Provost Ludden

[Lefty]

True.
Also will be interesting to see who his replacement is.

[mrydel]

I think it should be Ron Meyer, but Sherwood would do.

[RGV Pony]

Who hires the provost? The trustees I guess?

[blackoutpony]

I think it should be Ron Meyer, but Sherwood would do.

As long as it's not June. I mean he did recently complain that we let in people that were too dumb to go there.

[Hanging Chad]

Who hires the provost? The trustees I guess?

A very relevant question. I would assume the trustees, but maybe the president?

[gostangs]

president will winnow it down, and trustees will interview with the help of a consultant. Academic CEO is a pretty big deal at an almost top 50 University with the wind to our back - we will have lots to choose from.

[Puckhead48E]

I know he made things difficult, but we don't want a rubber stamp in that office. Not sure if we choose to forget what happens when you have that rubber stamp, but it is a lesson I do not every want to learn again. While a pain in the rear, having that contrary presence does make life more difficult, but it also makes running a clean program easier. Just my 2 cents.

[NavyCrimson]

agree

[CalallenStang]

I know he made things difficult, but we don't want a rubber stamp in that office. Not sure if we choose to forget what happens when you have that rubber stamp, but it is a lesson I do not every want to learn again. While a pain in the rear, having that contrary presence does make life more difficult, but it also makes running a clean program easier. Just my 2 cents.

Right, but there is a lot of room to be explored on the continuum between "rubber stamp" and Ludden.

I would have been happy to see him go even if he were a friend of the athletics programs. He wasn't a fit for the SMU environment

[PoconoPony]

Let's face it, you never have any issues when a kid is academically qualified. The problems always surround the bubble kids and weasel deals. If SMU is a top academic institution then it needs to act accordingly and athletic admissions should meet that standard. I never met an elite athlete who was not smart. I met many bench sitters who earned their place because they were simply not smart enough to learn the plays, made constant mistakes and could not be trusted. Just recruit better quality athletes who are smart enough to be college material.

[Stallion]

They got it just about right as it is-they need to be able to get the low qualifiers in that everybody else can. In order to turn the Basketball program around quickly they perhaps took a couple of chances on "below the SAT floor" qualifiers they won't have to in the future because they've established the program and those "below the SAT Floor" high school kids will have to academically redshirt anyway. So I don't think we need to change anything we are doing as far as admissions. But there is a new factor-comparing the fully qualified recruit with the kid that won't be allowed to play as a freshman. The higher GPA requirement and the freezing of 10 core requirements out of 16 by start of Senior year of high school is going to limit the opportunities of the marginal recruits

[couch 'em]

Let's face it, you never have any issues when a kid is academically qualified. The problems always surround the bubble kids and weasel deals. If SMU is a top academic institution then it needs to act accordingly and athletic admissions should meet that standard. I never met an elite athlete who was not smart. I met many bench sitters who earned their place because they were simply not smart enough to learn the plays, made constant mistakes and could not be trusted. Just recruit better quality athletes who are smart enough to be college material.

OK Mr. Pye, there has to be a limit somewhere but you are arguing for rolling back to pre-June admissions requirements and that is just a vile statement to make.

[PonyTime]

Have heard that this has nothing to do with Athletics.

Ludden was extremely unhappy and vocal about the OE2C project (Bain Consulting) that led to all of the layoffs at SMU. I think that it was not necc. about the end result, but the process in general. Many in the admin were led to believe that employees would have more notice (6 months as opposed to two weeks). The project has also ballooned into areas that were not expected initially. What was said to the staff on the front end of the project and what has actually happened are two very different things - and Ludden stood as one of the ones who looked like the bad guy in all of this when he was very much against some of what went on. I think he finally decided it was time to go and I believe that there is a college/University President job in the near future for him in a state that he is connected with.

This was Ludden's decision as I have heard.

Just my 2 cents on the word on the street.

[CalallenStang]

PonyTime is right that it has nothing to do with athletics.

[ObeyMyDog]

PonyTime is right that it has nothing to do with athletics.

Not entirely true, but mostly. Some athletic issues/concerns were going to be laid at Ludden's feet as well. But, he still was out the door for a combination of reasons - certainly not just athletics.