weeklyreports_10_17

Over the past several years, usmnews.net has published literally thousands of reports from current and former faculty who share my belief that USM has ineffectively and inefficiently employed far too much of its resources, both in terms of money and people. The purpose of usmnews.net is not to provide a public relations view. That is amply supplied by The University of Southern Mississippi's public relations department.

Based on recommendations from usmnews.net's readers, we are relaunching usmnews.net. Your comments, criticisms, recommendations and news are greatly appreciated. Also, as we troubleshoot links, please let us know if you find any broken or missing links.

Chauncey M. DePree, Jr., Editor
marcdepree@gmail.com

Dear usmnews.net, Did you see the announcement in the Hattiesburg American that "The University of Southern Mississippi has received $657,000 for a multi-use pathway project"?

Has Farhang Niroomand's Behavior Changed? Based on reports usmnews.net is now receiving from University of Houston - Victoria, administrators under Dr. Niroomand's authority are threatening faculty whom they believe may be providing information to usmnews.net.

Renu’s Renegades A GUEST EDITORIAL The recent USMNEWS.net editorial (18-Oct-2011) on University of Houston-Victoria business dean Farhang Niroomand is right on the mark.

Victorian Management An Editorial by Susan Green-Lewis Through the words of University of Texas at Tyler’s human resources director, Joe Vorsas, we learned that Harold Doty’s “management style” is not for everyone, particularly female staffers going through high-risk pregnancies.

Twenty Years of Niroomand at the Through A Look at FN’s Salary, 1990-2009 The four year anniversary of the surprise “resignations” of former CoB dean Harold Doty (2003-07) and former CoB associate dean Farhang Niroomand (1998-2007) has come and gone.

The High and Low Culture of Accreditation How AACSB Shenanigans by Doty and Niroomand Cost the CoB in 2007 Interest in University of Texas-Tyler business dean Harold Doty and University of Houston-Victoria business dean Farhang Niroomand may be at an all-time high.

The Sting Didn’t Mean a Thing More on Saunders’ Taxpayer-Subsidized ‘Date Night’ with Bailey The USMNEWS.net report entitled, Keeping the Home Fires Burning, provides documentation indicating that USM president Martha Saunders and her husband Joe Bailey had a date-night of sorts on 15-Sept-2010.

Incredibly Bad Timing Or An Expensive Joke Or Just Plain Dumb If a college adminstrator hasn't been hiding under a rock, totally incommunicado for the past several years or is incompetent, surely s/he knows how poor the market is for newly minted law graduates.

Dear usmnews.net, I nearly choked on my coffee this morning as I read the editorial Incredibly Bad Timing Or An Expensive Joke Or Just Plain Dumb. I could almost hear [USM President] Martha [Saunders] saying "isn't this [encouraging students to attend an expensive private law school when there are few jobs for lawyers] just a ripsniptious idea?"

The Headless Horseman Rides Again An Editorial from Victoria Tyler CoB dean Lance Nail must feel like the headless horseman heading into the CoB’s 2012 AACSB re-accreditation season. That would be because the list of tenured associate and full professors from the CoB’s rank-and-file (non-administrative) faculty has dwindled down to endangered species levels. The actual list, for interested readers, is provided below, with each academic unit presented alongside:

Reprint from 2010 New LED Sign on Corner of Campus Causing Stir HATTIESBURG – As of this writing, Ed Kemp’s 8-Oct-2010 investigative report for The Hattiesburg American on the new LED sign at the corner of the USM campus has already generated nearly 50 comments from online readers.

Dear usmnews.net, A few days ago I read a report that college tuition has gone up more than 8% in the past year - far more than the rate of inflation.

updated Aunt Martha’s Coaches Has Saunders Lost the Magic Touch? Or, Did She Ever Have It? After the University of Wisconsin at Whitewater won the Division III national championship in 2007, USM President Martha Saunders blogged that during the 2006-07 academic year while Chancellor at UW-W she had hired the first-year coach who led UW-W to the title.

Reprinted from 2008 Saunders’ “Boudoir Makeover” Expenses Continue to Mount - HATTIESBURG – The recent news item, broken by USMNEWS.NET reporters, entitled “Where All of ‘the Magic’ Happens” describes the $324,622.63 renovation to the “bedroom wing” of the USM President’s mansion in Hattiesburg.

Governing Boards, Like the IHL, Are Less Engaged In University Budgets Even During RecessionThe office of Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning visited usmnews.net yesterday. The visits are not unusual and the editor and reporters welcome their visits and, should they see fit, contributions.

The Martha Belle More on what Maintaining Saunders’ Airplane is Costing Taxpayers The volume of reports and editorials here at USMNEWS.net regarding USM president Martha Saunders’ university airplane is already mindboggling, and yet the mountain keeps getting higher and higher in elevation.