Valpo Strategic Plan

[David81]

Jeeze!  Pardon me, but this pissing contest is getting repetitive and boring. 

We have two strongly opposing views. Both sides (the ones with the frickin power to actually get something done) need to sit down together, and 1) first agree on what is best for the long-term growth and survival of the institution and then 2) arrive at a solution that both can live with. No one needs to be an absolute winner — except the university in the long term as a whole. 

And, BTW, none of us on this forum have any credentials that qualify us to participate in that dialog. Let's all move on to spectator status, wait, see what happens, and  then criticize the s[-]\¥ out of it 😜

I hope for a mutually acceptable Option C, but it will require the appearance of new sources of lots of money.

Absent that, and assuming the art sale goes through, the ripple effects will make it very hard for the University to consider a coaching buyout for MBB without risking a very public challenge to its leadership.

[VULB#62]

David, I'm kind of a linear thinker. Right now, I just want the university to dispose of the art kerfuffle and stabilize the emotions and finances related to it. Once that is put to bed ( hopefully 🙄), the university can move onto elephant #2. Granted both issues we on the forum are bouncing between are emotional, but I fear that the art stuff is more threatening to university stability in the short term. That has to be resolved first. If we have to endure another down BB year ( and I say this with bile rising in my throat) so be it.

Now the solution could be just jam the sale through (damn the torpedos etc.) but I'd much like to see compromise that puts the university, rather than narrower agendas, in a better, more stable position. The key is what can both sides live with.

[ValpoDiaspora]

In my opinion the compensation problem (a decades old problem neglected by the previous President) is the most urgent issue given the current economic conditions. I know it is not a sexy topic but it is the issue that has the capacity to destroy this place for good even if it remains open (and that is a big if)

Huh, yeah, I sort of agree. I do wonder if perhaps NONE of the other decisions (whether to sell art, what to do with the sports, identity angst over the mix of liberal arts and professional) can be "put to bed" until the salary economic quicksand issue is addressed. When people throughout a community are frightened and not able to keep their heads above water, they cling to stuff in disordinate ways. It's funny, when I was a grad student, the doctoral students unionized to get COLA adjustments for doctoral stipends. At the time, I was very uncomfortable with the conflictual nature of the struggle and stayed far away, not sure what to make of it all and generally kind of opposed to what my peers were doing. An agreement was reached, some COLA was instituted, and life went on with restored harmony, much to the relief of my Confucian heart. Then I got to Valpo and a) was kind of shocked to find conditions for faculty life so much worse than doctoral life... faculty and admin fighting over who would pay out of their personal pocket to get a coffee machine in the faculty lounge; senior colleagues working gig delivery jobs on the side to make ends meet, etc; and b) found myself wishing for the clearing-of-the-air that a direct, open negotiation of conflicting interests, wins and concessions, could bring. Valpo staff and faculty culture is in its own Midwestern way far too pietistic & concerned with respectability to ever go for a strike and force a reckoning, so I guess instead we see the energy around stuff like fine art ; but the fears and struggles are not gone, but just kind of sublimated or handled in proxy wars. So sometimes I thought it would actually help the best interests of the university if employees did just put a foot down and insist on some basic conditions for dignity and professionalism, so that everybody could sit down and talk through necessary decisions at an arm's length, without every tough decision proceeding on the level of personal existential insult. There ARE key identity issues at stake, like the profile of the institution as a sustainable comprehensive university, and there going to be ethical puzzles and things to resist, but I am beginning to also wonder if the passion over these three paintings is really the most most fundamental occasion for people to discern together how to get to an economically just and academically sustainable future? After all the things employees and students could have but didn't protest these last 10-20 years, is this now really The One?

I dunno, I'm not trying to deny that there are real issues of intrinsic value or ethics in the present art conversation. But yeah... in the actual context in which Valpo exists, I think Dejavu has a point!

[crusader05]

I do agree that Pay is probably the biggest challenge facing the university and it does seem that this art sale is probably a manifestation of other things. My only concern is that to address pay you either need 1. more students or 2. less staff/faculty 3. less other stuff.

