weeklyreports_06_01

Does Patty Munn Gossip? part 4 ... Here's another example of Munn's predisposition to gossip. Her sworn deposition answer when asked about Charles Jordan's and Harold Doty's plagiarism.

Dear usmnews.net, Over the past several months I have become a regular vistor to your blog. Sometimes I think usmnews knows more about what's happening on campus than the faculty does. Over the past several months, it feels like things have gotten increasingly secret around campus. One of my colleagues called it "mushroom management" -- Keep 'em in the dark and feed them plenty of bulls**t.

An Embarrassment? A recent Southern Miss Now news release seems embarrassing. Does USM have no shame? Here's an excerpt and citation so that you can read the entire report:

Dear usmnews.net, With regard to your editorial concerning a nuisance gift to the Southern Miss theater department [from playwright Stephen Sondheim], I believe [administrators] are tone deaf to the sensibilities of its local community. . Many of us make small contributions because we care about Southern Miss, yet we are lucky to get a form thank you note.

Does Patty Munn Gossip? part 5 ... Gossip seems to provide Munn a mechanism by which to ingratiate herself with the School of Accountancy, College of Business, USM, and IHL administrators. And, she often prefers to hide in the background while she plies her gossip. Here's an example from our archives.

Caution: USM's Notions of Integrity and Honesty Could be Dangerous to Your Career Does the proposed "Scholarly Misconduct" policy exempt faculty and administrators who copy "without proper citation" ideas or words that they don't consider to be "research"? For example, if VP Bill Powell "copies without proper citation" other schools' accreditation documents and submits them on behalf of USM as USM's words and ideas, is that behavior exempt from the "Scholarly Misconduct" policy?

Pick Your Least Favorite Administrator or Politician. Should They Have Unlimited Access to All Your Emails and Phone Calls? In today's Washington Post article, "Documents: U.S. mining data from 9 leading internet firms; companies deny knowledge," is a report that should concern all of us, whether Democrat, Republican, Tea Party member, Independent, etc.

Just How Ignorant is Martha Saunders? A recent report from the ABA Journal signals just how ignorant Martha Saunders is. First an excerpt form the ABA Journal: "Overall there are more than two law grads for every estimated job opening, according to data compiled by a lawyer who is a legal blogger. But it's much worse in some parts of the country."

Updated 10-June-2013 The CoB’s Brain Drain Compilation, 2003-Present An Illustrated Account There is little argument with the notion that the College of Business at USM has been severely diminished by the faculty flight that has occurred since former CoB dean, Harold Doty, assumed the reins of management. Doty’s tenure began in 2003, when he was hired by former USM President, Shelby Thames, to lead the newly reorganized College of Business & Economic Development. It ended in April of 2007, just after the CoB had received an ominous report from the AACSB requiring a 6th Year Maintenance of Accreditation Review, when Doty and his associate dean, Farhang Niroomand, “resigned” amidst suspicion and speculation.

update to breaking news Stark Files Harassment Complaint against USM AD usmnews.net has received the attached copy of a complaint filed by Dianne Stark against AD Hammond and former President Martha Saunders. A complaint states only one side. It is usmnews.net's understanding that depositions will be taken soon.

Past Reports of Incompetence and Waste are Still Relevant DAILY PRACTICE Ethics in Leadership �verification, public review, and opportunities for rebuttal by decision-makers In an effort to develop as many perspectives as possible, my students and I invited Dean Doty and Committee Chairman Carter to discuss their decision.

Dear usmnews.net, Southern Miss fans have followed usmnews.net's reports about Joye Lee-McNelis' disastrous tenure as women's basketball coach. We can't help but wonder why other coaches with no worse or better records have long ago been given their walking papers, she continues an eight plus year reign of failure.

Dear usmnews.net, Some of your readers have been talking about the letter to the editor that expressed concern whether Southern Miss's basketball team would be eligible to play in the NCAA tournament -- regardless of the number of wins. Is there any chance that's really true?

Questions from usmnews.net's readers Question 10: usmnews.net has been pretty critical of Joye Lee-McNelis' performance as head coach for the Lady Eagles. Do you know what her player turnover looks like? Answer: The last time usmnews.net did an analysis of Ms. Lee-McNelis history of roster turnover, it didn't look good...

Colleges of Education in America: Mediocre At Best In Mississippi? Guess Education is broken, especially K-12, and colleges and universities are not far behind. Everyone can observe that for themselves, whether they are parents, professors, or even politicians. And we certainly don't need a study to confirm our observations. But we have another study just the same: "Teacher Prep Review." It summarizes Colleges of Education aptly as "An Industry in Mediocrity."

breaking news USM AD Jeff Hammond is Out as Athletic Director HATTIESBURG - On the heels of sourced reports from ESPN that Athletic Director Jeff Hammond would not have his contract extended, Jeff Hammond confirmed in a text that "he was informed Tuesday that he would not be retained beyond June 30." According to the Clarion Ledger, Hammond decline further comment. Shortly after the text message from Hammond, a press conference was called for the morning of 19-June-2013 on the campus of USM. Sources report that the decision not to extend Hammond's contract, was surrounded by high levels of acrimony.

reprinted by request -- what usmnews.net was publishing a year ago Incompetent or Corrupt or Both? Part 1 A History of the Contracts between The University of Southern Mississippi and Coca Cola Let’s go back to the 1990s when Aubrey Lucas was still president of the University of Southern Mississippi. It was not yet 1997 when Horace Fleming arrived to become the first new president of the University in more than twenty years. Shelby Thames was nearly a decade away from stepping into the Presidency.

reprinted by request -- what usmnews.net was publishing a year ago Incompetent or Corrupt or Both? Part 2 The 1996-2005 Coca Cola Contract In Part 2, we visit historical details of USM�'s 1996�-2005 Coke contract. In January 1996, when the contract was signed by Vice President of Business and Finance Jim Henderson, Aubrey Lucas was USM�'s President.

