HA, 4/16/06: Thames raise draws concerns of favoritism - USM Forum -- Message Board

Date: Apr 16, 2006

HA, 4/16/06: Thames raise draws concerns of favoritism

Date: Apr 16, 2006

Attempts to reach Dana Thames for comment were unsuccessful.

She has been told by Daddy and Grimes to keep her mouth shut. They are sick of removing her foot every time she tries to play intelligent.

Date: Apr 16, 2006

Info, like that about Babin's and Kuzaj's salaries, is why the community is anti-USM. Does anyone else remember how the HA used to print the name of everyone at USM who made $75,000 or more? I do. It came every Spring and was in a Sunday edition. This happened for years, and for no other apparent reason than to stir a pot.

Date: Apr 16, 2006

"Raises were issued based on equity concerns or changes in responsibility, said Provost Jay Grimes, who said he received a request for the raise in writing from Dana Thames.

Grimes said he approached Shelby Thames about the request.

"I told the president, 'You've got to know your daughter wants a raise, and there's going to be questions,'" he said. "So he was not at all involved in the process.""

Wow, so that's how it's done: You just put the request in writing. Let them know that you want a raise. I've been here 25 years and didn't know that was the procedure.

Date: Apr 16, 2006

In the face of increasing tuition andlack of funding for small summer grants, this is so sad. The data presented sure look suspicious since so few faculty and staff have received substantial raises except for (mostly) Thames supporters. It is also ironic that the chair of psychology was the "measure" for Dana Thames's raise and the provost was so insulting about calling the department "insufficiently engaged."

The bottom line, however, is that tuition and taxpayer dollars are funding these huge raises for so few people.

Amy Young

Date: Apr 16, 2006

Isn't there a standard formula applied when someone goes from a 9-month salary to a 12-month salary? That is hardly the same as an unexplained bump.

Date: Apr 16, 2006

"We want to keep good faculty and staff at the university. It shouldn't matter what their last name is - if they're doing a good job and there's a reason they should get a pay raise, they should get it."

I really question that wanting to keep "good faculty and staff" reason along with that "if they're doing a good job" excuse. Unless you've lived in a hole for the past several years -- I think those statements underscore that "good" means being a "good" little Thames soldier. How about those SPA reports, Dana?

Raises were issued based on equity concerns or changes in responsibility, said Provost Jay Grimes, who said he received a request for the raise in writing from Dana Thames.

And she requested this raise, sheer out of the clear blue. Amazing. I'd urge all faculty and staff who feel like you are being underpaid to use the same method.

Date: Apr 16, 2006

Now, now . . . Dana Thames is shown favoritism by her daddy via Uncle Jay?? Everyone must understand that in order for Miss Dana to feel important, she needs to be making as much as Mr. Stan. Intellectual issues aside - it's only fair.

Date: Apr 16, 2006

Shelby Thames and Grimes recently decided to cancel searches for 10 psychology faculty and approved 14 searches for CISE, citing an excessive number of part-time and adjunct instructors in the CISE program and a four-course-per-academic-year workload for psychology faculty, which Grimes said did not justify additional hires.

The excessive number of part-time and adjunct instructors in the CISE program has to do with the superior people that a threatened Dana "was forced" to run out (most are now excelling at many universities at higher tiers), a huge number of people who retired to get away from her, anyone else with a brain who saw that the CISE program was being run ineptly, new hires who quickly realized that they had made a mistake, the Coast depletion (the saddest of all), and the overkill on hiring USM graduates to fill tenure/tenure track positions. Somehow I think that Thames and Grimes were trying to take another potshot at Psychology as far as their decision to cancel all psychology searches. Guess Psychology really hit a nerve . . . . .

Date: Apr 16, 2006

What Mississippi needs is an overall board which provides some oversight to its institutions of higher learning.

Date: Apr 16, 2006

Amy - you are an Associate Professor who makes $45,000? Please write to Uncle Jay and tell him you'd like your salary to be brought into line with the university's average pay for Associate Professors. All you have to do it write him, he'll discuss it with Shelboo, and it'll be a done deal. I am an Associate Professor at a university in a neighboring state who makes $62,000, and I am in a College of Arts and Sciences. Equity for all.

Date: Apr 16, 2006

I am in the English Department.

Date: Apr 16, 2006

Asleep at the Wheel wrote:

What Mississippi needs is an overall board which provides some oversight to its institutions of higher learning.

LOL! Great line.