I'd imagine over time the endowment funds can help bite into that. I think the other thing you might be dealing with is a disparity in pay from people who have been there a long time and newer people.  I know one issue my spouses company had to address was that a portion of their workforce didn't get raises for years following the recession which just grew the gap between them and other employee who had been there prior to lean times and had received cost of living and significant merit raises. I imagine at universities where tenured professors are more likely to stay longer and therefore be there for lean and flush times you can see that disparity start to take effect as well. Combine this with tenure faculty being the one safe from being let go and you are not even saving as much money if you do cuts short of actual program terminations. I know the buy out we did and what DePauw did a few years ago is supposed to address that but with buyouts lasting 1-2 years we won't see the beneft of any of that money just yet.

[valpopal]

The art associations listed above, from what I have read over the last several weeks, would condemn ANY sale of art by a university. In their mind, art has infinite value and thus should never be given lesser priority than ANYTHING else at a university. Who gave them the right to determine what is proper for Valparaiso to do? Valpo should care less what they determine is ethical and unethical behavior.

These are misunderstandings. The art associations have been given the right to judge by all of the museums across the country, and they only condemn sales in which the proceeds are not put into improvement or expansion of a museum's collection. Also, those who suggest just ignoring the associations don't understand fully how this works. The art groups' actions aren't undone if the university ignores them. Padilla and the Board can close their eyes and put their hands over ears, but all other universities, museums, and art buyers, dealers, or donors will not ignore and will care. If the art associations condemn VU and recommend sanctions, it doesn't just taint Valpo in the perception of others and lower the museum's stature (perhaps as if going from D-1 to D-3 in athletic terms); additionally, all of their members could stop cooperating with VU in exhibitions, refuse to loan artworks to the museum, not bid on the works for sale and drive down their prices, warn donors not to gift works to Valpo, etc. The universities and museums across the country would be like a labor union and Valpo would be viewed as a scab. 

[crusadermoe]

Folks, we all like dreams and "strategic planning." But the BOND RATING is third party. Thanks to VU72 for his new Moody's thread.   

Rating Action: Moody's downgrades Valparaiso University's (IN) to Baa2; outlook revised to stable
27 Feb 2023 -------------------
New York, February 27, 2023 -- Moody's Investors Service has downgraded Valparaiso University, IN's issuer and revenue bond ratings to Baa2 from Baa1.

RATINGS RATIONALE
The downgrade to Baa2 reflects a large structural budget imbalance, with weak operating performance and debt service coverage likely over the next several years. Liquidity is already very thin, inclusive of draws under a working capital line, and will erode further, with the pace of decline dependent on the ability to successfully implement in a timely way initiatives to realign its program and expense structure with enrollment amid a difficult regional student market. The university generated a nearly 8% operating deficit in fiscal 2022 and the deficit for fiscal 2023 is forecast to be substantially worse, with below 1.0x debt service coverage from regular operations.

Despite these challenges, Valparaiso University's Baa2 remains supported by its very good total wealth, good levels of spendable cash and investments, and a recognized regional brand bolstering a still good strategic position. Philanthropic support is relatively good with three-year gift revenue averaging over $15 million. Despite a use of some liquid reserves, spendable cash and investments continues to provide solid debt coverage at nearly 1.4x. An operating base of over $112 million provides some expense flexibility and potential for operating performance improvement through expense reductions. Additionally, the university has gained some traction in graduate programs, including nursing and information technology.

RATING OUTLOOK

The outlook is currently stable incorporating the university's identified budget initiatives, which have some prospects for success on both the revenue and expense side.  The stable outlook also incorporates broader wealth levels that provide some financial flexibility to implement plans. The university's management team is relatively new without a yet established track record of reversing the university's multi-year enrollment and financial challenges. Inability to make clear progress in fiscal 2024, including meeting enrollment targets in Fall 2023 would have either rating or outlook implications.

FACTORS THAT COULD LEAD TO AN UPGRADE OF THE RATINGS

- Notable strengthening of brand and strategic position, reflected in growing enrollment and net tuition revenue and further growth in philanthropy

- Significant improvement in annual operating performance driven by net tuition revenue growth and expense reductions
- Material growth in total wealth and financial reserves with significantly stronger liquidity
FACTORS THAT COULD LEAD TO A DOWNGRADE OF THE RATINGS

- Failure to make progress towards stabilizing enrollment in fall 2023 with growth in net student revenue

- Inability to make substantial progress towards narrowing operating imbalances in fiscal 2024 and beyond, with consistent debt service coverage above 1.2x.
- Further reduction in unrestricted liquidity or broader wealth levels
LEGAL SECURITY

Outstanding debt is all unsecured general obligations of the university.  The J.P. Morgan Chase line of credit includes a financial covenant that unrestricted cash and investments to debt be at least 1.0x. The covenanted ratio stood at 1.5x in fiscal 2022. There are no debt reserve fund requirements.

