Business College Christmas Party - USM Forum -- Message Board

Date: Dec 23, 2005

Business College Christmas Party

Date: Dec 24, 2005

COB retiree wrote:

If you are from business and attended the college Christmas party, please let me know if any of the local retirees were there. I was not invited this year.

Retirees were not invited, and only a handful of current faculty/administrators/staff showed up. Nobody seems to know why retirees were overlooked this year.

Date: Dec 24, 2005

When I was at USM, the CoB Christmas party was always a time to see our retired friends who may not come around USM very much any more. I think it's a clear sign of how little value the dean's office places on institutional memory...if we can make everyone forget about the good old days, then maybe the bad new days won't seem so bad.

Date: Dec 24, 2005

Perhaps it is also a sign of how cheap the dean is, maybe that he wants to spend all of his foundation money on his own self, or he just doesn't like the CoB faculty except those that do what he says. But then believing him is hard - always hard to hit a moving 'truthful statement' target.

Date: Dec 24, 2005

i wouldn't get too conspiratorial here. my 2 cents is that this just dropped through the cracks. a modern college administrator that is high enough up in the food chain (at least a dean) routinely delegates every part of their job description except going to meetings (you can't always send an underling). these folks have way too much sense of importance to trouble themselves with details like making sure some old folks who don't count anymore get invited to some function or another. modern deans at big schools usually don't even care about faculty (unless they can help them in some way) much less retirees.

Date: Dec 24, 2005

So much seems to fall through the cracks with Doty in charge. Many of the uninvited are very upset about it, as they should be.

Date: Dec 24, 2005

The Ghost of Christmas Past wrote:

When I was at USM, the CoB Christmas party was always a time to see our retired friends who may not come around USM very much any more. I think it's a clear sign of how little value the dean's office places on institutional memory...if we can make everyone forget about the good old days, then maybe the bad new days won't seem so bad.

Sounds just like the dean forgetting about the college's research award last year. He had to do a last minute mea culpa, though an administrator got it in the end.

Date: Dec 24, 2005

Like many things, this crew doesn't realize the importance of good relationships with our emeriti. Many are well-healed and would be eager to contribute to "their" university (at least under past administrations). John Gonzales is a good example - he donated a large part of his estate to the College of Liberal Arts. Several years ago Cynthia Moore decided that more stringent requirements for emeritus status would cut down the number of pages in the university catalog and save money. Can you say "penny wise and pound foolish"? How many retired faculty who are denied emeritus status are going to contribute to the institution that they devoted their careers to and that shafted them in the end?

Perhaps it was the failure of the underlings to invite the retired faculty. But thats what happens when you run off the experienced staff members who keep the admnistrators bacon out of the fire. Just another example of the incompetence on the mean streets of "Southern Miss".

Date: Dec 24, 2005

horace wrote:

Sounds just like the dean forgetting about the college's research award last year. He had to do a last minute mea culpa, though an administrator got it in the end.

Yes. An administrator won the college's research award with at least 75% of the pubs that won him that award coming in a journal he himself edits. No conflict of interest there.

Date: Dec 24, 2005

Louie Louie wrote:

Yes. An administrator won the college's research award with at least 75% of the pubs that won him that award coming in a journal he himself edits. No conflict of interest there.

I don't know whether to believe this or not. If it's not true, then we've got another troll on our hands. If it is true, well . . . . God bless you each and every one.

Date: Dec 24, 2005

The Ghost of Christmas Past wrote:

When I was at USM, the CoB Christmas party was always a time to see our retired friends who may not come around USM very much any more. I think it's a clear sign of how little value the dean's office places on institutional memory...if we can make everyone forget about the good old days, then maybe the bad new days won't seem so bad.

Your statement rings so true. Keeping the current faculty away from the retired profs, who know what having good management was like, is also known as strategic human resource management.