Is that Panic in the Offices of the IHL and USM's President? On 19-June 19-2013, WDAM reported: Wednesday morning, the president of the University of Southern Mississippi [Rodney Bennett] announced that the current athletic director's [Jeff Hammond's] contract would not be renewed beyond June 30, 2013...

Southern Miss Speaks Out Since President Rodney Bennett announced his decision not to renew the contract of AD Jeff Hammond, the blogosphere has been on fire with discussions about Southern Miss, Mr. Hammond and President Bennett. Of course, it is not possible to provide every post for your review. Therefore, usmnews.net has selected one thread that seems to be fairly representative. Feel free to look for more. BEFORE YOU CLICK ON THE LINK ASSOCIATED WITH "ONE THREAD", PLEASE NOTE THAT THE DOCUMENT CONTAINS PROFANITY AND MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR ALL READERS.

"INSIDER THREATS" Take a look at a June 20, 2013 article, "Obama's crackdown views leaks as aiding enemies of U.S., INSIDER THREATS, by Marisa Taylor and Jonathan S. Landay. Here's an excerpt.

Dear usmnews.net: usmnews.net has not been one of Joye Lee-McNelis' fans. [Head coach for the Lady Eagles basketball team] So, I was surprised when you did not comment on the July 14 [2013] Hattiesburg American report "USM's McNelis faces lawsuit."

Wow! More Past Reports of Incompetence and Waste are Still Relevant Our reports over the years have continuing relevance. We recently reviewed reports about the current Coca-Cola Contract. It screams incompetence. Let's review another series of reports from years past that remain relevant because USM is doing the same dubious administration of student and taxpayer resources requiring students to purchase subscriptions to The Wall Street Journal -- even though copies are available at the library. Here's what's currently reported on USM's website:

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. Long-time reader s of USMNEWS.net are aware that Faye Gilbert is the current dean of the CoB, having replaced Lance Nail, who is now the business dean at Texas Tech University.

Past Reports of Incompetence and Waste are Still Relevant DAILY PRACTICE Ethics in Leadership Commonplace Decisions Cheating on tests and plagiarism are commonplace student decisions that injure the ethical culture of a school and may signal future misconduct as professionals. “Various studies suggest that we may be at the precipice of a culture of academic malfeasance, where a large number of students engage in various forms of cheating.” (Burke, Polimeni, and Slavin)

Dear usmnews.net, Looks like men's basketball is teetering on the edge of NCAA postseason requirements. Unless Tyndall can get the graduation rate up, there is no postseason for men's basketball moving forward. NCAA grad rates listed below:

USM Faculty Selected Bennett? That's Laughable Several local chat-boards are debating the process of hiring USM presidents, most recently Dr. Rodney Bennett. "Authoritative" anonymous bloggers are pitching the story the faculty chose Bennett to be USM's president.

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. Long-time readers oinof USMNEWS.net are aware that Faye Gilbert is the current dean of the CoB, having replaced Lance Nail, who is now the business dean at Texas Tech University.

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 11: Since Dr. Bennett announced Dr. B's Book Club, I thought it might be interesting to see what you are reading this summer?

Control Who picks university presidents for Mississippi public universities? As usmnews.net has previously reported, some local bloggers have contended that the faculty selected Dr. Rodney Bennett as the University of Southern Mississippi's newest president. Does anyone really believe that to be true? In case anyone thought that to be true, ...

Former Georgia AD Damon Evans May be Coming to USM Trial Balloon or Friend of Rodney? SB*Nation reporter Peter Berkes is reporting that Former Georgia Athletic Director Damon Evans may become the next AD at USM. Evans served as AD at the University of Georgia from 2004 - 2010, while Bennett functioned as Vice President for Student Affairs at the same school from 2005 - 2013.

REVISITING LEE GORE usmnews.net is running prior reports about Lee Gore, one-time USM legal counsel, current legal counsel at University of West Florida--where Martha Saunders, past USM president is now provost. usmnews.net expects to provide an update on Gore's current shenanigans in the near future.

Dear usmnews.net, Take a look at this link and tell me what you think. Since I don't want the wrath of our new provost and the General Counsel to descend on me. Please don't use my name. Name withheld by request

What Now President Bense and Provost Saunders? Lee P. Gore, UWF General Counsel and Advisor to the President, is being investigated by the Florida Bar for practicing law without a Florida license. We wonder what the University of West Florida is doing to investigate Gore? Here's why we're asking. UWF has responsibility to assess behavior in relation to its own policies and rules: