Renewed PR - USM Forum -- Message Board

Date: Jul 4, 2004

Renewed PR

Date: Jul 4, 2004

Thank you Saleperson for your insightful post. I agree, we need our own PR person to get the word out and clear up misconceptions and the untruthful spins. HOWEVER, if this person is from outside, they are not the voice of the faculty or staff. This person needs the blessing of the body it represents. For example if the Faculty Sentate wanted to point out the spin on a certain story, it's PR person (who represents the voice of the FS) could make their statement with some sort of authority.

Please comment, you view is most welcomed. (at least from me)

Date: Jul 4, 2004

quote:
Originally posted by: Salesperson
What about finding our own PR person, perhaps a volunteer from the outside, an alum who would consider this on a pro bono basis to begin working this a strategic campaign?

It will work only if the faculty agree to go through the PR person instead of acting individually in the media. You do realize, though, that no defense of the faculty would be necessary at all had the faculty not gone to the media in the first place? Some faculty stuck their hand out there and they got cuffed. Now they are having to do damage control.

Furthermore, the public and the media cannot overturn Thames. Only the IHL can do that. The no-confidence vote should have been enough to tell the IHL that Thames did not belong here. You really think the media are going to have greater influence than that? Probably going to the media about the Thames-Faculty problem will only bring more embarrassment to USM--no matter what kind of spin you put on it. However, it would have a better chance of success if the criticism was going through one professional person.

I remember reading a column by the history professor, Neil McMillen, in HA. Neil criticized Thames, but I came away from the article actually feeling no animosity being expressed in it. I felt as though Neil was truly concerned about USM overall rather than himself. He is retired, I believe. Ask him to consider such a PR position.

Date: Jul 4, 2004

quote:
Originally posted by: N2ME
"
...You do realize, though, that no defense of the faculty would be necessary at all had the faculty not gone to the media in the first place? ..."

Oops, there you go again. SFT did not employ the principle of shared governance, which would have kept the debate internal to USM. Please stop blaming the faculty for the public debate.

The rest I can agree with except you cannot restrict citizen’s freedom of speech and so there is no way to have only a PR person speak for the faculty.

No one said democracy is more efficient than a dictatorship, in the short term. But it sure is in the long term, for example AD, MD, JH, etc.

Date: Jul 4, 2004

Thanks for some initial positive feedback. Let's keep this thread on target about ways to do it better. I don't have any pre-conceived ideas about the best way to move forward here and I certainly am not suggesting an outside person becoming the spokesperson for the legitimate voices of the university. I am thinking more along the lines of a coordinator, organizer, arbitrator, strategist - an expert (or advisory group of experts) in media relations, political organizing, marketing campaigns that could help us (not necessarily do for us) focus, clarify, and spread a cohesive message - could help make this more of a campaign. Don't have any more time right now, it's the 4th, but let's all think on this some. Best wishes for a safe, happy holiday everyone.

Date: Jul 4, 2004

quote:
Originally posted by: Salesperson
I am thinking more along the lines of a coordinator, organizer, arbitrator, strategist - an expert (or advisory group of experts) in media relations, political organizing, marketing campaigns that could help us (not necessarily do for us) focus, clarify, and spread a cohesive message -

So no spokesperson then? Will this person not have that role? I had thought at first your idea was quite novel and just what we needed. I agreed with you 100%.

On the other hand, the media campaign should be going through one professional person rather than coming from some faculty who do not know how or do not want to express their case in a professional non-caustic manner. I would bet money that with every public embarrassment by an individual faculty member, the IHL becomes more determined to leave Thames in place.

I do not want the faculty to stop going to the media in order to make it easier for Thames. I want them to stop because they are embarrassing me, the students, and USM altogether. Right now, that is the type of message they are sending out.

Date: Jul 4, 2004

quote:
Originally posted by: N2ME
" So no spokesperson then? Will this person not have that role? I had thought at first your idea was quite novel and just what we needed. I agreed with you 100%. On the other hand, the media campaign should be going through one professional person rather than coming from some faculty who do not know how or do not want to express their case in a professional non-caustic manner. I would bet money that with every public embarrassment by an individual faculty member, the IHL becomes more determined to leave Thames in place.I do not want the faculty to stop going to the media in order to make it easier for Thames. I want them to stop because they are embarrassing me, the students, and USM altogether. Right now, that is the type of message they are sending out."

You act like the faculty should all speak with one voice. How silly. Unlike SFT, they are not dictators nor are they sheep. They are individual citizens who, the last time I checked, have the right to speak publicly about whatever issues they choose. And, too bad that the current USM spokesperson, Lisa Mader, finds it so difficult to do what is written in her job description--speak for ALL of USM, not just one man.

It's been said on this board before...SFT waging war on his faculty members (by not using USM PR people to get the word out about how wonderful his faculty are...something he says in his weekly letters all of the time) is a symptom of his egomanical, short-sighted style of non-leadership. Stop blaming the faculty for what SFT has done to USM. It's misplaced, nonproductive, and just plain ludicrous.

