First off, who are the players?  Thames=USM President and Klumb=IHL Board President.  What about the other two?

 

Dean of the College of Business and Industry at Mississippi State!

If I'm not mistaken - Freedman could be Sara Freedman - Dean of the College of Business and Industry, Miss. State University.

Interesting...

Count

Yes -- and THAT is very interesting in light of the rumors . . .

 

Sources tell me that near 100% of the USM business faculty hope that they become part of MSU.

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Originally posted by: Gone Not Returning
"Sources tell me that near 100% of the USM business faculty hope that they become part of MSU."

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no problem here . . . as long as all usm business degrees are retroactively reissued as msu degrees.

No amount of Levitra will fix the ED problems at USM.  100% of the business faculty might indeed concur with this plan - not a bad exit strategy for everyone involved!  Too bad my good friend Sara tells me it's a hoax.

It's not a hoax.  SFT will create a quasi-business program.  I've heard some names are already being trial ballooned, such as "College of Economic Development and Free Enterprise," that will float business degrees under USM's banner.  They've easily got 10-15 faculty they could insert (if you count some people at the coast), and then make a rush to hire, possibly starting with adjuncts.  Klumb is all over this one --- tells GL and SFT it's another brilliant move.

 

USM would be losing one of its major colleges with the most majors, perhaps some of the most able to become alumni donors, IT JUST DON"T MAKE SENSE, BUT WHAT HAS SINCE SFT TOOK OVER.  Still stumped at even the prospect.  Is there any campus in America that has one of its schools belonging to another university?  WTF?  B-schoolers shouldn't celebrate yet...this doesn't necessarily mean it is going to look like the same b-school arrangement...it might be a downsizing move, and then build up business programs at the rest of the schools, even like JSU...

Keep the corks on the champagne yet...you're still gonna be a red-headed step child.

 

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Originally posted by: False Hopes
"The part that is a hoax is the MSU part.  That Shelby wants to "recreate" an unaccredited business program under the banner of Economic Development is absolutely true."

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Reducing USM's program to unaccredited status would have a positive impact on MSU by eliminating "superior" competition.

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Originally posted by: Succotash
"At this juncture, I think H. Doty will be the last to know --- even if it's the day he's supposed to be moving to the service manager's desk at Albertson's."

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He might end up as associate dean in the new structure.

Those of us who have to deal with the constant barrage of anti-business sentiment from the dome are in agreement: SFT will do whatever he can, whenever he can to pare down the number of business faculty to the bare minimum allowable under SACS/AACSB; in fact he will probably overshoot his goal and end up with the college very shorthanded.

It's a simple but brilliant plan, actually. Just deny funding for vacant faculty lines and other "usual" funding items whenever possible, and faculty will begin to leave. Once we lose AACSB, then he (or Ken malone, or whomever) can say "It's just too expensive to get AACSB back." The remainder of mobile faculty will leave, and those who are left will be put on a tremendous load. New hires will be non-terminally-qualified, so he can pay them less -- that's what Thames hates the most about the COB: its high salaries. What he is beginning to understand is that replacement costs for business faculty are rising sharply, and instructors are the only way to go to capture those dollars in excess of the salary paid to a PhD in chemistry, etc.

Bottom line: if the COB loses five more faculty in strategic positions, then the college will, in effect, be crippled beyond repair. Lose 2 marketing profs, 1 accounting prof, 1 MIS prof, and 1 finance prof, and you'll see that course offerings will be minimal in those areas, as the remaining faculty will have to struggle to offer the basic courses. Nothing the dean can do will undo what has been done, short of getting a shotgun and heading over to the dome. It's really too bad that the business community hasn't been more forceful with the IHL; I think that, ultimately, that's the only way for the university to come out of this alive, for alumni to raise hell with the college board and generate bad publicity.

I wasn't referring to the legitimate concerns about the future of the business school; I meant the rumours about MSU.

This isn't a "jumping on." I have heard that in another department, a line will be left unfilled because "none of the candidates have work experience", i.e., no industry experience. What I heard was that several candidates did have "work experience" and that one actually worked for Bellsouth for 10 years! What else do you make of this? I believe the area in question is the smallest in the b-school, and they can't hire? Again, I don't think this is simple neglect; I think it's part of a plan to get down to trade school status and make a money grab for some salary lines.