Doh!
Tue, Apr24, 2007 - Category: University
Tom Monaghan's Problem:
Ave Maria University lost about 30% of its students during the past year. Recruitment for Fall is off target.
Tom Monaghan's Solution:
+ Ignore the prospect that problems could be related to his own internal management (i.e. lack of accreditation [1,2]; loss of faculty [1,2,3,4] and staff; student disatisfaction [1,2]) or the self-inflicted damage of firing his own wildly-popular Provost.)
+ Blame Richard Dittus, the now-former Director of Admissions, for using "outdated practices" and not enough "of that new stuff" (Internet). State that Dittus was not a "top-notch director" because he "does not have a background in admissions".
Note the irony of this coming from a University Chancellor with only a high school diploma and no background in college administration. Dittus, with a Master's Degree in Education (math specialization), had over five years of experience as an institutional Director of Admissions. He did so well with initial recruitment (2004) that AMU considered a cap on enrollment [1,2] and then bought a local nursing home and displaced its elderly residents [1,2] to secure building space in anticipation of an applicant boon.
+ Cite lack of experience as a problem with the resigned Admissions staff, then replace the entire department with "recent Ave Maria graduates".
Other plans include:
+ gambling the only hope for accreditation over the next 3 years on AALE, an organization in deep trouble with the Department of Education
+ commiting to a hard date (July 28) with "no alternative" plan when moving AMU from the temporary campus in Naples to the unfinished permanent campus in Ave Maria Town during a hurricane season where the latest forecast shows landfall probabilities "well above their long-period averages" [1,2]
Naples News - full story
Ave Maria University lost about 30% of its students during the past year. Recruitment for Fall is off target.
Tom Monaghan's Solution:
+ Ignore the prospect that problems could be related to his own internal management (i.e. lack of accreditation [1,2]; loss of faculty [1,2,3,4] and staff; student disatisfaction [1,2]) or the self-inflicted damage of firing his own wildly-popular Provost.)
+ Blame Richard Dittus, the now-former Director of Admissions, for using "outdated practices" and not enough "of that new stuff" (Internet). State that Dittus was not a "top-notch director" because he "does not have a background in admissions".
Note the irony of this coming from a University Chancellor with only a high school diploma and no background in college administration. Dittus, with a Master's Degree in Education (math specialization), had over five years of experience as an institutional Director of Admissions. He did so well with initial recruitment (2004) that AMU considered a cap on enrollment [1,2] and then bought a local nursing home and displaced its elderly residents [1,2] to secure building space in anticipation of an applicant boon.
+ Cite lack of experience as a problem with the resigned Admissions staff, then replace the entire department with "recent Ave Maria graduates".
Other plans include:
+ gambling the only hope for accreditation over the next 3 years on AALE, an organization in deep trouble with the Department of Education
+ commiting to a hard date (July 28) with "no alternative" plan when moving AMU from the temporary campus in Naples to the unfinished permanent campus in Ave Maria Town during a hurricane season where the latest forecast shows landfall probabilities "well above their long-period averages" [1,2]
Naples News - full story