weeklyreports_05_01

31st & Pearl Are ‘Excuses’ Back in Fashion? In this very space, and not more than eight months ago, a USMNEWS.net columnist penned a 31st & Pearl column entitled “Is Saunders Paranoid?” In it, bits and pieces of USM president Martha Saunders’ Fall 2011 Convocation speech were analyzed, particularly the statements about the perceived “undercurrent of doubt” that persisted on the USM campus vis-à-vis Saunders’ ability to take the institution to the elusive next level. During that speech, Saunders vociferously defended her administration by calling out the doubters in the crowd and among the campus community, saying that doubters were wrong and out of excuses.

Dear usmnews.net, Here is an example of why I believe Saunders was fired. Presidents are fired via the resignation process. They serve at the pleasure of the Board. She was recently granted a multi-year contract extension. So, like a colleague who was once President at another university, they gave her [Saunders] a payout. They gave my friend close to $200,000 to serve as a consultant, but he did not do anything. It was hush money. I suspect Saunders may have received around the same amount to teach one class, a made up title, and will serve as a consultant, but they want her to just stay away. So, she will take the money and run. She went a long way with southern charm; but in the end her bad judgment and lack of administrative skills caught up with her.

Martha Saunders, Under Oath "Don't count her out yet. There are plenty of low level colleges where she could rise again." Name withheld If there is a chance that Martha Saunders can repeat her incompetence as an administrator at another college or university, its faculty and administrators should have a clear picture of her conduct as president of Southern Miss. This series provides a rare opportunity for the Southern Miss family, as well as potential employers, to consider Martha Saunders' words, under oath.

. . breaking news . . . Lucas Named Interim President of USM HATTIESBURG – Once again former USM president Aubrey K. Lucas has been recalled to duty as president of USM, this time on an interim basis to bridge the gap between Martha Saunders’ presidency and that of the next permanent president.

. . breaking news . . . Lucas Already Running USM HATTIESBURG – Although his interim presidency is not set to officially begin until 1-July-2012, Aubrey Lucas is, for all intents and purposes, now managing USM on a day-to-day basis.

Martha Saunders, Under Oath "... Q. You have allegations. What evidence do you have to support those allegations? A. None here. Q. Do you have any evidence anywhere to support those allegations? A. I do not. Q. Have you looked for any evidence to support those allegations? A. No. Q. Do you intend to look for evidence to support those allegations? A. I don't, no...". Please click here for more in this series.

The Farm News Briefs from Southern Miss 3-May-2012 The ‘Worst Economic Situation in a Century’? As Mary Margaret Halford reports in her 1-May-2012 article for The Student Printz, outgoing USM president Martha Saunders listed a number of accomplishments that her administration achieved during her 2007-2012 tenure, including (1) record enrollment, (2) record fundraising, and (3) more academically talented students.

Martha Saunders, Under Oath "...Q. No, I'm asking you what evidence you have. Well, let's talk about what he said. Do you have any evidence to support Dr. Williams' claims that Dr. Depree recorded? A. I do not. Q. And if he did not record that would not be conduct that constrained the functioning nature of the college of business? A. If he did not record -- I think perception. I disagree there. I think perception that he was recorded would constrain. Q. How is Dr. Depree responsible for somebody else's perception? A. I don't know that he is. Q. But he's been punished for it? A. He's being held accountable. Q. He's being held accountable for things for which you have no evidence? A. Correct...". Please click here for part one and part two in this series.

Special Report Where was Superman? During her 2011 fall convocation speech, then-USM president Martha Saunders “called out” those who she believed were sowing seeds of doubt and distrust on the USM campus. As part of her address, she informed the gathered crowd that her administration would be successful because, in part, no matter who won the upcoming 2011 gubernatorial race between Johnny Dupree (Dem.) and Phil Bryant (Rep.), Mississippi’s new governor would be a USM alumnus.