[ValpoDiaspora]

If VU84V2 is right that we shouldn't really care that much what external orgs like the Art associations think, I suppose that's true of Moody's too. These third party orgs have their own agendas, like art preservation or debt credit reporting. And should Valpo be looking to get any further lines of debt credit, given the heavy interest burden already bearing down?

the most important line in Moody's write up is that Valpo's reputation is not totally in tatters from recent rough patches. Fortunately, they assess the regional impression as still okay: "a recognized regional brand bolstering a still good strategic position"

[crusader05]

I think the other pieice is for those of us who care about Valpo the only school who's outlook I truly care about is there. But a place like Moody is looking across the industry. They seem to be differentiating a rough patch with solid footing BUT they do seem to be sending the message that Enrollment is going to be the thing they are looking at the most

[crusadermoe]

Agreed that Moodys says long term is solid despite the rough patch and that enrollment is their pivot.

But..as to the size of the patch..I missed at first the specifics on deficit size and the expectation that weak operational budget will persist for several years.  To quote: "FY22 ended with an 8% deficit and FY23 will be substantially worse."

(The new year starting July 1, 2023 goes unmentioned of course by a bond company.  What do we project for fall enrollment in FY24?

[valpopal]

Now the solution could be just jam the sale through (damn the torpedos etc.) but I'd much like to see compromise that puts the university, rather than narrower agendas, in a better, more stable position. The key is what can both sides live with.

Excellent comment, 62. I would not be surprised, and I'd be delighted, when a possible compromise solution is proposed that might engage and suit all parties involved. I trust it is just a matter of briefly working through a rather messy process in the meantime with hope of getting to that final point of agreement. 

[FWalum]

The art associations listed above, from what I have read over the last several weeks, would condemn ANY sale of art by a university. In their mind, art has infinite value and thus should never be given lesser priority than ANYTHING else at a university. Who gave them the right to determine what is proper for Valparaiso to do? Valpo should care less what they determine is ethical and unethical behavior.

These are misunderstandings. The art associations have been given the right to judge by all of the museums across the country, and they only condemn sales in which the proceeds are not put into improvement or expansion of a museum's collection. Also, those who suggest just ignoring the associations don't understand fully how this works. The art groups' actions aren't undone if the university ignores them. Padilla and the Board can close their eyes and put their hands over ears, but all other universities, museums, and art buyers, dealers, or donors will not ignore and will care. If the art associations condemn VU and recommend sanctions, it doesn't just taint Valpo in the perception of others and lower the museum's stature (perhaps as if going from D-1 to D-3 in athletic terms); additionally, all of their members could stop cooperating with VU in exhibitions, refuse to loan artworks to the museum, not bid on the works for sale and drive down their prices, warn donors not to gift works to Valpo, etc. The universities and museums across the country would be like a labor union and Valpo would be viewed as a scab. 

This article suggests that vu84v2 is correct. https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2023/02/10/indiana-university-sell-georgia-okeeffe-painting-deaccession

The AAMD loosened its deaccessioning guidelines during the onset of Covid-19 in 2020, as museums grappled with how to stay financially afloat amid lockdowns. For two years, the group said it would not penalise any institution for using funds from deaccessioning work for the "direct care of collections", instead of restricting the proceeds for further art acquisitions.

However, high-profile deaccessions during that time period still sparked outcry. In October 2020, the Baltimore Museum of Art announced it would sell three works—including an Andy Warhol—to fund a $65m endowment for initiatives like staff pay raises and diversity programmes. While the museum's plan followed AAMD guidelines at the time, the announcement was met with board resignations and industry pushback. The works were pulled just hours before the auction was scheduled to take place.

Maybe the AAMD should recognize the delayed effect that COVID has had on places like universities.