NO QUARTER!

Date: Jul 4, 2004

"Right now, that is the type of message they are sending out."

N2ME - please be more specific about who they are, if you wouldn't mind.

Date: Jul 4, 2004

quote:
Originally posted by: N2ME
I want them to stop because they are embarrassing me, the students, and USM altogether. Right now, that is the type of message they are sending out."

Why don't you ask SFT to stop embarassing USM on an international level? Believe me, that's the REAL embarassment here.

Date: Jul 4, 2004

We could consider the president of Faculty Senate a spokesperson for the faculty. However he has no professional PR experience. Also, unlike a dictatorship, the senate must first approve his pronouncement. It isn't easy to get that many people to agree on an issue much less the wording. That is one reason why the "no confidence" vote was such a huge event to anyone who really understands how a university runs as a democratic system.

Even with a PR person, faculty will still give their personal opinions to the media in their individual styles.

Date: Jul 4, 2004

quote:
Originally posted by: N2ME
" You do realize, though, that no defense of the faculty would be necessary at all had the faculty not gone to the media in the first place? Some faculty stuck their hand out there and they got cuffed. Now they are having to do damage control. Furthermore, the public and the media cannot overturn Thames. Only the IHL can do that. The no-confidence vote should have been enough to tell the IHL that Thames did not belong here. You really think the media are going to have greater influence than that? Probably going to the media about the Thames-Faculty problem will only bring more embarrassment to USM--no matter what kind of spin you put on it."

N2ME,

Let's think for a minute about what you're saying.

If no faculty members had gone to the media in the first place, Thames would have gotten away with everything he wanted to get away with.

If Thames and his administration were to stop getting unflattering media attention, the majority of the IHL Board that supports him would conclude that all is well, declare victory, and probably extend his contract for another four years. The Board largely ignored the general faculty's vote of no confidence, didn't it? Suppose it hadn't been reported in the newspaper...wouldn't the Board have then pretended that it didn't happen at all?

Some things that some faculty members have said to the media could have been improved on. But if no faculty members spoke to the media at all...Thames would reign unchecked.

Since I think you are well able to understand these consequences, this is where I get off the reply train.

Robert Campbell

Date: Jul 4, 2004

And many, many of those speaking out against Thames, particularly in the HA are not faculty, or not USM faculty. I have had two letters printed, Dr. John Ower has had at least two brilliant letters printed. What about Saucier and Chain? There are many others.

Date: Jul 4, 2004

quote:
Originally posted by: N2ME
"But didn't the IHL ignore them anyway after they went to the media? Please tell me how going to the media solved the problem? I still see Thames' name on the door."

The names on some doors have changed.

Date: Jul 5, 2004

I have taken the liberty of copying Dr. Polk's response on the SunHerald thread to bring here because he has developed an important PR tool in his classes over the years.

A quick response to those who misunderstood what I was suggesting yesterday. A PR campaign is all about strategy and marketing and managing relationships. I think that the university community would be served well by someone helping to organize a more formal PR campaign. At no point was I suggesting to stifle individual university voices or to usurp official faculty/staff/student channels. A PR person and a media spokesperson are NOT synonymous, assuming that they are misses the point completely. At any rate, discussion got off topic on this thread. I hope it will come back.

From Dr. Polk:

It IS heartbreaking to see the dialogue about our troubles at USM descend to accusations of "insider-outsider" positions, but I'm not surprised. That's how Mississippi has always responded when it has been threatened: there were plenty of "outside agitators," of course, in the sixties who helped end the more physicall brutal demonstrations of Mississippi apartheid, but there were plenty of "inside agitators" who tried to do the same thing, who faced terrible, even dangerous, opposition in their homes, cities, churches, offices because they knew apartheid was wrong, no matter what insiders said.

I have to say, though, that part of the problem with the state of things NOW is our own fault, if only because we do not make the internal workings of a university part of our coursework---I dont mean just us here at USM, but professors across the state. That is, most university students in Mississippi pass through our classes, graduate, go on to become legislators and IHL board members and most of them, sad to say, haven't heard one word in 4 years about how a university functions; what its goals are; what its relationships to other state institutions are; why tenure is necessary; why academic freedom and freedom of speech are essential; why shared governance is the single, unassailable key to a university's mission; and what happens to that mission when bad people ignore all these essentials.

Most students participate in our end-of-term scantron teacher evaluations without having a clue what they are doing, so I usually take the remainder of the period---after they have given their verdict---to explain what they are doing. I go through the entire process of advertising for and interviewing and hiring professors, then we discuss the evaluation procedures which they have just participated in, the expectations we have for new professors, the rankings of assistant, associate, and full professor: why such elaborate evaluation, where it begins, and why they are important to the university's mission, and why the searches are important at every level of the university. Invariably, the students are fascinated with this information; they have no clue about any of this: even graduate students are amazed to discover how intricate, even byzantine---and essential---the procedure is and why every step in the process is necessary. I confess, too, that nobody in my graduate school told me anything about any of this either; I entered my first job clueless about any of it. This should never happen.

