Do not question our credentials.

This MB blocks nobody. Ignore the ignorant. I am also dismayed by that uncouth post. However, our good overcomes the bad that is out there.

SFT's last full year as Prez has commenced!!!

Let's keep it at least PG-13, folks.

academic monitor wrote:

---

buckskin wrote: Since 2003, BG has directed 20 dissertations. Confirm it via Dissertations Abstract International. Check out the topics of the dissertations. Riveting stuff. Truly.     buckskin....give us the details....who were these students?...where were they located? what were the topics? Is this the type of research that will impact education? What is your point in raising this making this post?

---

yup dey are dere, but all bestowed since 2003, nuttin before...when did shelboo start?

Perceptions of teacher motivation by teachers and administrators in a rural Southeastern state
by Bexley, Sheila Mergenschroer, PhD
THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI, 2005, 97 pages
AAT 3180153

The relationship between athletic and extracurricular activity participation and absences, discipline, and grades
by Harper, Oswago Y., PhD
THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI, 2005, 71 pages

The differences in reading and mathematics achievement by gender and attendance groups among selected second grade students
by Ladner, Rebecca Williams, PhD
THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI, 2005, 89 pages

The relationship between participation in extracurricular activities and depression among ninth-grade females
by Clark, Rhonda Parkinson, PhD
THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI, 2004, 122 pages

The job satisfaction differences between elected and appointed superintendents in the state of Mississippi and selected variables
by Ladner, Mike, PhD

Impact of tutoring on academic achievement when administered by highly qualified teachers
by McMillon-Nelson, Melanie R., PhD

Impact of a college mentoring program on reading achievement in a rural south Mississippi elementary school
by Miller, Gwendolyn Wood, PhD

Perceived stress of secondary vocational center directors in Mississippi
by Saucier, Patrick J. (Rick), PhD

Focusing on teachers' perceptions of the use of school-wide surveilance cameras
by Suarez, Lisa Ann Ross, PhD

Leadership behaviors of academic college deans in Mississippi's eight state-supported universities
by Wood, Raymond Dean, PhD

 

Glamser didn't advise PhDs because his department didn't offer one.

Stringer didn't advise many (textual editing is rarified air) but he served on lots of committees.

record wrote:

---

phd's advised Glamser - 0 Stringer - 0 Polk - 4

---

Record-

This is not directed at any particular faculty member. But it is my experience that number of doctoral degrees supervised and finished PER YEAR by a faculty member is inversely correlated with the quality of the dissertation research, especially when a faculty member does not have a solid and programmatic line of research of their own and does little publishing. I've finished advising 10 since coming to USM in 1996 (7 are in Diss Abstracts), and that is about average in my field--even among Tier 1 institutions. Each one took significant time on the part of both the student and me, and several have produced papers published in top tier journals (and others are under review).

A dissertation should be a project that attempts to make a significant contribution to the field. To do otherwise trivializes the doctoral degree.    

ELR Connection wrote:

---

Full Professional Administrator wrote:

stephen judd wrote:


ELR Connection wrote: Bud has served as a VP for our institution, Dean of CE, and a longtime graduate faculty member in ELR. This was before his "retirement".
Thanks ELR Connection. Sounds qualified on paper. 

A quick ERIC search shows that Dr. Ginn's 30 year professorial career is quite undistinguished (this is an understatement). you explain how he earned tenure, much less the rank of Full Professor and doctoral disserta tion directorship status, with this record of scholarship? (He was director of a dissertation listed on your most recent graduation program, so he must still be an active member of your department.) Is this scholarly track record typical for your ELR department at USM? Is it typical for full professors in your discipline at other research institutions? Is it typical for other academic VPs and Deans?
Times were very different back in the days when Bud Ginn earned tenure. It was in the McCain era. Most everyone that served seven years on the the faculty was awarded tenure at that point.

Bud retired from his vice president's position around 2000 or 2001. At that time he held a rank of Associate Professor in the ELR Department. If he has been promosted to Full Professor after his retirement, someone else needs to let us all know how that has been accomplished.

