Engstrom's Idea to Help Enrollment

[BadlandsGrizFan]

BGF, how do you market to a 17 year old who has no idea what they want to do or where they want to go? LA is right. You market to your strengths. Now if ALL you market is ceramics, I'd agree there is an issue. But I'd argue quite the opposite, that some of UM's marketing materials haven't been specific enough. It's very hard to market to a kid who has no plan. We need to be getting those kids who do, and tell THEM how strong is in their field.

My kid gets about 15 mailings a day from schools all over the country...some of them are narrowly focused and specifically targeting his academic strengths and future goals. Others are broadly focused on the experience a campus might offer him. Some schools send him both...and they send them often. The schools that send both are "winning" in my house.

I think UM must do both...target kids who have identified their specific academic wants/needs, and broadly appeal to the Montana experience that awaits them. Send both....a day apart...start with specific offerings...then bring out the Big Sky, Mountains, rivers/lakes etc.

I cannot believe the access universities have to high school kids...they know just about every conceivable way to contact my kid...

Wait till the military starts...lol

 

[BadlandsGrizFan]

Speaking with a friend yesterday, a Missoula resident, UM alum, with two daughters attending UM. They're transferring to MSU next fall. He said their departments are being slashed, he's sick of Engstrom spending seven years weaseling about "the problem" that he pretty much set in motion, and its obvious to him the BOR isn't inclined to fix it. Seven years is a very long time to continue to reward failure. It shows an inability in Main Hall and at the BOR to deal with it.

So it begins. Even the "core" student body, Missoula kids the children of UM Alums, are bailing.

The moral to the story here is that, if you don't fix it, it may get to the point that you can't fix it.

So everyone knows that Engstrom is The MAIN problem. I would love nothing more than to see him go. But further past him is also a question. Is the BOR promoting or helping MSU much more than UofM??? I dont know nearly enough about the BOR to really get an insite into what theyre thinking.

 

[SoldierGriz]

BGF, how do you market to a 17 year old who has no idea what they want to do or where they want to go? LA is right. You market to your strengths. Now if ALL you market is ceramics, I'd agree there is an issue. But I'd argue quite the opposite, that some of UM's marketing materials haven't been specific enough. It's very hard to market to a kid who has no plan. We need to be getting those kids who do, and tell THEM how strong is in their field.

My kid gets about 15 mailings a day from schools all over the country...some of them are narrowly focused and specifically targeting his academic strengths and future goals. Others are broadly focused on the experience a campus might offer him. Some schools send him both...and they send them often. The schools that send both are "winning" in my house.

I think UM must do both...target kids who have identified their specific academic wants/needs, and broadly appeal to the Montana experience that awaits them. Send both....a day apart...start with specific offerings...then bring out the Big Sky, Mountains, rivers/lakes etc.

I cannot believe the access universities have to high school kids...they know just about every conceivable way to contact my kid...

Wait till the military starts...lol

Man, Military Recruiters have a tough job. Less than 25% of our population is even qualified to serve...obese, mental health issues, no diploma, criminal convictions etc. Many kids are just flat-out soft...

I'd be proud to walk him into a recruiter...11B, Airborne School, RAP, Ranger School, Ranger Regiment. Come out on the backside of that, then go to college. Nation needs kids who choose that path!

The U of M should send recruiters to the Ranger battalions and get a few who are transitioning...QB Prater could lead the effort.

 

[Ursa Major]

If you give a shit about the U, get the fvck on board and help out in whatever way you can. Sure its easier to bitch about RE and cheer when he screws up but what, exactly, does that get you?

Go Griz!

Great post! But I fear you might be asking too much from a bunch of middle aged inebriates that will spend countless hours on an anonymous football board arguing if the piping around the new Griz uniforms is more of a matte gray color or more of a matte silver color.

Do I get anything if I partipate? A tote bag maybe?

 

[Grisly Fan]

If you give a shit about the U, get the fvck on board and help out in whatever way you can. Sure its easier to bitch about RE and cheer when he screws up but what, exactly, does that get you?

Go Griz!

Great post! But I fear you might be asking too much from a bunch of middle aged inebriates that will spend countless hours on an anonymous football board arguing if the piping around the new Griz uniforms is more of a matte gray color or more of a matte silver color.

Do I get anything if I partipate? A tote bag maybe?

And what will the color of the piping on the tote bag be? Yes, it matters...

 

[bgbigdog]

If you give a shit about the U, get the fvck on board and help out in whatever way you can. Sure its easier to bitch about RE and cheer when he screws up but what, exactly, does that get you?

Go Griz!

Great post! But I fear you might be asking too much from a bunch of middle aged inebriates that will spend countless hours on an anonymous football board arguing if the piping around the new Griz uniforms is more of a matte gray color or more of a matte silver color.

Do I get anything if I partipate? A tote bag maybe?

Definitely matte gray. The joint PBS/UM pledge drive has been going on since the first of the month. Tote bags, wildlife vids, ceramic coffe mugs while the last and a nice coffee table book authored by Mick Holien are among the most sought after . For a big spender, Alpha has offered a ride on the drone. Seating is limited, so act-out fast.

 

[Ursa Major]

If you give a shit about the U, get the fvck on board and help out in whatever way you can. Sure its easier to bitch about RE and cheer when he screws up but what, exactly, does that get you?

Go Griz!

Great post! But I fear you might be asking too much from a bunch of middle aged inebriates that will spend countless hours on an anonymous football board arguing if the piping around the new Griz uniforms is more of a matte gray color or more of a matte silver color.

Do I get anything if I partipate? A tote bag maybe?

Definitely matte gray. The joint PBS/UM pledge drive has been going on since the first of the month. Tote bags, wildlife vids, ceramic coffe mugs while the last and a nice coffee table book authored by Mick Holien are among the most sought after . For a big spender, Alpha has offered a ride on the drone. Seating is limited, so act-out fast.

I never miss 420's Gardening With Ganja Show!! If you will allow me some self-promotion, my new series will be premiering this fall on PBS Montana. The premise of the show is to bundle two of my passions in one DIY program. The title of the show is Woodcrafting with Craft Beers. (Spoiler Alert) The first show includes an incident where my right index figure is severed by a band saw while I'm simultaneously demonstrating an intricate curve cut on a piece of mahogany and shotgunning a Black Butte Porter with eGriz's own Snap. Later on we build a birdhouse out of sticks we find in my yard. Hope you all will tune in!

 

[bgbigdog]

Cat out of the bag stuff I know, but looking forward to the episode where you help CDA with his garage addition. I think putting in a taco joint is going to take it way over the top.

 

[Ursa Major]

Cat out of the bag stuff I know, but looking forward to the episode where you help CDA with his garage addition. I think putting in a taco joint is going to take it way over the top.

Ahhh, episode 9 "The Taco Cabana Dos Equis Especial" Episode where CDA fires a 16 penny nail into his garage wall and ignites a 55 gallon drum of lighter fluid in the next room. I hear his neighbor's wife is being released from the Salt Lake City Burn Center next week. Still a mystery why those neighborhood holligans broke in and were storing that stuff in there. Damn kids!

 

[GrizLA]

[ But, you seem to want a trade school and not a university.

My objection was specifically to the reference to making it sound like a trade school -- i.e. "welding."

To most peoiple, especially 17 year olds, "ceramics and welding" sound exactly like the frilly unserious crap already associated with higher education at "some" schools. Certainly not a "research" university.

I cited to an academic description of UM that I thought did a much better job of describing its strengths as an academic institution that managed not to mention "welding."

Let me try it again.

Top rated for combining academic quality and outdoor recreation, The University of Montana boasts one of the most scenic campuses in America. A number of unique programs combine academics with experiential learning in the surrounding outdoors.

Ranking seventeenth in the nation, and fifth among public universities in producing Rhodes Scholars, UM also boasts eight Pulitzer Prize winners and several Fullbright, Truman and Goldwater Scholars. It has been named a top university for Udall Scholars, receiving the most in 2005 and the most since the award's 1996 inception.