[VULB#62]

Interesting batch of letters to the editor yesterday and today:

Laura Wehrenberg (BA 1969, descendent of university founder): http://www.valpotorch.com/opinion/article_1e0dbb68-b859-11ed-a542-2bb768ccd111.html
Logan Albright,  Lee Ross, & Victoria Tiller (current students?): http://www.valpotorch.com/opinion/article_b65778da-b338-11ed-8504-7f474ff165e0.html
Gloria Ruff (former curator): http://www.valpotorch.com/opinion/article_214e7ba2-b85c-11ed-a536-87b44730dfce.html
Lilian Goss-Pierce (student) : http://www.valpotorch.com/opinion/article_7f9e4e4a-b338-11ed-9fb7-7f5eda27e187.html#tncms-source=article-nav-next

Just a quick question and a reaction to those articulated stances:

Question: How many total pieces does the Brauer hold under its auspices and what percent of the collection is represented by those three in question?

Reaction:  If this proposed sale guts the Brauer and renders it totally irrelevant, I am solidly against the sale.

If, OTOH, although they are pricey pieces, their sale does not appreciably diminish the overall artistic experience for students and occasional guests that has existed over the length of the Brauer's existence, then why the explosive outcry? Viewed another way,  if the Brauer had to close and the only way to save it would be to sell those three pieces, would this even be an issue?  Hey, art is bought, sold and loaned all the time.  Though beautiful, all art is a commodity.

I get the emotions, but the Brauer Museum is but one kinda low profile piece (IMO, cuz I have received in over 50+ years as an alum very little  promotion of its incredible value to me or the world in general) of a much larger multifaceted university that, right now, needs to find ways to ensure its long term survival in a higher educational environment that is experiencing accelerating change at a rate never experienced before.

I believe that Padilla is advancing (though clumsily) pragmatic options in this regard. I believe he sees the new higher education landscape clearer than many as a result of coming to VU from institutions outside of the " Valpo Bubble."

I go back to my initial precept:  Both sides of this issue are obligated to find "what they can mutually live with" to ensure the future of our beloved university.

[valpopal]

This article suggests that vu84v2 is correct. https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2023/02/10/indiana-university-sell-georgia-okeeffe-painting-deaccession

No, the case of the Baltimore Museum of Art actually points to the opposite conclusion. The Association of Art Museum Directors caught the Baltimore Museum of Art trying to game the system by misrepresenting its plan in order to appear within guidelines at the time and to exploit the temporary Covid exception permitted between 2020 and 2022. As an article linked in this news report indicates: ""Critically, the [AAMD] statement also states that funds from deaccession may only be used for the direct care of the collection for a limited two-year period, from April 2020 until April 2022. Thus the Baltimore Museum's plan to create a long-term endowment, to fund the museum into the future, is clearly outside the scope of permissible uses of deaccession funds." Also, "The BMA has reported that it is not squeezed financially," another key qualification for the temporary exemption.


Unfortunately, like others during the Covid crisis, the Baltimore Museum of Art unethically tried to deceptively plunder from temporary lifting of restrictions to allow access to emergency funding. Kudos to the AAMD folks for calling them out. Nevertheless, in the end the AAMD didn't prohibit the sales; instead, due to the shame of being exposed for their unethical behavior and resulting poor publicity, the museum withdrew its artworks from sale. As your article states: "The works were pulled just hours before the auction was scheduled to take place."

[mj]

What if we take a photo of the painting, sell the painting, and then put the photo in the same place?

Best of both worlds.

[ValpoDiaspora]

I believe that Padilla is advancing (though clumsily) pragmatic options in this regard. I believe he sees the new higher education landscape clearer than many as a result of coming to VU from institutions outside of the " Valpo Bubble."

It is good he has institutional experience from outside the VU Bubble, but the clumsiness you mention (and that of Heckler before him) is more than a Bubble issue but also an experience issue. If you look at the leadership of the university, people bring a lot of different kinds of experience and resources to the table. The Board tends to be Valpo BA alumns who then went on to become successful in business, social media influencing, or as lawyers, but for the most part have no more experience of four-year institutions beyond having been undergrads themselves once. The Upper Administration tends to be MBAs, JDs, and some people with M.Ed or D.Ed 'higher ed industry' technocrat training and degrees. The staff leading key offices like Advancement, Communications, Institutional Effectiveness etc are generally people with Associates or Bachelors degrees, either from Valpo or sometimes from other regional schools like IvyTech or PNW. All of these people bring great wisdom and hard work from their various life and educational formations.

