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Originally posted by: Son of Bubba
"I appreciate the kind treatment by most of you in response to my question about the "no confidence" vote.  I get the feeling, however, that a couple of you were ready to jump me before I explained that my quest was for accurate information and nothing more. Many of you seem ready to challenge anybody who disagrees with your opinions, and you also seem ready to burn anyone who disagrees at the stake sometimes without taking time to get your facts straight.  It's only a matter of time before you cause damage to someone who doesn't deserve it.  It would be easier for me to jump on your band wagon it this attitude wasn't so apparent. If I could find a side that didn't see things in such pure black and white contrast, and that placed ethical standards above "the end justifies the means", I would probably sign up. At this point in my quest I am finding some very distasteful activities on both sides. In the meantime my quest for truth goes on, and I remain uncommitted in the fight.    "

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Son of Bubba (I won't use your initials),

Welcome to this board. Your posts have been very civil.  There is really no need to take sides.  In fact, what this board needs is logical, factual representation of the opposition’s arguments.  What you experienced last night was frustration from three years of this turmoil and the attacks from trolls.

The opposition never presents arguments.  They say things like, “faculty are lazy” but never back it up.  We rebut by explaining how they can get impression from not knowing what faculty do, but they just disappear, don’t respond and reappear a week later repeating the same thing.

They say things like, “faculty will lose this game if they keep doing what they are doing”.  We ask what they think faculty should be doing, but get no response.  We try to explain the responsibility the faculty have to the state, the university and the profession to maintain the integrity of USM, but we get no understandable response. It is as if the opposition think they have a “direct line to the Truth” and never question their own opinions and how or where they obtained these ideas.  We believe they hear these things from the administration and accept it without question.

Now it would be great if you provided some feedback on this.  You state that you were treated rudely last night. I agree.  But (and this is a BIG BUT) I don’t think it valid or logical thinking to take a opposition based, not on the facts or logic, but rather on the “salesmanship” and “how they make me feel”.  I know that is done in politics, but universities have some very old and established principles of operation. The question is are these being violated by the current administration.  Rather like if we trying to determine is a surgeon in a hospital violated correct medical procedure.  It doesn’t matter if he is cute, a stud or if you like him.  

Feel free to stop by and read in the future, but I wouldn't bother posting.  Please understand that the following should be taken in the friendliest possible way.  Higher education is a very specialized business and it is now virtually impossible for a lay person to understand problems and/or issues.  For example, "It is pretty wierd that we can post grades to SOAR but the students can't access SOAR until after next Thursday.  Further notice that the whole network went down for 12 hours yesterday and will be down again next weekend for maintainence.  Get ready for the barrage of student emails next week as they are now accustomed to using SOAR and can't get into it.  Wonder Why?"  That one was cake, we won't even mention SACS lingo.

The fact that you cannot make up your mind is a perfect example.  Anyone who is in the business can spend 30 minutes just walking around USM sniffing the air and they "know."  They may not know exactly what the problem is but you can "feel" a dying institution.  A layperson notices how nice the new lightpoles, sidewalks, and restaurants are.  You have to hand it to SFT on that one,  he understands the public far better than anyone else on campus.

Few of us are under any illusion that what happens on this board will change anything.  It is abundantly clear that IHL could care less about the welfare of USM or its students.  Most of us are just biding our time before leaving.  A lot of us are older and know enough not to be "pushed" out.  We'll leave when it is to our advantage.  We talk and bitch and whine here rather than in our classrooms or on campus or increasingly anywhere else in HBG.  At this point, all many of us ask is to be left alone to teach and do our research.  When this ends we'll get blamed for all the problems anyway because it's always convenient to blame the "foreigners". 

Thames and the gang will take care of themselves.  The end of this mess will be either a monumental scandal or an implosion caused by sheer volume of administrative incompetence.  The public will be very surprised.  We won't and if we have any sense we'll be as quiet then as we are now.  That's a character test yet to be passe.

 

Hell, things are so bad I can't even communicate with some of my friends that are old hands at other schools.  How can I explain things to the public if I can't even explain it to Susan the mid 50s prof at a similar institution?  All of us are familiar with the usual list of academic screwups.  Some of the things that happen here are simply beyond the shared experiences of even seasoned academics.  At conferences, my response to "What's going on at USM?" is an eye roll and "Don't even ask?"

