OU President Gallogly

[Rover]

Other than a few offhand comments in a general way saying academics will be important (duh), he has articulated no particular vision. He is a CFO more than a university president. He didn't start off evaluating deans and professors. He didn't debunk the new colleges because they were bad for student development or academic achievement, but for rosy estimations of occupancy (like one evaluates an apartment building). He's been there two weeks (actually involved longer), but his focus is clear, and it isn't academics. It's about getting research contracts in (guess who those will benefit), and getting his administrative team in place so he can turn OU into a corporation. Doesn't take long to see what is top of mind to Gallogy.

[David]

Also a good sign in my opinion is his refusal to gloss over intentionally opaque financial information that no one understood.

That's part of why I'm squinting at him from the start. His big excitement about "a billion dollars of debt!" was nothing more than scaring people with a big number while failing to acknowledge that bonded debt for capital projects is completely normal for a public institution and is not the same thing as an institution simply being in debt because they're spending more than they take in. He either doesn't know what he is doing and is demonstrating that up-front, or he does and is presenting the facts deceptively to the public to exaggerate the university's financial status. Neither option is good for OU or the state.

Other than a few offhand comments in a general way saying academics will be important (duh), he has articulated no particular vision. He is a CFO more than a university president. He didn't start off evaluating deans and professors. He didn't debunk the new colleges because they were bad for student development or academic achievement, but for rosy estimations of occupancy (like one evaluates an apartment building). He's been there two weeks (actually involved longer), but his focus is clear, and it isn't academics. It's about getting research contracts in (guess who those will benefit), and getting his administrative team in place so he can turn OU into a corporation. Doesn't take long to see what is top of mind to Gallogy.

All of this.