GULFPORT - When the state College Board chooses a new president for the University of Southern Mississippi, members want to make sure all groups involved have input in who is chosen....
..."We're getting large numbers of people involved in a very transparent process," said Tom Meredith, state commissioner of higher education. "But we're keeping the names confidential in order to have the best pool of candidates possible.
"What's happening nationally is we're seeing more and more instances of retribution being brought against those who look at other positions publicly," he said. "Just because someone is paid with public dollars, do they have to put their career on the line?"
The current president, Shelby Thames, was a USM professor when he was chosen for the job in 2002. Many faculty members in Hattiesburg and on the Coast didn't think Thames was the right person for the job and didn't agree with his management style....
info wrote: ..."We're getting large numbers of people involved in a very transparent process," said Tom Meredith, state commissioner of higher education. "But we're keeping the names confidential in order to have the best pool of candidates possible. "What's happening nationally is we're seeing more and more instances of retribution being brought against those who look at other positions publicly," he said. "Just because someone is paid with public dollars, do they have to put their career on the line?" ...
How ironic and pathetic to consider that the IRL isn't worried about retribution against the faculty members who spoke out in the last USM Presidential "search" process. "Just because someone is tenured at a university, do they have to put their career on the line?" is not a rhetorical question for many of you still in Hattiesburg, I'm sad to realize.