PSU - Not just about football

Reading this news this morning, I came away with tremendous dissapointment in the press and their coverage of the Freeh report on the Sandusky matter at PSU.  Yes.. I am dissapointed in Joe Pa.. and the entire administrative team, but I am saddened by how poorly this is being reported. Yes.. he was a football coach..and yes it happened within the football complex, but this is not an issue of football leadership.  Again, this is not about football.  This is about the academic model of leadership..  this about authority and culture, a culture that may need to consider how it should evolve.

Most large universities have a signficantly distributed leadership model. Professors are entitled to freedom.. the ability to explore and discover in areas that they (because they are considerd the expert) deem most important to the field of study they work in. Full professors maintain signficant influence and power over the operations of their departments. Department Heads are more facilitative leaders, even servants to the needs of the majority of professors (some heads only serve a short term, or are only called Chairs). Deans lead, but only through budget allocations and position approvals, but much of the day to day operations is delegated. (Do you see where this is going).  Senior administrators have power, but it is culturally used only in signficant matters.  They shape the university over time, but they rarely involve themselves in personnel matters.  There is a culture of empowerment that goes well past anything corporate america has even imaged.   Of course, this culture extends to all areas.. Presidents, Chancellors, Provosts, etc, operate at a level where they delegate most of the issues to Deans, Directors, and yes Coaches.  This is the culture at most significant universities..not just PSU.

Now, we know this culture has been one of great innovation. It is not surprising that american universities are some of the greatest research engines in the world. This culture of autonomy and freedom has allowed researchers to defy the norms of their field and explore areas outside the traditions of the past and create new products that we all enjoy. Many of these products have some piece of their evolution in a lab somewhere on an University campus. Just ask University of Penn how the world would have been different if not for the ENIAC. So we could argue that this culture should be preserved, but we could also argue that it is a cutlure that breeds the kind of innovation that Sandusky practices. Someway we need to control the Sanduskys' of the world.

In my practice, I have already seen an increase in hierachial decision making at land grant universities. New colleges have been created. Departments merged. this is a trend brought on by budget issues in some cases, but it is evolving the university culture. A culture change that is not always viewed as positive. The trend raises questions for today's university presidents, chancellors, provosts and deans. Here are just a few that come to mind this morning.

How do we ensure effective personal conduct of faculty, coaches, and all others and still maintain an empowering culture?

Do I have an obligation to discover the ethical lapses (hopefully less criminal) occuring on my watch?

What organizational systems need to be in place to ensure the safety of all our faculty, staff, students and visitors?

If faced with an incident, what mechanisms need to be put into place to ensure the rights of the vicitms.. and the accused?

That's enough for this post.. I will end with a message to my PSU friends. You are not alone.. this is not a PSU problem.. it is a higher ed problem. Continue to discover the new PSU you are developing.. continue to be the academic leader you have always been.

Money Drives Decisions

Further Evidence that money is driving sports more and more is found in the College Football Bowl Selections.. Here is but a couple of clear examples where leaders are choosing money over picking best the team:

• Can you believe that Missouri, which is ranked 6th in the BCS rankings didn't go to a BCS bowl (there are 10 spots which count as BCS Bowl spots).. .but Illinois which is ranked way down at 13th did! This is just not right.. and what does it say about how far the Rose Bowl has fallen from being one of the greatest sporting events in college sports.
• Money has even more impact when you look below the BCS bowl games. Clemson and Virginia, ranked 3rd and 4th respectably in the ACC, leaped over Boston College to take the more significant bowl bids. Why? Just cause Boston College fans don't travel like Clemson and Virginia fans. It is all about making money gang.

I am sure there are more examples. In what is quickly becoming more and more monetarily driven, college sports in the US continue the move away from the "spirit of the competition" and move closer to the "art of money." Need more evidence.. check out my post on the World Cup or my post on Ms. Jones. Is there any wonder that the kids graduating from these colleges grow up willing to do anything to make more money.. Enron was just the culmination of many acts of minor greed.. that grew into major greed. And it is all starting at our most visible symbol of college.

As for who is the best college football team this year, I doubt we will know at the end of this mess. For me, my choice will be simple if Hawaii wins.. Hawaii will at least be the only team without a loss. And their schedule will be close to as tough as OSU's.. Go Warriors!

Marion Jones - The System is Broke!

The evidence is clear.. the system is broke! We can get disappointed in individuals like Marion Jones who after years of benefiting from her lies, now freely admits her guilt when it may benefit her. but the system is broke.. Here it is in bullet format:

• In 2000, Jones was an Olympic champion, an Icon with manufactures begging her to be sponsors for her products. It would have been hard to say no to millions of dollars.. can you really blame her.. a little lie and she has a great cash flow.. but after a divorce, a house foreclosure, and now a possible prison term.. Ms Jones is the loser.. chewed up by the a system that promotes the very behavior she has exhibited.
• In the Women's World Cup, Coach Ryan chooses to go with a more experience goal keeper, one who has faced the opponent over a younger but still accomplished player. The player who is benched disrespects her coach and also her team member... the media and community rallies to support the benched player rather than acknowledge that respect for the team and coach should come first over winning. (See my last post)
  
• In the 2006 Men's World cup, France captain Zinedine Zidane wins the Golden Ball award for the World Cup's best player, despite getting a red card while losing to Italy in the final. the head butt was uncalled for, intentional, away from the play, and very malicious, and yet... Zidane polled 2012 points in the vote by journalists covering the tournament, ahead of Italian Fabio Cannavaro (1977 points) and Andrea Pirlo (715 points).
  
• In 2004, with his new book hitting the bookstores and after years of denial, Pete Rose freely admits that he bet on baseball. What's his motive.. selling books, getting into the Hall of Fame. The system rewards this behavior.. to this day, he is still making appearances and signing autographs. (Disclaimer.. he was one of my childhood idols)
  

I could list more.. B. Bonds, T. Owens, The Yankees and Boston buying winning teams, etc... but you get the picture. Between a media that often depends on the hyped stories, manufacturers who have co opted our sport stars to sell their wares, and a lost of respect for the sportsmanship.. we have a system that is rewarding cheaters and failing all of us. It impacts every level of the game.. down to junior high stars who go to Nike camps where they will get a better shot at scholarships to college and end up being a marketing tool for Nike .. or high school parents who get into fights with coaches over who plays.. the stories are many.. and the conclusion is clear: The System is broke! And the sad part.. is most fans want it this way... We buy Nike.. we beg for autographs.. we pay unreal prices for 3 hours in a tight seat watching something that is on our TV at home.. To quote Dr. Suess..

"And this mess is so big
And so deep and so tall,
We can not pick it up.
There is no way at all"