USM Athletics Being Audited by IHL Recent Accusations of Financial Mismanagement Prove Too Much for IHL to Ignore The Hattiesburg American’s higher education reporter Ed Kemp explained on 4-May-2012 that the USM athletics department is now facing an audit of its finances as a result of interim athletics director Jeff Hammond’s recent revelation that the auxiliary is more than $1 million in the hole. As IHL commissioner Hank Bounds noted, “[w]e are looking at the financial status of the [USM] athletic department,” a review that Bounds explained was prompted by recent reports of a large deficit. According to Bounds, “[w]hen that happens, you don't have any choice but to make sure that every dollar is accounted for.”

Special Report Former Faculty Senate President Speaks Out With the turmoil engulfing USM in the wake of president Martha Saunders’ sudden resignation (on 27-Apr-2012), former USM faculty senate president Stephen Judd is speaking out after a relatively lengthy hiatus from the public eye. Judd, who gained a reputation as an opponent of the Shelby Thames administration of USM (2002-07), recently addressed what The Hattiesburg American higher education reporter Ed Kemp characterized as “[a] loss of university direction” and “a sense of powerlessness that unknown forces could bring [USM president Martha] Saunders down.”

A Distinguished History? Mr. Aubrey Lucas Was Also Director of Admissions If You've Ever Been The Subject of Injustice, You Wouldn't Forget It. During the late 1950's, Aubrey K. Lucas was the Director of Admissions at Mississippi Southern College, later named the University of Southern Mississippi, when Mr. Clyde Kennard applied for admission. Among other accomplishments, Mr. Kennard was "a former sergeant and paratrooper in the U.S. Army." Mr. Kennard's clearly met all conditions for acceptance, except for one insignificant thing: he was black.

USM Students Continue to Feed the Beast HATTIESBURG – At a special meeting on 7-May-2012, the Mississippi IHL Board unanimously approved requests from Mississippi’s public universities to raise tuition for the upcoming 2012-13 academic year. As part of that approval, USM’s in-state tuition is set to increase 8.7 percent, or by $500 per year.

31st & Pearl Parse with Care As well-liked as The Hattiesburg American’s higher education reporter Ed Kemp generally is, concerned citizens of the USM community should be careful in reading too much into his recent characterization of the rumor that Mississippi IHL commissioner Hank Bounds is a candidate to replace outgoing USM president Martha Saunders.

Dear usmnews.net: As I understand it, [new interim USM president] Aubrey Lucas is 77 years old. If that is so, him being recalled to lead USM during all of this turmoil is probably going to be a very stressful situation for him, as it would be for anyone. That stress seems to have run Martha Saunders out of the office, and she is a bit younger than he is if my math is correct. If I were one of Lucas’ children or grandchildren, I would be very upset if that stress gets to him in any way. It would be very hard to not blame Saunders for that stress and whatever it may do to Lucas over the next year.

an update to Dear usmnews.net: "... USM political science professor Kate Greene contacted USMNEWS.net on 4-May-2012 in response to the letter above from a USMNEWS.net reader which was published a few days earlier, on 28-April-2012. Greene informed USMNEWS.net that, in speaking to the media about USM president Martha Saunders’ resignation (see letter and links above), she was speaking in her capacity as president of the USM chapter of the AAUP. We appreciate Dr. Greene’s response, and the author of the above letter very likely will as well...".

