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Fire Shelby Thames -> Fire Shelby Thames -> Fire Shelby Thames -> New President's Univ. Council Formed
Post Info TOPIC: New President's Univ. Council Formed
BogusBoy

Date:
New President's Univ. Council Formed
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From USM PR this morning:


NEW PRESIDENT’S UNIVERSITY COUNCIL FORMED


TO ENHANCE COMMUNICATION EFFORTS


HATTIESBURG -- A President’s University Council consisting of faculty, staff and students will be created at The University of Southern Mississippi before the end of the spring semester. The idea for the newly created council came from a meeting between President Shelby Thames and the deans of the five academic colleges.


"I asked them for their suggestions about how we could improve communication across every facet of our campus and gather new and innovative ideas that can be implemented to make our university stronger," Thames said.


The deans proposed a structure for the council, along with the purpose for its creation.


"Members of the council will be asked to share information and provide input to the president that will help move the university forward and foster communication across all groups," said Dr. Rex Gandy, dean of the College of Science and Technology.


The council will not be a governing body and will not replace the Faculty Senate, Student Government Association or the Staff Council.


"I think the proposed President’s Council is a step in the right direction," said College of Business and Economic Development Dean Harold Doty. "Clearly, we are a campus that will benefit from better communication among faculty, staff, students and administrators. This council can play an important role in facilitating those communications."


Deans will solicit nominations from their faculty, staff and students. Representatives will also be chosen from the Gulf Park campus. From the pool of nominees, the deans will select one representative from each group, giving the council a total membership of 18 people. To ensure fair representation of both graduate and undergraduate students, the deans decided that the College of Arts and Letters, the College of Science and Technology and College of Business and Economic Development will be represented by undergraduate students while the College of Health, College of Education and Psychology and the Gulf Park Campus will be represented by graduate students.


Dr. Joan Exline, interim dean of the College of Health, said, "This is a time to heal and move forward. This council creates an opportunity for all constituencies (faculty, staff and students) to sit at one table and talk with the president about how to do that."


Dr. Elliott Pood, dean of the College of Arts and Letters, said that he felt it is important to begin taking steps, "even small steps," to begin rebuilding trust and communication between all elements of the university. "This is a good first step," Pood said.


"We think it’s important to get this group rolling as soon as possible," said Dr. Willie Pierce, dean of the College of Education and Psychology. "I think the potential of this group of people is limitless and will be of great assistance to Dr. Thames and the entire institution." The first meeting of the council will take place at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, May 12.


"I really appreciate the time, thought and planning the deans took to create this idea," Thames said. "I wholeheartedly embrace the deans’ proposal and look forward to working with this group of faculty, staff and students in advancing our university." I believe this is one of the first steps toward moving our university past the issues of the last few months.



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truth4usm/AH

Date:
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I wonder if Hudson will handpick the representatives, regardless of the list the deans send him (a la the merit raises).

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friend

Date:
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quote:




Originally posted by: BogusBoy
"From USM PR this morning:  ...."I asked them for their suggestions about how we could improve communication across every facet of our campus and gather new and innovative ideas that can be implemented to make our university stronger," Thames said. ....



 


We all know how receptive Thames is to suggestions.  That's why he took so much trouble to confer with the chairs, deans, and provost before trying to axe G/S. That's why he won't listen to the no confidence vote and just leave.  The most innovative idea I've seen yet is for him to simply leave and go sell paint to the Pentagon.


 



__________________
Fire Shelby


Status: Offline
Posts: 1140
Date:
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If I am nominated, I will be MORE THAN HAPPY to serve.


I'd LOVE to have the opportunity to give the President a few of my opinions about his destruction of this university.



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foot soldier

Date:
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HEY! This is simply another attempt to bypass the faculty senate. First a new student paper, then an entirely unnecessary council. Shelby will then say we have the council, we don't need the senate.

DANGER DANGER DANGER

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Robert Campbell

Date:
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Aha, so this is what Thames was ordering the deans to do, during that breakfast meeting on Monday.


What dean would dare to select anyone to serve on this council who would not be a representative of Shelby Thames to the faculty, the students, or the staff?


If the dean picked a representative of faculty, staff, or students to Shelby Thames, wouldn't that dean's head be next on the chopping block?


Robert Campbell


PS. If it goes as ordered, no doubt Shelby will claim that the University Council is so wonderful, he no longer needs a Faculty Senate, an Academic Council, a Graduate Council...



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Flash Gordon

Date:
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quote:
Originally posted by: truth4usm/AH
"I wonder if Hudson will handpick the representatives, regardless of the list the deans send him (a la the merit raises)."


Hudson does not have any input at this point. He was not invited to the meeting.

