New President named - Jose Padilla

[78crusader]

Jose Padilla has been named the next President of Valparaiso University.

Background includes 15 years at DePaul and a brief stay at the University of Colorado system.

Paul

[valpopal]

Below is the notice sent to students, faculty, and staff. Interesting to see the items mentioned and most notably those omitted in the notice. He is credited as having "broad experience," "from undergraduate student to graduate student, to alumnus, to donor." I would assume this list of experiences applied to every candidate for the position, as well as many non-candidates, including quite a few on this fan list. It seems curious these ordinary less-impressive features were highlighted, yet all of his deep political connections, major experiences, and high-profile positions—including 16 years in Washington DC as assistant to Democrat Senators Bentsen and Krueger, plus appointed to the Customs Services within Treasury by President Clinton, and then advisor to Lori Lightfoot's mayoral transition team, etc.—were purposely left out. Obviously, the university didn't want these details among those in the announcement. Nevertheless, the notice touts: "Most recently, he served as Vice President, University Counsel and Secretary of the University of Colorado System." However, Padilla had just assumed his position at Colorado on July 6, less than 5 months ago, but he was immediately considering another job and is already leaving there. I question the focus and lack of transparency in this announcement.



I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday and that you and your families are safe. I am reaching out today with exciting news for our University. As you know, we have been searching for the next President of Valpo for some time. Today, we are happy to announce that José D. Padilla will become the University's next President. A dynamic innovator, thinker and natural leader, José brings many skills, experiences and accomplishments in higher education which are ideally suited to the University's needs today and in the future.

José joins Valpo as the culmination of a long and successful career in higher education. Most recently, he served as Vice President, University Counsel and Secretary of the University of Colorado System. Previously he served 15 years in senior leadership roles at DePaul University in Chicago, the most recent as Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary.

José is widely respected nationally in the higher education field as having superior business acumen and as a man of faith. His broad experiences range from undergraduate student, to graduate student, alumnus, donor, lecturer, administrator, member of the president's cabinet, and board member. His leadership experiences provide the background to lead the University as it moves forward with the strong desire to increase enrollment and attract a more diverse student body.

We selected José in partnership with a highly reputable search firm, with over 100 candidates considered from a wide variety of backgrounds. José, with his legal experiences as a senior executive both at DePaul and the University of Colorado System, along with his varied background, has the broad leadership skills to lead the University in the 2020s.

José will become President Elect on Jan. 1, 2021. He will work closely with current Interim President Colette Irwin-Knott and become President on or before March 1, 2021.

This is an extremely exciting time for our University, and we're looking forward to the future. Please join me in welcoming José in his leadership role in our University.

[78crusader]

The association with Lori Lightfoot does not exactly inspire confidence.

Paul

[vu84v2]

I clearly hope that this is a good hire and that he can come in and provide the leadership necessary to navigate a challenging situation. But I must admit that I am somewhat concerned that he took a senior position at the University of Colorado in the late Spring and then is taking this position at Valparaiso in early December. He must have been interviewing with Valpo by September. Valpo cannot afford to have a University President who is not committed to the university for the long term.

[crusader05]

If there's no other evidence of this time of situation my guess is it was a combo of the Valpo job being too good an opportunity to pass up combined with maybe a distinct unhappiness where he currently was in the University of Colorado System. Sometimes the short stint says more about the place of employment than the employee and sometimes it's just a random confluence of factors. Of course it could be that he's not committed but we have no real evidence for it and all we can do is wait and see if the Search Committee made a good call.

[vu72]

Clearly he is a mid-westerner given where his academic credentials were earned.  Given his academic, legal and political experience, my guess is that he may end up on a panel discussion from rime to time.  Never a bad thing from an exposure standpoint.

Undoubtedly he wiil be Valpo's first non-Lutheran President.  Not sure about this but my guess is that his number 2 will fill this hole with the alumni.  Having said that, I also think John Nuness would have been a perfect fit.

Buckle up!  Go Valpo!!

[crusader05]

In this article from the Tribune he specifically mentions wanting to be at a Faith Based Institution as a reason for the job being so appealing. It also perhaps fills in the gap of why he left the Colorado job so quickly.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/ct-ptb-valparaiso-new-president-st-1203-20201202-cxz5kpmrorfafcyiit6i7n3b7y-story.html

[vu84v2]

We can all agree that we hope he is a great fit and does a very good job.

[crusadermoe]

It's sort of strange that he comes from the Colorado system just like Mark Heckler did. 

Is Lutheran an after thought now?  I don't have extensive knowledge, but my sense is that DePaul as a University is faith-based only in a fairly generic sense. What does he perceive that to mean?

[bbtds]

It's sort of strange that he comes from the Colorado system just like Mark Heckler did. 

Is Lutheran an after thought now?  I don't have extensive knowledge, but my sense is that DePaul as a University is faith-based only in a fairly generic sense. What does he perceive that to mean?

It is my sense that DePaul University is just as religious as Saint Louis University and Notre Dame.

[valpotx]

I don't care about the short stint at Colorado, as I pull people from other jobs all of the time, that might have only started there in the last year.  It is what it is, and since he does have a stable history prior to this one, I am not concerned.  On my side, I also don't care about having a President with a Lutheran association, but I know that is a hot topic for other people.  Faith was not a reason for my Valpo attendance at all, and I know that was the same for many of my classmates.

