weeklyreports_01_01

USM's New President is _____________ Today, January 2, 2013, the following plea for help finding a new president at the University of Southern Mississippi is still front and center on the home page at usm.edu: "University of Southern Mississippi Presidential Search Constituency Input on Presidential Search The IHL Board Search Committee wants your input on the search for the next president of The University of Southern Mississippi. Contribute your ideas and opinions here. http://www.usm.edu/presidential-search

Overhyped With its $20 million budget per year, USM’s athletics department deserves the kind of scrutiny it received from regional and national media sources throughout 2012. Now that 2013 has dawned, this report examines what new USM athletics director Jeff Hammond accomplished during his first full semester as USMAD.

Visitors 01.02.2013 We're pleased to see many of our most frequent and loyal visitors returning for another year: At the top of the list of loyal visitors is the IHL. They've learned to visit without running up their number of visits on our "returning visits" counter. Well done, IHL. You've fooled us again.

Dear usmnews.net, I have been a bit disappointed that you have not run your usual predictions of the New Year. Your predictions are usually spot on. May I start the New Year with your first prediction?

The Farm News Briefs from Southern Miss 4-January-2013 Saunders Assumes New Role at UWF The culmination of the whirlwind that has been the last several months in the professional career of Martha Saunders occurred on 2-Jan-2013 when she officially assumed her new role as provost of the University of West Florida.

The Farm News Briefs from Southern Miss 7-January-2013 Lucas Not Taking any Blame for Bad Deal As Tim Doherty’s 5-Jan-2013 story for The Hattiesburg American points out, interim USM president Aubrey Lucas is not taking any blame for the contract USM executed in Aug-2012 with former head football coach Ellis Johnson.

Dear usmnews.net, After reading Tim Doherty's January 5, 2013 report for The Hattiesburg American, my question is does Aubrey Lucas believe we are all stupid? When he took the job as interim president, he clearly indicated that he viewed it as a short term proposition with a goal of being out of the president's office by January 1, 2013. If all had gone as planned (which it seems to rarely do at USM), Lucas would have already been replaced ...

Don't Believe in the First Amendment? Every once in a while, we get a visitor from Europe, looking for (Sami) Dakhlia.

. . . breaking news . . . New Year, New Bloat HATTIESBURG – According to Van Arnold’s 14-Jan-2013 presser, USM has hired Chase Kasper to serve as the director of the Office of Technology Development (OTD). USM’s vice provost, Gordon Cannon, announced the hire, saying that Kasper will assume this new role at USM effective 1-Feb-2013.

Hammond Put His Head On The Block With Your Money In Hattiesburg America's "Officials look to protect USM's interests in Monken contract," January 5, 2013, Athletic Director Jeff Hammond put his head on the block. He is quoted as saying, "we did" get "the right guy." He was referring to USM's new football coach, Todd Monken. And what are the implications, if Monken is "the right guy"? Well, that's an easy question to answer.

Where is USM's "Presidential Search Process"? The IHL reports a 20 step "Presidential Search Process" for Southern Miss and that it has not quite gotten to step 8 of the "Process." (See 20 step process below.) What's the hold up?

General Hammond or General Tso? A Look at the USMAD’s Midyear Scorecard Judging by the USM athletic director’s midyear scorecard for 2012-13, many Hattiesburg locals are likely much more fond of General Tso’s Chicken (at local eateries) than they are of General (Jeff) Hammond’s Golden Eagles sports teams.

updated The BSD Pay Project A Compilation of the Salaries of Southern B-School Deans Recent reporting here at USMNEWS.net regarding the salaries of two former USM b-school administrators – Harold Doty, a former dean, and Farhang Niroomand, a former associate dean – has drawn interest among USMNEWS.net readers. In response to this interest, USMNEWS.net has begun compiling a list of southern b-school deans and their salaries

Where is USM's "Presidential Search Process"? A Second Look A couple of days ago, we asked "Where is USM's Presidential Search Process? We noted USM is far from meeting its original schedule. It's stuck at step number 8 (out of a total 20 steps to completion) of its "Presidential Search Process."