I propose that we all make a concerted effort not just to educate our students in our specialties, but to educate them in the ways of a university; we must find some way to teach them why what we do here is vitally important. We have to: they may be our bosses someday.

Date: Jul 5, 2004

Foot soldier touched on this matter on a previous thread: Foot Soldier said: " and have clearly been orchestrated by someone."

Date: Jul 5, 2004

I meant to present this statement by Foot Solder, not the one I presented in my previous posting: Foot Soldier said: "If the general public were educated about higher education, Mississippi would be much better off, in numerous ways."

Date: Jul 5, 2004

I have a pet peeve and I'm not sure this is the right place for it but PR made me think of community relations.

I am annoyed by the fact that the rest of the country is celebrating the 4th of July holiday today and yet the university is open today, having offered the holiday on Friday. The same sort of disregard for the local community was shown during spring break when the university and the Oak Grove schools did not have concurrent vacations. According to Oak Grove administrators, it was because USM changed its calendar at the last minute - don't know if that's true.

These may be petty examples and there may be specific reasons in each case, however, I think it is indicative of a bigger problem - one alluded to in many of our other discussions - that the university is viewed as "outside" or apart from the community. The onus is on the university, not the community, to attempt to remedy that problem. When I see Aubrey Lucus at the symphony and Shelby Thames only at football games, I see concrete examples of the problem. Good universities make a concerted effort to increase the synergistic vitality of a college town.

I remember years while passing through Stillwater Oklahoma, there was a banner stretched across the main street of the town (not on the campus) welcoming the new Oklahoma State University president. I don't know anything about the university, the town, or that president but I remember being impressed by all that the gesture represented.

Date: Jul 5, 2004

quote:
Originally posted by: Polyonymous
"I remember years while passing through"

ago

Date: Jul 5, 2004

FWIW today is a holiday at MSU...

Date: Jul 5, 2004

quote:

Originally posted by: Salesperson
"I have taken the liberty of copying Dr. Polk's response on the SunHerald thread to bring here because he has developed an important PR tool in his classes over the years.

From Dr. Polk: It IS heartbreaking to see the dialogue about our troubles at USM descend to accusations of "insider-outsider" positions, but I'm not surprised. That's how Mississippi has always responded when it has been threatened: there were plenty of "outside agitators," of course, in the sixties who helped end the more physicall brutal demonstrations of Mississippi apartheid, but there were plenty of "inside agitators" who tried to do the same thing, who faced terrible, even dangerous, opposition in their homes, cities, churches, offices because they knew apartheid was wrong, no matter what insiders said. I have to say, though, that part of the problem with the state of things NOW is our own fault, if only because we do not make the internal workings of a university part of our coursework---I dont mean just us here at USM, but professors across the state. That is, most university students in Mississippi pass through our classes, graduate, go on to become legislators and IHL board members and most of them, sad to say, haven't heard one word in 4 years about how a university functions; what its goals are; what its relationships to other state institutions are; why tenure is necessary; why academic freedom and freedom of speech are essential; why shared governance is the single, unassailable key to a university's mission; and what happens to that mission when bad people ignore all these essentials. Most students participate in our end-of-term scantron teacher evaluations without having a clue what they are doing, so I usually take the remainder of the period---after they have given their verdict---to explain what they are doing. I go through the entire process of advertising for and interviewing and hiring professors, then we discuss the evaluation procedures which they have just participated in, the expectations we have for new professors, the rankings of assistant, associate, and full professor: why such elaborate evaluation, where it begins, and why they are important to the university's mission, and why the searches are important at every level of the university. Invariably, the students are fascinated with this information; they have no clue about any of this: even graduate students are amazed to discover how intricate, even byzantine---and essential---the procedure is and why every step in the process is necessary. I confess, too, that nobody in my graduate school told me anything about any of this either; I entered my first job clueless about any of it. This should never happen. I propose that we all make a concerted effort not just to educate our students in our specialties, but to educate them in the ways of a university; we must find some way to teach them why what we do here is vitally important. We have to: they may be our bosses someday."

I think this is impressive. I believe that this should be part of the "Freshman Year Experience" that is part of the first year education process at USM. Heck, it should be part of a "Senior Year Experience" just prior to having graduation!

Dr. Polk deserves a "Well Done!" (In more ways than one)

Date: Jul 5, 2004

Just an FYI...when I used to teach Honors General Studies (don't even know if they have that class anymore) for freshman, we would usually spend a day on talking about the structure of the university and what those titles meant (assist., assoc, full professor, tenured vs. non-tenured, etc.). I agree with Noel that students should know how a university works (err, at least how it's SUPPOSED to work). At every job I've ever had, usually someone gives some sort of presentation during the orientation for the job all about the structure of the organization. This is essential in order for you to get a perspective on where you fit in. The students at USM deserve no less, and it would go a long way toward creating a more educated audience for these ridiculously misinformed letters from those who obviously didn't get that information while in college.

Date: Jul 5, 2004

kick