[bbtds]

José Padilla

[bbtds]

I don't care about the short stint at Colorado, as I pull people from other jobs all of the time, that might have only started there in the last year.  It is what it is, and since he does have a stable history prior to this one, I am not concerned.  On my side, I also don't care about having a President with a Lutheran association, but I know that is a hot topic for other people.  Faith was not a reason for my Valpo attendance at all, and I know that was the same for many of my classmates.

But it is a huge glass ceiling that has been broken and probably the correct move considering the university's financial situation. I'm sure there are going to be many Lutheran alumni of Valpo expressing their concern over this move.

[crusader05]

I do feel that overall we could learn something from some of the Catholic institutions that have managed to have a more national brand while still maintaining a religious identity and would be interested to see how some of that translates.

[David81]

An intriguing choice. I don't recall his background fitting any of the prototypes that any of us offered here for the next VU President.

Good university presidents come from many different places and with many different backgrounds.

I wish him well. The fact that he'd take the VU presidency now says something about his willingness to lead an institution with both special strengths and many of the challenges facing universities outside of a select circle.

[crusadermoe]

Wall Street Journal article today, "Colleges Cut Tenure."   

Largely the article talks about the financial impact of COVID leading to a pushing aside of "shared governance" in which faculty ran the academic side of the school as nearly co-equal to the board. It's a concept almost incomprehensible if you come from a business perspective. 

Some sobering statistics in the article:
Except for elite schools, overall enrollment has been falling for several years
Schools employed 10% fewer faculty and workers in Sept. 2020 than in Sept. 2019
Fall enrollment for freshmen declined by 16% per a study of 700 schools
Fall enrollment for international students declined 43% per same study
Today 30% of faculty are tenured, in 1970 the percent was 70%
In fairness to the faculty, they say the number of administrators has risen faster than professors

I was quite surprised by the hire of a new president last week.  Just two months ago they named an interim president, right?  I thought that signaled a transition year for downsizing and re-engineering before bringing a new guy into a better climate. Why bother with the interim idea if they were allowing for a move that quickly?

[valpotx]

I believe that the Interim President is a Board member, so it was probably done to help ease any transition, with the search taking longer than expected.

[vu72]

Fall enrollment for freshmen declined by 16% per a study of 700 schools[/quote

Apparently was not the case at Valpo.  Here's a thoughtful post on the subject |

Here are my thoughts moving forward for next year on projected enrollment.

637 first-year students for fall 2020, down from 649 in 2019.

Most schools and other sources have deferments at between 10-15% for 2020 incoming classes. I will use the low end and say 10% deferred so 64 students. From the Scroggins comments a few weeks ago we know we were up 15% ahead of 2019 in early March so let's say, 97 students.

637 (2020's total) + 64 (deferred) + 97 (pre-COIVD increase number) = 798 Freshman

So 798 with an increase in selectivity.

Many of us were expecting this year, year two of Ray Brown at the helm of admissions to turn the tide, however, COVID happened and no one expected that. I am very certain that year three will have tremendous results for a few reasons. First, they will continue to build off what was done last year. Three years in allows for enough time to evaluate what has and hasn't worked in the new strategies that they have implemented since Brown's arrival double down on what has worked and stop what hasn't. I believe this is now the third year of the new enrollment management company (if past posters posts have been accurate) which usually doesn't pay big dividends until year 2-3.

Thoughts?

[valpo95]

Fall enrollment for freshmen declined by 16% per a study of 700 schools

...

So 798 with an increase in selectivity.

...

Thoughts?

I can't really argue with the numbers, except that the individuals applying to Valparaiso are probably more likely to attend (regardless of COVID) so the 798 seems seems a bit optimistic.

What I can say is that I have not seen any evidence that there has been an increase in selectivity. The current acceptance rate is 89% (as of 2019, see https://www.niche.com/colleges/valparaiso-university/admissions/ for example.)

[valpo64]

It would appear that VU's numbers are pretty good when compared to the National numbers.

[bbtds]

Dear Valparaiso University Alumni:
Merry Christmas! I hope this message finds you and your loved ones well. As we look ahead to 2021, many of us eagerly anticipate getting to know the next President of Valparaiso University, José Padilla.
Please enjoy this video to learn more about him, his family, and how excited they are joining the Valpo community.

Please join me in welcoming José to the Valpo community.
I hope you and your family are safe and well.
Blessings,

Frederick G. Kraegel '70
Chair, Board of Directors
Valparaiso University
LUA.Board@valpo.edu

FREDERICK G. KRAEGEL '70, CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD

1700 CHAPEL DRIVE
VALPARAISO, IN 46383

valpo.edu



Message from the new Valpo president José Padilla


https://t.e2ma.net/click/ohgnsd/8ov7udb/olrivr

[crusadermoe]

Really impressive guy with a great family story.  He's convincing and dynamic.  It's a really big job with tall odds as a midwestern mid-sized university for all the reasons we have hashed out.  But the right person could do it.   

Let's get 2020 out of the way and plan forward for 2021 onward.     

[David81]

I, too, was very impressed with President Padilla in the video circulated by VU. He appears to be smart, dedicated, genuine, and up for a worthy institution and the challenges it faces.

First impressions are not always lasting ones, but that was a very encouraging introduction!

[crusader05]

A short interview with the new president on local radio

https://www.lakeshorepublicradio.org/post/regionally-speaking-tuesday-march-23-2021#stream/0

[VUFan2021]

President Padilla needs to quickly bring back men's soccer to Valpo. How in the world can a university eliminate the world's most popular sport. Valpo men's soccer elegantly represented the diversity of the campus. The campus environment is lacking without a men's soccer program. Bring back the men's soccer program ASAP!