UT President John Peterson to Resign Per Knox News

#101
#101
I waved to Mrs. Peterson during my graduation ceremony and she didn't wave back. Glad to see them moving on.
 
#103
#103
Vercingetorix said:
It removes somebody who believed in a least common denominator approach to the UT system, in which there is no real flagship campus, but rather this "statewide campus" nonsense. He liked that approach because that let him spread the goods around the whole state, increasing his own political power. If you have no real flagship campus, of course, then there's no way you're going to be able to significantly beef up academic standards, and therefore all this talk about turning UTK into a "world-class research university" -- which they've been throwing around at least since I was a freshman 20 years ago -- is just a bunch of nonsense.

Petersen was a buffoon in a lot of ways, but IMO his worst offense was pushing out Loren Crabtree last year. Crabtree was the best administrator UTK has had since I arrived on campus, and he was finally taking steps aimed at putting us on a par with UGA, UVA, etc. This meant that he and Petersen butted heads all the time, of course, since Petersen was always wanting to divert resources to UTC or UT-Martin or someplace like that, and finally Petersen pushed him out.
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This sums it up best.
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#104
#104
Vercingetorix said:
It removes somebody who believed in a least common denominator approach to the UT system, in which there is no real flagship campus, but rather this "statewide campus" nonsense. He liked that approach because that let him spread the goods around the whole state, increasing his own political power. If you have no real flagship campus, of course, then there's no way you're going to be able to significantly beef up academic standards, and therefore all this talk about turning UTK into a "world-class research university" -- which they've been throwing around at least since I was a freshman 20 years ago -- is just a bunch of nonsense.

Petersen was a buffoon in a lot of ways, but IMO his worst offense was pushing out Loren Crabtree last year. Crabtree was the best administrator UTK has had since I arrived on campus, and he was finally taking steps aimed at putting us on a par with UGA, UVA, etc. This meant that he and Petersen butted heads all the time, of course, since Petersen was always wanting to divert resources to UTC or UT-Martin or someplace like that, and finally Petersen pushed him out.
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Thanks :hi:
 
#105
#105
Vercingetorix said:
It removes somebody who believed in a least common denominator approach to the UT system, in which there is no real flagship campus, but rather this "statewide campus" nonsense. He liked that approach because that let him spread the goods around the whole state, increasing his own political power. If you have no real flagship campus, of course, then there's no way you're going to be able to significantly beef up academic standards, and therefore all this talk about turning UTK into a "world-class research university" -- which they've been throwing around at least since I was a freshman 20 years ago -- is just a bunch of nonsense.

Petersen was a buffoon in a lot of ways, but IMO his worst offense was pushing out Loren Crabtree last year. Crabtree was the best administrator UTK has had since I arrived on campus, and he was finally taking steps aimed at putting us on a par with UGA, UVA, etc. This meant that he and Petersen butted heads all the time, of course, since Petersen was always wanting to divert resources to UTC or UT-Martin or someplace like that, and finally Petersen pushed him out.
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Yep.

I do fund raising for UT (you alumni probably get calls from us all the time asking for donations), and we spend most of our time doing calls for other campuses, or this new fund that Petersen was really pushing hard for called the "Fund for the Future," which spreads the money out over all 4 campuses (well, I guess 5 if you include the space institute).

I'm fine with calling martin people for donations for martin, chatt for chatt, memphis for AHS, etc, but it seems kind of counterproductive if you are trying to create an elite research university to divert funds away from that university to help support lesser universities.

BTW, sorry if we have ever called any of y'all at dinner, its not my fault! :eek:lol:
 
#107
#107
sMi.Spite said:
Yep.

I do fund raising for UT (you alumni probably get calls from us all the time asking for donations), and we spend most of our time doing calls for other campuses, or this new fund that Petersen was really pushing hard for called the "Fund for the Future," which spreads the money out over all 4 campuses (well, I guess 5 if you include the space institute).

I'm fine with calling martin people for donations for martin, chatt for chatt, memphis for AHS, etc, but it seems kind of counterproductive if you are trying to create an elite research university to divert funds away from that university to help support lesser universities.

BTW, sorry if we have ever called any of y'all at dinner, its not my fault! :eek:lol:
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The so-called Fund for the Future is a joke. It's like asking people to donate to a PAC instead of their alma mater. "Instead of donating to the school you attended, please give to the president's giant central war chest so he can dole largess out at his whim to ensure his maximum personal support."

I don't have anything against the other campuses, and as a UTK alumnus it wouldn't even bother me to be asked to donate to support them. Tennessee needs the other campuses. But unless you cultivate one campus as your flagship and concentrate your resources accordingly, you're not going to attract any top professors anywhere in your system.

UGA has been the model of how you can use all that lottery money to raise academic standards at your flagship and transform it into a really outstanding public university relatively quickly. I really hoped that Crabtree + lottery money was going to do the same for UTK. With Petersen gone, maybe that'll be a possibility after all.
 
#108
#108
I'm a student at NIU and I'd think our president would be a good candidate. Prior to assuming the NIU presidency, Dr. Peters was provost and chief operating officer at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. His distinguished academic career also includes twenty years in teaching and administrative roles at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where he earned numerous awards for work in and out of the classroom.
About John G. Peters - NIU - Office of the President
 
#109
#109
They hire some inside friend of someone in the legislature or board of regents for this cushy job.
 
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