The ELR Deparment has has some very distinguished faculty members in the past. There have been retirements and persons moving to other institutions. I don't think anyone presently associated with the department can say that it is as strong as it was in the 70's, 80's, and 90's. When you lose faculty members like Gupton, Bedenbaugh, Southerland, Anderson, Leonard, Purivs, Knight, and numerous others, it is hard to maintain the status the department had achieved. If was once one of the stronger Ed. Admin. departments in the South and the best in the state.

Ginn was not initially a faculty member in ELR. He worked in the old Foundatins Department under Conrad Welker supervising Student Teachers.

He has never been full-time in the ELR department because he held numerous adminstrative positions in the Lucas, Fleming, and Thames.

I am sure there must be someone, somewhere, that knows exactly what his present relationship with ELR is. It may be Bud. There may not be anyone else that knows.

---

So Ginn can produce this many or more doctoral graduates, working parttime in ELR, and still find time do what he does for SFT. I suggest that we all need to put our shoulders to the wheel a little more....you know, get our productivity up. Maybe it was the FAR that got him producing.

Also, we don't need to be critical of Bud's Doctoral Program. Just think if he had been full time in the department.

All of these students had doctoral committees, so Bud did not do it all by himself. Who served with Bud on these committees? I am sure the Graduate School still approves the Chair of the Committee, and committee members.

A long standing practice at many leading institutions ecourages any member of the graduate faculty to attend a doctoral dissertation defense. Has this ever happened at USM? We should not be critical of the recipents of these degrees, their quality, or any thing else until we know the process and how it is implemented in the department.:

Tennis Elbow wrote:

---

Writer's cramp wrote:
I was surprised at the length of the cited dissertations. Maybe it's the difference in fields, but those are the length of a master's thesis in disciplines I know about.
Size doesn't count. In my discipline, for example, shorter narratives are usually found in the stronger dissertations. Long dissertations are frequently filled with unadulterated b.s. The length/quality relationship holds true for quite a few disciplines.

---

I agree. I think this issure could be cleared up with more info about the doctoral process in ELR. Maybe the department chair or even one of the recipents of degrees could provide us info.

After all, we want to raise our tier level. We don't need any stumbing blocks, no more investigations. Just "education in the sunshine."

Smoking Watergun wrote:

---

Mitch is right in suggesting that dissertation quality is generally inversely correlated with the number of dissertations a faculty member supervises per year. Directing a dissertation is difficult and time-consuming. Anybody with a real Ph.D. in a real discipline from a real university knows that allowing one person to direct 10-20 dissertations in a couple of years can be viewed to be prima facie evidence of a schlock program and a diploma mill. Doing 10 per is far worse than doing 5. It is not meritorious. It is viewed as no greater than 4th tier quality. The kind of research, thinking, and writing required for doctoral work does not permit a dissertation advisor to serve effectively on more than a few committees at a time. Turning out one Ph.D. a year would be high productivity. That is one reason that doctoral degrees in education at USM have been viewed with skepticism. Examine most any USM graduation program and you'll see what I mean. Just do a local teacher survey on attitudes toward short and long lunch periods, and you are well on your way.
 

---

AMEN!
It takes hundreds of hours to mentor a dissertation.

Mewscician wrote:

---

Smoking Watergun wrote:
Mitch is right in suggesting that dissertation quality is generally inversely correlated with the number of dissertations a faculty member supervises per year. Directing a dissertation is difficult and time-consuming. Anybody with a real Ph.D. in a real discipline from a real university knows that allowing one person to direct 10-20 dissertations in a couple of years can be viewed to be prima facie evidence of a schlock program and a diploma mill. Doing 10 per is far worse than doing 5. It is not meritorious. It is viewed as no greater than 4th tier quality. The kind of research, thinking, and writing required for doctoral work does not permit a dissertation advisor to serve effectively on more than a few committees at a time. Turning out one Ph.D. a year would be high productivity. That is one reason that doctoral degrees in education at USM have been viewed with skepticism. Examine most any USM graduation program and you'll see what I mean. Just do a local teacher survey on attitudes toward short and long lunch periods, and you are well on your way.
 
