get ready for new Commissioner - USM Forum -- Message Board

Date: Jul 19, 2005

get ready for new Commissioner

Date: Jul 19, 2005

http://clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/frontpage

Date: Jul 19, 2005

Unless this article is a smokescreen... it's a long way from a done deal:

http://clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050719/NEWS01/50719006

Robert Campbell

Date: Jul 19, 2005

That's the impression I got from the short article in the HA yesterday.

I've already said my piece about what a Clark appointment means in terms of keeping the politics in higher education in Mississippi. But what it also signals is that the Mississippi Democratic Party is in serious meltdown. Clark follows in the footsteps of Bubba Pierce, winning an election & then essentially conceding by stepping down & letting Haley (one of the ultimate partisan players) appoint a successor to fill out the term.

Clark did not campaign as a Republican. The voters did not choose a Republican to be Secretary of State. But guess what? Clark is using his victory to ensure that the state gets a Republican Secretary of State.

He's also going to almost triple his paycheck.

Yep, that's the kind of "integrity" I want in an IHL commissioner. I thank God that I don't work for an IHL institution!

VSN is showing her true colors, boys & girls. Get used to it.

Date: Jul 19, 2005

If it is true that Clark has not yet been scheduled for an interview, my guess is that the IH view him as the "frontrunner" and are saving him for last. That way they can announce their selection almost immediately after the last interview.

Date: Jul 19, 2005

I hope Invictus and PAU are wrong... but these kinds of games have been played before.

RC

Date: Jul 19, 2005

i heard that the selection will be Tom Meredith.

Date: Jul 19, 2005

scm,

I hope you're right.

RC

Date: Jul 19, 2005

rc--i'm not so sure folks at USM will be happy. some of "long in the tooth" remember him when he was at the board in the past. had (and maybe has) a strong UM flavor to him.

Date: Jul 19, 2005

I ran into Clark late last week at Carl Nicholson's business place. He seems like a good guy.

Date: Jul 19, 2005

Invictus wrote:

Yep, that's the kind of "integrity" I want in an IHL commissioner.

Invictus, is Clark a done deal for IHL commish? I was planning on submitting my application for USM Provost, but if the IHL post is still open I'd be interested since it affords the opportunity to travel. I'm an irreverent but honest Libertarian of the Kinky Friedman faction, and soon as my mail order Doctor of Theology diploma arrives, I'll be Dr. Dr. Dr. AE. I think I paid an extra five bucks and ordered it with highest honors. Whadda ya think, and where do I send my papers?

AE

Date: Jul 19, 2005

herin wrote:

I ran into Clark late last week at Carl Nicholson's business place. He seems like a good guy.

Everyone says he is a good guy. It's just that he isn't qualified in the area of higher education administration. These are the very credentials that the lay IHL board needs to guide them.

Date: Jul 19, 2005

herin wrote:

I ran into Clark late last week at Carl Nicholson's business place. He seems like a good guy.

Nobody said he wasn't. Most politicians cultivate the "good guy" persona. Heck, I'm told that sometimes Satan comes as a man of peace. My mechanic is a good guy, but that doesn't mean I think he ought to be IHL commissioner.

The very fact that he was hanging at Carl's ought to be an industrial-sized red flag to anyone who wants to see serious change in how IHL does bidness. Just remember, Nicholson was one of Shelby's biggest boosters & is the guy who is reputed to have said, "We fixed USM now," after Shelby was annointed presidenté.

Austin Eagle wrote:

Whadda ya think, and where do I send my papers?

I think you'd do as well as, or better, than the applicants they now have. As Kinky Friedman says, "How hard could it be?" It must not be very hard, if the board is giving serious consideration to someone who has absolutely no administrative experience in higher ed & whose principal occupation has been "elected official."

Date: Jul 19, 2005

Invictus wrote:

Just remember, Nicholson was one of Shelby's biggest boosters & is the guy who is reputed to have said, "We fixed USM now," after Shelby was annointed presidenté.

Hey Invictus --

I thought I had heard all the stories but this is the first time I have heard this one. Can you give me any insight concerning the origin of this anecdote? I'm amazed that people who do these politcal deals actually express these kinds of opinions where they can be overheard . . . guess arrogance caps everything . . .

Date: Jul 19, 2005

stephen judd wrote:

I thought I had heard all the stories but this is the first time I have heard this one. Can you give me any insight concerning the origin of this anecdote? I'm amazed that people who do these politcal deals actually express these kinds of opinions where they can be overheard . . . guess arrogance caps everything . . .

Check your email. If Shelby doesn't get there first

Date: Jul 20, 2005

C/L says Clark is not the list of candidates that IHL will interview.

Selection maybe as soon as tomorrow.

One of the IHL board members ( I think from the coast, no not KLUMB) was asked for comment and he actually was quoted as saying the president is the spokesman for board!!

Carl, Roy, Amy and other board members of past certainly never lived by this guideline.

Date: Jul 20, 2005

July 20, 2005

Clark not on interview list for ed post

Not contacted by state College Board, secretary of state says

By Andy Kanengiser
akanengiser@clarionledger.com

http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050720/NEWS01/507200370/1002/NEWS01

Date: Jul 20, 2005

If Clark isn't on the list it's just as well. Unless I missed something the guy's vita showed that he did ALL his professional training--BA/MA/Ph.D.--in Mississippi and held his only academic appointment here as well. If ever a vita cried out "Good Ole Boy" it was that one. A local connection would be good, but not if ALL the connections are local. We've seen just about enough of that I would think.