But seems like some of the 'clumsiness' of the last few years has to do with the Board and Administration being generally unaware of how the specifics of the academic world work: Wait, all of US academia knows that we're having financial trouble?? We were just trying to trim some labor costs...Who would have guessed that dozens of laid-off professors would go back to their masters and doctoral advisors for letters of rec and send applications to interview committees at lord-knows-how-many universities across the entire US? What, the retention rate is falling... Do you think there could be some mysterious connection between teaching load/pay and student experience? Huh, we thought we could just sell art assets... Who knew these Art Associations and their ethics judgements even existed, and that there might be a PR problem? Again, these are not moral failings, just a disconnect between training/experience and academic process.

As the university has turned more towards the corporate model of higher ed, the experience that ends up worryingly absent  (with probably the exception of Eric Johnson, who did his doctorate at Notre Dame and probably as Provost gets to sit in the big office meetings), are faculty who have apprenticed all the way through the academic system esp. in the sort of private liberal arts comprehensive university that Valpo had historically been in conversation with and respected among. I really don't mean to suggest that a PhD is somehow an inherently better kind of formation since in general it's not -- but it is just a matter of relevant experience for university-specific life, of having watched and been part of the whole process. If most of the MBA/M.Ed/BA people calling the shots have never been through a traditional academic search, applied for a grant, navigated wider professional bodies and academic associations, or put together syllabi for four preps, etc., they're just going to miss a lot.... It's hard to run a successful croissant shop if you've never seen anybody make croissants.

[crusadermoe]

Diaspora, that seems like a very fair and calm assessment of the players in this mix. 

Padilla and the board are picking the least bad options during a time when Moody's is pinpointing the urgencies of cash flow and enrollment for VU. Naturally we would prefer they only pick "good options" instead of "least bad ones."  But that is our reality.

[historyman]

What if we take a photo of the painting, sell the painting, and then put the photo in the same place?

Best of both worlds.

Can I do that with my cousin's diploma and just change the first name on the diploma a bit?

[valpopal]

Now the solution could be just jam the sale through (damn the torpedos etc.) but I'd much like to see compromise that puts the university, rather than narrower agendas, in a better, more stable position. The key is what can both sides live with.

Excellent comment, 62. I would not be surprised, and I'd be delighted, when a possible compromise solution is proposed that might engage and suit all parties involved. I trust it is just a matter of briefly working through a rather messy process in the meantime with hope of getting to that final point of agreement. 

I attended a Faculty Senate special session meeting Thursday afternoon. The Senate approved sending a resolution to Padilla and the Board that it is hoped all can find acceptable. As 62 states above, the aim was to find a path "both sides can live with." The resolution recommends a collaborative compromise solution for funding, which renovates the dorms without sale of the paintings, though leasing artworks would be allowed. The resolution also proposes participation in the process by all parties—Padilla, the Board, faculty, alumni donors, museum officials, and the national art associations who have offered to help.


That is the general overview. I cannot discuss specifics until the proposal is public, but I thought it hopeful a compromise is being sought, and I wanted to share that positive news. To give you an idea of the campus interest, the Senate has 20 members but attendance by faculty was over 80. Also, I am told the current petition circulating against the art sale has 1800 signatures thus far.

[usc4valpo]

How will Valpo get the cash to keep moving? Leasing does not bring in close to enough revenue compared to selling.

[ValpoDiaspora]

That's so great Padilla is starting to consider these voices in the field! Make me think of Sunzi's Art of War, on unwise and wise generals, if Valpo's face-off against the enrollment cliff can be compared to war. He is going to need the troops, even his art troops, on his side.

12-17. There are three ways in which a ruler can bring misfortune upon his army:--
(1) By commanding the army to advance or to retreat, being ignorant of the fact that it cannot obey. This is called hobbling the army.
(2) By attempting to govern an army in the same way as he administers a kingdom, being ignorant of the conditions which obtain in an army. This causes restlessness in the soldier's minds.
(3) By employing the officers of his army without discrimination, through ignorance of the military principle of adaptation to circumstances. This shakes the confidence of the soldiers.
But when the army is restless and distrustful, trouble is sure to come from the other feudal princes. This is simply bringing anarchy into the army, and flinging victory away. Thus we may know that there are five essentials for victory: (1) He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight. (2) He will win who knows how to handle both superior and inferior forces. (3) He will win whose army is animated by the same spirit throughout all its ranks...'

