Actually, it wasn't just more international students they were after, it was non-local students in general. Since Dr. Lawless got there in 1995, TU has been on the quest to not be considered a regional university trying to increase its profile to be more in line with SMU, Rice, and TCU. Also, with regards to international students, they are 100% cash paying customers which was always very important to TU.
I am not going to rake Stead Up over the coals. Salary too high-probably. He was charged with growing TU which he did. Probably too fast but the new engineering buildings, performing arts center, revamped Skelly, southside apartments, etc. have all occurred on his watch. I think they were expecting some donations to accrue more interest than they have and the endowment took a slight hit meaning interest on that was down (and while they try not to touch actual endowment $s for the yearly budget, the interest is factored). So combine not quite full funding for various projects and endowment interest lower than calculated and you have a budget shortfall.
As for Ross...don't blame Stead or anyone else for what happened there. Ross was being groomed by Bubba to take over. I know Ross, I worked with him a good amount at TU when he was director of football ops, and you could tell the second they named him assoc. AD that he was in line for a promotion should Bubba leave or another university came calling for an AD. What Ross was hiding in the closet were things that no one knew about except for the bookie and Ross (and maybe Ross' wife).Stead Up took swift and immediate action there.
I like what I've seen from Dr. Clancy so far. He seems to be more in touch with the general TU community (students, faculty, and staff) than Dr. Upham was. I also think he brings a renewed and clean vision to TU and it's role in Tulsa and higher education. I think the budget recovery will be swift.
