Yeah, he said abracadabra and poof...
I mentioned when Brad was hired that he was one of the smartest people I've met and that if anybody could transform TU, it would be him, so nothing surprises me. If it's possible to turn TU into a high quality research institution (I personally think it is possible fwiw), it'll be Brad who does it. My worry is that he'll Bill Self us and move on after a few big wins.
I still have whiplash from the Janet to Brad thing. How do you go all in for 3 years on turning TU into a technical school, tear the place down academically brick by brick, and then one day decide to go back to what it was? "Oh, yeah, never mind." It's New Coke for universities. Whoever's running the show should seriously be tested for schizophrenia.
I wonder what Professor Howland thinks about the general direction of the University under Brad Carson. Other than taking apart his program, I wonder if he still has a negative view of the overall direction. I haven't seen anything positive or negative coming out of him since Carson took over.
The idealist in me says we should think Howland for his graciousness in not taking the well-deserved victory lap. The realist in me says we should thank a good NDA/confidentiality provision in his separation agreements for his, um, "discretion". But I have no information at all, just guessing based on other things I have seen in my life.
I thought you would come in about where you came in on this.
I think the political climate in the state, the misogyny and racism coming out of OKC, the war on public education the legislature seems hell bent on, plus the lure of higher wages in other places make leaving an easy thing for grads...and unfortunately, that's not something TU can change in this state. One other thing that seems to be a drawback is the inconvenience of travelling anywhere from Tulsa. There are few places you can fly direct to. Even flying to StL is getting harder. This is a drawback vs Dallas or Kansas City.
Not sure about misogyny / racism, never experienced or witnessed that personally in the 16 years I lived in Tulsa, but I can say the state income tax, limited commuter airport and "old boys" mentality (where a select clique of wealthy elitists control the mayor and the city's growth) hurt the chances of keeping graduates locally. Tulsa's a nice, affordable, friendly place to live. I tried in vain for 3 months to get a job locally after graduating with my MBA from TU before looking out-of-state. I wouldn't move back at this point until they get rid of the state income tax, but that will likely never be abrogated.
Fortunately, Tulsa needs TU more than TU needs Tulsa, Brad can remake TU even if he has limited ability to change Tulsa.
Yes but I live here and love his vision. Those of us who agree simply need to advocate. Otherwise failure is baked in.
kathy-taylor@utulsa.edu
Until Oklahoma retires it’s personal income tax, reforms it’s corporate taxation scheme and resolves several transportation hurdles, no amount of education, liberal lifestyle adjustments, or other incentives is going to entice business to Oklahoma. There is nothing remarkable about Oklahoma’s location outside the mineral industry. The workforce is undereducated and now has access to arguably the nation’s most liberal drug laws. So there are far more competitive alternatives in the region. Go into a corporate board room or government conference room and try to argue moving to Tulsa. You’ll get laughed out of the room. Oklahoma’s economy is a case study in self-strangulation. And its been that way since statehood, certainly since it was 75/25 split in favor of the ruling Democrats.
I think that is his point. That we need to continue developing reasons and that TU can be a part of it.
He says the glass is half full and we should try to add more local water, which could lead to water from other sources.
Sounds like TU needs to invest in a quality entrepreneurship center. If you can't get companies to move to Tulsa, then get people who are already there to build businesses.
FWIW, most technology hubs are in places that have a personal income tax, that really is not a factor in being a tech hub. Maybe that's important if the goal is to get established tech companies to move their HR and accounting and IT functions here if that ho hum outcome is your goal, but being a real tech hub means building from the ground up, which is why tech hubs are overwhelmingly driven by the ability to generate talent, not economic things like taxes.
You mean hold talent. A collection of similar and often competing firms that congregate in a low cost environment with access to trained talent, who hire away from each other and end up supporting an overall economy. Boise, Austin, very soon Columbus, the list goes on. It’s Chicken and Egg. The workers are the eggs. You don’t get them without chickens. The chickens are looking for the cheapest coop and the most cost effective way to gather and lay eggs.
You don't create a tech environment by bringing in tech companies, it comes by having people start tech companies that grow and then build an ecosystem around them. That is what happened in all major tech hubs, including Austin. You need talent to start companies that grow, and they add other talent from the area. Taxes have nothing to do with it, that's why most of the tech hubs are in states with personal income taxes and generally high overall rates. The embryo is having something to attract talent who will create companies and having an ecosystem to support them as they grow. There are a lot of challenges for Tulsa/Oklahoma to create tech businesses but taxes isn't one of them (education on the other hand is #1, #2 and #3 on the list...). The problems you describe probably keep Tulsa from diversifying but not so much on tech.
How can Brad Carson lower taxes?
This is a great point. If you want people who graduate from TU to stay, make it a great place to live. That matters a lot more to most people than taxes anyway. I think we just see the tip of the iceberg for what Brad has in mind but you point out something that I'm sure is part of what he's thinking.
There are 5 main cities for VC financing and all are located in some of the highest tax states - CA, NY and MA. The biggest city in a non-tax state is basically mouse nuts - Seattle got about $8.1b of VC investment in 2021 compared to LA, the smallest of the big boys, with $23.9b. If you look at what actually matters for cities to get VC financing, it's educational opportunities by far the most important.
Get that class up to a 1000 over the next couple of five years, and we're good. Maybe take it up to 1250 in the next 8 or 10 years, and I think we're where we need to be to maintain the small size, but compete on the education level and in sports.(support, funding, and quality can be maintained and improved at 1000-1250.) We'll have to build a few more teaching buildings over the next 10 years, and hire some additional staff to maintain class size.
That was the main part of my like of your comment. The other things are good, but that as you say, is huge. That means the campus has a better chance to grow larger in the next few years without unintentionally losing many faculty, and bringing in new and improved faculty.
There is reason to be optimistic. But the retirement matching is less than our peers and aspired peers, as is our base pay. We have a state income tax, as well as corporate taxes on any faculty consulting side gig, book deal, etc. It’s more lucrative for young faculty to still go elsewhere. Luckily many of them are not focused solely on that. You can bet it’s not lost on the business school applicants. We can do better and should.
I definitely wasn't suggesting that restoring the match solved everything.
I can’t speak for the man but he’s run businesses and a massive federal bureaucracy. I don’t think there’s anyone who understands more how difficult it is to reacquire intellectual capital once you lose it. So it’s not like he was doing risk balancing and saying I won’t restore the pension until I absolutely have to. You can’t spend money until it’s in the bank or at least on the books. Once it was there, he brought back the pension immediately.
Looking forward to University of Tulsa, Stillwater Campus. Take the fight to the enemy!
