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USM Forum -- Message Board -> AAUP-USM MESSAGE BOARD -> 2004-05 Departures Update
Post Info TOPIC: 2004-05 Departures Update
babbs

Date:
2004-05 Departures Update
Permalink Closed


USM Departures, August 2004 thru July 2005


Sheila Alber, Associate Professor of CISE (The Ohio State University)


Charles Bolton, Professor and Chair of History (University of North Carolina at Greensboro)


Deborah Carr, USMCC Counselor (situation pending)


Theodore Christ, Assistant Professor of Psychology (University of Minnesota)


Syd Conner, Assistant to the Editor of the Donne Variorum (Texas A&M University)


James Crockett, Professor of Accounting (retirement)


Angela Cutrer, Marketing and Public Relations (Tulane, Kaplan University, Arts Institute)


Angeline Dvorak, President of USM Research Foundation (Area Development Partnership)


Luz Marina Escobar, Assistant Professor of Foreign Languages (job in Middle East)


Douglas Feldmann, Assistant Professor of CISE (Northern Kentucky University)


Ray Folse, Professor of Physics (retirement)


Hayley Froysland, Assistant Professor of History (Indiana University at South Bend)


Bonnie Gibbs, Alumni Association Communications Manager (Northwestern University)


Danyel Gipson, AA/EEOC Staff (down-sized, situation pending)


Linda Goff, Associate Professor of Speech Communication (retirement)


Mark Goodman, Director of Center for Community & Economic Development (took job in Arkansas [?])


William Hansen, Development Officer (situation pending)


Kim Herzinger, Professor of English (retirement)


Kay Hobson, Assistant Professor of Nursing (retirement)


Marta Hofacre, Professor of Music (retirement)


Ibrahim Ibrahim, Associate Professor of Community Health (situation pending)


Melanie Kemp, Marketing/FA Director, USM Public Relations (public school teaching)


Amal Khoury, Assistant Professor of Community Health (University of Florida)


Jake Levy, Assistant Professor of Psychology (University of Tennessee)


Lisa Mader, Director of Public Relations (Wesley Medical Center)


Amos Mansfield, Associate Director of Athletics Training (University of Memphis)


Gerald Mattson, Associate Professor of Polymer Science (University of Central Florida)


Wilbur Moreland, Professor of Music (retirement)


Jeanne Morrison, Instructor of Nursing (resigned, situation pending)


Rosamond Myers, Internship Director, USM Counseling Center (University of New Orleans)


Janet Nelson, Associate Professor of CISE (situation pending)


Tyrone Nix, Defensive Coordinator (University of South Carolina)


Austin Norris, Assistant Mens Basketball Coach (resigned)


Brian ONeil, Assistant Professor of History (University in California)


Warren Ortloff, Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership (job in Middle East)


Talai Osmonbekov, Assistant Professor of Marketing (situation pending)


Virginia Pearson, Instructor of Nursing (private sector)


Noel Polk, Professor of English (Mississippi State University)


Ginamarie Pugliese, Curator de Grummond Collection, McCain Library (situation pending)


Daniel Randolph, Professor of Psychology (retirement)


Lillian Range, Professor of Psychology (retirement)


Cynthia Rouse, Instructor of Nursing (private sector)


Tanya Ruetzler, Instructor of Tourism Management (University of South Carolina at Hilton Head)


Rip Scherer, Offensive Coordinator (Assistant Coach, Cleveland Browns)


Harold Shoemaker, Assistant Professor of Education (Troy University)


Margaret Smith, Professor of Education (situation pending)


Mary Villeponteaux, Associate Professor of English (Armstrong Atlantic State University)


Markeda Wade, Marketing/Public Relations Editor, (situation pending)


Anne Wallace, Professor of English (University of North Carolina at Greensboro)


Dave Warner, Wide Receivers Coach (fired, situation pending)


David Wheeler, Professor and Chair of English (Armstrong Atlantic State University)


Hitomi Wince, Marketing and Public Relations (situation pending)


Bobbie Sue Whitworth, Instructor of Nursing (resigned; situation pending)


Total Leaving: 53 Total Retiring: 9



__________________
Another loss

Date:
Permalink Closed

Joel Treybig is going to Belmont University in Nashville. He is an excellent teacher and player. The School of Music should be sorry to lose him and his very talented spouse Carolyn.

