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FIU stadium finalized

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FIU stadium finalized

FIU stadium finalized


owlcountry said

prowler said

fauowl09 said


UCF, FIU and now UM with the a $206 million renovation for the OB…Why are we having such a difficult time with our nest? I'm so discused…when do you want to meet for the rally, just make sure we call the papers for coverage.

It'd be best to leave the papers out, I think.
FAU's reputation has already got knocked around to death by other things that Kimberly Miller has written (Davenport scandal, Barry Kaye billing himself as FAU professor, FAU whining about UF going south, now FAU hiring a Dean that was pretty much hated at his last school….)

I was talking to a woman tonight who said she wouldn't send her son to FAU because of all the bad press FAU has been getting.

It might be evened out by all the good press that a theoretical marketing department at FAU might put out if they were functional, like UCF's, which puts out daily stuff heralding the university and look what it's done for their public rep…

I've read these stories. These things bother me. All I read is negatives about FAU academics and campus life.

The story about the new dean was written in such a way as to make it very negative. Does Kimberly Miller have our number? Is she trying to make a name for herself at the university's expense? What person who wants to change the status quo is not going to get some stiff resistance? The guy got high marks from the SIU administration and some opposition from alumni who may know nothing about his field. I am looking forward to hearing about the new ideas this guy wants to use at FAU and their success.

The marketing dept, Brogan or someone needs to undertake a serious campaign to change the public's perception about FAU after they change what ever "things" are getting the bad press.

As far as TV shows about the university, are there any public access channels on the cable system in the area? They are usually FREE or very low cost.

I know this is WAY off topic from the stadium but I wanted the chance to post something.

FAU - THE REAL SLEEPING GIANT
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illinoisowl said

I've read these stories. These things bother me. All I read is negatives about FAU academics and campus life.

Really? Hmmm.

As a current student, I can honestly tell you that campus life is really good right now. Most everyone feels that FAU is on the up-swing. People know that FAU is on the rise. Brogan's vision, combined with the branding effort's effect on merchandising (you actually WANT an FAU shirt now) and of course, the increasing prominence of spirit groups like the Rowdy Rexes, have really sparked what will hopefully amount to quite a flame. Events such as Bury the Burrow may not have been the superficial attendance record that Athletics hoped it would be, but what's more important is that the seeds have been sown and pride – both on and off the sports fields – has started to spread on-campus.

Although many people feel that Catanese did a smashing job with FAU, he actually set us back decades with two actions: 1) Declaring FAU's mission as access, and accordingly, 2) opening up the branch campuses.

When we declared FAU's mission to be open access to higher education, we earned the reputation of a glorified community college. As one of my professors put it, "we had an open door policy." Is it a surprise then that we have a negative reputation or are seen as "just a commuter school"? Even now, when we've made great strides on both fronts to conquer these past judgments, they still persist. They prevent parents from allowing their academically-gifted children from applying to FAU. And it's ridiculous.

The regional campus structure hurts us because you have FAU students who attend the Davie campus and do not have nearly as good of a college experience as the students down in Boca. But when that Davie student is asked by a prospective student to comment on FAU, they don't mention they went to the Davie campus and when they relay their negative assessments, it's unfairly tossed onto the Boca Campus. So the branch campuses short-change students and the main campus suffers as a result of it.

To improve academic respect, we need more professors to get more research dollars. We need faculty housing and better salaries to get more professors. And it's hard for us to drum up money for these things in a legislature that's packed to the gills with people who only want to support the University of Florida.

To improve campus life, we need to boost our marketing by at least 300% of what it is now, offer more exciting opportunities, more daytime entertainment, etc. The stadium and Greek Housing go without saying.

What happens is that we'll have 7 pm "comedy club" shows with comedian(s) who "once appeared on BET that one time." This draws about 300 people, most of them resident students. When other students are asked why they didn't attend, the number one reason is that they didn't know about it. The second reason is that it's just not enticing enough to stay after your last class ends at 2 pm until 7 pm to see someone you haven't heard of.

For some reason the Program Board is hellbent on quantity, not quality. They're nervous to deviate from the same events they've always had. So it's step show, karaoke, comedy club, step show, karaoke, carnivowl, comedy club.