What Ethical Leadership Acts Like - Part 2 Well, Martha Saunders, Denis Wiesenburg, Alvin Williams, Gordon Cannon, Harold Doty, Charles Jordan, does this report about Ms. Koos sound familiar? It should. Charles Jordan and Harold Doty acted like Ms. Koos and you, Martha Saunders, Alvin Williams, and Gordon Cannon chose to support plagiarism of Jordan and Doty,

updated Aunt Martha’s Coaches Did Saunders Lose the Magic Touch? Or, Did She Ever Have It? After the University of Wisconsin at Whitewater won the Division III national championship in 2007, former USM President Martha Saunders blogged

Dear USMNEWS, I followed closely all of your reports and editorials during the previous calendar year, 2012. I can almost tick off all of the problems that existed last year without looking back over some of them. Here’s a try:

Dear usmnews.net, Thought you might have missed a report from the Pensacola News Journal. (Former Dean Martha Saunders returns to UWF as Provost). Sounds like she doesn't have too much enthusiasm for Hattiesburg or Southern Miss.

What Is The IHL Talking About? You have to wonder what these folks at the IHL are up to. The following is from the IHL's Final Board Book, January 17, 2013, page 25.

Editorial They Are Educators, Aren't They? The Curious Case of Provost Denis Weisenburg We would expect that anyone who believes that copying others' words and ideas "without proper citation" would publicly make the case that it is not plagiarism and would advise

A More Complete Record Than Vitae Provost Martha Saunders and Dean Harold Doty, the faculty, staff, students, or administrators at your current employment are keeping up with your previous employment behaviors.

updated HELP WANTED A Look at Business Dean Openings from Around the Country With four current/former CoB deans moving around in the academic world, some USMNEWS.net readers have requested an ongoing report that tracks current b-school dean openings.

Over-Educated "Bartenders" On January 28, 2013, The Chronicle of Higher Education reported, "Millions of Graduates Hold Jobs That Don't Require a College Degree, Report Says" by Allie Bidwell. "According to a report on the study, 'Why Are Recent College Graduates Underemployed? University Enrollments and Labor Market Realities,' out of 41.7 million working college graduates in 2010, 48 percent-more than 20 million people-held jobs that required less than a bachelor's degree. Thirty-seven percent held jobs that required no more than a high-school diploma."

reprint Is Stan Clark Dangeous? Do Dr. Saunders and Dr. Lyman Care? In response to numerous requests, I have decided to release information relating to a member of the School of Accountancy, College of Business faculty who has stalked and harassed me. As many of you know, I do not provide this information lightly. However, many readers report that such a toxic atmosphere exists on campus that they no longer feel safe to go about their business.

. . . breaking news . . . Men’s Tennis Dealt 4-Year Probation by NCAA HATTIESBURG – As The Hattiesburg American reported on 30-Jan-2013, the USM men’s tennis program has been dealt a four-year probation by the NCAA that will run from 30-Jan-2013 through 29-Jan-2017. As part of that probation, both the NCAA and the USM athletics department have imposed sanctions that include a ban on post-season play in 2013, in 2013, show-cause hiring restrictions academic years.

Editorial Well, Where Are They, Skip? The Quality Publications You Promised, That Is. I was browsing the faculty publication at the School of Accountancy. And the question is, Skip Hughes, Director of SoA, where are the quality publication you promised? You've been Director since 2009, and still not one quality publication from any faculty member at SoA. Not one. That's plenty of time to demonstrate your performance.

Editorial Presidential Search Process Part 3 Buried in a recent Hattiesburg American article, "USM creating 'a more pedestrian-friendly campus' " appears to be a response to our recent articles about the delay in selecting a university president.

What Ethical Leardership Acts Like - Part 1 Dear Martha Saunders, Gordon Cannon, Alvin Williams, Harold Doty, and Charles Jordan, take a look at the following article from NJ.com, The Jersey Journal. It should remind you of your failures of ethics and leadership:

Mississippi Leaders Choose Secrecy and Iron Fisted Control The Sun Herald ran a report by Donna Harris on January 29, 2013 entitled "Mississippi gets low grades for transparency on state and local websites." "Mississippi ranked in the bottom five states in the nation in a report released Tuesday by a nonprofit organization dedicated to state and local government transparency...".

Holiday Predictions for 2013 5) Frances Lucas [daughter of current interim President and former President Aubrey Lucas] will be named [by the IHL] as their preferred candidate for the presidency of Southern Miss. (Editor's note: This prediction seems to be gaining traction around the water coolers at USM.)

. . . breaking news . . UGA’s Bennett Leader for USM Presidency HATTIESBURG – Rodney Bennett, the vice president for student affairs at the University of Georgia, has been named by the Mississippi IHL as the preferred candidate to replace Martha Saunders as president of the University of Southern Mississippi.