[Vision2020] Idaho Statesman opinion piece on the U of I

[Carl Westberg]

Our View: For U of I, admitting mistakes is part of healing
	
	The University of Idaho appears to be emerging, however slowly, from a dark chapter in school history.Donations
went into a three-year freefall, going from $32.5 million in 2002 to
$11.7 million in 2005, before bouncing back to $28.2 million in 2006.Research dollars, a key indicator of university health, rose to $98 million in 2007, increasing for the first time since 2004.Enrollment
has dropped by more than 1,250 students since 2003, declining by
another 100 students this fall. However, scholarship dollars have
increased.One change at the Moscow campus has little to do with
numbers and more to do with mindset. There is a refreshingly and
brutally candid recognition of the university's recent problems - and
the challenges ahead."I don't think I, or anybody else, knew the
depth and the breadth of the crisis of the University of Idaho. It was
a crisis of leadership, no doubt. It was a crisis of vision - not
having one. It was a crisis of financial mismanagement, of low
integrity and loss of trust with our public, with our faculty on and
off campus, the Legislature, the governor, the (state) board. The
university was at her knees."A crisis? Low integrity? A
university at her knees? These tough words come not from a
Vandal-basher - but from the head Vandal. It's how Tim White describes
the situation he inherited in 2004, when he became the university's
president.White is plain-spoken and not given to hyperbole, and
his comments to the Statesman's Bill Roberts are on target. University
Place, the U of I's failed Boise campus project, exacerbated the
university's financial woes and left the school's reputation in
shambles.As an outside hire, White is in a better position to
call it as he sees it. Still, it takes guts to tell alums and boosters
what they need to hear, instead of what they want to hear.White is not dwelling on the past; his harsh reality and tough love helps position the university for the future.Universities
compete in a cutthroat climate. Research firms can pick and choose
where they take their dollars. Donors can choose to contribute to their
alma mater, or to any number of other worthy causes. The brightest high
school seniors can afford to shop for the best combination of academics
and financial aid.Everyone is looking for results and is in
position to demand it. Donations, research grants and enrollment follow
results - and not overnight.It takes time to dig out of a hole. You start by taking an unblinking, clear-eyed look at the depth of the hole.Boosters
and alums tend not to be objective judges of "their" schools. Rah-rah
spirit gives way to defensiveness and denial - and certainly in Idaho,
where intercollegiate rivalries are part of the culture. Through his
candor, White is just the kind of advocate the U of I needs.
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