disgruntledbilliken

Any recruits scheduled to be a Chaifetz tonight?

He probably just means B12. I think it is just a simple mistake that he made.

Thank you, BC! I know many of us were loosing our minds over Belmont's loss to SIUE, but I really think with our solid non-conference season, SLU planted some seeds that can bloom into good Ws on the resume come selection time. I think K-State can be at least a bubble team.

What was/is the logic in playing a D-II team in December?

Give it up Delaware. Damn!

Will anyone be streaming?

The commentators on FSMW said that Hargrove had 5 coaches in 4 years at ESL and so that he is still learning to play in a more consistent system. I believe they ware citing Ford when they said this.

Anybody know what home attendance has been like in terms of numbers compared to last season? Sorry if I missed this somewhere else. Curious to see if the momentum is translating to attendance.

I drove through Maryville's campus just yesterday. Its a nice campus with a lot of renovations going on. That being said, SLU is building a new engineering building and a new hospital. While it would be nice to have nicer sports facilities, you can't really blame a university that is putting money into a new engineering building and a new hospital... Those should be the priorities of a university.

Nice stats digging! Thanks! I wouldn't be too worried about the less than stellar defense. I follow soccer quite closely. Usually when a team is so offensive as SLU is, the defense suffers a bit. I would say that it reflects more on SLU's offensive and open style of play than "poor defense" per se. You give some space in the back in order to be at the opponents necks.

I think this is the crux of the article and the whole "controversy" if you will: “These are difficult times for schools financially,” Rapach said. “If institutions of higher education are willing to compromise ethical standards for example with respect to donor involvement and hiring because of the size of the gift, that doesn’t bode well for society,” Rapach said. I am thankful for Mr. Sinquefield's donation, regardless of whether I agree with his political affinities or not (I don't). I don't think he necessarily did anything wrong. He wanted to give money and he had a clear vision of what he wanted to do with it. It is silly for us to act as if business, economics, or any academic discipline are immune for ideological values. However, I do think the university should have been a little sterner in saying we exist fundamentally as an educational institution and we will have to leave the hiring of academic positions to the faculty. Does this mean that the faculty don't have their won biases? Of course not, but they know the academic literature and standards of academic excellence better than non-academics.

Good news: We are no longer "unranked" by U.S News and World Report. Bad news: we dropped to #106 in the rankings. https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities Loyola Chicago leaped over us and is now tied at #89 with Marquette. This are brand new rankings, published today.

Richard Chaifetz who?

I'm still angry about the ranking...but, this is undeniably a big win for Pestello and the university. Gotta give em credit.

I'm just speculating here, but I think that to an older generation, things like rankings don't matter. It is just a little boo boo that we own up to, and move on. "Who cares, its just one rankings list," I assume is their mentality. In some regard they are right-SLU is no more a good or bad school with or without the "NR" by they name. But, for high school upperclassmen, it matters. For undergrads, its embarrassing. For parents, it must be infuriating. Let's say your child is debating between Marquette, SLU, and Dayton. Overall pretty similar institutions. SLU and Marquette are basically tied in the rankings and are higher than Dayton, so Dayton is crossed off the list. You like Marquette, but you prefer not to be in the cold. You choose SLU. You get to SLU, and on move-in day, you find out they are unranked due to a screw up! As a parent, I am infuriated that I am paying that amount of money. Was ranking the end all be all in this decision? No. But it did play a part in very very very expensive life decision.

The whole record breaking campaign always seemed dubious to me. I do know what all departments were asked to put a freeze on asking for alumni donations over the past year to maximize the amount of money that goes to the university itself. I don’t doubt that the university had a record breaking fundraising year. But I wonder if you take into account that the departments were prohibited from asking for money if the year was really that good. In other words, I wonder if you take a past year and add up all of the money collected by the university AND the money collected by individual departments if this year was really that record breaking. Maybe it was. It’s bebinrerssting to know though and would really shine a light on if Pestello is a good fundraiser.

You are right. No one has asked me either. I also don’t think that the “no ranking” reflects on the actual quality of the university. However, it is in your last point where we agree, but seemingly see things differently. You say that the degree is what gets you the interview. Exactly. Prestige can get you in the door, but not get you through. Prestige is created, in part, by rankings like these. Are they the end all be all? No. But they are in important ranking in today’s college market. Just like success in basketball can give a university increased visibility, so can these rankings. It also just makes the university look bad.

To make matters worse, the correction is also INCORRECT! Check the numbers in the U.S News article and compare them to the e-mail. The correction email mixes them up!

We are on a list with Oklahoma City University, Randolph University, Drury University, Dakota Wesleyan University....embarrasing. Article: https://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/college-rankings-blog/articles/2018-08-22/updates-to-8-schools-2018-best-colleges-rankings-data E-mail from Pestello pasted below: Dear Members of the SLU Community, I write this evening to share with you some concerning information that has come to our attention within the past 24 hours. This information regards an error in our reporting for the U.S. News Best Colleges rankings. This past spring, we made a mistake in our submission to U.S. News. The University received no rankings gain in this error. Our 2018 U.S. News Best College rankings — which many students and families consult — were accurate. Our error did not help our numbers. Yesterday, U.S. News emailed us to say their data analysts found a discrepancy in the six-year graduation rate numbers SLU reported for the 2010 entering class/cohort in 2018 versus what we reported in 2017. SLU was one of eight colleges and universities that received such notifications. As a result, U.S. News immediately listed all of them, including SLU, as “unranked” on the 2018 U.S. News profile until clarifications are made. For reference, institutions submit six-year graduation rate numbers two years at a time. For example, in 2017, we submitted six-year graduation rates for the 2009 and 2010 freshman cohorts (first-time college, full-time, degree-seeking freshman). In 2018, we submitted graduation rates for the 2010 and 2011 cohorts. The University leadership team gathered to review our data submissions for the past two years, and here is what was discovered: 1. There was an unintentional error made this spring in SLU’s reporting of the 2010 cohort six-year graduation rate. We reported it was 74 percent when in fact it should have been reported as 77 percent — as it had been reported in 2017. 2. This kind of mistake is inexcusable, and we must own it and correct it. The leadership team has reached out to U.S. News to explain the error and to correct the record. However, we are not sure at this point how this error might affect the 2019 U.S. News Best Colleges rankings that will be released in early September. The University will undertake an extensive review of our processes, conducted by an impartial, external organization, and institute new procedures. I apologize that we made this mistake and for any possible negative reflection this may have on the outstanding work done by our faculty, staff, and students. I regret sharing this as our new students come to campus, our upperclass students return, and our faculty start a new semester, but I believe it is essential for me to make you aware of this issue and know that it may get media attention in the days ahead. I thank each of you for your many contributions to Saint Louis University. Sincerely, Fred P. Pestello, Ph.D. President