The Chronicle--Crisis of Confidence - USM Forum -- Message Board

Date: Jun 21, 2006

The Chronicle--Crisis of Confidence

Date: Jun 21, 2006

Does this sound like SFT?

"Mr. DiBiaggio: A new president is well advised to spend the first year just learning the culture and assessing the people, and the second year working with the faculty and with the trustees and with others in developing some kind of a strategic plan and then spending the rest of his or her time there attempting to carry that out.

Mr. DuBois: New leaders can quickly get into trouble. Particularly if they come into the role, they haven't built up a support base, and they make a couple of mistakes. The new presidents often take on too much, they implement a change agenda without having built up their support base, they have done very little leading with their ears, and they create relationship problems.

I've never heard anybody complain about new presidents in trouble over the goals. It's always over the methods and the relationships — the lack of them. The common mistakes I see that the seasoned ones make — and they don't make many — but when they do it's usually a major mistake about money. Or they've grown to the place in their career where they exempt themselves from all the rules. And they've wrapped the organization around their own ego needs. Ultimately that will result probably in a termination."

Date: Jun 21, 2006

"Ultimately that will result probably in a termination", unless, of course, you are hand picked by a board that is headed by Roy Klumb, listens to a bunch of car salesmen, and
is located in Mississippi.

Date: Jun 21, 2006

They don't mention us. Not even once. Don't we count?

Date: Jun 21, 2006

R.X. Dangerfield wrote:

They don't mention us. Not even once. Don't we count?

Nope. They just think of us as some little back-water, 4th tier school in the most backward state in the nation. What else would you expect from here?

Date: Jun 21, 2006

R.X. Dangerfield wrote:

They don't mention us. Not even once. Don't we count?

Actually, Rodger, I believe they only discuss presidents that ran into trouble this year, although the trouble may have been building for years. I hope they have this discussion next year and SFT is the main character.

Date: Jun 21, 2006

Actually, this omission deserves a letter to the Chronicle, especially since they covered the G/S story.

Date: Jun 21, 2006

Hope the new Librarian takes heed as well.

Date: Jun 21, 2006

R.X. Dangerfield wrote:

They don't mention us. Not even once. Don't we count?

The reasons other presidents get in trouble when they screw up is that most universities have a board of trustees that cares about the welfare of their institution. When you have a board that doesn't give a rip, nothing happens when the faculty rises up.