AMEN!
It takes hundreds of hours to mentor a dissertation.

---

The ELR Department, in the CoEP, has turned out some great students in the past. It also had some full time, well experienced, and ethical professors that mentored students as they pursued the research and writing of their dissertations. Sadly, all of those experienced professors have retired or moved on to other institutions.

The department is probably not turning out as many graduates as they did in their heyday. If they are, the quality cannot be expected to be as good as it was with experienced faculty overseeing the process.

All members of the graduate faculty, no matter what department you are in, are ultimately responsible for the quality of all graduate prorams at our institution. We have a Graduate Council, that all graduate faculty help elect, that is supposed to monitor and oversee graduate programs of the total institution. Is this being done? Maybe it is, maybe it isn't.

Ginn may have tried to fill the void. There certainly is a need for well qualified individuals in ELR. We don't want our institutions PhD programs to be compared to Delta State's doctoral program. Do we?

So, where do we really stand? Does anyone really know? Who is the department chair? Who is the Dean?

Emma:

In addition to the folks you named, ELR lost three outstanding research scholars in about 7 years, and a new hire in Higher Ed Ad barely warmed his seat before going to Ole Miss. In addition, Peggy Smith recently retired. However, they have hired a solid new Adult Ed person, and a new stats person who seems very good. They also hired a retired NC state level K-12 school administrator, who is also solid. The Ed Admin program is doing some smart moves (e.g., moving toward well-defined and separate EdD and PhD tracks) and is trying to rebuild their reputation in the leadership area. They have had two relatively inexperienced chairs in a row (both starting the position at the assistant professor level), which is a bit unusual (though both had K-12 admin experience). This led to some bumps in the road. The department also hangs it hat on grad education (though it offers some education service courses at the undergraduate level), which is not atypical but presents challenges in keeping the SCH at a reasonable level. All in all, this department seems to be moving in the right direction.     

Mitch wrote:

---

Emma:
In addition to the folks you named, ELR lost three outstanding research scholars in about 7 years, and a new hire in Higher Ed Ad barely warmed his seat before going to Ole Miss. In addition, Peggy Smith recently retired. However, they have hired a solid new Adult Ed person, and a new stats person who seems very good. They also hired a retired NC state level K-12 school administrator, who is also solid. The Ed Admin program is doing some smart moves (e.g., moving toward well-defined and separate EdD and PhD tracks) and is trying to rebuild their reputation in the leadership area. They have had two relatively inexperienced chairs in a row (both starting the position at the assistant professor level), which is a bit unusual (though both had K-12 admin experience). This led to some bumps in the road. The department also hangs it hat on grad education (though it offers some education service courses at the undergraduate level), which is not atypical but presents challenges in keeping the SCH at a reasonable level. All in all, this department seems to be moving in the right direction.     

---

Mitch, You seem to have some knowledge of the workings of the ELR Department. Maybe you can find out how one part-time person (Ginn) could direct that many dissertations? How were these persons assigned to Ginn? Does the Graduate School have any checks and balances to monitor the how many doctoral students that a part-time facuty member or full time facultly member can direct? Who were the other persons that served with Ginn on the doctoral committees of these students? Were they the same committee members?

There are many questions that need to be answered. The integrity of all graduate programs at USM can be tainted by programs that appear to be a degree mill. Is this program a degree mill? What are the standards? Did the standards change and did the department leadership yield to a takeover by Ginn's influence from the dome?

Things may be on the up and up in the department but you have to recognize that Ginn's way of operating in the department is unusual.

We need to know.

Mum's The Word wrote:

---

No present faculty member in the deparment would dare question what is going on. We may have too much to lose.

---

I don't know if what you say is true or not, but if it is true you might as well shut the whole darn place down right now. The oppressive environment as you describe it is not to be called educational.

Big Brother wrote:

---

... The oppressive environment as you describe it is not to be called educational.

---

I hope Big Brother hasn't just fallen off of the turnip truck.   The place has been oppressive in so many different (and creative?) ways that "education" hasn't been the focus for three years.  The focus has been "BUSINESS = MONEY"!!!!!!