As a 1973 grad I applaud the new President of the U. Now please Dr. K. Fire Maturi and get a real athletic director that understands winning.

President Kaler needs to stick to his demand to faculty that:"If your research is stale, if your classroom is boring, if your community engagement is ineffective, you must reinvent yourself or, frankly, step aside." I suspect that many faculty will instead sidestep this call rather than reinvent or step aside. I hope the faculty take notice, there is great potential here.

"Pick up the pace?" Apparently he has not been made aware of the faculty's typical 65-hour work weeks and year-after-year pay freezes on top of an already low pay. Or, perhaps he's advocating for an 80-hour work week. In which case: Chop! Chop! The administrative hatchet is coming!

Good luck Mr. Kaler. You are going to need it.

Dr. Kaler- Congratulations! Now, may we please begin to accept MN residents over non-residents with "all other things being equal" (ACTs, SATs GPAs etc.)? These kids' families are the ones who've paid taxes in this state and whose lives work in the form of MN State taxes have gone to make the U of M what it has become. There are many qualified MN students who are turned down for admission or 'wait listed' by U of M with preference it seems, going to ANYONE who is not a MN resident. True enough that a world class university should have a blend of people from different backgrounds/nationalities areas of the country. But the U of M also needs to quit biting the hand which has fed it all along.

It's a quandary: the most important factor for academic success is parental involvement. Not that they don't gradually promote independence, especially in high school, but the impact of earlier work lasts into college. That, and the high schools themselves are crucial. But a university president doesn't really have the authority to oversee students years before they get to the U, or at least it's a big stretch to do so.

Oh, and can you poach the AD of the Sioux or something? Maybe some overachieving teams for once? Or UMD with their football chops.

Yes minneg56, MN. taxpayers 1st...and why do we displace a kid who is not athletic with a volleyball player...and from another state to boot?

Dr K.... if there's one dept that has little pace and no pulse, it's the athletic dept. maturi has allowed this dept to slide so low that it's a national joke. Please.... Please hire a NEW ATHLETIC DIRECTOR..... Please

Nice little talk, but total BS. Having just retired following 40 years on Faculty at an Ivy, I kind of know the game. Faculty listen to no one, because they don't have to. A University President is a figurehead, and nothing more. Faculty may listen to their Dean, but more likely their Chairperson. Presidents come and go, but the Faculty are forever!