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purvisMS

Date:
Permalink Closed

This is awful.  These two people are talented professors and performers.  This is a great loss of young hardworking faculty exemplifying they work well over the "40 hour week".   OUr long-time faculty's hearts should be broken to lose such good professional people. 

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Southern Miss product and your employer

Date:
This is the way it should be
Permalink Closed

Thanks for the hard work they each did. They were paid as the rest of you are being paid. We, the lay people, do appreciate the work of educators. We feel that what you do is important and honorable just as all work is honorable. We, the public, do not give you carte blanc to be insubordinate or use the time we are paying for to lobby for your personal causes. For those who cannot support President Thames we ask to please leave. We feel that the university will be much better off without you and you will be happier in a less outcome-oriented setting.



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LVN

Date:
RE: 2004-05 Departures Update
Permalink Closed

I don't work for USM. I am the public and I am a taxpayer, and I want this university to be a good place where people are happy and do good work. It is not that at the present time, at least not to the extent that it should be. I will continue to "lobby" on behalf of the principles of academic freedom, genuine scholarship and shared governance. Faculty and staff at USM seldom if ever post to this board from University computers, and they too can "lobby" as hard as they want to on this, a private website. It is not "insubordinate" for people who have given their lives to an institution to fight against its destruction.

As for the "leaving" part, as you can see many are taking you up on your offer. To a degree that makes us heartsick, and threatens the future of the university.

__________________
Magnolia

Date:
RE: This is the way it should be
Permalink Closed

quote:
Originally posted by: Southern Miss product and your employer
" We feel that the university will be much better off without you and you will be happier in a less outcome-oriented setting. "

It baffles me that people who have opinions like this just don't "get it."  None of this is really about being better off as individuals.  This fight is about the survival of this university and about its becoming the best it can be.


There is no doubt in my mind that many of those who speak out at the forefront of this fight would be much "better off" if they kept their heads down and did their jobs.  See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil. 


It is not just a job that makes faculty risk so much.  It is a calling, a love for what they do and for their students, and it is a conviction that this university can be so much better than what it is becoming. 



__________________
Retiree

Date:
RE: 2004-05 Departures Update
Permalink Closed

Thanks to LVN and Magnolia for your kind words of support for the for the faculty. Southern Miss Product & Your Employer doesn't know a darn about being a faculty any place. Just another troll. Remember, Never try to teach a pig to sing. It frustrates you and annoys the pig.

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Robert Campbell

Date:
RE: This is the way it should be
Permalink Closed

quote:
Originally posted by: Southern Miss product and your employer
"Thanks for the hard work they each did. They were paid as the rest of you are being paid. We, the lay people, do appreciate the work of educators. We feel that what you do is important and honorable just as all work is honorable. We, the public, do not give you carte blanc to be insubordinate or use the time we are paying for to lobby for your personal causes. For those who cannot support President Thames we ask to please leave. We feel that the university will be much better off without you and you will be happier in a less outcome-oriented setting.

"


Southern Miss product,

If you believed what you said, wouldn't you be directing your fire at Shelby Freland Thames?

After all, he uses time paid for by taxpayers, and taxpayers' money, to lobby for "personal causes." (Most recently, spending $14K on a brochure full of misleading information whose sole purpose is to preserve his presidency.)

He also wouldn't have lasted 6 months as president in a truly outcome-oriented setting... i.e., one in which he was accountable for his own performance.

Robert Campbell

__________________
USM Product

Date:
I was an employee of USM myself..
Permalink Closed

..In the late 70's and early 80's. Later, I was on the faculty of one private university and one government agency as an educator (Vocational Rehab). It was the most rewarding occupation I ever held but I was not able to support my family at the level I feel they need. I went to work in the real world and have been there for 18 years (though I do teach adult computer literacy classes occasionally). I appreciate the forum given here for us to discuss, candidly, the issues we are concerned about. I am not suggesting that anyone here is using university computers for personal business. In fact, I don't care if you do use university computers for email and public forums. Those applications do not use a significant number of resources if properly managed. What I strongly object to is the use of the classroom "pulpit" to preach an anti-Dr Thames agenda. The constant ankle-biting, fault-finding and whining from those who are supposed to be setting an example of leadership is juvenile and counterproductive in any institution. It reveals a lack of ethical and moral maturity.

