On campus with UF President Ben Sasse as he seeks a ‘north star’ beyond rankings GAINESVILLE — A few minutes remained before Ben Sasse’s presentation to a roomful of faculty, so the University of Florida’s first-year president placed his blazer on a chair, rolled up his sleeves and began working the room. He shook hands, introducing himself as “Ben.” It was late August, six months into his tenure, so he was still meeting people on campus for the first time. The 51-year-old former U.S. senator began his address a short time later, telling the College of Education faculty how he had lugged 11 mini refrigerators to students’ dorm rooms as they moved in for the fall semester. On campus with UF President Ben Sasse as he seeks a ‘north star’ beyond rankings
Looks like he wants to raise a couple hundred million for a Jacksonville campus and at some point build a south Florida campus.
I can maybe see why Sasse would be attracted to this idea, but isn’t serving those communites why UNF and FIU already exist?
Curious, feels like distance learning, satellite campuses, feeders into main campus… could work. These tactics may improve the brand by creating a funnel for students into degree programs and spread out teachers / educators. Meanwhile the UC and Cal State systems are doing great with their approach. We shall see.
Meh. Seemed like a lacking presentation to me... said faculty not publishing enough, was lukewarm on tenure, and claimed that they have too many departments.. then had to walk back he wasnt eliminating departments. His big idea is satellite offices in a world where stuff is moving digitally so additional distance locations seems stupid.... everything else seemed to be stuff they are doing today. But if he had anything revolutionary glad to have it pointed out.
Some universities are setting up satellite campus in major cities in their states to offer graduate programs for professionals. Let's be honest, Gainesville is not exactly easy to get to from South Florida. How many professionals in Miami or Naples would want to drive up there to attend classes on a weekend? Offer an executive programs where you attend course locally for the majority of the time and only go to Gainesville once or twice and that is a much easier sell. Miami is a huge market and I'm willing to bet that University of Miami has more customers than they can handle for local graduate programs. Sasse has seen UVA and VaTech doing this in DC. Both have major facilities across the river from DC in Arlington, Va to cater to professionals in DC and Northern Va area.
Like I said before its only stupid unless you understand the nature of the beast is simply real estate acquisition
I certainly agree it would be easier for a Miami resident to attend a school located in Miami. I just know that the state system already has a school located in Miami. If the state believes that opening up a new UF campus there is a better idea than simply expanding FIU, that is certainly its right. I personally would just assume it would make the most sense to leverage the already existing resources in these locations, rather than setting up competing limbs of the same body. Though I do recognize that our state government has a more special relationship with UF than the either of the other SUS entities in question.
Let's assume that the state of Florida wants to offer an Executive MBA program for $50k to $70k over two years. Do you think they would have a better chance of selling that if the degree came from FIU and not UF? FIU is not the state's "flagship" university, is it? A lot of schools are realizing that they have a large market of possible grad students in major cities but they are only interested in attending high profile, brand named schools and not the local off brand options.
American corporations are making record profits and you think that is because of their real estate holdings? Jebus man.
What is it about an MBA that can't be done via distance learning? My friend, who has lived in Florida his whole life, got his MBA from some northern college, Purdue I think, without leaving Florida. And that was probably 15-20 years ago. In fact, I'm pretty sure I used to get letters from UF shortly after I graduated, in the early 2000s, saying I could get an MBA from them in one year via distance learning. The only way satellite campuses make sense to me is if they offer "lab heavy" degrees where hands on learning and access to equipment and supplies is necessary.
I don't think that's why they are making profits, its certainly what they do with them, whether its BR buying rental properties, sports teams building new facilities, mega corporations playing states for goodies to build a new HQ or distribution hub. What do universities constantly raise money for if not to build new shit all the time? UCF has like a huge chunk of downtown real estate now. For what reason? I dont know. East Orlando isnt exactly built up or lacking space.
It’s a valid point. UF’s reputation is currently higher than other schools in the state, and therefore they should command higher demand. Perhaps they should open up a bunch of UFs, but something still feels weird about it to me.
It is a combination of things. Quality of the education, in person classes versus online. Lot's of classes when it comes to accounting, finance, etc are better to do in person. There is also the team building/leadership that you get working with your fellow students. There is also the networking of knowing your fellow students and seeing your professors in person. There is also the reputation of the program. Is it thought of as a degree mill (University of Phoenix) or a well respected program that produces a quality product that is worth investing $50k+ on? These schools are also offering a range of masters programs and not just MBA's. A Masters of Business Analytics is popular now and that course has a lot hands on keyboard for some programming. I'm an not saying it cannot be done but you probably do not want to put UF's Brand on it. A lot of this comes down to the fact that good schools are seen a luxury brands that customers are willing to pay for because they think it is worth it. If they are paying for it, the experience should match their expectation, which means in person classes, interactions with alumni, etc.
Indeed, my friend is finishing her MBA at UF right now via distance learning. She seems to think her future prospects are very bright with this degree. This may be wrong, but for now she’s not perceiving a large liability from the fact that the program was online.
It is true that most organizations have a tendency to want to grow. Not just corporations but non profits and sometimes even universities. It isn’t always healthy and appropriate. At some level human nature just values growth. On a more cynical level, which you see with some non profit hospitals, is that the more you grow, the more executives can justify making. Create a new facility. Fill it with fancy equipment. Get the doctors to recommend it as much as possible. More revenue. More cost. More profits. Higher insurance rates. But unless you are something like a storage unit company which is basically a real estate play real estate is just a means to an end.