Date: Dec 25, 2005

tiny tim wrote:

Louie Louie wrote: Yes. An administrator won the college's research award with at least 75% of the pubs that won him that award coming in a journal he himself edits. No conflict of interest there. I don't know whether to believe this or not. If it's not true, then we've got another troll on our hands. If it is true, well . . . . God bless you each and every one.

tiny tim --- here's more of the story:

The award winner is now an administrator, but as of late last Spring he was not. He was in negotiations to become one at about the time the award was given. Should he have applied for the award? Probably not. Should the Dean have pulled his application for him, given the negotiations? Yes, probably. Neither happened.

The award winner is an editor of a journal. I am not privy to whether the publications that won him the award came (at a rate of 75%) from that journal. Is it possible? I suppose. If so, is that a problem? Definitely. Someone who knows more should sign here at give more info.

More --- this person and the Dean have a relationship that is a little too close for comfort. In addition to the details above, the Dean has recently published in the journal in question. Is that an okay thing? I'll leave it for you to judge. The faculty member got, in addition to the award, a huge raise for joining administration. This story is full of meat and bones. I can certainly see what Louie Louie reports as a real, real possibility.

Date: Dec 25, 2005

Same duo that showed up and voted at a recent committee meeting. Pushed the online program over the top in doing so. Kind of like an alternate universe version of batman and robin.

Date: Dec 26, 2005

This is the same college that has an "Academic Integrity" policy and requires an ethics course for all its majors. From a student's view it appears that the college administrators need to take a course in ethics before they preach to us.

Date: Dec 26, 2005

written response wrote:

tiny tim wrote: Louie Louie wrote: Yes. An administrator won the college's research award with at least 75% of the pubs that won him that award coming in a journal he himself edits. No conflict of interest there. I don't know whether to believe this or not. If it's not true, then we've got another troll on our hands. If it is true, well . . . . God bless you each and every one. tiny tim --- here's more of the story: The award winner is now an administrator, but as of late last Spring he was not. He was in negotiations to become one at about the time the award was given. Should he have applied for the award? Probably not. Should the Dean have pulled his application for him, given the negotiations? Yes, probably. Neither happened. The award winner is an editor of a journal. I am not privy to whether the publications that won him the award came (at a rate of 75%) from that journal. Is it possible? I suppose. If so, is that a problem? Definitely. Someone who knows more should sign here at give more info. More --- this person and the Dean have a relationship that is a little too close for comfort. In addition to the details above, the Dean has recently published in the journal in question. Is that an okay thing? I'll leave it for you to judge. The faculty member got, in addition to the award, a huge raise for joining administration. This story is full of meat and bones. I can certainly see what Louie Louie reports as a real, real possibility.

In prior years, the scholarly activities of the finalists who were under consideration for the research award were sent to an off-campus business dean who involved some of his/her most research-active faculty in ranking the finalists. Was this procedure followed last year? If so, the result should not be all that controversial.

As for the Christmas party and the failure to invite retirees, the Dean should be asking the Associate Dean, who has been attending COB Christmas parties for twenty years, why this oversight occurred. Competent Associate Deans try to make their Colleges and Deans look good; unfortunately, this one gives priority to his own personal agenda.

Date: Dec 26, 2005

Why don't some of the present faculty have a nice party and invite all those who were excluded from the official one? It would probably be more fun.

Date: Dec 26, 2005

Of all the pathetic, dead-end Cob strings this one takes the cake. Sad little people...

Date: Dec 26, 2005

L'Chaim wrote:

Sad little people...

Yep, we're at USM. In COB.

Competent Associate Deans try to make their Colleges and Deans look good;

Mission impossible.

unfortunately, this one gives priority to his own personal agenda.

When choosing between the Dean's personal agenda and the ADs, which to choose? I have no idea what the ADs agenda is and don't care. I'm just tired of getting hit with the shrapnel created by the attempt to make an empty bag stand upright.

Date: Dec 26, 2005

L'Chaim wrote:

Of all the pathetic, dead-end Cob strings this one takes the cake. Sad little people...

L'Chaim,

You are absolutely correct, this COB string IS pathetic and dead-end. Both adjectives, however, are descriptive of a dysfunctional organization, which is the bottom line on this and most previous COB strings.

Date: Dec 26, 2005

The Dean's hit and run post blaming matters on the Associate Dean is a big mistake. It can been seen through, and new plans will be made.