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Robert Campbell

Date:
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If Hudson wasn't there (and that's not surprising at all), Thames will handpick the representatives.


Robert Campbell



__________________
Fire Shelby


Status: Offline
Posts: 1140
Date:
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I just reread the article.  There is nothing democratic about this.  Names are submitted, but the DEANS will pick reps, and we know that most of the deans are beholden to Shelby (not all, but most), so they will pick pro-Shelby people.


I wish we could convince everyone to boycott this.  Submit no names. 


This is bull$hit.  Just an attempt to neuter the Faculty Senate without actually disbanding it. 


Notice the paragraph about fairness for undergrads and grads?  The COAL will have an undergrad rep--could this be because many of the protests have been led by GRAD students in COAL.


All Shelby is doing is trying to give the appearance to John Q Public that he is doing his part to heal the rift.  But we all know what his underlying motive is.


Will it ever end?



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Crystalball

Date:
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quote:
Originally posted by: Robert Campbell
"If Hudson wasn't there (and that's not surprising at all), Thames will handpick the representatives. Robert Campbell"
Sir, you have been eloquent throughout but if you think that there is hope in Provost Hudson, you are seriously mistaken.  There is no honor or integrity coming from that front.  The self-servicing blind ambition emanating from his post has caused a great many of the problems.  Who was truly responsible for the inflated enrollment numbers?  Susan Siltenen (sp?), who did you really take the fall for?

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USM Sympathizer

Date:
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quote:
Originally posted by: foot soldier
"HEY! This is simply another attempt to bypass the faculty senate. First a new student paper, then an entirely unnecessary council. Shelby will then say we have the council, we don't need the senate. DANGER DANGER DANGER"

 


This analysis sounds correct to me.  But SFT has wonderfully done it again: he announces this JUST BEFORE the Faculty Senate is due to meet at the end of this week to consider another no-confidence vote.  If they wanted or needed another reason to vote no-confidence, here it is.  If SFT had just waited until next week to announce his new council, he would have denied his critics a valuable piece of ammunition.  Keep it up, Shelbo!  You are your critics' best friend!  We appreciate all you do for the cause!



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USM Sympathizer

Date:
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quote:

Originally posted by: Crystalball
"Sir, you have been eloquent throughout but if you think that there is hope in Provost Hudson, you are seriously mistaken.  There is no honor or integrity coming from that front.  The self-servicing blind ambition emanating from his post has caused a great many of the problems.  Who was truly responsible for the inflated enrollment numbers?  Susan Siltenen (sp?), who did you really take the fall for?"


I'm guessing that Robert Campbell's main point was that once again SFT seems to be acting unilaterally, without even making the pretence of involving the university's chief academic officer.  Whatever the provost's character, it speaks volumes that he seems not to have been involved in a major decision -- just as he was not consulted with the two professors were fired.



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YA-ConcernedAlumnus

Date:
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quote:
Originally posted by: foot soldier
"HEY! This is simply another attempt to bypass the faculty senate. First a new student paper, then an entirely unnecessary council. Shelby will then say we have the council, we don't need the senate.

DANGER DANGER DANGER"


I new student paper? Huh?

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truth4usm/AH

Date:
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quote:
Originally posted by: YA-ConcernedAlumnus
" I new student paper? Huh? "
Why, the SGA-sponsored (and Thames-approved) Varsity Voice (or, as we like to call it around here, the Farcity Voice).

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indy eagle

Date:
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From a PR perspective, it is a good move for Shelby. He's going on offense, and doing things that sound good in soundbytes. For the average joe, they don't know that a number of these type organs already exist.

Politically, it is an attempt to "neuter the faculty senate," as well as look like he's doing something positive.

There needs to be quick reactions by our allies!

We should also spend some time sharpening our message!

No Quarter


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broker

Date:
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Son, only 18 members of an appointed body are representing all USM constituents.  Looks to me like Thames minimized the decision-making costs of representation (something he likes) at the expense of much higher agency costs (another thing he likes).

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USM Sympathizer

Date:
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quote:

Originally posted by: USM Sympathizer
"

Is it an attempt by Shelby to be a kinder, gentler President? 



"




No, it is an attempt to be PERCEIVED as a kinder, gentler president.


 


==========================


I don't remember posting anything to this effect, but I have had only one cup of coffee so far today, so maybe my brain is not yet functioning fully.



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Robert Campbell

Date:
RE: RE: RE: RE: New President's Univ. Council Form
Permalink Closed

quote:
Originally posted by: Crystalball
"Sir, you have been eloquent throughout but if you think that there is hope in Provost Hudson, you are seriously mistaken.  There is no honor or integrity coming from that front.  The self-servicing blind ambition emanating from his post has caused a great many of the problems.  Who was truly responsible for the inflated enrollment numbers?  Susan Siltenen (sp?), who did you really take the fall for?"