CPA candidates continue to achieve among the highest first-time pass rates. Seventy-eight percent of all UM pre-med students are admitted to various medical schools (well above the national average of 40 percent). UM boasts a number of unique programs: Radio-TV's student documentary program; the Entertainment Management Program, addressing the business of entertainment and event management; and Wilderness and Civilization (campus courses and wilderness fieldwork), among others.

UM Journalism students have established the first student chapter of the Native American Journalists Association. UM was honored among 81 "Colleges with a Conscience" and ranks 52among the top ten in the nation in producing Peace Corps volunteers.

Two NASA Earth Observing System satellites currently monitor the planet with software designed at UM. The UM ROTC program has been ranked ninth (out of 271) in the nation. Sports Illustrated ranked UM in its top twenty-five best college sports towns (UM was the only I-AA Football school on the list).

Monte, UM's mascot, was the 2004 and 2002 Capital One National Mascot.

The Grizzly football team has had twenty-five consecutive winning seasons since 1986, has won or shared fifteen conference championships since 1993, has reached the NCAA Division I-AA national playoffs nineteen times since 1993, and been to the national championship seven times, winning it in 1995 and 2001.

Street & Smith's magazine, the bible of college hoops, named the women's Lady Griz basketball program seventh among the all-time best women's basketball programs in the country (its sixteen regular season conference championships and fifteen conference tournament titles rank second in the nation).

UM ecologist and forestry professor Steve Running, one of the nation's foremost experts on climate change, was a co-recipient of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), of which Running is a member.

Does that sound like a "trade school?"

To be honest? It sounds like a chamber of commerce and is there any student, anywhere in the universe, that cares about the "mascot of the year"...The real issue is What can the University do for the Student and the State? This is a tourist view of what UM has done. Too bad we cannot return to the past...We would all be brilliant.

 

[UMGriz75]

To be honest? It sounds like a chamber of commerce and is there any student, anywhere in the universe, that cares about the "mascot of the year"...The real issue is What can the University do for the Student and the State? This is a tourist view of what UM has done. Too bad we cannot return to the past...We would all be brilliant.

What are you comparing it to that UM produces? What are students and their parents reading that you believe is better? Engstrom promised the Board of Regents three years ago that UM needed to recognize the fact that students are "consumers with choice." He was going to "focus" on that, and then hired an outside agency to do it for him that sent out an email blast asking prospects to focus on MSU. Engstrom uses the word "focus" in a way that the rest of us perhaps ... don't.

The fact is, the summary, written by a news magazine, is better than anything produced by UM, although that is not a tall order.

Presumably, prospective students want a high quality education in a high quality environment, taught by high quality faculty with recognized high success. What do you tell them?

Promote welding?

 

[tgreseth]

To be honest? It sounds like a chamber of commerce and is there any student, anywhere in the universe, that cares about the "mascot of the year"...The real issue is What can the University do for the Student and the State? This is a tourist view of what UM has done. Too bad we cannot return to the past...We would all be brilliant.

What are you comparing it to that UM produces? What are students and their parents reading that you believe is better? Engstrom promised the Board of Regents three years ago that UM needed to recognize the fact that students are "consumers with choice." He was going to "focus" on that, and then hired an outside agency to do it for him that sent out an email blast asking prospects to focus on MSU. Engstrom uses the word "focus" in a way that the rest of us perhaps ... don't.

The fact is, the summary, written by a news magazine, is better than anything produced by UM, although that is not a tall order.

Presumably, prospective students want a high quality education in a high quality environment, taught by high quality faculty with recognized high success. What do you tell them?

Promote welding?

To prospective students who want a trade, I think a 100% placement rate is a pretty good selling point. As you already know, UM is marketing to a number of different audiences. Is that the wrong thing to do 75?

Beside firing Royce Engstrom, what should UM be doing, that they aren't already, to fix their declining enrollment problem?