Even though teaching is an honorable and extremely worthwhile occupation(hopefully a passion), it is not more honorable than ANY other occupation. It is the free expression of the learners, not the teachers that is important here. Hopefully, those of you who have obtained the "tenured" label have already obtained a foundation for your principles and life purpose (You've "found" yourself). If you have not learned or do not believe in the principles of the free market or you do not agree with them in this college setting, then you don't need to be a part of this system. Call that whatever "evil" name you want, it is what "We the people", the ones who pay you, want. We will have it our way. The chain of command is to be honored or find another institution that will do it your way.

Again, thanks for those who do put their "all" into the university. But, please remember, everyone is expected to put their "all" into their work. We are paid for it, we have the reward of renumeration and the other less tangible rewards I'm sure you are aware of as educators. The university owes you no more.

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Doomsday

Date:
RE: This is the way it should be
Permalink Closed

quote:
Originally posted by: Southern Miss product and your employer
"For those who cannot support President Thames we ask to please leave. We feel that the university will be much better off without you . . . . . "

Be careful what you ask for. Three no-confidence votes of the faculty senate, and one faculty-wide no-confidence vote, suggests that no more than 7% of the faculty support your president. Do you really want 93% of the faculty to leave in the same year? Your university would instantly lose accreditation in all of its programs, and the entire university would lose its accreditation as well. There would be no university on Hardy Street. A 93% attrition rate in one fell swoop would not only make the Chronicle of Higher Education, it would make the front page of the New York Times. Who would take a job at a university that lost 93% of its faculty? The effect of your approach has already been seen in the USM Nursing program which now has the distinction of having the lowest NCLEX scores in Mississippi because of wholesale faculty departures. Your suggestion is preposterous. If the IHL doesn't take action soon, your wish may be granted.



__________________
LVN

Date:
RE: 2004-05 Departures Update
Permalink Closed

Chain of command?? Please. Is that the chain of command Dr. Thames himself used when he attempted to fire Drs. Glamser and Stringer without even notifying the Provost, Dean, or Chairs of their departments? Dr. Glamser was teaching 130+ students the day he was locked out of his office with no notice, and his chair was suddenly faced with the task of handling that situation.
Or what about his respect for "chain of command" and best practices when he instituted a "reorganization" by gathering all the deans together minutes before a press conference to tell them they were all fired? Mention has already been made of nursing. One of the Deans fired that day was Dr. Marie Farell, a nationally-known nursing educator who had been hired the year before after a national search. She quit in total disgust.
There is no "chain of command" at USM. The Thames model does not operate by accepted principles of academic behavior and governance. I am sorry you cannot see this. This is a university, not a factory.

__________________
Doomsday

Date:
Permalink Closed

quote:
Originally posted by: LVN
"Chain of command?? Please. Is that the chain of command Dr. Thames himself used when he attempted to fire Drs. Glamser and Stringer without even notifying the Provost, Dean, or Chairs of their departments? Dr. Glamser was teaching 130+ students the day he was locked out of his office with no notice, and his chair was suddenly faced with the task of handling that situation. Or what about his respect for "chain of command" and best practices when he instituted a "reorganization" by gathering all the deans together minutes before a press conference to tell them they were all fired? Mention has already been made of nursing. One of the Deans fired that day was Dr. Marie Farell, a nationally-known nursing educator who had been hired the year before after a national search. She quit in total disgust. There is no "chain of command" at USM. The Thames model does not operate by accepted principles of academic behavior and governance. I am sorry you cannot see this. This is a university, not a factory."
Good post, LVN. I assume that you are responding to USM Product who said: "The chain of command is to be honored or find another institution that will do it your way."

__________________
Bloody Glove

Date:
RE: I was an employee of USM myself..
Permalink Closed


quote:





Originally posted by: USM Product
What I strongly object to is the use of the classroom "pulpit" to preach an anti-Dr Thames agenda. The constant ankle-biting, fault-finding and whining from those who are supposed to be setting an example of leadership is juvenile and counterproductive in any institution.


I am very curious USM Product -- you and others accuse USM faculty of using their lecturns as pulpits.  Seems a very common complaint.  I suspect that you and others are making this claim with utterly no evidence other than having heard the tale fifth hand.  If you have evidence, spill it.  If not please refrain from making arguments based on nothing other than your unhappy belief system.


