yw.

The directors of these nonprofits include Shelby and some (at least one) IHL board members. 

 

I will include the two links to pdf files to the two 990's that seem most interesting to me, but remember I don't know all the folks, so other files might matter too.  Before she came to USM, Dvorak was President and CEO of these companies, 2000-2002 according to her bio.

Officers at Mississippi Technology Alliance, INC. in 2001 include (compensation/benefits contributions):

Angeline Dvorak $87,326/$27,800
Jack Harrington $130,171/$17,815
Matt Thornton $130,171/15,708

A complete list of officers (both paid and unpaid):

CHARLES DOTY, DIRECTOR

MATT THORNTON, VP FOR INNOVATION AND RES.

KELLEY J. WILLIAMS, DIRECTOR

JOHN MCCULLOUCH, DIRECTOR

DR. SHELBY THAMES, DIRECTOR

DR. WALLACE A. CONNERLY, DIRECTOR

DR. ANGELINE DVORAK, PRESIDENT/CEO

DR. WAYNE STONECYPHER, DIRECTOR

DR. ROBERT C. KHAYAT, DIRECTOR

CARL NICHOLSON, DIRECTOR

WARREN HOOD, JR., DIRECTOR

DR. RON MASON, DIRECTOR

GARRY RUFF, DIRECTOR

DR. THOMAS D. LAYZELL, DIRECTOR

CHARLES DUNN, DIRECTOR

DAN GRAFTON, DIRECTOR

MATTHEW L. HOLLEMAN, III, DIRECTOR

ASHBY FOOTE, DIRECTOR

JOYCELYN STABLER, SECRETARY

MICHAEL GARRETT, DIRECTOR

WILLIAM M. MOUNGER, II, DIRECTOR

DR. CHARLES LEE, DIRECTOR

JACK HARRINGTON, VP

 

The Form 990 for Institute for Technology Development in 2000 has the following officers listed:

Angie Dvorak $68,342/0

George May $145,700/49,538
Leonard Vernamonti $77,018/$18,072

Charles Weir $85,495/28,993

Timothy Gress $72,763/22639
Michael Seal 76,623/26,052

 

And the following unpaid officers:

Bernard J. Ebbers

Ashby Foote

Micahel Garrett

Dan Grafton

J.L. Holloway

Warren Hood, Jr.

Linda Howard

Sidney Shinn Lee

John McCullouch

Donald E Meiners

William M. Mounger, II.

John N. Palmer

Kelly Williams

 

Taxable Subsidiaries include:

Digital Visions

ADV Technology Solutions
Resource 21 Corporation

 

The easiest way to look at all of the data is to go to

www.guidestar.org

 

These lists were compiled from the pdf's of the 990 forms:

http://documents.guidestar.org/2002/640/901/2002-640901569-1-9.pdf

 

http://documents.guidestar.org/2001/640/689/2001-640689319-1-9.pdf

 

They have four or five years of 990 forms for both organizations.

The business of the Alliance, a "charitable" corporation, appears to be the delivery or funding of educational services. One wonders what records are available as to how those services were valued and how/where they were actually delivered.

The description of the services is pretty vague in the IRS forms. The Alliance's physical infrastructure is pretty limited. Large salaries were spent on executives.

Maybe a FOIA to USM asking for anything and everything in its files relating to its connections with the Alliance and the other entity would shed light? It dealt with colleges. The picture could be pieced together backwards.

The only "read" which can be reliable is of the files in the IRS, the universities of Mississippi and other entities which may be connected with this tax deductible 501 c 3 corporation. Most of this is available through FOIA. Speculation is fun but useless. And it could end up being unjust to innocents. The facts can never have an unjust effect. Except, perhaps, under the rubric of invasion of privacy. It's a complicated world.

quote:

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Originally posted by: Distant supporter of USM
"The only "read" which can be reliable is of the files in the IRS, the universities of Mississippi and other entities which may be connected with this tax deductible 501 c 3 corporation. Most of this is available through FOIA. Speculation is fun but useless. And it could end up being unjust to innocents. The facts can never have an unjust effect. Except, perhaps, under the rubric of invasion of privacy. It's a complicated world."

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With all due respect Distant Supporter, you brought the 990s to the board.  Upon closer inspection of them, it appears that the job was at 50% - listed as 20 hours per week (I will have to take another look at the resume to see if it was presented there as a half-time job).  I think it is legitimate speculation to question why someone (especially this someone) would at least double her hours (likely triple them) for what is only approximately a 30% increase in salary.  The names that you brought to light through the 990 are very interesting and the connections are being looked into now.

If she is the "innocent" to whom you are referring, I'm not sure we're of a like mind, however.  If the reference to Bernie Ebbers is of concern, then this board has already made reference to a surprisingly large number of felonious and/or "under indictment" individuals related to this administration. He may simply be the most publicly known of them. 