He is indeed a Corn Flake in need of a Captain Crunch. When does he become a Post Toastie?

What a novel way to look at things. Most of those who engage in faculty bashing in the media (with words such as lazy and liberal) probably know as much about running a university as they know about running a corn flake factory. Why have they not directed their attention to the factories, businesses, and other public agencies? Why us?

They're the same people who were here under Fleming, and in many cases under Lucas. They're not that different from the faculty at State and Ole Miss. What is the one variable?

Also, I know many of the people in the forefront of "the Resistance" and I see anguish, anger, exhaustion, frustration, but very little "hate." Remember, these are the people who have undertaken the crushing work of getting USM off probation. These are the people who will then have to immediately begin work on the next SACS evaluation, which is coming up soon.

As we caution many visitors, this is an anonymous board. ANYONE can post. We cannot control what is posted, although the webmaster will delete outright slander.
It is also a place where people come to ventilate, yell, slam doors, and say hard things before they buckle back down to work. It is not fair to judge the USM faculty by this board. It is not fair to judge the anti-Thames forces by this board. Everyone who posts is not faculty. Everyone who posts is not a friend. There is a great deal of very clever FUD (fear, unrest, dissension) spread to bring out the worst in people.
If you can read the deeply thoughtful, heartfelt essays by people such as Stephen Judd, Anne Wallace, Green Hornet, ram, Invictus, and others, and still "not take sides" then you really are wasting your time here, and in truth, have taken a side.

Leaving ASAP: Never fight your fingers when they are trying to say something. Cut loose. This guy is a jerk.

I'm not sure where you got the network was down for 12 hours yesterday? Was that a widespread outage or isolated. I noticed no network downtime on campus.

Do you know why students' can't access SOAR until next Thursday to see their grades. It is because the faculty requested that. They didn't want students calling or emailing them about their grades until they could get out of town. SOAR could provide grades as soon as the faculty submitted them if desired.

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Originally posted by: Epicetus
"Feel free to stop by and read in the future, but I wouldn't bother posting.  Please understand that the following should be taken in the friendliest possible way.  Higher education is a very specialized business and it is now virtually impossible for a lay person to understand problems and/or issues.  For example, "It is pretty wierd that we can post grades to SOAR but the students can't access SOAR until after next Thursday.  Further notice that the whole network went down for 12 hours yesterday and will be down again next weekend for maintainence.  Get ready for the barrage of student emails next week as they are now accustomed to using SOAR and can't get into it.  Wonder Why?"  That one was cake, we won't even mention SACS lingo.
The fact that you cannot make up your mind is a perfect example.  Anyone who is in the business can spend 30 minutes just walking around USM sniffing the air and they "know."  They may not know exactly what the problem is but you can "feel" a dying institution.  A layperson notices how nice the new lightpoles, sidewalks, and restaurants are.  You have to hand it to SFT on that one,  he understands the public far better than anyone else on campus.
Few of us are under any illusion that what happens on this board will change anything.  It is abundantly clear that IHL could care less about the welfare of USM or its students.  Most of us are just biding our time before leaving.  A lot of us are older and know enough not to be "pushed" out.  We'll leave when it is to our advantage.  We talk and bitch and whine here rather than in our classrooms or on campus or increasingly anywhere else in HBG.  At this point, all many of us ask is to be left alone to teach and do our research.  When this ends we'll get blamed for all the problems anyway because it's always convenient to blame the "foreigners". 
Thames and the gang will take care of themselves.  The end of this mess will be either a monumental scandal or an implosion caused by sheer volume of administrative incompetence.  The public will be very surprised.  We won't and if we have any sense we'll be as quiet then as we are now.  That's a character test yet to be passe.
 "

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Originally posted by: Son of BUbba
". . .  I see no acknowledgement of the concerns I expressed in the second paragraph of my message . . . It appears that two groups have chosen up sides and started a game of hate . . . I'm beginning to feel that I'll probably be more comfortable in that camp. I've met Shelby Thames . . . he didn't impress me as powerful enough to run the university down the tubes by himself.  I really think he'd have to have a lot of help from the teachers in the classrooms to do that . . . if it is dying, it is dying in the classroom where faculty has control of what happens.  "

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Son of Bubba,

LeavingASAP welcomed you to the message board. Another poster even welcomed you into the family in a metaphorical sense. Yet another went out on a limb and suggested that you are not a troll. The posters on this board have been gracious to you. Yet you spew verbal venom as if you were a cobra under attack. You claim to be seeking answers, but you will not listen. Your demands sound like those of a drill sergeant shaping up a bunch of new recruits. I see no concern for USM in your posts. Could it be that your primary attachment is to one of the other two major universities? Hmmmm.

