SH, 2/17/06: Thames: USM here to stay on Gulf Coast - USM Forum -- Message Board

Date: Feb 17, 2006

SH, 2/17/06: Thames: USM here to stay on Gulf Coast

Date: Feb 17, 2006

That's too bad. USM is going to lose out on an opportunity to jettison the piece of crap operation that is USMGC. With very few exceptions, USMGC houses the weakest members of departments, has no real research culture, and is run on a country club basis: if we like to hang out with you then you're a good hire. The people in my department who have been hired to USMGC are nice people but have done only borderline research and would not have been tenured in Hattiesburg. A "pass" was given because they were "at the Coast."

Date: Feb 17, 2006

He Said/He Said wrote:

That's too bad. USM is going to lose out on an opportunity to jettison the piece of crap operation that is USMGC. With very few exceptions, USMGC houses the weakest members of departments, has no real research culture, and is run on a country club basis: if we like to hang out with you then you're a good hire. The people in my department who have been hired to USMGC are nice people but have done only borderline research and would not have been tenured in Hattiesburg. A "pass" was given because they were "at the Coast."

If things are that bad, the real shame is that the promotion and tenure committees gave them a "pass" for being "at the coast." It seems that those committees have the power to change things there, and don't. Is this how all of the colleges work?

Date: Feb 17, 2006

He Said/He Said wrote:

That's too bad. USM is going to lose out on an opportunity to jettison the piece of crap operation that is USMGC. With very few exceptions, USMGC houses the weakest members of departments, has no real research culture, and is run on a country club basis: if we like to hang out with you then you're a good hire. The people in my department who have been hired to USMGC are nice people but have done only borderline research and would not have been tenured in Hattiesburg. A "pass" was given because they were "at the Coast."

I feel moved to defend my colleagues on the coast from unwarranted libel.

I don't see how anyone familiar with the situation on the coast could make this sweeping accusation.

Take my department, history. We have four colleagues teaching on the coast, two tenured, two at the assistant rank. The tenured profs have both published widely, including books with major university presses. One has his terminal degree from Oxford (the one in England) and was a finalist for a position at the University of Michigan (the one in Ann Arbor). The other is a Vanderbilt PhD who maintains an active research agenda.

The assistants both have book manuscripts in the pipeline, give papers at national conferences, and publish articles.

All have competed favorably for university-wide distinctions like summer research grants and Lucas awards. In tenure and promotion, they have been held to the same high standards as everyone else.

I, myself, came here originally to teach at the coast campus and was promoted and tenured while a member of the coast faculty. If my work is “borderline” then someone will have to tell the committee that selected me for a faculty award for “Excellence in Basic Research” in 2001. They might as well tell the same thing to the NICHD, who subsequently funded me for two years as a demography postdoc at UNC-Chapel Hill; my publisher (UNC press); and the many reviewers who have praised my work.

Even before Katrina, the coast faculty labored under many constraints: limited library resources, excessive number of course preparations, and the need to travel among numerous teachings sites that include Jackson Co., Keesler, Long Beach, and Hattiesburg. I’m glad USM is continuing its commitment to the coast campus, even if IHL deems the Long Beach campus unsafe. Now, our colleagues need our help, encouragement, and well-earned respect.

That’s my two cents.

Date: Feb 17, 2006

Thanks, Louis K. I was scratching my head over that one. I also have every respect for my English colleagues on the coast. I imagine that the anonymous person posting that attack was nothing more than a troll.

Jameela

Date: Feb 17, 2006

I don't think He Said is talking about CoB, either. I don't think any CoB coast faculty are tenured. There may be one in Tourism.

Date: Feb 17, 2006

Funny how Thames refers to himself as a "dead horse." Dead horse/lame duck... they can still exude a stench of pardons, kickbacks, blind ignorance, and blind ignoring of problems.

Date: Feb 17, 2006

Louis K. and Pat Smith are scholars. They are probably ahead of most of their cohorts in History.

There are many other faculty members from the Gulf Coast, that have functioned with very limited resources, that have produced more research and publications than their cohorts in their ivory towers in Hattiesburg.

For example: Janet Richards. I challenge any faculty member at USM to put your record up against Janet's. Sadly, she is no longer at USM. She is at USF and is continuing her stellar record. Go online, look at her vitae, and compare your own to it.

I can cite others from the Gulf Coast that have made excellent contributions in teaching. research, and service. If you remember, all three areas are a part of the mission of USM.

USM has skated on thin ice on the coast for over thirty years. The ice may break soon if they do not deliver.

Louis K. (History Dept) wrote:

He Said/He Said wrote:
That's too bad. USM is going to lose out on an opportunity to jettison the piece of crap operation that is USMGC. With very few exceptions, USMGC houses the weakest members of departments, has no real research culture, and is run on a country club basis: if we like to hang out with you then you're a good hire. The people in my department who have been hired to USMGC are nice people but have done only borderline research and would not have been tenured in Hattiesburg. A "pass" was given because they were "at the Coast."

I feel moved to defend my colleagues on the coast from unwarranted libel.

I don't see how anyone familiar with the situation on the coast could make this sweeping accusation.

Take my department, history. We have four colleagues teaching on the coast, two tenured, two at the assistant rank. The tenured profs have both published widely, including books with major university presses. One has his terminal degree from Oxford (the one in England) and was a finalist for a position at the University of Michigan (the one in Ann Arbor). The other is a Vanderbilt PhD who maintains an active research agenda.

The assistants both have book manuscripts in the pipeline, give papers at national conferences, and publish articles.

All have competed favorably for university-wide distinctions like summer research grants and Lucas awards. In tenure and promotion, they have been held to the same high standards as everyone else.

I, myself, came here originally to teach at the coast campus and was promoted and tenured while a member of the coast faculty. If my work is ?borderline? then someone will have to tell the committee that selected me for a faculty award for ?Excellence in Basic Research? in 2001. They might as well tell the same thing to the NICHD, who subsequently funded me for two years as a demography postdoc at UNC-Chapel Hill; my publisher (UNC press); and the many reviewers who have praised my work.

Even before Katrina, the coast faculty labored under many constraints: limited library resources, excessive number of course preparations, and the need to travel among numerous teachings sites that include Jackson Co., Keesler, Long Beach, and Hattiesburg. I?m glad USM is continuing its commitment to the coast campus, even if IHL deems the Long Beach campus unsafe. Now, our colleagues need our help, encouragement, and well-earned respect.

That?s my two cents.