Regarding speculation on the website...it does multiple things.  It gets people thinking; it encourages people who have been just casual observers to post what they know; it leads individuals in the right direction for the next step in researching a topic.

And finally, regarding FOIA requests, trust me I'm a fan of their utility...

The awful situation at USM would make any decent observer snappish. It is clear to me that Gary and Frank have been grossly abused. I do think though that when there s blood in the water it's an especially good time to exercise discipline. No speculation, just the facts. But dig for them relentlessly.

Excellent work by friend and Distant Supporter.

I don't think it's too big a stretch to assume that a major function of these two nonprofits was paying the salary and benefits of Angie Dvorak (and other executives).

It's surely not a coincidence that Dvorak, Shelby Thames, and Carl Nicholson were all on the board of the Mississippi Technology Alliance.

 

Guys, this is huge and EXACTLY what we should be doing.  The only way to stop these people is to hit them where it hurts...in the pocketbook.  Why would Angie trade her "lucrative" job(s) to come to USM?  Could it be that she and Shelby cooked up a way to "launder" their various research money projects through USM?  Who is watching them?  The College Board?  Ha!  They have no one watching them as make their dirty little financial deals.  This could be the real reason why Shelby is so desperately fighting to keep Angie in the VP's office.

I wish I was more of a numbers person, but others on this board who understand how these things work--KEEP DIGGING!  We need to ask for an audit of USM ASAP!!!  For crying out loud, the president of TN State University (interestingly enough, formerly prez. of Jackson State Univ.) is about to go down for accepting Super Bowl tickets from a food vendor.  What Shelby and Angie are doing is potentially WAAAAY worse!  

From the cv posted on the board and the bio on the USM website, I gather that Dvorak ran the the two nonprofit groups for about two years.  During that time, the USM bio (which is identical to the one on claims:

"During her tenure, Dvorak made more than 200 public presentations, conference papers, and keynote speeches."

This remark caught my eye for two reasons. First, it shows the willingness to use "tenure" to mean simply "period of time working at a place," rather than in its academic sense.  Using it that way, a high school senior could say, during my tenure at the local ice cream store, or a graduate student instructor could say, "during my tenure at the University of Timbuktu, I served as a ..." 

Second, I'm wondering about "200 presentations, conference papers, and keynote speeches."  During two years?  So, every third or fourth day she has made a presentation, delivered a paper, or orated a keynote speech?  One wonders if singing in the shower counts as a keynote address.  I guess it is possible, but I'm wondering if she can possible document anywhere near to that number. I also wonder if each speech or presentation counted twice (once for the Alliance and once for the Institute) so that it is a number sort of like the enrollment data, inflated until someone says something.  It merits checking because an inflation of one's presentations, papers, and speeches would constitute academic dishonesty at the least.  When she chose to work at a university rather than her own organization as CEO, she subjects herself to the rules that govern academics, even if she is a lawyer and thinks she can sue anyone who asks a question.

quote:

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Originally posted by: friend
"From the cv posted on the board and the bio on the USM website, I gather that Dvorak ran the the two nonprofit groups for about two years.  During that time, the USM bio (which is identical to the one on claims:
"During her tenure, Dvorak made more than 200 public presentations, conference papers, and keynote speeches."
."

---

This line really looked unlikely to me as well. She must have counted anytime she stood up and said anything to get that kind of count. And there really is a big difference between giving some sort of casual 5-minute talk and a "keynote address" or a"conference paper." I'd like to see the actual list, especially the so-called "conference papers." I imagine that many faculty members would disagree with her about what consistutes a "conference paper" just like what consitutes tenure "at Kentucky."

Early on in her "tenure" at USM (ha!), Dvorak told a College of the Arts faculty member that she had numerous arts supporters who "followed her" wherever she went and gave money. It seemed completely improbable at the time and still has the smell of the lie of someone who regularly tells lies that are what they think other people want to hear.

Given her resume, I'm also suspicious about her age (although someone did say she really was a 19-year old grad. TA). Any geneologists out there who can locate her birth certificate?

I thought I saw her date of birth posted somewhere in another thread.

I got beat up on the website for that observation yesterday and perhaps rightly so - the $115 was for Mississippi Technology Alliance (only one of the two jobs listed on her resume as running concurrently form 2000-2002). I don't know what she was paid for the second one.  Of course if it was anything over $35,000 for a half-time position, then she took a pay cut to come to USM.  One might suggest that a more honest representation of these two positions on her resume would have listed each as half time.

quote:

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Originally posted by:
"Good question!  Would THIS count as a "presentation?"  (Article was written on March 18--Angie discusses the importance of "local gardens" in attracting big industries.)"

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LOL--my own VP of Recruiting and Retention must have studied at the same schools. Green grass is the most important single factor in securing and retaining students, he's fond of saying.  It's especially effective if you are recruiting potted plants for students because it saves on the interior decorating bills, too.

bumping the troll off the board