But we're working on it. Several Program Board volunteers are on-board with changing things, SG is looking to do things better (even if it costs more), our Homecoming is coming along great (we're going to have a street parade this year, with student organizations making actual floats out of cars/carts/whatever), the stadium is on it's way, etc.

Like I said, people know things are on the upswing. But we're all impatient and want to see the results now.

Soon.


illinoisowl said

The story about the new dean was written in such a way as to make it very negative. Does Kimberly Miller have our number? Is she trying to make a name for herself at the university's expense?
Kimberly Miller hates us. And despite the fact that she writes all these bad articles about FAU, we continue to carry the newspaper on-campus as free reading for students. We're paying them while theyr'e trashing our reputation. We need to discontinue our agreement with them and let them know that Kimberly Miller is the reason.
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FIU stadium finalized

I know we've gotten WAY off topic here but I will conclude it with this.

It seems like things went south with Cantanese. The years I went to FAU, all of us thought it was tough academically. It was not a party school. The library and 24 hour study rooms were always packed. The drinking age back then was 18 so the local bars were the hangouts as well as the Rat on campus. No one complained about the campus life since there was so much to do off campus. It was a very tight community though.

I'll take your word for it owlcountry and look forward to hearing about the changes. I told my wife we will be going down for homecoming in the near future. Maybe 2008 or 2009 with the temp stadium on campus. Or maybe 2010 with the completed perm stadium.

Here is a website that really bothers me.

http://www.studentsreview.com/FL/FAU0.html

This concludes this "sub topic" time to get back to the actual thread topic.

FAU - THE REAL SLEEPING GIANT
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FIU stadium finalized

Illinois,

That link is interesting, but I don't think it says all that much about the quality of FAU. First, 41 reviews is a small sample size. Also those who seek out that website to post a review are more than likely those who have a negative view of the school for some reason anyway.
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FIU stadium finalized

I've had the opportunity to talk to a few of the current students and have to say they all pretty much sounded like Owlcountry.
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fauowls44 said

Illinois,

That link is interesting, but I don't think it says all that much about the quality of FAU. First, 41 reviews is a small sample size. Also those who seek out that website to post a review are more than likely those who have a negative view of the school for some reason anyway.

Exactly. The commuter students – the ones that come here for class and nothing else – have an entirely different experience than the residential students. The people who live on campus, who are involved with Student Government/University Press/Program Board/Greek life/Campus Rec, 90% of them love FAU.

I sat down with a bunch of people I didn't know at the Late Night Breakfast (during Finals week) and the subject of school spirit came up. Out of five people at the table, only one person didn't like it here. One person said, "I really don't understand why people give FAU so much grief. I love FAU."

The university changes so fast. I started five years ago back when no one at FAU cared about anything. We still have apathetic students around – admissions issues, what can you do – but by and large, it's a different story now versus when I started.

The key change was with Brogan and the BOT's agreement to change this into a traditional university.

It definitely helps that, in the next year we're building Traditions plaza (by the Bookstore), the Alumni Center, and we're working on getting banners/flags on campus that show the Owl head logo. The eventual idea is that when all this comes together, you as a visitor will come to FAU and think this place has a lot of school spirit. Personally, I want people to see so much FAU/Owl stuff on campus that they get sick of it (like at Ohio State).

So here's hoping this all goes through.
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FIU stadium finalized

As FAU gets closer to the top in academics and athletics those same people that down FAU will be waving the flags and buying the tags.
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Talon said

As FAU gets closer to the top in academics and athletics those same people that down FAU will be waving the flags and buying the tags.

Exactly.

In my view, FAU is soon going to become the "UCF of Boca Raton" and people are going to be repping the Owls all over the place.
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owlcountry said

Talon said

As FAU gets closer to the top in academics and athletics those same people that down FAU will be waving the flags and buying the tags.

Exactly.

In my view, FAU is soon going to become the "UCF of Boca Raton" and people are going to be repping the Owls all over the place.

Lets shoot for the UF of Boca Raton, not the UCF.

GO OWLS!!!

2017 and 2019 Conference USA Champions
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