Cabinet Minutes - USM Forum -- Message Board

Date: Feb 14, 2005

Cabinet Minutes

Date: Feb 14, 2005

quote:
Originally posted by: Jamestown Cabinet Secretary
"It was decided at Jamestown over the weekend. SFT to remain in place. Grimes to remain in place, though only nominally. Doty censured. Crofts acting as Provost (from Jackson) for next 6 months. After that, SFT returns to leader of USM in full (with new Provost)."

And may I ask just who (or what) decided that? Not me, that's for darn sure.

Date: Feb 14, 2005

Doty censured, huh?

That's going to get interesting... if it's true.

Robert Campbell

Date: Feb 14, 2005

quote:
Originally posted by: Robert Campbell
"Doty censured, huh?
That's going to get interesting... if it's true.
Robert Campbell"

How are they going to censure Doty without censuring Crofts? If this is what the bunch on Jamestown Road is thinking, they are completely psychotic.

Crofts has already publicly censured Grimes without officially doing so. In essence he has censured SFT as well with his remarks to the press. At its heart, his statement says "I told President Thames what he had better do if he doesn't want a major sh!tstorm on his head come next Thursday." Shelby's compliance proves that Crofts is a force with which Shelby must reckon.

Whether acting as Provost (from Jackson) or as President (from Jackson), Crofts is in the catbird's seat at USM for now and Shelby will be walking on eggshells. Methinks the dome is up the proverbial stream without the appropriate mode of transportation.

Date: Feb 14, 2005

quote:
Originally posted by: Robert Campbell
"That's going to get interesting... if it's true."

N.S., S.

Date: Feb 14, 2005

quote:
Originally posted by: Invictus
"

N.S., S."

Even Dr. Watson would find this 'elementary.'

Date: Feb 14, 2005

These minutes are in line with what I expected to come of this.

Date: Feb 14, 2005

God bless you each and every one.

Date: Feb 14, 2005

quote:
Originally posted by: Invictus
" N.S., S."

No WHAT, Sherlock?

Date: Feb 14, 2005

quote:
Originally posted by: Three little words
"No WHAT, Sherlock?"

More like N.F.W., J!

Date: Feb 14, 2005

quote:
Originally posted by: A different set of initials.
" More like N.F.W., J!"

No WHAT kind of way?

Date: Feb 14, 2005

There is no doubt that Grimey will be back to non-provost land soon.

SFT is shaking until the board with its new members meets to talk about what Crofts found, and he found a lot. Here is a man, among all of those non-academics at IHL, who knows how a university should be run ... and, more importantly, how it should not be run. He will make an impact - he already has!

Thursday will be the end of Grimes for sure. SFT has about a 50-50 chance past that day.

Whoever you know in authority, whoever is a friend and possibly an alumnus that holds some degree of influence, should be contacted immediately to write the board (or call) to get these points across. SFT is killing USM. Though some on the IHL board may not mind, others might care about that and about the fact that they will be running a university that loses SACS accreditation, among other accreditations. That should be enough ammo for any USM-loving person to act.

As for me... I graduated from USM and have many ties since then. Too many to go into here. No other person has done more to kill this place than SFT. He may even mean well, as others have suggested, but he has no idea what damage he has done and will continue to do. I only hope that Crofts and some on the board will be able to see this for the reality that it is. And do something.

Write, call, tell friends to do the same. Thursday is the new D-Day for USM. I only want us to come out victorious. If we don't, and especially if SFT manages to get 4 more years, the USM that we have all come to know before SFT will truly be ground into ashes. I won't stick around to see that, and neither will hundreds of others. Now is the time to act.

Date: Feb 14, 2005

quote:
Originally posted by: Jamestown Cabinet Secretary
"It was decided at Jamestown over the weekend. SFT to remain in place. Grimes to remain in place, though only nominally. Doty censured. Crofts acting as Provost (from Jackson) for next 6 months. After that, SFT returns to leader of USM in full (with new Provost)."

Oh, and I forgot to say, WHAT ON EARTH could they censure Doty for?

