Staff Editorial — ‘Sooner or later, the truth catches up’
When the Kansas Board of Regents appointed John Bardo as university president in 2012, he offered the promise of increased enrollment.
At his former university, Western Carolina, where he served as chancellor for 16 years, Bardo almost doubled enrollment and the size of campus.
That was his selling point, and the state of Kansas bought it — hook, line, and sinker.
Bardo came in with big ambitions and things started to change, noticeably, from the previous president’s tenure at WSU.
With the forward-focused, innovation-driven goals of Bardo’s administration, come the implication that the way things have been done at WSU are outmoded, outdated, and backwards.
He has a vision for WSU, an imagined plan for the future of the entire region based on his years of scholarship on the New Economy, and it looks great on paper.
There’s no doubt Innovation Campus has increased the size of campus, and student “collisions” have definitely increased with the improved Rhatigan Student Center and additional, but unnecessary, student housing. But prospective students aren’t buying the shiny new buildings or increasingly expensive amenities thrust upon them, like a membership to the YMCA or a luxury dorm.
The kinds of students who choose a college for its amenities don’t pick WSU in the first place. Those image-driven, superficial values don’t align with the Wichita community.
Wichitans are realists.
From the time a student drives to campus — weaving through traffic cones because the city decided to jump aboard the innovation train and expand an already-wide-enough intersection to handle the traffic — to their struggle to find an overpriced parking spot, to their bug-infested classrooms, students experience a different reality from the standard press release from the university.
Perception doesn’t match reality. That’s why enrollment is struggling. The reason enrollment is struggling is the same reason the university won’t mention enrollment is struggling: WSU is so image-obsessed, it can’t face reality. That’s a dangerous problem to have when so much money is at stake.
Amid budget cuts in the spring of 2016, President Bardo tied faculty raises to enrollment.
“As state funding diminishes, we all have strong roles to play in attracting and retaining students, seeking research funding and encouraging donor support. As enrollment increases in importance to overall budget, student credit hour growth becomes a driving factor in the availability of raises,” Bardo wrote to faculty.
The Sunflower thinks it’s time for the administration to start playing an active role in attracting and retaining students — by being honest, transparent, and realistic.
In short, tell the truth once in a while.
The University of Kansas and Kansas State didn’t pad their numbers with high schoolers and senior citizens, and their reputations are still intact.
But their enrollments are suffering, too, because they’re passing the buck to students through student fees.
Bardo justifies the increased costs passed onto students by reciting a quote from one of his mentors: “Access without quality is no bargain.”
Here’s one he should consider going forward: “Sooner or later, the truth catches up.”
Fake Pres. Bardo • Oct 4, 2017 at 10:59 pm
Student enrollment is 600 students higher than last year. This is the perfect number to begin building phase 2 of the flats. You better believe i will fill the flats even if i have to turn it into a senior center.
As always,
Fake Pres. Bardo
What Is This? • Oct 2, 2017 at 3:07 pm
The FY2018 Annual Operating Budget Book that is in the WSU Library now lists salaries and budgets. Some salaries have probably changed since the book was printed. Anyone can go look at it.
Looks like one of the big winners this year on the money front is Ty Masterson. Yes, Kansas State Senator, Ty Masterson. He is the GoCreate Director. Last year he was a .6 FTE employee making $60,000 per year according to the FY2017 Annual Operating Budget book located in the Library. The .6 FTE makes sense since is gone so much as a state senator.
This year Ty Masterson is listed as a 1.0 FTE making $144,000 on page 313 of the FY2018 book. It shows that same amount for FY2017 in the 2018 book but which is different than the FY 2017 book on page 308 where it shows Ty at the .6 FTE $60,000 salary. The position funding went up 44% and his salary went up 140%.
Why would the FY2018 Operating Budget Book be different than what the FY2017 book said last year? Having it listed the same both years in the FY2018 book makes it look like nothing changed in the position or his salary which doesn’t seem to be the case.
Is Ty Masterson still a Kansas Senator? As of October 2, 2017 he is still listed on their roster for the session that starts January 8, 2018.
How can you be 1.0 FTE at WSU and gone that many days at the legislative session? I don’t think a full time staff member accumulates that much vacation time.
What does his LLC business do? In the past the Statement of Substantial Interest for Ty has listed an LLC called Springboard, LLC. One web search said it is a small organization in the business services industry. Is it anything related to what happens in GoCreate?
Is there a conflict between being a Kansas Senator and a full time WSU employee? The position Ty has says it is fully funded from Restricted Use (RU) sources. Does the full time position give him health insurance and benefits?
Steve • Oct 2, 2017 at 8:52 am
Bardo’s WSU is a scam. False press releases bragging about non-existent enrollment growth. Students that will pay more than 3k in fees for a YMCA and basketball by the time they receive a bachelors degree. Expensive parking permits with no available parking. All this while Bardo funnels millions dollars of public and student funds into the hands of private developers. While the press and other sycophants praise Bardo, WSU has fallen behind Fort Hays state in enrollment and is now firmly in the 3rd tier of KS Regent schools.