 



__________________
Vanishing Point

Date:
RE: 2004-05 Departures Update
Permalink Closed

USM product,


In any well run organization, there is informal input from the troops to the "commanders".  The only real difference in academia is that this input is formalized into the chain of command.  The commander still has the ultimate decision-making authority.  SFT is coming to grief for an utter disregard for either the informal or more formal inputs from the troops.  Neither a university or any other moderately complex organization can function with the commander making decisions in an informational vacuum.  In a university, you can get away with running a department this way but it will fall apart on you at the college level.  That's why failed Deans are a dime a dozen.  It also doesn't help if you have no regard for the laws that govern behavior in the public sector.  You may not like the laws, but they must be obeyed.  If you try to run a public sector entity just like a private sector entity, you end up being a legal bull in a china closet.  Ultimately, I cannot support SFT for the latter reason.


For one of the two reasons above, the institution will eventually implode.  This sometimes happens at tiny private schools but I can't find an example of this happening to a larger public school.  Don't worry about the faculty.  If they were all replaced tomorrow, USM would still end up in the same place.  I agree with you that the faculty should be quieter but for a different reason.  I would prefer the implosion to come out of nowhere.  The faculty keeps alerting the administration to some landmines that they probably wouldn't otherwise see.  In my view, this is unfortunately prolonging the day of reckoning. I, for one, am a model employee at work.  Just watching, inwardly laughing, and waiting.  I keep my 35 years of experience to myself.


 



__________________
Product of USM

Date:
I have three current USM students...
Permalink Closed

living in my home. Why do you ask? What do you propose to do with this "evidence"?

__________________
USM Product

Date:
Chain of command
Permalink Closed

quote:
Originally posted by: Doomsday
"Good post, LVN. I assume that you are responding to USM Product who said: "The chain of command is to be honored or find another institution that will do it your way.""


I believe the issue of whether the proper "chain of command" was employed here has already been answered by those with the authority to do so.

__________________
USM Product

Date:
Sorry, should have quoted "Bloody Glove" here
Permalink Closed

quote:
Originally posted by: Product of USM
"living in my home. Why do you ask? What do you propose to do with this "evidence"?"


__________________
USM Product

Date:
I know of several very respected..
Permalink Closed

private institutions that have proven you wrong here. I don't understand how you arrived at the conclusion that academia has a more "formalized" bottom to top input chain. That is simply false. Most large private and government institutions have a very formal grievance and "suggestion box" process. More formal than any Mississippi IHL. I appreciate your input but your points and conclusions don't really tie together here.


quote:
Originally posted by: Vanishing Point
"USM product,
In any well run organization, there is informal input from the troops to the "commanders".  The only real difference in academia is that this input is formalized into the chain of command.  The commander still has the ultimate decision-making authority.  SFT is coming to grief for an utter disregard for either the informal or more formal inputs from the troops.  Neither a university or any other moderately complex organization can function with the commander making decisions in an informational vacuum.  In a university, you can get away with running a department this way but it will fall apart on you at the college level.  That's why failed Deans are a dime a dozen.  It also doesn't help if you have no regard for the laws that govern behavior in the public sector.  You may not like the laws, but they must be obeyed.  If you try to run a public sector entity just like a private sector entity, you end up being a legal bull in a china closet.  Ultimately, I cannot support SFT for the latter reason.
For one of the two reasons above, the institution will eventually implode.  This sometimes happens at tiny private schools but I can't find an example of this happening to a larger public school.  Don't worry about the faculty.  If they were all replaced tomorrow, USM would still end up in the same place.  I agree with you that the faculty should be quieter but for a different reason.  I would prefer the implosion to come out of nowhere.  The faculty keeps alerting the administration to some landmines that they probably wouldn't otherwise see.  In my view, this is unfortunately prolonging the day of reckoning. I, for one, am a model employee at work.  Just watching, inwardly laughing, and waiting.  I keep my 35 years of experience to myself.
 "


__________________
USM Product

Date:
I don't understand...
Permalink Closed

Did she "quit in disgust" or was she fired?

