miscellaneous17

(February 3, 2008) More Stats Learning Woes over the Horizon? Loose Grading Scale Enters the CoB The recent hiring of Alabama PhD student, Razvan Pascalau, to fill "scheduling holes" in the EFIB brings with it a new matter related to learning deficiencies in statistics for CoB faculty and students to ponder -- a looser grading scale. The shaded area below contains grading details from Pascalau's BA 301 syllabus:

(February 16, 2008) 31st & Pearl Can Pascalau be Indoctrinated, then Hired? The recent revelation about new EFIB economics instructor Razvan Pascalau's loose grading scale reminds one of the many reports here at usmnews.net about grade inflation in the CoB. Pascalau's guarantee of a passing grade for students who score 50 or above will only accelerate that situation. The other break points indicated on his BA 301 syllabus will as well. Seeing the scale reminds us that, while it can be difficult for some new faculty to fit into the CoB's old guard culture, others go easily and willingly.

(February 16, 2008) CoB News, 18 February 2008 Four More Out of the MGT & MKT Door The 2007-08 academic year has not been kind to the MGT & MKT department. Four faculty have already announced their plans to depart the CoB by the end of 2008. These are:

(February 20, 2008) Special Report Academic Analytics Weighs in on USM An Investigative Series on CoB Faculty Credentials A 20-Feb-08 News Update posted by The Hattiesburg American entitled "Southern Miss science, tech programs in top 10 list," gave officials in USM's College of Science and Technology . home of former USM President, Shelby Thames . a golden opportunity to brag about their accomplishments.

(February 25, 2008) Special Report Tourism Management on the Defensive An Investigative Series on CoB Faculty Credentials Emma James' 24-Feb-08 article for The Hattiesburg American, entitled "The inn crowd: USM tourism management offers cross-discipline training," inadvertently highlights a number of problematic facets of the CoB's current staffing situation. It also shows how "defensive" CoB administrators are becoming, perhaps in response to reports of an unprecedented faculty flight. This Special Report installment covers the most interesting aspects of James' article.

(February 25, 2008) Breaking News Marketing Faculty Ranks Devastated, Yet Set to Expand Programs LONG BEACH – USM’s College of Business is rapidly becoming the surreal. The recent departure announcements of marketing faculty Tony Henthorne, to UNLV, and Talai Osmonbekov, to Northern Arizona University, have devastated the CoB’s marketing faculty ranks in both scholarly value (reach) and teaching services. The combined journal publications list from Henthorne and Osmonbekov is both long and peppered with quality outlets, from the Journal of Advertising to the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, with others in between. With these departures, the only non-administrative, tenure-track faculty in marketing at the CoB’s Hattiesburg campus are assistant professors William Smith and Michael Wittmann, and neither of these faculty has produced an A-level publication.