weeklyreports_03_01

You're Really Not Going To Believe This Part 2 Part 2 continues our dialogue with USM and one of its Associate General Counsel. The topic: a Mississippi Open Records Act request for, among other things, Dr. Rodney Bennett's vita. As an academic, he has one.

Dear usmnews.net, Is the "You're Really Not Going to Believe This" series a joke. Part of me says isn't possible that the university is claiming (1) no one at the University has a copy of [soon-to-be] President Bennett's curriculum vita and (2) if they did have a copy it is confidential. Another part of me says it is just more of the same needless, knee-jerk secrecy we have seen on this campus for far too many years.

Do You Have Any Doubt that Martha Saunders Was Fired as President of Southern Miss? As part of a recent Mississippi Open Records Request, usmnews.net has obtained a copy of the Separation Agreement and General Release between the IHL and Martha D. Saunders. Read it and draw your own conclusions.

Special Report Anatomy of a Secret Search – Part 1 As many long-time readers of USMNEWS.net are well aware, the Mississippi IHL Board, the governing body of Mississippi’s eight public universities, uses what is often referred to as “a secret search process” for selecting executive leaders (university presidents). This new Special Report series examines that process with regard to the hiring of Rodney Bennett as USM’s new president.

University of Southern Mississippi Airplane Taxpayer and Student Waste Continues Documents from a recent Mississippi Open Records Act request are arriving at usmnews.net. Among the documents are the flight and cost records for USM's N777AQ airplane. We will continue our series reporting the costs and uses of N777AQ. We begin the continuation with a review, i.e., our last report: President Saunders' Last Days Squandering Students' and Taxpayers' Money, Part 6, "One more scandal for the road."

Special Report Anatomy of a Secret Search – Part 2 As many long-time readers of USMNEWS.net are well aware, the Mississippi IHL Board, the governing body of Mississippi’s eight public universities, uses what is often referred to as “a secret search process” for selecting executive leaders (university presidents). This new Special Report series examines that process with regard to the hiring of Rodney Bennett as USM’s new president.

Special Report Anatomy of a Secret Search – Part 3 ... As the insert above points out, this report covers some of the advertisements that the IHL purchased, through its contract with Parker Executive Search, in its recent search for a replacement for former USM president Martha Saunders. The insert just above indicates that the IHL spent almost $2,000 on an ad within The Chronicle of Higher Education, the industry’s leading trade publication.

You're Really Not Going To Believe This Part 3 We ended Part 2 with the following dialogue with one of the University's Associate General Counsel: "Why don't we simplify this? Can you think of any reason why I can't just contact Dr. Bennett directly and request a copy of his vita?" After several days of silence, we actually heard from the University's Associate General Counsel who commented.

. . breaking news . . Radford University’s Gilbert Named CoB Dean HATTIESBURG – As reported by The Hattiesburg American on 6-Mar-2013, USM has hired Radford University business school dean Faye Gilbert to succeed Lance Nail as dean of USM’s College of Business. The news report also notes that, in becoming the CoB’s first female dean, Gilbert, a native of Ocean Springs, is returning home to her alma mater.

Dear usmnews.net, Given the new CoB dean's [Faye Gilbert] pedigree, it appears that she may have been one of Alvin Williams' [former Chair of CoB Marketing and former Interim Dean] students. Some of us who have been around the CoB for a while remember Alvin's proposal to send students off to get doctorates and then return to Southern Miss.

Cost Per Flight Hour Costs and Uses of King Air N777AQ At the University of Southern Mississippi Updated March 7, 2013 The purpose of this report is to show readers how to calculate cost per flight hour and use it to determine the cost of flights of N777AQ. We will also show why, in detail, cost per flight hour changes through time, but has in fact remained from beginning of the lease/purchase of N777AQ to the current time, approximately $5,000, not the $800 as claimed by one-time USM President, Martha Saunders.

Perspective: The Gilbert-O Debate The recent decision by USM to hire Faye Gilbert, currently the b-school dean at Radford University, to replace former CoB dean Lance Nail, now dean at Texas Tech University, is drawing at least some backlash in the USM community. One of the primary criticisms at this point is that Gilbert’s hiring represents yet another example of so-called “inbreeding” at USM.