I would have to research this one. Would anything I report make any difference to you?

quote:
Originally posted by: LVN
"Chain of command?? Please. Is that the chain of command Dr. Thames himself used when he attempted to fire Drs. Glamser and Stringer without even notifying the Provost, Dean, or Chairs of their departments? Dr. Glamser was teaching 130+ students the day he was locked out of his office with no notice, and his chair was suddenly faced with the task of handling that situation.
Or what about his respect for "chain of command" and best practices when he instituted a "reorganization" by gathering all the deans together minutes before a press conference to tell them they were all fired? Mention has already been made of nursing. One of the Deans fired that day was Dr. Marie Farell, a nationally-known nursing educator who had been hired the year before after a national search. She quit in total disgust.
There is no "chain of command" at USM. The Thames model does not operate by accepted principles of academic behavior and governance. I am sorry you cannot see this. This is a university, not a factory."


__________________
USM Product

Date:
I might be painful...
Permalink Closed

.. I agree, but if you do not believe the current administration can be successful then you should leave. I do not believe, any more than you do, that 93% of the faculty will be leaving. You don't list the new additions to our faculty on this forum. During the course of this upheaval we have both lost and gained valuable educators. This will continue as it always does. Your agenda seems, at least to us on the outside, to be about revenge for the methods that Dr Thames has employed and for his firing of your two buddies. It is not about pay or dangerous working conditions or any issue that would motivate a walk-off of 93% or even 50% of our faculty. If a large number choose to leave then there will be others to take your place. I know of several retired faculty who would be willing to come back. In addition, there are many retired "experts" in the community who are willing to volunteer their time. The students may loose many valuable tools that you might have given them but the university will remain. Your actions might even succeed in your quest to unseat Dr Thames but he will be monetarily successful anyway. It is the students who will suffer.

I appreciate your ommission of a denial of the "pulpit" issues. At least you appear honest here.

quote:
Originally posted by: Doomsday
"
Be careful what you ask for. Three no-confidence votes of the faculty senate, and one faculty-wide no-confidence vote, suggests that no more than 7% of the faculty support your president. Do you really want 93% of the faculty to leave in the same year? Your university would instantly lose accreditation in all of its programs, and the entire university would lose its accreditation as well. There would be no university on Hardy Street. A 93% attrition rate in one fell swoop would not only make the Chronicle of Higher Education, it would make the front page of the New York Times. Who would take a job at a university that lost 93% of its faculty? The effect of your approach has already been seen in the USM Nursing program which now has the distinction of having the lowest NCLEX scores in Mississippi because of wholesale faculty departures. Your suggestion is preposterous. If the IHL doesn't take action soon, your wish may be granted."


__________________
Sport

Date:
RE: I know of several very respected..
Permalink Closed

quote:
Originally posted by: USM Product
"Most large private and government institutions have a very formal grievance and "suggestion box" process.
Shared governance in academic settings is more than a "suggestion box." We at USM don't even have that!

__________________
USM Product

Date:
I don't want or believe in ..
Permalink Closed

.. "shared governance" for a public university. Now "shared curriculum steering committees" would be useful. You don't need more than a sugestion box and a grievance process for HR concerns. You already have your union and faculty senate.

quote:
Originally posted by: Sport
"Shared governance in academic settings is more than a "suggestion box." We at USM don't even have that! "


__________________
LVN

Date:
RE: I don't understand...
Permalink Closed

quote:
Originally posted by: USM Product
"Did she "quit in disgust" or was she fired?

I would have to research this one. Would anything I report make any difference to you?


T"
"


All the deans were fired at one time, just a few minutes before a public announcement to that effect. There was no consultation, no warning, no proper procedure. Apparently the night before this happened, Dr. Thames had a social gathering at his home and told his business friends about the coming massacre. This is not the way it is done, business model or no business model. It's not even a decent, human thing to do to people. These were professionals who in many cases had given their professional lives to USM. As far as I know, not one of them reapplied for their deanships -- my understanding is that they were all horrified and disgusted. Like many who have now left USM, Dr. Farrell had a national reputation, was a "catch" for USM, and didn't have any reason to stay around and be treated in such a fashion. She is now at Cal State- Bakersfield, where she is chair of nursing.

