Thrasher eager to improve FSU’s image

I would feel better if FSU hired a professional firm and not depend on less than adept BOT members (who have overseen FSU's failings) for PR improvement.

Also believe Thrasher would better improve FSU's PR by improving FSU's research strategies and fundraising.

Right now, FSU just has politicians kissing babies.....the public (the football fan base) loves it but no substance there.

Thrasher eager to improve FSU’s image


"John Thrasher believes some of the country’s most powerful news organization have not been fair with Florida State University, and members of the FSU Board of Trustees agree with the university’s president.
Thrasher, a proud FSU graduate who was hired in September to lead his alma mater, has been going on the offensive. He has written letters to The New York Times, which has had FSU in its crosshairs for much of the past year, and to the Los Angeles Times, which published an unflattering editorial about FSU while the football team was in L.A. to play in the Jan. 1 Rose Bowl.
His efforts appear to be having some impact. Margaret Sullivan, the ombudswoman for the New York Times and author of a column titled The Public Editor, wrote on Sunday about how many readers objected to a recent piece about FSU and the football team’s high-profile quarterback, Jameis Winston. She did not name Juliet Macur, the Times’ columnist, but Sullivan was critical of elements of her story about FSU.
“ … Readers ought to know what they’re getting,” Sullivan wrote.
“They should never be confused — or get the feeling of whiplash — when opinion suddenly appears in what they thought was news.”
Thrasher told FSU trustees during a Monday conference call meeting that he would like to establish a “speaker’s bureau” led by members of FSU’s board. They would be ambassadors for the university, telling FSU’s story and serving as a counterpoint to some of the less than positive coverage the university has received.
Longtime Trustee Andy Haggard, an attorney in Miami and former chair of FSU’s board, volunteered to lead the effort on a speaker’s bureau.
“We need to spread the word about what Florida State is doing, about what Florida State has accomplished,” Haggard said. “We’re a great university and the public needs to know that. I really think it’s time to get out there and combat all of the negative things that have been said about Florida State and start talking about the positive.”
Sally McRorie, FSU’s interim provost, presented some impressive talking points for anyone looking to brag about academic progress at FSU, one of two public universities in Florida to earn preeminent status by the Legislature (University of Florida is the other). McRorie reviewed some of the data FSU will be presenting to the Board of Governors at its meeting next week in Jacksonville.
FSU’s six-year graduation rate, for example, climbed to 79 percent from 77 percent last year; it was 74 percent five years ago.
Many public universities nationwide have a six-year graduation rate below 50 percent. McRorie added that when FSU students who transfer to other schools in the State University System are included in FSU’s numbers, the six-year graduation rate increases to 84 percent.
Tom Jennings, vice president for university advancement, said board members with FSU’s direct support organizations such as the FSU Foundation and the Alumni Association, want to be a part of a speaker’s bureau and share “the FSU story.”
Leslie Pantin, vice chair of FSU’s board who heads a Miami-based marketing firm, urged the trustees to oversee a strategic campaign to promote FSU.
“I think we need an overall aggressive PR, marketing image campaign,” he said.
Board chair Allan Bense was in full agreement. The former Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives said, “We’re a great university and we need to make sure the world knows it.”