 

[GrizLA]

To be honest? It sounds like a chamber of commerce and is there any student, anywhere in the universe, that cares about the "mascot of the year"...The real issue is What can the University do for the Student and the State? This is a tourist view of what UM has done. Too bad we cannot return to the past...We would all be brilliant.

What are you comparing it to that UM produces? What are students and their parents reading that you believe is better? Engstrom promised the Board of Regents three years ago that UM needed to recognize the fact that students are "consumers with choice." He was going to "focus" on that, and then hired an outside agency to do it for him that sent out an email blast asking prospects to focus on MSU. Engstrom uses the word "focus" in a way that the rest of us perhaps ... don't.

The fact is, the summary, written by a news magazine, is better than anything produced by UM, although that is not a tall order.

Presumably, prospective students want a high quality education in a high quality environment, taught by high quality faculty with recognized high success. What do you tell them?

Promote welding?

If that's what it takes until real leadership arrives and creative outreach is looked upon as much as fund raising, why not?

 

[EverettGriz]

If you give a shit about the U, get the fvck on board and help out in whatever way you can. Sure its easier to bitch about RE and cheer when he screws up but what, exactly, does that get you?

Go Griz!

Great post! But I fear you might be asking too much from a bunch of middle aged inebriates that will spend countless hours on an anonymous football board arguing if the piping around the new Griz uniforms is more of a matte gray color or more of a matte silver color.

Do I get anything if I partipate? A tote bag maybe?

Definitely matte gray. The joint PBS/UM pledge drive has been going on since the first of the month. Tote bags, wildlife vids, ceramic coffe mugs while the last and a nice coffee table book authored by Mick Holien are among the most sought after . For a big spender, Alpha has offered a ride on the drone. Seating is limited, so act-out fast.

I never miss 420's Gardening With Ganja Show!! If you will allow me some self-promotion, my new series will be premiering this fall on PBS Montana. The premise of the show is to bundle two of my passions in one DIY program. The title of the show is Woodcrafting with Craft Beers. (Spoiler Alert) The first show includes an incident where my right index figure is severed by a band saw while I'm simultaneously demonstrating an intricate curve cut on a piece of mahogany and shotgunning a Black Butte Porter with eGriz's own Snap. Later on we build a birdhouse out of sticks we find in my yard. Hope you all will tune in!

:lol:

 

[bgbigdog]

Cat out of the bag stuff I know, but looking forward to the episode where you help CDA with his garage addition. I think putting in a taco joint is going to take it way over the top.

Ahhh, episode 9 "The Taco Cabana Dos Equis Especial" Episode where CDA fires a 16 penny nail into his garage wall and ignites a 55 gallon drum of lighter fluid in the next room. I hear his neighbor's wife is being released from the Salt Lake City Burn Center next week. Still a mystery why those neighborhood holligans broke in and were storing that stuff in there. Damn kids!

Not sure which episode it is but in your preview I also noted that you've got Norm Abrahms in for the build out of your Griz-themed man-cave. Sneaking Villa in to surprise Norm was genius. The part where he blisters Villa's ass for being a no-nothing and that it was he and later Tommy who carried his ass until PBS got tired of all the self-promotion - not unlike our favorite Ivy, and booted him to free-tv & Sears - pure gold. One question, what's the basket hanging from the ceiling in the far corner for? It's too big for a normal house plant, and the holes in it make it really difficult to even keep soil from falling through. I'll hang up now and listen for my answer.

 

[Ursa Major]

Cat out of the bag stuff I know, but looking forward to the episode where you help CDA with his garage addition. I think putting in a taco joint is going to take it way over the top.

Ahhh, episode 9 "The Taco Cabana Dos Equis Especial" Episode where CDA fires a 16 penny nail into his garage wall and ignites a 55 gallon drum of lighter fluid in the next room. I hear his neighbor's wife is being released from the Salt Lake City Burn Center next week. Still a mystery why those neighborhood holligans broke in and were storing that stuff in there. Damn kids!