__________________
USM Product

Date:
I don't defend Dr Thames for his methods..
Permalink Closed

.. and from your reported perspective it was a very inappropriate and cruel way to announce an organization change. Dr Thames should be held accoutable and has been discipled. Whether the "punishment" was enough I don't claim to know. But we must move on. If you don't feel that you can share his vision or at least tolerate it then you should be subjecting yourself or those around you to the symptoms of your disatisfaction. It is time to let go.


quote:
Originally posted by: LVN
"

All the deans were fired at one time, just a few minutes before a public announcement to that effect. There was no consultation, no warning, no proper procedure. Apparently the night before this happened, Dr. Thames had a social gathering at his home and told his business friends about the coming massacre. This is not the way it is done, business model or no business model. It's not even a decent, human thing to do to people. These were professionals who in many cases had given their professional lives to USM. As far as I know, not one of them reapplied for their deanships -- my understanding is that they were all horrified and disgusted. Like many who have now left USM, Dr. Farrell had a national reputation, was a "catch" for USM, and didn't have any reason to stay around and be treated in such a fashion. She is now at Cal State- Bakersfield, where she is chair of nursing."


__________________
Everbody is out of step but Johnny

Date:
Permalink Closed

quote:
Originally posted by: USM Product


"If you don't feel that you can share his vision or at least tolerate it then you should be subjecting yourself or those around you to the symptoms of your disatisfaction. It is time to let go."


USM Product,


You seem to be suggesting that the problem could be solved if 500 employees give up their jobs and turn their lives topsy turvey. Wouldn't it be simpler if only 1 person gave up his position?


Why do you assume that 500 faculty members are wrong and 1 administrator is right? Included among the "500" are years of experience in top academic settings across the nation. Included in the "1" is a lifetime of circumscribed experience in the Hub City at only one rather ordinary university. What are the odds that the "1" is right and the "500" are wrong?



__________________
LVN

Date:
Permalink Closed

quote:
Originally posted by: USM Product
".. and from your reported perspective it was a very inappropriate and cruel way to announce an organization change. Dr Thames should be held accoutable and has been discipled. Whether the "punishment" was enough I don't claim to know. But we must move on. If you don't feel that you can share his vision or at least tolerate it then you should be subjecting yourself or those around you to the symptoms of your disatisfaction. It is time to let go.


Of course I don't share his vision. I did "let go" -- most of the faculty and staff don't "share his vision" either, especially since his vision seems to be the glorification of himself at the expense of everyone else. And I'm not subjecting anyone to anything. I'm posting to a message board that was originally titled "FireShelby" -- so one assumes most of the posters are like-minded on this issue.

And I was intrigued by your statement that he was "disciplined" for the way he fired the deans. Really? When and how? That's the first we've heard of it.

__________________
USM Product

Date:
500 to 1???
Permalink Closed

quote:
Originally posted by: Everbody is out of step but Johnny
"
"If you don't feel that you can share his vision or at least tolerate it then you should be subjecting yourself or those around you to the symptoms of your disatisfaction. It is time to let go."
USM Product,
You seem to be suggesting that the problem could be solved if 500 employees give up their jobs and turn their lives topsy turvey. Wouldn't it be simpler if only 1 person gave up his position?
Why do you assume that 500 faculty members are wrong and 1 administrator is right? Included among the "500" are years of experience in top academic settings across the nation. Included in the "1" is a lifetime of circumscribed experience in the Hub City at only one rather ordinary university. What are the odds that the "1" is right and the "500" are wrong? "


No, I don't suggest that 500 employees give up their jobs. I suggest that they stop attacking the appointed leader of the university in the newspaper, in the classroom and in every public forum made available to them. If you are not willing to promote the common good of the university with this leader, within your sphere of inflluence, but insist on enlarging your control beyond the bounds set by present charter, then you are the problem. And whether he is right or wrong, Dr Thames is working towards the good of the university. That seems obvious to most of my peers. In this forum I detect a consistent anti-private enterprise theme. The university will not succeed if the governing organization does not respond to the enterprises who will be consuming the products of this university. It is a government-run business and can be successfully operated like one as has been proven by hundreds of institutions of higher learning (at least outside Berkley, CA).

You are not even remotely valid in your 500 to 1 odds. There are far more than 500 Thames supporters. Many of them have been intimidated by your militant brethren and sisters or do not desire to be a public voice. Some of them do not like the way Dr Thames handled these matters but they are will to swallow any egotistcal bile for the university's sake. And even if the "odds" were 500 to 1, right or wrong is not measurable by a vote count. If he is wrong in any of his actions then it was a mistake of method,. He was not "wrong" to combine the departments. It will be better for the university in spite of the period of pain we may feel. Your efforts will not bear any positive fruit but will only rot the roots at this point.

