There is constant criticism leveled on this board toward administrators at all levels in our institution. One would believe that there are no admilnistrators at our institution that could be labeled as "good."
In an effort to do something positive, two of my colleagues and I are asking the posters on this board to identify administrators that could be classified as good administrators. If you choose to participate in this project you may use this thread to do so.
List the name of the administrator, the position they hold, and a your reason that you think they are a good administrator.
List the name of the administrator, the position they hold, and a your reason that you think they are a good administrator.
Horace Fleming, Carl Martray. Why? Fleming had world class academic values and tried to clean up the mess at USM. Martray had world class values and tried to clean up what was an even greater mess in CoEP.
Please define "administrator" -- USM has some excellent chairs, but do you consider them administrators? Do you mean academics only, or do you include heads of other divisions?
Harold Luce--former Dean, College of The Arts. Top notch. Valued his faculty and fought for them. Respected the students and fought for them. Made some people angry when he didn't think they were producing and said so, but most thought he was always fair.
Don Cotten--VP for Research. Genuinely loves USM and values its faculty. Would do anything he could to help them in their research and (in the arts) to help projects with the students.
Is there no nomination of a current administrator? A dean, perhaps? A department chair? A capable vice president? I can think of dozens of superb administrators at other institutions.
Our intent was to nominations of current USM administrators. Department chairs, in our opinion, certainly serve in an administrative role. Staff positions may also be used.
It is also OK to think about good administrators from the past and hope for the future.
I've heard that William Kuskin is doing a good job for English, but I don't have first hand knowledge. From deans on up....the only person I can think of is Cecil Burge. The others---from deans to the dome (and that includes people like Paul and Ryan)-- are either a disaster or have compromised themselves so much that they can never be trusted.
Really, one has to look at the ones who have hung on for some reason and seem to hold up the place. Burge, Paul and Gore (now that the hit man is gone)
Yes, Martray was a good man. However, in the decisive fall of 2001 - he became a bit of a cowardly lion; little did he know what was in his future at that point. He was always a little cowered by Dana Thames - obviously for good reason. Nonetheless, he chose the wrong dog in that hunt, and it came back to bite him!
some are hiding wrote: Really, one has to look at the ones who have hung on for some reason and seem to hold up the place. Burge, Paul and Gore (now that the hit man is gone)
I agree about Burge and perhaps about Gore but never about Paul. He was part of the dean's ambush (was in the meeting the night before when the business guys were told) and he was part of the ambush of Myron Henry by the "cabinet." Ask Myron about this. They treated him like the worst criminal on the face of the earth.
We have an excellent administrator in the School of Nursing, Katherine Nugent, Director and Associate Dean of COH, she has not compromised her standards and stands up for what is just and fair even when it is immensely unpopular to do so; some wonder how she continues to remain here; Marie Farrell was a world class scholar (the real deal, not the phony cliche), came from WHO and remained while at USM as Harvard faculty (still is) and did not dignify this administration with even a resignation after her position and College was eliminated; She was a gentle and powerful voice for moving our College into national prominence and would have done so without the catastrophic events of SFT's "reorganization". And then to be blamed and shamed personally for our students standing up for their own College in a peaceful demonstration! Sharyn Janes who stepped in and assumed the Director position after Marie stepped down when NO ONE ELSE would, battled our iDean (her title for interim) Exline and Hudson and Dvorak and everyone else up the line for an entire year before resigning.
Our leaders in the College of Nursing have been true LEADERS, in spite of the incredible devestation which has occured in the largest nursing program in the State (and still is).
And we are proud of our latest NCLEX scores from 2005, we have worked hard to hold on to our Standards and continue to have the same if not better admissions and graduation rates throughout the past three years of chaos. We have done this with declining doctorally prepared faculty, retirements, resignations, and NO help from the Dome. We are working in a very "sick" overcrowded building (how ironic is that???) and few prospects for faculty hires. We have 13 openings for faculty, few applicants. And this is not just unique to USM, UMC and other programs share this faculty shortage and it is only going to worsen. It is just possibly much harder to recruit at USM with our somewhat tarnished reputation as a university, but our school of nursing remains committed to producing the best nurses in the State.
If you don't believe me (and I am very biased), ask anyone in the area or in the State. Or better yet, the next time you are at FGH or Wesley or any other health facility, ask your nurse where he or she graduated from. Our quality has not been affected, just our spirit and our morale. But thanks to Katherine Nugent and her administration, her tenaciousness and her positive attitude, there is much more stability for those of us who have stayed the course. I do not blame anyone who has left, we all have our own reasons for staying and for leaving.
But don't count us out, we have inspired and loyal leaders, devoted faculty and outstanding students. We just have to hang on another year. Our school is much larger than one President, to allow this travesty to shrink us in any way would be an incredible dishonor to our founding Dean, Sister ELizabeth Harkins who defied the odds and created this School of Nursing.
Look for a HA story about Sister Harkins and our SON very soon.
Jim Hollandsworth was a fine and decent man who was also a well respected scholar. I miss his wise counsel in the dome. But glad for him that he is no longer here. They do not deserve anyone of his moral character. And Angela Ball as English Chair, I consider her among the finest and I do consider her role as administration.
Ask Myron about this. They treated him like the worst criminal on the face of the earth.
Ask Myron how he treated faculty when he was provost. He treated them like they were the worst criminals on the face of the earth. Wonder how it feels to get the same treatment he dished out to so many others.
snow queen, Dr. Ball is no longer chair of English, William Kuskin is.
Actually, any chair in COAL ought to get a little gold star on this list for being willing to be a chair at all. And yes, I single out COAL because that's the only college I have first-hand knowledge of.
I certainly had my problems with Myron when he was Provost, but he was always honest and forthright in my dealings with him--even when I didn't like his answers or the way he delivered them. I think he saw how bad the budget situation was even way back then, and many of his decisions were based on the economic condition of the university.
I didn't know MH until the last year or two, but I knew of people who didn't like him. In the meantime, he's had a near-death health crisis, and has endured what everyone else at USM has endured. He seems to have learned and grown from both experiences, which not everyone is able to do. He is a good friend to the resistance, and works very hard for the benefit of USM. Faculty who did not care for him before have learned to appreciate him in a new way.
Cecil Burge was mentioned above. I would also nominate Greg Pierce, the Registrar, based on my personal dealings with him and his office several years ago. (Remember, you never defined "administrator" as I asked you to at the beginning of this thread.)
So WHO are you labeling as administrators? Seems MANY have been named that WE consider worthy administrators.....Nugent, Greg Pierce, etc. Seems you really don't want to recognize that there ARE still good people at USM and SOME of them happen to be in positions of authority and access to the pursestrings (a loose interpretation, albeit, of "administrative"). Be careful of looking too long at that abyss. Not everyone "left" at USM are simply "those with no where else to go or waiting on PERS to kick in."