Airfarce One or IHL Air? Still Squandering Millions on Airplane N777AQ usmnews.net recently acquired another set of information USM and IHL administrators would never reveal on its own. As a matter of fact, with regard to the current series reporting the use and actual cost of airplane N777AQ, USM administrators have materially misrepresented information about the cost of N777AQ.

Diversity is just another word for an opportunity to fail? "That loud pop you're hearing is the bursting of the law bubble -- firms, schools, and disillusioned lawyers paying for decades of geed and grandiosity. The bubble grew from a combination of U.S. News-driven ranking mania, law schools' insatiable hunger for growth and huge law firms' obsession with profit above all else." Pop Goes the Law by Steven J. Harper, The Chronicle of Higher Education

Let's All Go to Texas Still Squandering Millions on Airplane N777AQ, Part 2 On July 25, 2012, Mississippi taxpayers and USM students paid for a hugely expensive plane ride for a group of USM employees and others wholly unrelated to the education of USM students. This boondoggle cost Mississippi taxpayers and USM students $31,929. The passengers aboard the 4.7 hour flight trek from Hattiesburg, to Dallas-Fort Worth, to Houston, and back to Hattiesburg were

Dear usmnews.net, Dear usmnews.net, As a matter of curiosity, have you gotten a copy of [incoming] President [Rodney] Bennett's CV, yet?

The IHL Taxi Service IHL Members: "Hey! Let's Fly Around Mississippi!" Still Squandering Millions on Airplane N777AQ, Part 3 On September 19 and 20, 2012, Mississippi taxpayers and USM students paid a small fortune to taxi a couple IHL members aboard N777AQ around the state of Mississippi.

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.

USM's Taxi Service Goes Around and Around Mississippi, Again! So Out of Touch With Education, IHL Members Know No Better or Don't Care Still Squandering Millions on Airplane N777AQ, Part 5 On October 17 and 18, 2012, Mississippi taxpayers and USM students paid a small fortune to taxi a small crowd of USM administrators and IHL members aboard N777AQ throughout Mississippi. This jaunt through Mississippi cost Mississippi taxpayers and USM students $31,929 just for the use of N777AQ. That doesn't include hotel bills, food bills, etc. the administrators incurred.

. . breaking news . . Lee-McNelis Stumbles . . . Again HATTIESBURG – The USM Lady Eagles basketball team concluded another losing season under head coach Joye Lee-McNelis on 14-Mar-2013, falling to East Carolina by a score of 60-89 in the Conference USA Tournament in Tulsa. The loss sent the Lady Eagles’ overall record to 15-16 (0.483), and to only 13-16 (0.448) against Division 1 competition.

More Sports USM Is Still Squandering Millions on Airplane N777AQ, part 6 On October 28, 2012, Mississippi taxpayers and USM students paid a small fortune to fly Interim president Aubrey Lucas all by himself aboard N777AQ from Hattiesburg to Dallas Fort Worth To New Orleans and back to Hattiesburg.

Revisiting Joye Lee-McNelis' Failure as Head Women's Basketball Coach Too Much Joye in Mudville A Guest Editorial by Susan Green-Lewis Since coming to “lead” USM’s women’s basketball program back in 2004-05, head coach Joye Lee-McNelis has struggled to rebuild that program to the level that former coach Kay James provided throughout the 1980s and 1990s.

The Joye Lee Experiment A Guest Column by Susan Green-Lewis What will USM athletics director Jeff Hammond say when he sits down to evaluate the job women’s basketball coach Joye Lee-McNelis did in her ninth season (in 2012-13) at the helm? Judging by his previous remarks, he views Lee-McNelis as a hard worker who deserves the job. The graph below contradicts that, however, as the bars indicate yearly team losses by the only four coaching regimes in USM women’s basketball history.

What Is It With Sports?! USM Is Still Squandering Millions on Airplane N777AQ, part 7 On November 30, 2012, Mississippi taxpayers and USM students paid a small fortune to fly Interim president Aubrey Lucas and Athletic Director Jeff Hammond aboard N777AQ from Hattiesburg to Houston to Madison, Mississippi, and back to Hattiesburg. This four hours of flight cost Mississippi taxpayers and USM students $27,764. for the use of N777AQ.

