Lone Finalist To Lead the U of M as President Would Be The First Woman To Do So


Correct. Hire the best candidate and hope if it turns out to be the women candidate she loves sports like Donna Shalala. She does not have to be a fanatic to strongly support and value winning @ the U.
 

I like this:

Most people don’t know that I:

“I grew up in a household of football and baseball fans, and the first basketball game I ever attended was here at Mizzou. It’s easy to add basketball to the sports I already enjoy in a place like this.”

She grew up in Georgia and worked at Missouri, Florida St, and South Carolina so hopefully she’s a big football fan and understands its importance!

I really like this answer:

When you are away from the office, what do you like to do for fun?

I love sports – I'm a huge fan. I also work out almost every morning and I'm very active with my children's activities in the evenings, even as they get older and go off to college themselves. I like to read and volunteer and whenever possible, I love to travel. But when I'm home, my husband and I focus on our kids and our community.

I really think it is sooooo important to have someone who understands sports and it’s value to the University, Alumni, community, and state. I’m really glad to read the stuff I posted. No chance of building a perennial winner in football and basketball without a Presidents strong support.

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I like this:

Most people don’t know that I:

“I grew up in a household of football and baseball fans, and the first basketball game I ever attended was here at Mizzou. It’s easy to add basketball to the sports I already enjoy in a place like this.”

She grew up in Georgia and worked at Missouri, Florida St, and South Carolina so hopefully she’s a big football fan and understands its importance!


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It is a good indication indeed....
 



This is going quickly. I expected at least 7 months of red tape before anyone had the slightest clue who potential candidates are.
 

If she becomes the new president I hope she does all she can to further the academic mission of the University and if athletics falls in that strategy that's great.
 


Donna Shalala was a big promoter of the football program at Wisconsin. Maybe we'll get lucky.
 



I don't love that they only have one finalist. Is it standard procedure at most public universities to ask/require candidates to meet publicly during the process? From reading the article it seems like the two other potential finalists essentially eliminated themselves by being unwilling to go through with this step.
 

I don't love that they only have one finalist. Is it standard procedure at most public universities to ask/require candidates to meet publicly during the process? From reading the article it seems like the two other potential finalists essentially eliminated themselves by being unwilling to go through with this step.

It's common for candidates to pressure institutions at high levels to be the finalist, so they don't have their name go public. Hard to stay at current job if everyone knows you are looking for a new job.
 

It's common for candidates to pressure institutions at high levels to be the finalist, so they don't have their name go public. Hard to stay at current job if everyone knows you are looking for a new job.

Yup. I seem to recall this same thing happening when the U hired Kaler.
 

The University President having an appreciation for both revenue and non-revenue sports is paramount.

I attribute the turnaround for UM revenue sports, especially football, with the tenure of Mark Yudof. Even though his tenure was short, seems like the uptick in the Administration's support for the program started with him.
 



Hopefully she can be as supportive as Kaler (I know folks don't like him because of the wonky investigation and such but dude supported sports) or at least be willing to give athletics room to do their thing and help them out once in a while (loans are nice, support for hiring top coaching talent, etc).

President is a big job, she doesn't have to be athletics focused to still provide the support for the department. Going to bat for them at critical times (coaching hires and contract extensions, funding) is the key.
 

If she becomes the new president I hope she does all she can to further the academic mission of the University and if athletics falls in that strategy that's great.

If she becomes the new president I hope she does all she can to enhance the football, men's basketball, and men's hockey team knowing that if those three teams are successful the entire university would benefit from it.
 

No idea if she’ll be a good president but it seems like she’ll be good for athletics


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Will she love the weather and hot dish?
 

I like this potential hire for Minnesota. Sometimes it's nice to bring in someone from the outside with no connections. She seems to be a very good candidate based on her background consisting of research and academics as well as compliance/ethics. As far as athletics, I don't think we will need to worry about that with her coming from South Carolina, Florida State, Missouri and Georgia State. Raised in Atlanta, the heart of the SEC, I am sure she fully understands the importance of college athletics and their role in the overall success of an institution.
 
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Donna Shalala was a big promoter of the football program at Wisconsin. Maybe we'll get lucky.

I'm under the impression that Donna Shalala is basically THE reason for Wisconsin's success.

The story went that when she attended football games after being named Chancellor in 1989 she was flat out embarrassed by Wisconsin's performance. In 1990 Barry Alvarez was hired from Notre Dame, and the rest is history.
 


