Cowen - TP
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jonathanjoseph
- Green Wave
- Posts: 9299
- Joined: Wed Dec 01, 2010 5:54 pm
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Don't be so sure about that. Scott Cowen does a few things very well, and PR is one of them. That you are seeing all these Scott Cowen puff pieces obviously coincides with his book release, but this is a man whose ego will not allow him to relinquish power or fade into the background. He's not going anywhere. His hands will be on everything for the foreseeable future.DfromCT wrote:Another POS article generated by the Scott Cowen PR Machine. CYA, Scotty boy! 17 days and you're outta here.
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Fred Dowler
- Riptide
- Posts: 4716
- Joined: Wed Dec 01, 2010 6:33 pm
- Status: Offline
A couple of reader comments on the nola.com site....
from 504NOLA3090
Closing the School of Engineering is less controversial than getting rid of the B/M/PhD program in Electrical/Computer/Mechanical/Civil/Environmental Engineering & and Computer Science. That's 3 of 5 engineering departments, John Pope, but 6 degreed disciplines/programs (18 degrees total). All that remained was med-school-friendly Biomedical Engineering and oi/gas funded Chemical Engineering.
Coupling that with Cowen's comments about how those programs weren't "world class," and that they couldn't sustain funding, neglects the fact that the $1B campaign that began 5 months before Katrina had raised $45M for the School of Engineering alone, not to mention all the successes that have come out of those departments over the previous 30 years. Then David Filo was asked to donate a ransom of $100M if he wanted to keep the SoE open (after he already donated $100M to the general fund). For a self-proclaimed fundraiser, Cowen did a poor job of even trying to fundraise for the School of Engineering or its programs. The cuts were a surprise to the community. Unlike the Athletics review of 2003, when everyone was put on notice to raise enough money "or else," that was not an option in this case, for either Engineering or Newcomb. All they had to announce in December 2005 was, that if we don't have this much money by June, here is how we're restructuring for September. But likely this was more strategy. Be less like Vandy and Stanford and Northwestern, be more like Emory. <shrug>
Too bad Tulane has slipped so far it's hard to even imagine saying it in the same breath as those schools, especially considering the price of admission.
from CCAP05
Scott Cowen certainly deserves some thanks/praise for his post-Katrina role. However, his single biggest achievement was that Tulane did not totally dissolve after Katrina- a victory that most barely adequate University President's would have achieved (see every other University/College in the City/Region). His failures during his tenure include 1) allowing the Engineering School to be done away with (his excuses are BS); 2) Overseeing an overall and dramatic decline in Tulane's academic reputation. Katrina is no excuse for this decline- it continues long past Katriana and shows no sign of a turnaround. 3) Overseeing a continuing decline in the quality of and relevance of Tulane athletics. The mere fact that a winning football season in a horrible conference is his signature achievement shows just how low Tulane has sunk. Cowen is not solely to blame for this- he has merely continued and accelerated an ongoing process. 4) A total failure to address any of the mega questions addressing Universities today. Tulane has continued to have insane tuition increases, Tulane has not (except as a landowner/business presence) significantly improved the life of the poorer citizens of New Orleans; and Tulane has not been on the cutting edge of any intellectual pursuits. Basically, SC's innovation has been to require a BS community service requirement which has no real effect other than to allow SC a platform to preach about what a good dude he is. My final point is that SC is basically a great self promoter who has not been a great, or a good, University President. I would not normally feel comfortable making such a public personal statement except for the fact that SC has felt the need to write a book extolling his virtues and go on an obscene publicity tour promoting his wonderfullness.
from 504NOLA3090
Closing the School of Engineering is less controversial than getting rid of the B/M/PhD program in Electrical/Computer/Mechanical/Civil/Environmental Engineering & and Computer Science. That's 3 of 5 engineering departments, John Pope, but 6 degreed disciplines/programs (18 degrees total). All that remained was med-school-friendly Biomedical Engineering and oi/gas funded Chemical Engineering.
