University of Toledo: A Non-Responsive Bureaucracy

Do you remember the Roland Hansen Commentary University of Toledo: A Force or A Farce? of last autumn in which I detailed the aggravating and frustrating experiences I had been having as a result of what I perceive as the incompetence of so-called ‘professional’ paid staff of the University of Toledo Alumni Association?

During the course of those events, I had sent e-mails to several of The University of Toledo bureaucrats. I was hopeful that perhaps someone involved with the University of Toledo administrative team would respond to my concerns. As a matter of fact, one of the e-mails I sent to University of Toledo President Dr. Lloyd Jacobs even included a message alerting him of the Roland Hansen Commentary as referenced above with the link to it.

Amongst the people who received one or more copies of my e-mail were:
Dr. Lloyd Jacobs, President of The University of Toledo
Diane Hymore, Administrative Assistant to the President
Penny Poplin Gosetti, Executive Assistant to the President
Lawrence J. Burns, Vice President for Enrollment, Marketing & Communications
Lorraine Hansen, University of Toledo Alumni Association, Phoenix Chapter President

It is now approximately four months later, and not one of those people mentioned above has ever responded to me in any way. How responsive is that? The University of Toledo receives millions of dollars in Ohio taxpayer dollars and untold of millions of dollars in donations. The University of Toledo has an extremely well paid staff. You and I should be so fortunate to get the kind of money that is paid to the ‘professional’ administrators!!!

Hell, the University of Toledo President is provided a compensation package that includes salary, traditional fringe benefits, housing, vehicle, travel allowance, expense account, and more that exceeds the compensation of most, if not all, individual elected officials in the United States of America! It’s a matter of public record; check it if you do not believe me. If Lloyd Jacobs did not want to take some of his “valuable” time to respond to me, the least he could have done, and should have done as a public administrator, was to assign that task to one of his staff. Shame on Dr. Lloyd Jacobs! Is this the way he runs the University of Toledo? Now, I feel compelled to call his competency into question.

Yeah, the University of Toledo continues to want more tax money. Yeah, the University of Toledo continues to raise its already too-high tuition. Yeah, the University of Toledo continues to beg for more financial contributions from alumni, other individuals, foundations, and corporations. Yeah, the University of Toledo continues to expand its already bloated extravagant budget. Yeah, the University of Toledo continues to promote itself in an ongoing and costly public relations campaign.

But, the University of Toledo bureaucracy does not seem to be capable of responding to an alumnus of both the undergraduate college and graduate school, such as I. Nor does The University of Toledo bureaucracy seem to be capable of responding to a former actively-involved volunteer of the Arts and Sciences Alumni Affiliate, such as I, Nor does the University of Toledo seem to be capable of responding to a former member of the University of Toledo adjunct faculty, such as I.

If the University of Toledo were a private enterprise and not an Ohio public institution, it would not survive. The University of Toledo seems to be one big incompetent bureaucracy. If the administrators of the University of Toledo are competent, they certainly do not seem to care about their alumni or former employees. And if they do care, they certainly do not demonstrate it. To me, it appears that at the very most or least, depending on one’s perspective, the University of Toledo is a non-responsive bureaucracy.

Now, will someone try to convince me of why I should support the University of Toledo financially or otherwise?

I really think Ohio Governor Ted Strickland, the Ohio General Assembly, and the Ohio Board of Regents might do all us taxpayers a service and take a good hard look at the operations of the University of Toledo.