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USM Forum -- Message Board -> AAUP-USM MESSAGE BOARD -> WLOX, 3/25/07: SFT with Dave Elliott
Post Info TOPIC: WLOX, 3/25/07: SFT with Dave Elliott
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WLOX, 3/25/07: SFT with Dave Elliott
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SFT was on WLOX last night for a 30 min. interview with Dave Elliott. In the second half of the show, SFT responded to two callers complaining about inadequate facilities on the coast and asking for a tuition reduction. SFT said he would look into the complaints at "8:05 on Monday morning." Tuition can't be reduced. Another caller asked about USM's "dual campus" status and wondered if it's unique in Mississippi. SFT wasn't sure and said one would need to ask the other state institutions if they're "dual campus" schools or not, though SFT did believe USM was the first school in MS to use the term "dual campus."

SFT also talked about the importance of research funding as state appropriations decline. He highlighted the operations at GCRL and Stennis as research funding avenues that will allow USM "to own the Gulf of Mexico" in terms of oceanographic studies.

Faculty still "world-class."

Did anyone catch the first 15 minutes of the show?

-- Edited by info at 11:29, 2007-03-26

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He highlighted the operations at GCRL and Stennis as research funding avenues that will allow USM "to own the Gulf of Mexico" in terms of oceanographic studies.
Perhaps he would like to consult the following websites--just two of many:
www.utmsi.utexas.edu/
www-ocean.tamu.edu/

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WLOX

http://www.wlox.com/Global/story.asp?S=6288110&nav=6DJI

Dr. Thames Reminisces About Five Year Run As USM President

March 27, 2007 05:16 PM

Deans positions got eliminated. Faculty members got suspended. Students and staff protested. And the university got put on academic probation. Those high profile moments all occurred in the first two years of Dr. Shelby Thames tenure as USM's eighth president.

"The changes that we made in my opinion were absolutely necessary and they needed to be done. And I would do them again," Dr. Thames said during one of his last interviews as USM's president.

On March 25, Dr. Thames sat down with Dave Elliott and discussed his five years as the head of the University of Southern Mississippi. Much of that discussion focused on rebuilding the gulf coast campus.

"We had a lemon given to us in the form of Katrina," Thames said. "And I think now, what we need to do is to make lemonade."

Thames won't ever forget the day he met with his 128 Long Beach faculty and staff members in a parking lot blocks away from their damaged campus. That beachfront campus sustained nearly $200 million in hurricane damage.

"The point we made clear to them was everyone had a job. That's one thing we made clear to them," he remembered. "No layoffs, no sir. They might not have the clothes they had on the night before, but they had a job."

Thames is proud of the fact that classes have resumed in Long Beach amid the debris. And he's encouraged that new land is being sought to build new gulf coast classrooms.

"This gives us an opportunity to develop the university as we'd want it to be from here forward," he said.

Dr. Thames can see the day when as many as 10,000 students get a USM education along the shores of south Mississippi.

"We had a mission, and our mission was to get our school open. To get our students back in school, because if we don't get our students back in school," the outgoing president said, "then we basically lose a generation of students."

Currently, USM's presence along the gulf coast gives students a chance to earn a bachelors or masters degree from one of 64 degree programs.

"I've enjoyed my stay as president. I'm humbled by the fact that I was allowed to be president and lead the institution for five years. But I'm looking forward to going back to the polymer science department," Thames said.

That's where Shelby Thames first made a name for himself. His last day as president of USM is May 20th.

Again, the college board's search committee is recommending that former USM graduate Dr. Martha Dunagin Saunders succeed Shelby Thames as president of USM. Dr. Saunders will tour the USM campus next week. The University of Wisconsin Whitewater chancellor could be the official choice of the college board right after the April 5 visit.

By Brad Kessie


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