Coupling that with Cowen's comments about how those programs weren't "world class," and that they couldn't sustain funding, neglects the fact that the $1B campaign that began 5 months before Katrina had raised $45M for the School of Engineering alone, not to mention all the successes that have come out of those departments over the previous 30 years. Then David Filo was asked to donate a ransom of $100M if he wanted to keep the SoE open (after he already donated $100M to the general fund). For a self-proclaimed fundraiser, Cowen did a poor job of even trying to fundraise for the School of Engineering or its programs. The cuts were a surprise to the community. Unlike the Athletics review of 2003, when everyone was put on notice to raise enough money "or else," that was not an option in this case, for either Engineering or Newcomb. All they had to announce in December 2005 was, that if we don't have this much money by June, here is how we're restructuring for September. But likely this was more strategy. Be less like Vandy and Stanford and Northwestern, be more like Emory. <shrug>
Too bad Tulane has slipped so far it's hard to even imagine saying it in the same breath as those schools, especially considering the price of admission.
from CCAP05
Scott Cowen certainly deserves some thanks/praise for his post-Katrina role. However, his single biggest achievement was that Tulane did not totally dissolve after Katrina- a victory that most barely adequate University President's would have achieved (see every other University/College in the City/Region). His failures during his tenure include 1) allowing the Engineering School to be done away with (his excuses are BS); 2) Overseeing an overall and dramatic decline in Tulane's academic reputation. Katrina is no excuse for this decline- it continues long past Katriana and shows no sign of a turnaround. 3) Overseeing a continuing decline in the quality of and relevance of Tulane athletics. The mere fact that a winning football season in a horrible conference is his signature achievement shows just how low Tulane has sunk. Cowen is not solely to blame for this- he has merely continued and accelerated an ongoing process. 4) A total failure to address any of the mega questions addressing Universities today. Tulane has continued to have insane tuition increases, Tulane has not (except as a landowner/business presence) significantly improved the life of the poorer citizens of New Orleans; and Tulane has not been on the cutting edge of any intellectual pursuits. Basically, SC's innovation has been to require a BS community service requirement which has no real effect other than to allow SC a platform to preach about what a good dude he is. My final point is that SC is basically a great self promoter who has not been a great, or a good, University President. I would not normally feel comfortable making such a public personal statement except for the fact that SC has felt the need to write a book extolling his virtues and go on an obscene publicity tour promoting his wonderfullness.
Tulane sports: small football stadium, very small basketball arena, w̶i̶n̶n̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶p̶r̶o̶g̶r̶a̶m̶s̶, h̶o̶n̶e̶s̶t̶y̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶a̶c̶c̶o̶u̶n̶t̶a̶b̶i̶l̶i̶t̶y̶ , but, hey, now there's tailgating.
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Dr. Rosenrosen
- High Tide
- Posts: 482
- Joined: Sat Apr 28, 2012 9:35 am
- Status: Offline
This article is an insult to anyone with an IQ above room temperature.
More puffery from the TP/Cowen PR machine.
More puffery from the TP/Cowen PR machine.
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Wavetrader
- Low Tide
- Posts: 167
- Joined: Wed Mar 05, 2014 3:25 pm
- Status: Offline
Just received an email appealing for me to contribute to a Cowen Tribute page. Top level $15k. God help us.
"There is winning and there is misery". BP
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Fred Dowler
- Riptide
- Posts: 4716
- Joined: Wed Dec 01, 2010 6:33 pm
- Status: Offline
Same here.Wavetrader wrote:Just received an email appealing for me to contribute to a Cowen Tribute page. Top level $15k. God help us.
These folks know no shame.
Tulane sports: small football stadium, very small basketball arena, w̶i̶n̶n̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶p̶r̶o̶g̶r̶a̶m̶s̶, h̶o̶n̶e̶s̶t̶y̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶a̶c̶c̶o̶u̶n̶t̶a̶b̶i̶l̶i̶t̶y̶ , but, hey, now there's tailgating.
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