had experience successfully running an athletic department. Zorich started to turn things around and it’ll be near impossible to find someone as good.
08-12-2019 10:40 PM
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CrimsonPhantom Offline
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Post: #35
RE: No Compliance Dir, Academic Advisor or SID at Chicago St
(08-12-2019 10:40 PM)IWokeUpLikeThis Wrote:  
(08-12-2019 06:16 PM)SDHornet Wrote:  
(08-12-2019 08:08 AM)dancingNMSUaggie Wrote:  Sounds like that Zorich guy is a flop wherever he has worked.

That's my take as well. Shows Chi State admin was too lazy (or stupid) to do a background check on Zorich to know that he is financially incompetent (or worse). Not good when you are on a shoe string budget as it is.

CSU absolutely knew when they hired Zorich. Everyone did. Zorich is a big name in Chicago.

It’s just water under the bridge. Zorich was hired because he’s the most well connected guy in the industry CSU could land and had experience successfully running an athletic department. Zorich started to turn things around and it’ll be near impossible to find someone as good.

And because of his firing, I bet qualified candidates will be hesitant to submit an application.
08-13-2019 11:24 AM
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Stugray2 Offline
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Post: #36
RE: No Compliance Dir, Academic Advisor or SID at Chicago St
Today, I am going to surprise you guys and give a positive report on Chicago State. It seems every couple of months we get more evidence that Z Scott ws absolution the right hire for Chicago State President.

She recently created the executive position of Auditor
https://www.csu.edu/internalaudit/meetstaff.htm

duties:
https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/chief...335941819/

This is absolutely critical to get the financial house in order, and most important to get the student loan program in compliance, allowing CSU to have satellite branches in the community. While Ms. Scott has removed many of the left over Watson cronies, there is still likely some graft going on. This should root that out. There is no longer a faculty revolt, Ms. Scott has gained the confidence of the experienced staff.

While a minor thing, in the last couple months Chicago State now has an active LinkedIn, where we can see many of the activities Ms. Scott is engaged in to raise the school profile. I noticed she managed to get Spike Lee to pay a visit. I recommend you check it out if you are looking for some evidence of positive direction.

Even the firing of the AD is a net positive, because she is now demanding that money be brought in for all activities. And that is what makes them sustainable. I don't know if it's too late to save D-I status, the athletic audit may well say no, but if the school's foundation and finances can be brought in order, then things can start to build and the program can survive.
08-22-2019 01:21 PM
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PojoaquePosse Offline
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RE: No Compliance Dir, Academic Advisor or SID at Chicago St
+1
08-23-2019 07:27 PM
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billybobby777 Offline
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Post: #38
RE: No Compliance Dir, Academic Advisor or SID at Chicago St
Chicago St is done after this year
08-25-2019 10:44 PM
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Pounder Offline
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Post: #39
RE: No Compliance Dir, Academic Advisor or SID at Chicago St
(08-04-2019 06:15 PM)SoCalBobcat78 Wrote:  
(08-04-2019 02:38 PM)CrimsonPhantom Wrote:  
(08-03-2019 08:36 PM)Lopes87 Wrote:  It will be interesting what come of the audit...

I think the audit may occur before they hire an AD, cause then they will hire an AD based on the results of the audit.

They have the $38 million events center built in 2007 and their $2.5 million baseball stadium built in 2013. Those are recent investments in athletics that just say, "We are a D1 school."

Just because somebody overbuilt doesn't mean they can survive what they built. A 30,000 seat stadium and a post-closure renovation did not save or revive U of the Pacific football, for instance.

Of course, the audit matters. My observation is the facilities can't bail out anyone without fans or boosters to help.
08-26-2019 02:49 PM
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SoCalBobcat78 Offline
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Post: #40
RE: No Compliance Dir, Academic Advisor or SID at Chicago St
(08-26-2019 02:49 PM)Pounder Wrote:  
(08-04-2019 06:15 PM)SoCalBobcat78 Wrote:  
(08-04-2019 02:38 PM)CrimsonPhantom Wrote:  
(08-03-2019 08:36 PM)Lopes87 Wrote:  It will be interesting what come of the audit...

I think the audit may occur before they hire an AD, cause then they will hire an AD based on the results of the audit.

They have the $38 million events center built in 2007 and their $2.5 million baseball stadium built in 2013. Those are recent investments in athletics that just say, "We are a D1 school."

Just because somebody overbuilt doesn't mean they can survive what they built. A 30,000 seat stadium and a post-closure renovation did not save or revive U of the Pacific football, for instance.

Of course, the audit matters. My observation is the facilities can't bail out anyone without fans or boosters to help.

When the Pacific football team was disbanded in 1995, the Stadium had been in existence for 45 years. Completely different from Chicago State. The basketball facility is only 12 years old and it is paid for. Chicago State is not dropping basketball. So comparing Pacific to Chicago State does not work.

The facilities are assets. It is better to have the facilities than to not have them. There are many schools that would love to have their events center as their on-campus basketball arena.
08-26-2019 04:29 PM
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