Date: Dec 26, 2005

Boxing Day wrote:

In prior years, the scholarly activities of the finalists who were under consideration for the research award were sent to an off-campus business dean who involved some of his/her most research-active faculty in ranking the finalists. Was this procedure followed last year? If so, the result should not be all that controversial. As for the Christmas party and the failure to invite retirees, the Dean should be asking the Associate Dean, who has been attending COB Christmas parties for twenty years, why this oversight occurred. Competent Associate Deans try to make their Colleges and Deans look good; unfortunately, this one gives priority to his own personal agenda.

With the delay in getting this year's process off the ground, there is almost no chance to normal procedure was followed. As for your characterization of the Associate Dean, I can tell where your bread is buttered. The AD will become Dean soon. He will be a good one.

Date: Dec 26, 2005

pardon me too wrote:

Boxing Day wrote: In prior years, the scholarly activities of the finalists who were under consideration for the research award were sent to an off-campus business dean who involved some of his/her most research-active faculty in ranking the finalists. Was this procedure followed last year? If so, the result should not be all that controversial. As for the Christmas party and the failure to invite retirees, the Dean should be asking the Associate Dean, who has been attending COB Christmas parties for twenty years, why this oversight occurred. Competent Associate Deans try to make their Colleges and Deans look good; unfortunately, this one gives priority to his own personal agenda. With the delay in getting this year's process off the ground, there is almost no chance to normal procedure was followed. As for your characterization of the Associate Dean, I can tell where your bread is buttered. The AD will become Dean soon. He will be a good one.

Pardon Me Too,

A lengthy list of past "harassees" will almost certainly prove you wrong about the Associate Dean. He will not want to risk his status by provoking them to come forward. AD will find a seemingly noble way to remove himself from consideration, that is, if he hasn't completely lost touch with his past behavior.

Date: Dec 26, 2005

I keep wondering why there was never anything SFT could do that would prompt one of the current deans to resign. Pood had the chance over the firings of Glamser and Stringer. Doty had many chances, including the command from Grimes to go online and compete with Phoenix or the dictate that CoB faculty give up basic research. It too often seems that the first act of new deans is to move to Canebrake, and subsequent acts are simply to maintain that situation.

Date: Dec 27, 2005

why or why not wrote:

I keep wondering why there was never anything SFT could do that would prompt one of the current deans to resign. Pood had the chance over the firings of Glamser and Stringer. Doty had many chances, including the command from Grimes to go online and compete with Phoenix or the dictate that CoB faculty give up basic research. It too often seems that the first act of new deans is to move to Canebrake, and subsequent acts are simply to maintain that situation.

Bingo, that's a goodie.

Date: Dec 27, 2005

All the deans reportedly expressed annger, angst, bewilderment at the suspension of Frank and Gary. One apparently told Hudson, you are my provost, I'll resign tomorrow with you in protest. All others agreed. Hudson, supposedly, couldn't pull the trigger. Imagine, though, the reprecussions.

Quit beating on ole Doty. He's a good but apparently flawed dean. The same can be said about most of the rest.

Date: Dec 27, 2005

buckskin wrote:

All the deans reportedly expressed annger, angst, bewilderment at the suspension of Frank and Gary. One apparently told Hudson, you are my provost, I'll resign tomorrow with you in protest. All others agreed. Hudson, supposedly, couldn't pull the trigger. Imagine, though, the reprecussions.
Quit beating on ole Doty. He's a good but apparently flawed dean. The same can be said about most of the rest.

Spoken like someone who has never had to interact with that ****.

Date: Dec 27, 2005

Not long now for a new dean in the college.

Date: Dec 28, 2005

buckskin wrote:

All the deans reportedly expressed annger, angst, bewilderment at the suspension of Frank and Gary. One apparently told Hudson, you are my provost, I'll resign tomorrow with you in protest. All others agreed. Hudson, supposedly, couldn't pull the trigger. Imagine, though, the reprecussions. Quit beating on ole Doty. He's a good but apparently flawed dean. The same can be said about most of the rest.

Never had heard this. Very, very interesting. What a shame if true. What a deep, deep shame.