__________________
USM Product

Date:
Spanking Dr Thames
Permalink Closed

I do not know how he was disciplined by the board and I don't need to know. They have access to more of the "facts" than either of us and they have the authority. We do not , we shouldn't and it's none of my business.

quote:
Originally posted by: LVN
""


__________________
USM Product

Date:
Letting go
Permalink Closed

I like that you are posting your "feelings" here. This is a healthy outlet and I appreciate that I am able to "rant" here myself. If you are not venting in the classroom or attacking others for the same (in letters to the editor of local newspapers) then I commend you. I did not know that this forum was originally titled "Fire Dr Thames". I hope it made someone feel better.

As for the self-glorification issues, I have never observed Dr Thames issue any statement, written or spoken that falls into that category. Maybe you can point me to some if you feel that I am worth convincing.

============================
quote:
Originally posted by: LVNOf course I don't share his vision. I did "let go" -- most of the faculty and staff don't "share his vision" either, especially since his vision seems to be the glorification of himself at the expense of everyone else. And I'm not subjecting anyone to anything. I'm posting to a message board that was originally titled "FireShelby" -- so one assumes most of the posters are like-minded on this issue.
""


__________________
No Quarter - not even a dime

Date:
RE: 500 to 1???
Permalink Closed


quote:




Originally posted by: USM Product
" No, I don't suggest that 500 employees give up their jobs. I suggest that they stop attacking the appointed leader of the university in the newspaper, in the classroom and in every public forum made available to them.


The administration and/or supporters have attacked the faculty in public forums on many occasions.  Did you see the thing about "jail time?" Did you see the term "criminal" applied to those two professors? Have you seen the term "lazy" in letters to the newspapers? The administration and supporters were the aggressors in this conflict.


If you are not willing to promote the common good of the university with this leader, within your sphere of inflluence, but insist on enlarging your control beyond the bounds set by present charter, then you are the problem. And whether he is right or wrong, Dr Thames is working towards the good of the university.


It is the faculty who are working for the "common good of the university." It is the administration who is harming the university. Look at the decline in Nursing, English, Criminal Justice, Mathematics, Education, and other academic programs. Over 200 faculty have left. The university is now on academic probation. USM is near the bottom of the lowest tier in USNews. Student ACT scores are drifting downward along with a decrease in full time enrollment on the campus in Hattiesburg. And you think this is for the "common good" of the university?  


In this forum I detect a consistent anti-private enterprise theme. The university will not succeed if the governing organization does not respond to the enterprises who will be consuming the products of this university. It is a government-run business and can be successfully operated like one as has been proven by hundreds of institutions of higher learning (at least outside Berkley, CA).


USM is not a "private enterprise" and it is not a "business."  Whether you like it oir not, USM is a public university. Trying to operate it like a business is totally inappropriate. The idea that of making faculty millionaires is outrageous.


You are not even remotely valid in your 500 to 1 odds. There are far more than 500 Thames supporters. Many of them have been intimidated by your militant brethren and sisters or do not desire to be a public voice.


The 500 referred to the faculty who do not support the current administration. The faculty-wide no confidence vote was a secret ballot and required that people voluntarily walk across campus to cast that ballot. At that time, 93% of the faculty voted no confidence. Three Faculty Senate votes over the past year were even more lopsided. Why do you persist in thinking we have a small handful of disgruntled faculty. Those votes (obtained by secret ballot) suggest to me that pretty much the whole friggin faculty has little use for this administration.


Some of them do not like the way Dr Thames handled these matters but they are will to swallow any egotistcal bile for the university's sake.


The way a president handles matters is part of his job description. Mussolini made the trains run on time, but his methods left something to be desired.


And even if the "odds" were 500 to 1, right or wrong is not measurable by a vote count. If he is wrong in any of his actions then it was a mistake of method,. He was not "wrong" to combine the departments. It will be better for the university in spite of the period of pain we may feel. Your efforts will not bear any positive fruit but will only rot the roots at this point."


No confidence votes of the magnitude seen at USM over the past year are unheard of in higher education. Something is clearly wrong here. There is nothing subtle about this situation. The negative impacts on USM over the past three years are unparalleled in Mississippi since the Bilbo era. Do think the faculty at Ole Miss or Mississippi State would tolerate this? Why should we be any different?





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