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(April 20, 2009) Dear USMNews.net: On April 1, 2009, I, along with other College of Business faculty members, received an email from Sonia Gaines Little admonishing us for daring to stop by to talk to Lance Nail without a prior appointment. I am convinced that this was an April Fool’s Day prank gone awry. Given the dean’s office’s history of disseminating so-called humorous emails that were really in poor taste (e.g. Doty’s email regarding a stock market drop and professors jumping out of JGH windows), this is not outside the realm of possibility.

(April 23, 2009) Symbolism - from the past to the future One of the many bombs former Interim Dean Alvin Williams left current Dean Lance Nail was the continuing problem of Bill Gunther and his entitlement mindset. One example: Gunther was moved into what is the graduate director’s office in the College of Business when he was canned by Shelby Thames. When Harold Doty arrived as dean, he let the utter nonsense continue because he was not able to run-off Gunther after repeatedly saying he would do so.

(May 4, 2009) And the Winner is . . . How Much Faculty Governance is Occurring in the Selection of CoB Dept Chairs? Nail's choice of Donna Davis sounds more like the sort of fait accompli that carried the day in the EFIB throughout the Harold Doty administration of the CoB (2003-07). Given that, one might conclude that a little bit of "faculty governance took the day off" is just what the doctor order vis-à-vis the CoB's all-too-politicized economists. One can, and should, still hope, however, that Nail confines any faculty governance lapses to matters concerning the CoB's economists. If such a policy becomes widespread then CoB faculty will be left wondering just how much, and how good, the "change" being ushered in by the Nail administration really is after all.

(May 7, 2009) GH Chatter Stories are circulating now that CoB dean Lance Nail will be making a strong push during the 2009-10 academic year to land a job as dean somewhere else (for the 2010-11 academic year). Rumor has it that an institution back in the Birmingham area, Nail’s home before joining the CoB, will have just such an opening. Those familiar with USM’s CoB know that former CoB dean Harold Doty began seriously pursuing employment outside of USM at least as early as his third year (2005-06) at the helm of the CoB. There is also some evidence that Doty’s search began as early as the second year (2004-05), if not before then. So, a Nail search in 2009-10 would not be without recent precedent.

(May 13, 2009) Five CoB Faculty Awarded Tenure for 2009-10 JACKSON – At the May-09 IHL Board meeting, set to occur tomorrow (13-May) and Thursday (14-May), five CoB faculty will be awarded tenure, which will begin in the 2009-10 academic year. These individuals are John Clark (FIN), Fujun Lai (DS), Farooq Malik (FIN), Lance Nail (FIN), and Michael Wittmann (MKT).