Here is the boxscore:

Ms. Thames:

1. Accreditation problems ongoing for multiple programs at both the grad and undergrad levels.

2. Precipitous drop in enrollment figures.

3. Inability to recruit or retain quality faculty who are not tied to USM.

4. Running out of friends and acquaintances to hire.

5. Pork Queen (thanks Sen Thad Cochrane!).

6. Abysmal scholarship record (do an Eric search and count peer-reviewed journal pubs).

7. Long history of end arounds and undermining the Dean's office.

8. Ph.D. from Tier 3 school.

9. About six years of administrative experience as chair.

10. Ph.D. programs in the decline.

11. Little scholarship (defined as pubs in peer reviewed journals, books, or chapters) emanating from the department.

Mr. Kuczaj

1. Outstanding history of scholarship with an international reputation in two major areas (do a PsychInfo search).

2. Graduate of the top program of the Tier I schools.

3. International reputation as a scholar (including young career researcher awards and Fellow of APA)

4. Almost three times the chair experience as Ms. Thames spanning two universities.

5. Excellent job building programs and recruiting top faculty.

6. Programs have a sterling record for accreditation.

7. Faculty publish in top journals.

8. Almost a decade additional experience in academia compared to Ms. Thames.

9. Cooperated with all Dean mandates and requests.

Ms. Thames will earn, from the taxpayer, about $150,000 next FY (includes MIDAS bonuses and summer Pork).

Mr. Kuczaj will earn about $110,000 (includes 3 month summer chair stipend).

Their 9 month salaries are now exactly the same (90K and change).

A bit of information-Mr. Russ Willis, head of HR and not an academic (had a JD) is the person who made the equity judgment for Mr. Grimes in Ms. Thames's favor. Notice that Grimes said merit was not a consideration (else Ms. Thames should by all rights be removed as chair). Sad.

Date: Apr 16, 2006

One of the most "nail-biting" experiences for the folks over in CISE was when Dana went up for Full Professor (1998). Getting her through was "an experience" where people looked away rather than judge her equitably on the merits of others who had become full profs. SFT was leaning in even then, and cronyism abounded. She squeaked through the process based on Aubrey's yellow tail. Since then, Cruella Deville doesn't begin to describe a person who makes judgements based on her tragically nonacademic background.

Date: Apr 16, 2006

My favorite part of this nice article (thanks Rachel!) is how Shelby played up his daughter's raise as based on merit but Jay said it was only an equity raise. A sure sign of political freefall is when top administrators cannot get their story straight to cover up their dishonesty. It is so sad that it is funny. May the door hit these folks hard in the a-s in one more year.

Date: Apr 16, 2006

Didn't Dana Thames her own article? Publish two articles under different titles that were 99% the same? I recall this was on the Fire Shelby site early on. If one of my students did that I'd flunk them, not give them extra credit.

Date: Apr 16, 2006

Ms. Thames received her undergrad and masters from this fine university. If memory serves me correctly, I think Mark Richmond chaired her masters program (she hired ms. beth - mark's wife and former grad assistant to be the literacy point person {Barksdale Scholar in 1999 from William Carrey} then squeezed her
"SOMEHOW" into a tenure track position - not following policy of course). I think Dr. Michael Martin was interested in this Barksdale scholar temporary position but he was not considered. Oh well, he and his wife Sally will be back to be the "featured speakers" at the July 2006 USM Reading Conference purported to be 3rd oldest in the nation, which is, of course is another lie. Ms. Dana was involved as an undergrad with the Kazelskis dream manufacturers - and this position of privlege followed her into following the erstwhile wannabe academic Carolyn into the chair of the dept. Ms. Thames beat out the late Jesse Palmer for this position, a grand mistake that began the nepotism trail.

The fact that she continues to blatantly get raises should be a slap in the face to all Mississippi Taxpayers. Daddy loves Dana, LSM, and Angie whateverherlastnameisnow.

Date: Apr 16, 2006

Plagiarists 'R Us wrote:

Didn't Dana Thames her own article? Publish two articles under different titles that were 99% the same? I recall this was on the Fire Shelby site early on. If one of my students did that I'd flunk them, not give them extra credit.

She and Carolyn Reeves Kazelskis did that very heinous act. Extra credit is in the eye of the beholder and giver. Hear this problem is going to be a very serious part of a court case soon.

Date: Apr 19, 2006

Salary raises paid for by tuition increases paid for by katrina-related funding.

Date: Apr 19, 2006

"A bit of information-Mr. Russ Willis, head of HR and not an academic (had a JD) is the person who made the equity judgment for Mr. Grimes in Ms. Thames's favor. Notice that Grimes said merit was not a consideration (else Ms. Thames should by all rights be removed as chair). Sad."