Crystalball,

My comments were not about Hudson as an individual. From what I have heard about him on this board, he is unscrupulous and untrustworthy, and ought to be replaced by someone that the faculty trust to do the job.

It's rather that in a normally functioning university the Provost (Chief Academic Officer, right?) would be involved in anything involving the deans.

The fact that the Provost (any Provost) is out of the loop further testifies to Thames' dictatorial methods.

Robert Campbell


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Upset&aLittle****ed

Date:
RE: New President's Univ. Council Formed
Permalink Closed

Students have to be undergraduate to be on the council

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emma

Date:
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Only grad students in CoEP, Health, and the GC are allowed on the council



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USM Sympathizer

Date:
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quote:

Originally posted by: emma
"Only grad students in CoEP, Health, and the GC are allowed on the council"


What is the justification for this?


I hope people at USM will either (a) refuse to nominate and/or participate if nominated, or (b) nominate strong critics of SFT.  This Council really does sound like an attempted end-run around the Faculty Senate.



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usmstudent

Date:
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Undergrads are being selected from my college!  Maybe I should go talk to the dean.  I would love to get my opinion in to Thames.  Is it just one student per college?

__________________
Fire Shelby


Status: Offline
Posts: 1140
Date:
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quote:
Originally posted by: usmstudent
"Undergrads are being selected from my college!  Maybe I should go talk to the dean.  I would love to get my opinion in to Thames.  Is it just one student per college?"

Yes.  Go talk to your chair.  Each chair is to nominate a faculty, student, staffer from his/her department.  Then the dean will make the choice.


Talk to your chair.



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emma

Date:
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Grad students in CoEP:  Please, someone in Psychology apply. Keep it out of the Dept. of CISE, Ed Leadership etc. Not that there aren't some dynamite grad students there, but they're too close to the pressures of the Dome.

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Jonathan Barron

Date:
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What about this: The governor decides he is tired of the legislature. So he creates The Governor's State Council. He has his cabinet appoint members. Then he directs all discussion of legislation to them. That is exactly what Thames did with this. We have elected representative bodies designed to facilitate communication. Staff Council, Academic Council, even the Faculty Senate.


The Faculty Senate's purpose is to facilitate communication. In fact, this is what shared governance is about and it is a SACS requirement. Also, the Senate has had to resort to the extaordinary lengths of filing FOIA papers just to communicate. That is a fact that won't change.


Five deans are threatened by a university lawyer for giving up information. Then, they are called before the president. Most do not have tenure. All were hired by the president. They are told to "choose" representatives for a new council.


Once again Thames subverts and ignores already existing democratic and elected campus institutions. Broker, this is not streamlining. Senate, Staff Council, Academic Council, SGA all continue to exist. They just matter all the less now that we have created yet another huge and no doubt costly institution for this already overburdened adminstative budget.


He who calls for more bureaucracy calls really for oligarchy.



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Miles Long

Date:
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Because of the SACS violation, I say that we make SACS, AAUP, and FIRE aware of this.

This is possibly a greater violation of the law (as opposed to academic freedom) than the G/S incident.

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Robert Campbell

Date:
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It will definitely interest SACS, and the FIRE.

And if it looks to the national office of the AAUP as though the plug is about to be pulled on the Faculty Senate, that may be enough to rouse them from their dogmatic slumbers.

Robert Campbell

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leaving soon

Date:
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Improve communications??? How can improved communications possibly be of any use with an administration that has proven time and again that it simply is not to be trusted?

I would not waste my time trying to communicate with a pack of liars.

NO QUARTER!!!

FIRE SHELBY THAMES!!! That is the ONLY way to "move USM forward"!

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Invictus

Date:
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I would be very interested to hear chapter & verse of which section of the Criteria for Accreditation mandate "shared governance." The closest I can come is:

4.8.8. The Role of the Faculty and Its Committees

Primary responsibility for the quality of the educational program must reside with the faculty. The extent of the participation and jurisdiction of the faculty in academic affairs must be clearly set forth and published. Much of their business will normally be conducted through such structures as committees, councils, and senates, operating within the broad policies determined by the administration and governing board.


Now, if the president chooses to establish an advisory council or something of that nature, that's his business. But if he chooses to have that council supplant an existing "structure" such as the faculty senate, he needs to put that in writing & distribute it. Note also that the faculty committees operate "within the broad policies determined by the administration and governing board.

If you're referring to some other section of the Criteria, please specify. The new Principles of Accreditation are even less prescriptive...

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