Crofts basically said Doty was right. SFT wrote a memo putting Doty in the driver's seat of any new hybrid MBA program, along with business faculty.

What is there to censure, oh sage? Nothing! Tell us or shut up!

Date: Feb 14, 2005

quote:
Originally posted by: Trouble brewing....
" Oh, and I forgot to say, WHAT ON EARTH could they censure Doty for? Crofts basically said Doty was right. SFT wrote a memo putting Doty in the driver's seat of any new hybrid MBA program, along with business faculty. What is there to censure, oh sage? Nothing! Tell us or shut up!"

I thought perhaps we had the contra version of Thomas Coolley's risk manager here . . . am I wrong on this? Maybe I should not have guffawed . . .

Date: Feb 14, 2005

Any plans at Jamestown begin and end at Jamestown. I drive by there a couple of times each day- nothing special, just a jerk play-acting at being king. The IHL board is flawed, always was, always will be under the current MS constitution. But, for them to continue to listen to SFT after all of the latest mess and after the report from Crofts, that is simply impossible. Something will change, but letters and phone calls are needed to grease the wheels.

You have to realize the tiny, garbage-laden low stature of SFT compared to other presidents in the state. He is the bug on your arm. He is the lint on your white shirt. He is the lowest of the low and does not compare to other administrators who have actual, identifiable leadership skills and intelligence.

IHL surely, with the new members, cannot fail to recognize this fact. But, if they need help, please help them by sending them your views and facts and details. They need it, we need it, and we need to be rid of this sorry person.

Date: Feb 14, 2005

IHL surely, with the new members, cannot fail to recognize this fact. But, if they need help, please help them by sending them your views and facts and details. They need it, we need it, and we need to be rid of this sorry person.

Any suggestions on how to get this widely dispersed. Folks are afraid, but if they see there is a good chance, they may shake lose an opinion.

Date: Feb 14, 2005

Many of you out there are not only employees of USM, faculty and staff, but you are also alumni and parents of current or potential students. These things should motivate you! Do you want your child to enter a university that is run by an idiot that would rather entertain personal grudges than meet SACS (and other) requirements?! Do you want your own positions so maligned that future potential employers will look at your school and say "they aren't even accredited."?

Talk to people at IHL, and get friends to do so, NOW!

Date: Feb 14, 2005

No matter what you may have heard, there were not the votes last spring. Dr. Potter knew the problems but chose to leave rather than fight. The tier drop, the probation, the stand, the new commissioner who is a strong academic beholden to no one, and sufficient votes...all the pieces are now in place...there will not be a another such time. Six months out will be too late.

Date: Feb 14, 2005

A number of faculty - too many - are waiting, watching, listening. If something isn't done, something to create an endpoint to all this, they are gone. Geometric increases to the departure list, devastation to the corps of instruction at the university, severe negative impact to serving the students.

Date: Feb 14, 2005

quote:
Originally posted by: Festus
"A number of faculty - too many - are waiting, watching, listening. If something isn't done, something to create an endpoint to all this, they are gone. Geometric increases to the departure list, devastation to the corps of instruction at the university, severe negative impact to serving the students."

That's OK. Just get down to 2 faculty per discipline and teach everything online. It works for ED!

Date: Feb 14, 2005

Faculty: You hold the key to making this place golden once again. Those of us no longer there will write our letters, post on this board, tell our colleagues on the national, regional and state levels, inform those in the community with whom we still interact, console our dispirited children and friends, and (in a few cases) formally sue the Hell out of the SFT Crony Crew because we want our university back.

You are our hope.

No Quarter.

Date: Feb 14, 2005

quote:
Originally posted by: Chester
" That's OK. Just get down to 2 faculty per discipline and teach everything online. It works for ED!"

That's just it!

USM used to be such a friendly place. Students knew other students, and could converse with the faculty readily. Class sizes may have been large on occasion, but students still felt like they were cared for. I surely did! I now spend time caring for those students and hope they do well. But the individual student is being lost as the administration hopes to swell ranks to 20,000! Have you noticed that Ole Miss is capping their numbers? Wonder why? Quality of education perhaps? That would never appear on the SFT to-do list, - making quality a high point!