I suppose Russ is scared to death. He knows better than this, but he was ousted as HR director in favor of the male Dvorak; he knows the script here firsthand. Still, you would think he would honor the memory of those who made his ascent back to the directorship possible.

Date: Jun 2, 2006

info wrote:

http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060416/NEWS01/604160301/1002 Thames raise draws concerns of favoritism By Rachel Leifer A $13,000 late-summer raise for the daughter of President Shelby Thames is raising eyebrows among some University of Southern Mississippi faculty. Dana Thames, chair and professor of the Department of Curriculum, Instruction and Special Education (CISE), received one of nine faculty salary hikes after Aug. 1, which ranged from $2,000 to $26,559. Her current salary for a nine-month academic year is $90,735, according to information furnished to the Faculty Senate by the Office of the President. That figure does not include summer pay from grants or various incentives for bringing in grant money....

So, what is all this really costing me--this year and down the road?
What am I getting in return for my money?
Is this a good deal? Am I getting something for nothing, or for very little?
Can someone better be hired to fill the position for the same or less money?

Date: Jun 2, 2006

Can someone better be hired to fill the position for the same or less money?

Yes. But is their name Thames? No. So, try again.

Date: Jun 2, 2006

Cheer up, everyone. This will end one day, perhaps soon. There was a time a few years ago when we could not even contemplate such a thing as the Thames Tyranny. We should have defended the president we had and the president this group set out to bring down. Lessons are hard to learn. And we likely will not learn from this one, either. We deserve what we have gotten.

Date: Jun 2, 2006

Donald, I disagree with your statement that "we" deserve what we have got. "We" includes many faculty and particularly staff, who had no say-so about any former president. Yes, a some faculty could have better supported President Fleming, but we have seen how much the IHL values faculty input, haven't we.

Date: Jun 2, 2006

Angeline wrote:

Can someone better be hired to fill the position for the same or less money? Yes. But is their name Thames? No. So, try again.

Ok, so what is this raise really costing me--this year and down the road?
Could Dr. Thames earn this kind of money in the market place for whatever she does?
Am I getting fair market value for my money?

Date: Jun 2, 2006

Taxpayer wrote:

Ok, so what is this raise really costing me--this year and down the road?Could Dr. Thames earn this kind of money in the market place for whatever she does?Am I getting fair market value for my money?

I can't you an exact answer on the first question, but I can give you exact - take it to the bank- answers on the other two questions: NO! and NO!!!!

"Whatever she does" is the key here. What does she do?? Nothing remotely impressive - she is not held in high regard by her peers on a national level. How do I know? I listen to them talk.

Date: Jun 2, 2006

I have recently heard "rumors" of an additional $10,000 raise for daughter.

Date: Jun 3, 2006

Shaft wrote:

Taxpayer wrote: Ok, so what is this raise really costing me--this year and down the road?Could Dr. Thames earn this kind of money in the market place for whatever she does?Am I getting fair market value for my money? I can't you an exact answer on the first question, but I can give you exact - take it to the bank- answers on the other two questions: NO! and NO!!!! "Whatever she does" is the key here. What does she do?? Nothing remotely impressive - she is not held in high regard by her peers on a national level. How do I know? I listen to them talk.

Job description on another strand wrote that "A very good department chair of a very good department functions as not much more than a committee chair taking a turn at the job for a limited period of time."

But, Joe Olmi on that same strand disagreed with "the notion that a department chair in a good department is nothing more than a committee chair."

Are the taxpayers getting something more or not much more for this money and is this a gift that keeps on giving if Dr. Thames is only "taking a turn at the job for a limited period of time"?

Date: Jun 4, 2006

Taxpayer wrote:

Are the taxpayers getting something more or not much more for this money and is this a gift that keeps on giving if Dr. Thames is only "taking a turn at the job for a limited period of time"?

So, Dr. Thames gets the raise because she is chair.

Will her salary return to what it was before the raise when she stops being chair?

Date: Jun 4, 2006

Taxpayer wrote:

So, Dr. Thames gets the raise because she is chair. Will her salary return to what it was before the raise when she stops being chair?

No-Dana got her astronomical raises largely because of her connection with the President of the university. Her multiple raises have come under the guise of both "merit" and "equity." Many believe that if this connection was not there, her raises across the past four years would have been more in line with the meager merit and equity raises of the mere mortals working at USM (both faculty and chairs).

She is on a 9 month contract, which is base compenstation for faculty and chairs. Therefore, her salarly will remain the same when she stops being chair, and she will keep all the raises that she has been given (which will really pay off in her retirement).