I'm truly sorry about your father but I think you misunderstood my post. I simply stated that SOAR could report grades as soon as the instructor's posted them but the faculty had requested they not do so to keep them from getting phone calls and emails before they left for the break. I was responding to the post that implied it was the fault of the computer system, just trying to provide facts. I'm sure there are valid reasons for the delay, just don't blame it on the computer.

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Originally posted by: LVN
"

You know, the more I think about this stupid crack, the angier it makes me. Listen, kiddo, I'm not even a regular faculty member. I'm a former staffer and I taught two sections of freshmen this fall. It was hard work and the money stank, but I enjoyed the teaching experience as always, and I really cared about the students. But I could not have fifty people calling and emailing me for grades at the end of the semester. I let people turn in papers up until the bitter end and then all that had to be graded (not by Scantron, either.) Some teachers have more than a hundred students. Finals have to be graded and grades averaged and then input.


As for leaving town, for your information, I was grading your essay at Forrest General Hospital next to my father's bed. I got your grade posted the night before he died. I did not want a phone call from you, thank you very much.
"

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Well, I appreciate your reasonable reply to my outburst, Correction. I just literally saw red, so I'm sorry for over-reacting. Guess ole SFT isn't the only one with a little too much temper sometimes.

No problem, I can understand your feelings and I do appreciate the hard work you and other faculty put in. Grades are stressful enough without students calling or emailing and trying to beg for a higher grade so I can understand not wanting to publish them too soon.

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Originally posted by: LVN
"Well, I appreciate your reasonable reply to my outburst, Correction. I just literally saw red, so I'm sorry for over-reacting. Guess ole SFT isn't the only one with a little too much temper sometimes."

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Your question about why faculty view the SFT situation in simple black and white terms can be answered easily. When a person or persons find them selves in a situation where they are not respected, mistreated, threatened, and lied to, the issue becomes simple. It is one of black and white. There is no communication BETWEEN faculty and SFT. The communication is one way from SFT to faculty and staff. Early on, many faculty attempted to interact with SFT in hopes that there could be communication between SFT and faculty. It failed because SFT is not interested in listening or evaluating input from faculty and staff. Now he is surrounded by a small group that says yes to anything SFT suggests. Faculty view the situation as black or white, or zero-one if you wish, because SFT has made it clear, my way in every issue, or the highway. As in any large organization, no one person can know the solution to every problem. As in any successful organization, a university must hire competent people and allow them to operate. When a micro manager is in charge, such as exists at USM, they ultimately fail because they cannot get employees to be supportive. You could select at random, faculty from all over the U.S. to staff USM under SFT's leadership and you would have exactly the situation that now exists. The issue is black or white because SFT is failing as President and the Board will have to try to put it together again. The cost of rehabilitating USM will fall on the back of the taxpayers of Mississippi. SFT has taken a viable University and turned it into the "beef plant" of education.

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Originally posted by: Profiler
" Son of Bubba, LeavingASAP welcomed you to the message board. Another poster even welcomed you into the family in a metaphorical sense. Yet another went out on a limb and suggested that you are not a troll. The posters on this board have been gracious to you. Yet you spew verbal venom as if you were a cobra under attack. You claim to be seeking answers, but you will not listen. Your demands sound like those of a drill sergeant shaping up a bunch of new recruits. I see no concern for USM in your posts. Could it be that your primary attachment is to one of the other two major universities? Hmmmm. "

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I like the part about claiming to seek answers but not listening. I am amazed that posters who complain about the faculty seldom provide any factual information. They whine about the faculty much like they claim the faculty whines about the administration.