[crusadermoe]

I only read about half of them for interests of time.  But Putin is violating all of the ones I read.  Per these rules, he is especially unwise if he truly wants to occupy as a unified USSR. 

But I certainly digressed from our paintings and battle conversation.

[usc4valpo]

How much cash will Valpo get with this strategy compared to selling?

[David81]

Now the solution could be just jam the sale through (damn the torpedos etc.) but I'd much like to see compromise that puts the university, rather than narrower agendas, in a better, more stable position. The key is what can both sides live with.

Excellent comment, 62. I would not be surprised, and I'd be delighted, when a possible compromise solution is proposed that might engage and suit all parties involved. I trust it is just a matter of briefly working through a rather messy process in the meantime with hope of getting to that final point of agreement. 

I attended a Faculty Senate special session meeting Thursday afternoon. The Senate approved sending a resolution to Padilla and the Board that it is hoped all can find acceptable. As 62 states above, the aim was to find a path "both sides can live with." The resolution recommends a collaborative compromise solution for funding, which renovates the dorms without sale of the paintings, though leasing artworks would be allowed. The resolution also proposes participation in the process by all parties—Padilla, the Board, faculty, alumni donors, museum officials, and the national art associations who have offered to help.


That is the general overview. I cannot discuss specifics until the proposal is public, but I thought it hopeful a compromise is being sought, and I wanted to share that positive news. To give you an idea of the campus interest, the Senate has 20 members but attendance by faculty was over 80. Also, I am told the current petition circulating against the art sale has 1800 signatures thus far.

I'm encouraged that folks are in problem-solving mode. Maybe the acceptable compromise isn't there yet, but if there's a path towards a third way to do this (besides selling the paintings or doing nothing), then there's hope.

[vu84v2]

Now the solution could be just jam the sale through (damn the torpedos etc.) but I'd much like to see compromise that puts the university, rather than narrower agendas, in a better, more stable position. The key is what can both sides live with.

Excellent comment, 62. I would not be surprised, and I'd be delighted, when a possible compromise solution is proposed that might engage and suit all parties involved. I trust it is just a matter of briefly working through a rather messy process in the meantime with hope of getting to that final point of agreement. 

I attended a Faculty Senate special session meeting Thursday afternoon. The Senate approved sending a resolution to Padilla and the Board that it is hoped all can find acceptable. As 62 states above, the aim was to find a path "both sides can live with." The resolution recommends a collaborative compromise solution for funding, which renovates the dorms without sale of the paintings, though leasing artworks would be allowed. The resolution also proposes participation in the process by all parties—Padilla, the Board, faculty, alumni donors, museum officials, and the national art associations who have offered to help.


That is the general overview. I cannot discuss specifics until the proposal is public, but I thought it hopeful a compromise is being sought, and I wanted to share that positive news. To give you an idea of the campus interest, the Senate has 20 members but attendance by faculty was over 80. Also, I am told the current petition circulating against the art sale has 1800 signatures thus far.

First, the art associations should not be allowed ANY involvement in university deliberations and or decisions. NONE! They are not employees, students, alumni, or meaningful donors. They would prioritize art over any university avoiding deeper financial problems.

Second, this points to the often unrealistic expectations of "shared governance" in universities. Getting input can be fine, but the reality is that President Padilla and the board are the ultimate decision-makers. Trying to find solutions that appease all parties is very likely to lead to sub-optimal solutions.

Third, it is always good to consider options (leasebacks?) - but there needs to be a realistic assessment of any option's ability to meet financial needs. An alternative that yields $1M versus the 'sale option" that yields $10M is not acceptable (though, of course, it would be to the art associations).

Lastly - and this goes back to stakeholders - why should alumni donors prioritize donating money to the university (versus many other valid options) if the university refuses to maximize its use of assets that are not related to the university's core mission and its outcomes to fund initiatives that are key to realizing its fundamental objectives?

[Valpofamfan]

For what it's worth I have it on good authority that there are people on the board strongly opposed to the art sale. But Padilla is pretty set on it and it will be hard to get him to listen and change his mind.