WTF?
Dutta was very pro-athletics. Wonder if that is how his vision was not in "alignment" with the University?
Dutta was very pro-athletics. Wonder if that is how his vision was not in "alignment" with the University?
Chancellor Dutta Resigns
- Thread starter Knight Shift
- Start date
Too bad that wasn't Bob "Throw 'Em Under The Bus" Barchi resigning!
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It is far far more likely that this has nothing to do with athletics and has to do with autonomy. I’m sure we’ll get more details shortly. Anytime someone is so transparent in their disagreement the tidbits start leaking out shortly after
I wouldn't jump to any conclusions, most likely this has nothing to do with Sports.
Hobbs reports directly to the Pres and always has.
Hobbs reports directly to the Pres and always has.
Guess they got his credit card too?
I doubt this has much of anything to do with sports. There are plenty of other things going on to have disagreements about.
What a damn shame. Always a plus when a high ranking faculty member is pro athletics. It a rare occurrence around these parts. He seemed to really understand that athletics should be a part of your marketing arm for the University.
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Aside from Athletics, this guy seemed like he'd be good for getting our alumni group/base together
He visited Houston a while back and spoke about many of the things Rutgers needed to do to get more alumni support...very people friendly and quite frankly the first chancellor I know by name. Felt like a guy who was gunna get sh*t done... sigh
He visited Houston a while back and spoke about many of the things Rutgers needed to do to get more alumni support...very people friendly and quite frankly the first chancellor I know by name. Felt like a guy who was gunna get sh*t done... sigh
Since's he staying on at Rutgers, he'll still be a faculty member (distinguished professor) who is pro-athletics so that's good....he just won't have as much of a voice as he had this past year in a high-level administrative capacity.
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Very rarely does someone get fired in the world of education. They get reassigned within the university but keep their salary and pension. Just like the Federal Govt. Screw up and you stay on with a lesser title. Part of the reason that they are unaccountable for their job performance. It’s a club.
I wonder what song the Camptown ladies will sing now that Dutta is gone?
Highly doubt this had anything to do with athletics.
It's possible he simply was not up to the task. Tried to take on too much, and it collapsed on him, since this was a major step up in position. I know some schools and departments didn't have their budgets, and there may have been other issues. Those issues could have also been someone else, but it's possible there was some breakdown.
The other possibility is that he was striving for a lot of autonomy which the board and Barchi were unwilling to give him. Rutgers is a weird series of fiefdoms, and the President has a lot more direct control of NB than he necessarily would in a similar position at another school. Going from a VERY passive chancellor in Dick Edwards to a very active one in Dutta may have simply been too much control for Barchi to be willing give up right away. It's also possible that the BoG wouldn't approve any of Dutta's plans (increased investment in research, comp sci, etc.), and he simply didn't feel he had the influence he needed to carry out his plans and his role.
Still kind of a strange thing, because he was very active over the past year or two, and was well liked by students. Will be very interested to see what details, if any, come out.
It's possible he simply was not up to the task. Tried to take on too much, and it collapsed on him, since this was a major step up in position. I know some schools and departments didn't have their budgets, and there may have been other issues. Those issues could have also been someone else, but it's possible there was some breakdown.
The other possibility is that he was striving for a lot of autonomy which the board and Barchi were unwilling to give him. Rutgers is a weird series of fiefdoms, and the President has a lot more direct control of NB than he necessarily would in a similar position at another school. Going from a VERY passive chancellor in Dick Edwards to a very active one in Dutta may have simply been too much control for Barchi to be willing give up right away. It's also possible that the BoG wouldn't approve any of Dutta's plans (increased investment in research, comp sci, etc.), and he simply didn't feel he had the influence he needed to carry out his plans and his role.
Still kind of a strange thing, because he was very active over the past year or two, and was well liked by students. Will be very interested to see what details, if any, come out.
Dutta was a hero to the student body. He was very visible on campus, eating at the dining halls, walking around and he was on social media and interacted a lot with the student body. Great guy for RU and was a face for the administration. Unlike Barchi who hides at his desk and runs to his car at the end of the day.
Barchi still can't figure out finding the campus...oh but he was great with the merger [eyeroll]
Barchi has done a lot of very positive things for the university. Trust me, the merger was ridiculously complicated just from an IT side alone; UMDNJ was a web of tape that had to be unstuck before it could be threaded into RU. The foundation has finally started catching up as a professional organization, fundraising for the endowment has been excellent. He hired Hobbs, and the pace of new buildings on campus has been stellar. That said, I sincerely felt that RU-NB would significantly benefit from having someone like Dutta dedicated to it and its students full time. Remember, the President is technically overseeing Newark, Camden, and New Brunswick. And Newark and Camden have grown significantly lately too. Having a strong New Brunswick Chancellor should be imperative.
Difficult yes. Expensive too. $500 million in debt added. Dropped Rutgers bond rating. It was a great add for RU but lets not give Barchi any credit. It was forced on him. It wasn't his doing.
I work for a living so I avoid Politicians & featherbedding Union Hacks.
In the real world, I could've completed the UMDNJ merger in an afternoon. Take the top 5 research $ and medical income producers players to lunch, make sure they are on board and happy. After lunch, call in the department heads to change the letterhead and keep the research & income $ sharks happy. After the merger rumor shit hits the fan, wake up the union presidents & their shop steward jerkoffs and tell 'em to get on board or GTFO. Hope one of 'em lips off and have security drag their ass to the curb as an example. Merger complete.
