Recently, I've had the chance to interact with faculty affiliated with universities from all over the place at my annual conference.  Many (but not most) had heard or read about USM's "situation" and their reactions were often the following:

1) Total disbelief - particularly concerning the monitoring of email and phone records

2) Has he been fired yet?

Sheepishly, my response tended to be the same.."Yeah, hard to believe", and "No, he basically has all the support he needs to stay where he is".  In most instances, I felt embarrassed, and as I reflect on those feelings, I have realized how this situation must seem to other universities.  The national embarrassment we have become has literally affected my own response to questions concerning it - a sense of how bad morale has become.

Does this affect SFT?  Not in the least... My question then is "How is it that he does not acknowledge this?"  I truly believe that part of that answer is the result of his own experiences.  He has spent his entire (40+) professional career in one place, and it has lead to a sheltered and limited wolrdview of what the relationship should be between a faculty and their university.  I don't doubt that he passionately loves USM, but if he believes that simply because we are employed here, we should have that same passion, he is mistaken.

HE MUST CREATE THAT PASSION IN THE FACULTY - And it will only happen when he acknowledges his own shortcomings, and understands that there must be a clear balance between what faculty view as important and what he sees as important.  HIS WAY OR NO WAY will never work.  Beating faculty over the head will not create passion, only embittered faculty.  If his ego prevents him from seeing that the demands of individual faculty member's profession and his own demands can, in fact, be balanced, then the ship will continue to sink. 

The faculty at USM have exhausted every avenue to them, in my opinion.  Votes, letters to the editor, etc. will over time be viewed sleepily by stakeholders of this university.  More of the same.  More of the same. 

Until he "messes up" big-time, the embarrassment will continue.  IMHO - he is not going to make that kind of mistake knowingly. So - I will continue to build on my professional resume, and hope for the nightmare to end.

Sorry for the ramblings

Count