Date: Jul 20, 2005

Not From Here II wrote:

If Clark isn't on the list it's just as well. Unless I missed something the guy's vita showed that he did ALL his professional training--BA/MA/Ph.D.--in Mississippi and held his only academic appointment here as well. If ever a vita cried out "Good Ole Boy" it was that one. A local connection would be good, but not if ALL the connections are local. We've seen just about enough of that I would think.

You're absolutely correct about Clark's Mississippi ties and the danger of inbreeding. I think we should recruit Robert Campbell for IHL Commissioner. He's a Harvard man, definitely not a "Good Ole Boy," and he knows everything about running a university system. I don't know if he'd accept the cut in salary, but it's worth a try.

Date: Jul 20, 2005

IHL Headhunter wrote:

Not From Here II wrote: If Clark isn't on the list it's just as well. Unless I missed something the guy's vita showed that he did ALL his professional training--BA/MA/Ph.D.--in Mississippi and held his only academic appointment here as well. If ever a vita cried out "Good Ole Boy" it was that one. A local connection would be good, but not if ALL the connections are local. We've seen just about enough of that I would think. You're absolutely correct about Clark's Mississippi ties and the danger of inbreeding. I think we should recruit Robert Campbell for IHL Commissioner. He's a Harvard man, definitely not a "Good Ole Boy," and he knows everything about running a university system. I don't know if he'd accept the cut in salary, but it's worth a try.

I don't think Dr. Campbell has the credential in Higher Ed Administration for this position. I haven't reviewed his vita in some time, but I don't recall seeing these important credentials. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Date: Jul 20, 2005

LeftASAP wrote:

I don't think Dr. Campbell has the credential in Higher Ed Administration

Thank heavens he doesn't. What a university does not need is a president with a terminal degree in Higther Ed Administration. History bares that out. A professional administrator is just as bad as a professional politician.

Date: Jul 20, 2005

IHL Headhunter wrote:

You're absolutely correct about Clark's Mississippi ties and the danger of inbreeding. I think we should recruit Robert Campbell for IHL Commissioner. He's a Harvard man, definitely not a "Good Ole Boy," and he knows everything about running a university system. I don't know if he'd accept the cut in salary, but it's worth a try.

Cut in salary, huh?

You'd think an IHL headhunter would have some idea what Clemson professors are paid.

Robert Campbell

Date: Jul 20, 2005

Laissez Faire wrote:

A professional administrator is just as bad as a professional politician.

But as the recent history of USM "bares" out, an unprofessional administrator is even worse.

Date: Jul 20, 2005

Invictus wrote:

But as the recent history of USM "bares" out, an unprofessional administrator is even worse.

I'm with you on this one. I have a natural skepticism of administrators with words like "education" and "leadership" in the ph.d. title. I refuse to make a blanket condemnation of them all. There's an institution in the center of Mississippi that is doing quite well, thank you, with a president with just the sort of degree that normally makes me wonder how doctor fits in the title.

Date: Jul 21, 2005

I think a person can have "credentials in Higher Ed Administration" without having a degree in Education Administration.

Date: Jul 21, 2005

LeftASAP wrote:

I think a person can have "credentials in Higher Ed Administration" without having a degree in Education Administration.

Absolutely. Bobby Khayat at Ole Miss is arguably one of the most capable university administrators in the country and he lacks any formal training in "Higher Ed Administration." In fact, he doesn't hold a Ph.D. or Ed.D. in any field, but rather an LL.B. and LL. M. Oh, and he was an all-NFL football player too, before entering academia, so he well understands the concept of working as a team.

Date: Jul 21, 2005

LeftASAP wrote:

I think a person can have "credentials in Higher Ed Administration" without having a degree in Education Administration.

Another example, in addition to Khayat, of outstanding University leaders without Ph.D's or other terminal degrees would be Joe B. Wyatt--long time head of Vanderbilt in the 1980s-1990s (MBA).

Or take a look at the UNC system, one of the best in the nation ( and successful raider of USM's faculty): It has had three presidents since the 1950s: William C. Friday, a lawyer, C.D. Spangler, a businessman, and Molly C. Broad, who holds only an MA in economics.

To me, the job of running a state university system is so complex, so fundamentally political in its relations with the governor, the state legislature, and other stakeholders, that only temperament and experience can prepare a candidate.

My two cents.

Date: Jul 21, 2005

TarHeel Eagle wrote:

take a look at the UNC system, one of the best in the nation ( and successful raider of USM's faculty): It has had three presidents since the 1950s: William C. Friday, a lawyer, C.D. Spangler, a businessman, and Molly C. Broad, who holds only an MA in economics. To me, the job of running a state university system is so complex, so fundamentally political in its relations with the governor, the state legislature, and other stakeholders, that only temperament and experience can prepare a candidate.

But the Mississippi political climate is a different can of worms than that of North Carolina. The Tarheel state has well established system premier public universities such as UNC and N.C. State, and it has a strong band of loyal supporters who understand what a university is all about. UNC and N.C. State have leadership that can take care of the academic side of their institutions. Mississippi's IHL, on the other hand, inappropriately tampers with the academic side of its institutions. I know North Carolina's system of higher education. Mississippi is not a North Carolina by any means. Put a professional administrator or a professional politician in charge of the IHL and those views will filter down to the individual institutions unchallenged. What you describe works in N.C. It will not work in MS.