In the real world, I could've completed the UMDNJ merger in an afternoon. Take the top 5 research $ and medical income producers players to lunch, make sure they are on board and happy. After lunch, call in the department heads to change the letterhead and keep the research & income $ sharks happy. After the merger rumor shit hits the fan, wake up the union presidents & their shop steward jerkoffs and tell 'em to get on board or GTFO. Hope one of 'em lips off and have security drag their ass to the curb as an example. Merger complete.
I'm going to double down on my second idea here. Based on statements form a University spokesman.
Dutta previously worked at other Big Ten universities where the chancellor was effectively the university president and carried more power, said Peter McDonough, Rutgers senior vice president for external affairs. Asked if Dutta was asked to resign by President Robert Barchi, McDonough said, "They had a mutual agreement."
"There was a mutual belief that this was not a good fit and that it was in everyone's best interest to just do what's best for the university and move on," McDonough said.
Before coming to Rutgers, Dutta was the provost and executive vice president for academic affairs and diversity at Purdue University. He was also the associate provost and dean of the graduate school at the University of Illinois following 20 years as an engineering professor at the University of Michigan. Those universities all have a more traditional power structure than Rutgers, where chancellors in New Brunswick, Newark and Camden report to the university president, McDonough said. "I think there's just sort of a structural, cultural difference in the role of the chancellor," he said. "It just didn't make for a good fit for anybody."
https://www.nj.com/education/2018/07/top_rutgers_official_surprisingly_resigns_after_1.html
Sounds like Barchi wasn't happy with an activist Chancellor.
Dutta was successfully becoming the focal point and central figure in Rutgers NB administration. I thought this was Barchi’s plan ... but maybe not, or maybe he took it too far. This is a major loss for Rutgers.
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Losing a bureaucrat who didn’t get get along well with his boss is a major loss for Rutgers? These guys are a dime a dozen IMO.
Either that or previous posters were correct when they say based on this we are so screwed. But I doubt it. There will be another suit to take his place shortly. Wash, rinse, repeat. Next.
I won't necessarily say it's a major loss either (don't know for sure and his one year in the position was likely too short-lived to have made a lasting impact), but maybe, just maybe, he was the type of adminstrator that was not a typical bureaucrat and tried to bring a different approach to mix things up from the status quo that permeates Rutgers, and that may have led to it being decided that he was not a fit. He might have been just what that position needed but too many others saw their fiefdoms possibly going away so maybe they complained to get him pushed out.
A bureaucrat? PhD in engineering, 20 years as an engineering professor at Michigan and then increasing responsible positions in research and administration at Big 10 universities. I’ll be waiting for another suit with his capabilities and leadership. It will likely be a long wait. Can’t say it is a major loss until we observe the replacement, but it is likely a major loss. His vision for Rutgers engineering, and others, surpasses all the other bureaucrats and suits combined.
He wanted more power to get things done rather then having to always go through all of the red tape just to get rejected.
So it wasn't a good fit.
Nothing against his ideas per say. It is just that the people making the decisions didn't all share his vision.
Again, this has NOTHING to do with Sports.
So it wasn't a good fit.
Nothing against his ideas per say. It is just that the people making the decisions didn't all share his vision.
Again, this has NOTHING to do with Sports.
You have any links. Everything I saw was fairly positive (maybe I missed other speeches):
https://www.nj.com/education/2017/10/what_the_ru_screw_and_college_rankings_mean_to_rut.html
5. Rutgers' athletic spending isn't a problem for him
Critics have ripped Rutgers for its spending on athletics, particularly the football program. But Dutta doesn't think an investment in athletics hurts academics, he said.
"It adds a lot to the student experience. It adds a lot of the faculty pride, alumni pride," he said. "It's an ecosystem. You cannot just take one piece and say you are spending too much."
Dutta predicts Rutgers struggling Big Ten teams will eventually perform well, he said.
https://www.onthebanks.com/2017/10/...letics-big-ten-chris-ash-pat-hobbs-deba-dutta
"I don’t care if one year or every couple of years we don’t (qualify for) a bowl game. But what I do pay importance to is that we’re respected in the Big Ten,'' Dutta said. "Academics, athletics, the way we operate as an institution — we should be respected and that is most important.''
This comment just rubbed me the wrong way. You don't need to go out of your way to say we don't need to go to a bowl game every year. Not when we have a sitting President who couldn't give 2 craps about athletics.
Those quotes are also nothingburgers. The problem is we currently have a school President who projects zero interest in athletics, so when someone comes along and just says the typical "investment in athletics doesn't hurt academics" (which is common sense) you all think it equals a guy who is very pro athletics when he is just acting like a politician.
The icing on the cake is this "Dutta predicts Rutgers struggling Big Ten teams will eventually perform well, he said."
What the hell does that mean when we fund half of the programs like they're D2? What's eventually? 20 years? Talk is cheap and I saw right through it.
Care to post a quote or two?
When the University President doesn't seem to care much about Athletics (only when they rock the boat), and the faculty insist that Athletics harms academics, having Dutta in place was a benefit to Athletics. Dutta's sentiments on athletics was as pro-athletics as you're going to see at Rutgers with Barchi in place. I honestly can't see how you can view Dutta's comments in a negative light if you want to see Rutgers to be less of the middling mediocre mess that it is today in academics, athletics, and student experience.
Oh well, what's done is done. Now we'll end up with another invisible yes-man like the previous guy...whatever his name was.
That's the entire problem. Barchi has made the bar so low that anyone in academia who doesn't take a gigantic dump on the AD you guys think it's a positive. It's still not. Barchi was dogshit in his support of athletics, Dutta is catshit. Talk is cheap.
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