Not sure which episode it is but in your preview I also noted that you've got Norm Abrahms in for the build out of your Griz-themed man-cave. Sneaking Villa in to surprise Norm was genius. The part where he blisters Villa's ass for being a no-nothing and that it was he and later Tommy who carried his ass until PBS got tired of all the self-promotion - not unlike our favorite Ivy, and booted him to free-tv & Sears - pure gold. One question, what's the basket hanging from the ceiling in the far corner for? It's too big for a normal house plant, and the holes in it make it really difficult to even keep soil from falling through. I'll hang up now and listen for my answer.

Yes, episode 22, the season finale, "The Boston Massacre". Norm brought over some seasonal Sam Adams and was fairly well oiled up when Villa got on-set. I think we all really enjoyed watching that narcissistic Cuban bastard finally get what he deserved. It was incredibly riveting when he talked about the cocaine addiction he had in the 90's and the pressure he was under after knocking up the wife on Home Time. It took a drunken Tommy Silva falling off a ladder and impaling a Sheetrock knife into his cheek to cut the tension.

The basket actually played a pivotal roll in episode 14, "Eye Pee Ah" which was shot in British Columbia with the help of Umista and Snap. The episode featured Red Racer IPA. During the episode, Snap and Umista demonstrate how to make lovely Easter baskets with dampened cedar bark. In a later segment on Shop Tricks the duo also demonstrated how to use a .22 caliber rifle round to pound in nails, just in case a homeowner can't locate his/her hammer. In jest, Umista took a couple of shots at the baskets we had made. Unfortunately, one of his errant shots ricocheted and caught me in the left eye. You'll notice the eye patch in later episodes. Chicks really seem to dig a guy with an eye-patch so all is good! Later in the episode, Snap is outside the emergency room they took me too and is caught urinating in public by the RCMP (again). Hence the title of the episode. I kept the basket that Umista shot up as a good luck piece.

 

[UMGriz75]

Beside firing Royce Engstrom, what should UM be doing, that they aren't already, to fix their declining enrollment problem?

How about "doing what they say they are trying" but actually "doing it" instead of sending out emails promoting MSU? How about stop lying to people? "Things are going just fine! Why, we are actually almost back to normal!" I've made some suggestions. I notice you haven't.

 

[UMGriz75]

Presumably, prospective students want a high quality education in a high quality environment, taught by high quality faculty with recognized high success. What do you tell them?

Promote welding?

If that's what it takes until real leadership arrives and creative outreach is looked upon as much as fund raising, why not?

I don't know of a welding school that survives as either a research university, or ... a university.

 

[tgreseth]

Beside firing Royce Engstrom, what should UM be doing, that they aren't already, to fix their declining enrollment problem?

How about "doing what they say they are trying" but actually "doing it" instead of sending out emails promoting MSU? How about stop lying to people? "Things are going just fine! Why, we are actually almost back to normal!" I've made some suggestions. I notice you haven't.

Is there actual evidence that they aren't doing what they say they're doing?

Would being honest fix UM's enrollment problem?

I don't work in the area of student recruitment nor have I claimed to know how to "fix" UM's student recruitment issues. On top of that, what's the point of "making suggestions" about student recruiting challenges on a football fan board? How exactly is that helping "fix the problem?"

Now if I lived in missoula and worked for the university, maybe I could "make a difference."

Don't you work for the university 75? What are you actually doing, to solve this particular problem?

Stop whining 75 and do something

 

[UMGriz75]

Don't you work for the university 75? What are you actually doing, to solve this particular problem?
Stop whining 75 and do something

I get generally the highest student evaluations. I am part of "that faculty" that gives UM a good reputation. Every day. When you do work hard for an institution, for over 30 years, and constantly outperform, and then you see a group of incompetents take over Main Hall, supported by non-contributors such as yourself, who claim that all the problems are "actually good" we are just "returning to normal!" you know, for sure, that people like you are part of the problem because you accept failure and do not demand excellence.

Thanks for your affirmation of failure.