She'll have to reword her bio, replacing rising with elite.:)

"She and her husband, Gary, have three children: a daughter who is a rising junior at the University of Missouri, a son who is a rising high school senior and another
son who is a rising eighth grader."
 




I emailed one of my former University of South Carolina professors about the new U president and asked if he knew anything out how she views sports. Here is a part of the response I received;

As far as I have been able to tell, Joan Gabel is pretty much agnostic when it comes to athletics. Harris Pastides, who is retiring from the presidency after 10 years in the job, has been very visible with athletics. During his tenure the baseball team won two College World Series, Spurrier and the football team had three consecutive 11 win seasons, women’s basketball won the NCAA, men’s basketball went to the final 4, women’s soccer went to the final 4. So he’s made a point of connecting himself to all that success. I don’t think I’ve seen Gabel at a sports event, but I could have just missed her. Hope it works out well for the Gophers!

Time will tell on how much she supports athletics.
 

I emailed one of my former University of South Carolina professors about the new U president and asked if he knew anything out how she views sports. Here is a part of the response I received;

As far as I have been able to tell, Joan Gabel is pretty much agnostic when it comes to athletics. Harris Pastides, who is retiring from the presidency after 10 years in the job, has been very visible with athletics. During his tenure the baseball team won two College World Series, Spurrier and the football team had three consecutive 11 win seasons, women’s basketball won the NCAA, men’s basketball went to the final 4, women’s soccer went to the final 4. So he’s made a point of connecting himself to all that success. I don’t think I’ve seen Gabel at a sports event, but I could have just missed her. Hope it works out well for the Gophers!

Time will tell on how much she supports athletics.

Hard to say if being involved (visibly) with athletics was really part of her old job. It might not have been something she was asked to do.
 

I emailed one of my former University of South Carolina professors about the new U president and asked if he knew anything out how she views sports. Here is a part of the response I received;

As far as I have been able to tell, Joan Gabel is pretty much agnostic when it comes to athletics. Harris Pastides, who is retiring from the presidency after 10 years in the job, has been very visible with athletics. During his tenure the baseball team won two College World Series, Spurrier and the football team had three consecutive 11 win seasons, women’s basketball won the NCAA, men’s basketball went to the final 4, women’s soccer went to the final 4. So he’s made a point of connecting himself to all that success. I don’t think I’ve seen Gabel at a sports event, but I could have just missed her. Hope it works out well for the Gophers!

Time will tell on how much she supports athletics.

Who is the Provost of the TC Campus? Is he or she visible at athletic events?
 

Hard to say if being involved (visibly) with athletics was really part of her old job. It might not have been something she was asked to do.

That is a good point. I have heard the provost, who is the chief academic officer of the university, referred to as "the dean of the deans." They probably have little public relations responsibilities, but the presidents responsibilities certainly include public visibility.
 

http://shamasportsheadliners.com/

Ex-Gopher Was U President Candidate
December 07, 2018 - (0) comments



Although it hasn’t been reported, Minneapolis native and former Gophers linebacker Pete Najarian was a candidate to be the next President of the University of Minnesota. Najarian, who was co-captain of the 1985 Gophers, confirmed his candidacy to Sports Headliners during a telephone interview this week.

Najarian, who found success and fame nationally as an options trader, financial markets analyst and TV personality, didn’t seek the position that now has a sole finalist in University of South Carolina Provost Joan Gabel. “The fact that I was nominated was very flattering,” Najarian said.

Najarian loves the University and pursued the school’s athletic director’s position before it was filled in 2016 by Mark Coyle. Unlike that process when he was given a formal interview, there was no such sit down for the President’s position, although he had conversations with selection committee members.

To some observers of the Presidential selection process that could raise the question of whether a business person with an accomplished background like Najarian was treated as a serious candidate. “You know, I think it’s a tough thing, quite frankly. I think they were legitimately considering (alternative) folks but I think also they’re looking for somebody…within the educational system already,” Najarian said. “I am sure there are many, many highly qualified candidates out there…who have great résumés from different universities.”

Najarian has an easy going personality, and that along with his professional background, could have made him a strong leader and uniter of the many factions at the University. He said that while the President’s position “was not something I had sat back and dreamed about like I did the AD position,” he envisioned things where he could make the University better.

A source told Sports Headliners the final three candidates to become President were all females and high level administrators at other schools. Cabal would be the first female President ever at the University of Minnesota.
 





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