USM Students Provide Financial Support to the IHL Board USM Is Still Squandering Millions on Airplane N777AQ, Part 8 On December 30, 2012, Mississippi taxpayers and USM students paid a small fortune to taxi IHL members Robin Robinson and Christy Pickering aboard N777AQ from Hattiesburg to Laurel to Columbus and back to Hattiesburg. The purpose of the flight was stated on USM's Invoice as "IHL Board Support." They got that right! USM students supported the IHL Board on this flight.

Dear usmnews.net, I did not want to rain on your institution's parade but based on his credentials, Bennett is a real light weight. I can see why they don't want his vita widely shared. His has zero experience in managing an institution. I do not think that he has written a single academic paper or delivered a single conference paper,

Dishonesty Breeds More Dishonesty A news report making the rounds this week is about Texas Christian University's audit of its admissions information: "Texas Christian's dean of admissions says it is the nation's only university to voluntarily have its admissions data - the number of applicants and their SAT scores, class rank, grade-point averages, and other measures - audited for accuracy. It has done so for the last dozen years -- and not just for show.

You're Really Not Going To Believe This Part 4 Part 4 continues our dialogue with USM and one of its Associate General Counsel. The topic: a Mississippi Open Records Act request for, among other things, Dr. Rodney Bennett's vita. As an academic, he has one.

The Cause(s?) of the Ever Increasing Costs of Higher Education usmnews. net will return to the continuing series monitoring the administrative mismanage- ment related to the costs and uses of USM's airplane, N777AQ, on Monday. Yesterday, March 21, 2013, the Chronicle of Higher Education reported another story about the significant increase in higher education over the past decade and its causes.

. . . breaking news . . Will Modise be Fired? HATTIESBURG - The USM women's tennis team is now 0-14 under first-year coach Dominic Modise. That record resulted from a 21-Mar-2013 loss on its own courts to tiny William Carey University.

Do You Think...? USM Is Still Squandering Millions on Airplane N777AQ, Part 10 Do you think Dr. Rodney Bennett, on February 4, 2013, would have been thrilled to take a commercial flight to visit Southern Miss? By February 4, 2013, Bennett knew he would be the next Southern Miss president. So, I bet he would have been happy to pay for the commercial flight out of his own pocket!

Here We Go, Again. USM Is Still Squandering Millions on Airplane N777AQ, Part 11 Yesterday, Part 10 reported that on February 4, 2013, Mississippi taxpayers and USM students paid a small fortune to fly the IHL designated "preferred candidate" Rodney Bennett to Hattiesburg for a "campus visit." By February 4, 2013, Bennett knew he would be the next Southern Miss president. On February 1, 2013, a news story reported:

Here We Go, Again. And Again USM Is Still Squandering Millions on Airplane N777AQ, Part 12 In Part 10, we reported that on February 4, 2013, Mississippi taxpayers and USM students paid a small fortune to fly the IHL designated "preferred candidate" Rodney Bennett to Hattiesburg for a "campus visit." By February 4, 2013, Bennett knew he would be the next Southern Miss president. On February 1, 2013, a news story reported

Let's Fly To Florida And Offer Another Mea Culpa for Another Sports Screw-up Still Squandering Millions on Airplane N777AQ, Part 4 On October 11 and 12, 2012, Mississippi taxpayers and USM students paid a small fortune to taxi a small crowd of USM administrators aboard N777AQ throughout Florida. As you read this report, keep this question in mind, how was USM's students' education advanced by administrators pleading special dispensation for their sports screw-up?

Dear usmnews.net readers, a letter from the editor To our readers, Yesterday one of usmnews.net' readers provided a curriculum vita for Dr. Rodney D. Bennett. usmnews.net reporters are in the process of reviewing the vita.

Again! USM Is Still Squandering Millions on Airplane N777AQ, Part 13 On February 7, 2013, Mississippi taxpayers and USM students paid another small fortune to fly USM "president" Rodney Bennett from Oxford, MS, to Hattiesburg, back to Oxford, then to Athens, GA, back to Meridian, then Gulf Port and on to Hattiesburg.

more Questions from usmnews.net's readers Lately usmnews.net has been receiving a number of questions from its readers. From time to time, usmnews.net will publish some of the questions and provide answers. Question 4