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Q&A With AD Candidates

P

psublog

Active member
Hi all-

I just posted the responses of three of the four Athletic Director candidates to a series of questions I emailed them.I hope anyone who is interested in the future of PSU will take a little time to read through the responses so the community can start to formulate some opinions about the candidates. Please e-mail me at [email protected] with any q's or comments.

http://portlandstatevikings.blogs.oregonlive.com/default.asp?item=506893

Thanks,

Ian
 
I liked the responses from all three candidates. Below is what I liked best about each of them:

Torre Chisholm, UC Irvine: Marketing background, has worked at schools at the same level as PSU, has an understanding of the financial problems facing PSU. He also started two of the most successful student fan groups in California, the Gaucho Locos and the CIA. He could be a huge catalyst to getting The Horde going big (which is a personal passion of mine, as I was a co-creator of it).

Pete Isakson, Washington State: Seems very interested and commited to PSU, views a career in athletics as a passion, not as a job, marketing background, has fundraising ties to Portland. I'm not sure he has a good understanding of the financial problems facing PSU. He also comes from a larger school, so his scale of budgets might be skewed.

Bruce Parker, Carroll College: Is currently an AD. I think he is the least qualified of the three that responded. He comes from a small market, and a small school. I'm not sure he even knows that PSU has a budgetary problem.

I really wish Chris May from Colorado would have answered. My choice would be between Chisholm and Isakson. Chisholm knows the level we participate in athletics, comes from larger markets, and has an understading of creating an exciting gameday experience. Isakson comes from a bigger school, has a passion for athletics, has some contacts in Portland already, and seems very commited to the job here.
 
DJViking said:
I liked the responses from all three candidates. Below is what I liked best about each of them:

Torre Chisholm, UC Irvine: Marketing background, has worked at schools at the same level as PSU, has an understanding of the financial problems facing PSU. He also started two of the most successful student fan groups in California, the Gaucho Locos and the CIA. He could be a huge catalyst to getting The Horde going big (which is a personal passion of mine, as I was a co-creator of it).

Pete Isakson, Washington State: Seems very interested and commited to PSU, views a career in athletics as a passion, not as a job, marketing background, has fundraising ties to Portland. I'm not sure he has a good understanding of the financial problems facing PSU. He also comes from a larger school, so his scale of budgets might be skewed.

Bruce Parker, Carroll College: Is currently an AD. I think he is the least qualified of the three that responded. He comes from a small market, and a small school. I'm not sure he even knows that PSU has a budgetary problem.

I really wish Chris May from Colorado would have answered. My choice would be between Chisholm and Isakson. Chisholm knows the level we participate in athletics, comes from larger markets, and has an understading of creating an exciting gameday experience. Isakson comes from a bigger school, has a passion for athletics, has some contacts in Portland already, and seems very commited to the job here.
Click to expand...

DJ, I agree with your comments about Isakson and Parker not really knowing about budget issues. One comment that stuck out from Isakson was "There is already great structure in place at PSU, and a solid foundation has been laid for the future." Uh, really? He must be talking about the buildings on campus. :-\ From this short question session, I think that Chisholm stands out as understanding the situation that PSU is in right now. Vision alone won't let you see the forest through the trees...
 
I am a "community guy" and I like the relationship aspect of the job.

It is my goal, as the athletic director to elevate the department so that we do not lose our valuable assets (our people) and to grow the department, so that turnover is not a concern.

This statement sold me on Mr. Isakson. I like the fact that he will be visible in the community, and will value his employees. I know from my experiences as well as my wife's (she worked in the department), that these are two major issues. It seemed that he was so excited writing the answers to these questions, you could almost feel his passion. I also like the familiarity with the area he has as well as the research he has done for this job. I think the other two candidates would do a good job, but Mr. Isakson's answers really made a favorable impression on me.
 
Whoa... just one little point here.

I am NOT going to dismiss anyone for being at a small school. Size, small town vs large town are, to some degree, overrated when statewide support is often a major goal. Portland State does not have to relegate to being a city entity.

Having said that, in trying to find old news reports about previous 1-A efforts at certain schools, I ran across this item regarding Montana State's standing as of 2001, before Parker took the Carroll College job. What'cha think?

http://www.montana.edu/upba/pdf/execsummary.pdf

That also has interesting comments about the fundraising environment as perceived a few years ago, perhaps puts last year's schedule gauntlet into perspective, and perhaps suggests that the Big Sky isn't nearly the problem that 1-AA is. Still, there's an indication that the AD at Montana State (Parker was an assistant at the time) had reputation problems.
 
73 said:
I am a "community guy" and I like the relationship aspect of the job.

It is my goal, as the athletic director to elevate the department so that we do not lose our valuable assets (our people) and to grow the department, so that turnover is not a concern.

This statement sold me on Mr. Isakson. I like the fact that he will be visible in the community, and will value his employees. I know from my experiences as well as my wife's (she worked in the department), that these are two major issues. It seemed that he was so excited writing the answers to these questions, you could almost feel his passion. I also like the familiarity with the area he has as well as the research he has done for this job. I think the other two candidates would do a good job, but Mr. Isakson's answers really made a favorable impression on me.
Click to expand...

This Q&A made Isakson my clear favorite. I like that he knows PSU and wants the job because it is PSU.Last edited by on 2007-07-23, 18:15; edited 1 time in total
 
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