Let's get Chancellor Thorp off to a good start

Holden Thorp starts his new job tomorrow. I'm feeling very encouraged about his potential to establish a more collaborative relationship between the University and our local governments. I hope he will remember that neither can thrive without the other.

What advice do you have for him?

Issues: 

Comments

Carolina North represents the last major parcel of land that the North Carolina flagship university will develop. It deserves to be something spectacular that will draw people to UNC Chapel Hill, not merely serve as a place to work.
One man with courage makes a majority.

- Andrew Jackson

Chancellor Holden should not sacrifice his Renaissance perspective to big business, government, or any other obstacles to his natural brilliance.  One of his first reactions upon getting the job was laughing!  We have much to look forward to. 

Maybe it might be a good exercise to turn Ruby's question around and ask it the other way.  After all, this is not a one-way street.

What advice do we have for local governments to establish a more collaborative relationship with the University?

I'm starting by having lunch with him next week.

Sounds like a good step to take, but not a surprise that you would do it, Mark.

I'm the University Editor this year at the DTH, so I'll be directing the brunt of the coverage of Holden Thorp.

Here are the stories I've thought of so far:

http://breaksthenews.blogspot.com/2008/07/chancellor-holden-thorp-begins-term.html

I'd love to know what you'd like to see. Let me know, either through comments on the blog or at andrewmdunn@gmail.com. 

"Thorp comes in with the least administrative experience of any previous chancellor, but the most significant fundraising experience."

Andrew, can you clarify your statement on your blog that is linked in your post? I understand the part of the statement regarding administrative experience but how do you see Holden as having more fundraising experience than Chancellor Moeser who came to UNC after 4 years as Chancellor at the University of Nebraska? I'm pretty sure that chancellors are expected to raise a fair amount of money even at Nebraska where I'm sure football revenues are pretty good.

I'll surely expand on this in the future, but Moeser's fundraising experience was still limited at Nebraska. He was chancellor during a marginally large fundraising drive, but he did not have very much direct influence over that. Thorp was the immediate director for several fundrasing drives at UNC.

Cut the construction! Moeser really took it to an extreme that is detrimental to students (today I was sitting on the steps of the economics building trying to go over a test with a classmate, when we had to just stop in our tracks because some sort of construction started making a huge noise somewhere next to us-- we were surrounded on three sides by construction at that point, so I'm not sure where it came from).

Imagine having to listen to construction noise while taking a test, studying, or taking notes during lecture, and that's what being a student at Carolina  is like right now. I'm sure it affects students deciding to come here as well.

 

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