Enter Pillage Leave An Editorial from Victoria Tyler There will be a number of analyses and histories of the Martha Saunders administration of USM (2007-12) produced over the coming weeks and months. I think at least one should list some of the examples relating to the large sums of money that Saunders mismanaged, misspent, or simply allowed others to misappropriate during her time as president of the institution. Six examples, along with their sums, that come to my mind are listed here:

Okay, Interim President Lucas, what are you going to do with IT, now? The lease/purchase of an airplane (N777AQ) with student and taxpayer money during a recession while firing tenured faculty was stupid (I don't use that term often-preferring words like ignorant or uninformed, but here, stupid is accurate). Taking relatives, friends, and politicos for joy rides to sports events among other nonsensical trips was sufficient reason to fire Martha Saunders

Special Report USM Community Responds to Tuition Hike “Where’s it going to end? Where’s it going to stop?” USM junior history major Kala Moore on the 2012-13 tuition hike Ed Kemp’s 7-May-2012 report for The Hattiesburg American concerning the 8.7% tuition increase facing in-state USM students beginning 2012-13 cut to the core of the issue.

Spring has Sprung on USM Athletics: $1 Million Deficit not Only Concern of Golden Eagles, An Editorial from Susan Green-Lewis With word that the USM athletics department is facing an audit to determine the source(s) of a more-than-$1 million deficit, as well as two harassment issues, it might seem to the casual observer that things cannot get any worse for Golden Eagles sports team.

31st & Pearl Del Boca Presidentista If interim USM president Aubrey Lucas is successful in hiring his replacement some time during the next 9 months, as he says he will be, then USM will have no fewer than 5 current or former college/university presidents among its faculty ranks. That would include the next USM president, Lucas, Martha Saunders, and Shelby Thames – each of whom has served as USM president at one time or another. The final member of the quintet is Frances Lucas, the former president of Millsaps College in Jackson. That has to put USM at the top of U.S. colleges and universities in terms of current/former presidents per capita.

Now Bloating A LOOK AT ADMINISTRATIVE HIRING AT USM With all of the turmoil at USM leading up to and in the wake of the sudden resignation of USM president Martha Saunders, USMNEWS.net is taking a look at the types of job announcements emanating from USM during the spring semester of 2012. A listing of these is shown in Table 1 below: ... Members of the USM community will likely be interested in the final entry of Table 1. It appears to be an advertisement to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Russ Willis, who held the VP for administrative affairs position before joining the USM Foundation (in early 2012).

Why USM-Gulf Coast for Saunders? A Guest Editorial With the recent resignation of Martha Saunders as USM president, along with her announcement about moving to the USM-Gulf Coast faculty, many at USM are dazed and confused. One of the many questions that keeps popping up concerns not only her decision to return to the USM faculty, a common question in editorials at usmnews, but why she has chosen to join the USM-Gulf Coast campus instead of the main campus in Hattiesburg. I think this particular question is both a legitimate and interesting one,

Lucas, USM Honor Giannini with Terrace Naming Interim USM President Seems to be Choosing Sides in Athletics Department Controversy In one of his first acts as USM’s new interim president, Aubrey Lucas announced that he would preside over the search for a new athletics director to replace Richard Giannini, and that he would seek Giannini’s advice in selecting that individual.

‘Marta’ Bids Farewell to the SMC Community USMlite Once Again Splashes Humor onto Events at USM Once again USMlite.com injected (on 3-May-2012) some much-needed humor around the current crises surrounding USM. This comes, as so many entries from USMlite.com do, via an audio address from fictional “Southern Miss College Chancellator Marta von Saunderheisen.”

MS Taxpayers on Hook for USM Athletics in Major Way TOTAL SUBSIDY TO USMAD OVER $8 MILLION ACCORDING TO RECENT USA Today REPORT USA Today recently released another new set of collegiate athletics financials, and it indicates that the USM athletics department’s public subsidy accounts for almost 40% of its total revenue, amounting to just over $8 million annually. According to the report, $8,015,417 of the USMAD’s $20,673,597 annual revenue comes from its public subsidy, accounting for 38.8% of the total take.

Hudson Secures Largest Endowment in ASU History ASU Alumnus Donates $5 Million to University In what can perhaps best be measured in mere days, Tim Hudson’s new tenure as chancellor at Arkansas State University has already produced the largest endowment gift in ASU history – a $5 million donation from ASU alumnus Neil Griffin.