weeklyreports_10_31

ROAD* Scholars? (*Retired on Active Duty) School of Accountancy Univer- sity of Southern Mississippi Skip Hughes, Director, School of Accountancy, and Michael Dugan, Horne Professor of Accounting and are pulling down approximately $400,000 in salary and benefits from USM.

St. John Case Against UT-Tyler Set Jury Trial Scheduled to Commence in Fall 2012 Karen St. John’s civil case against the University of Texas-Tyler is set to begin on 5-Nov-2012 in Texas’ 241st District Court in Smith County (see insert below).

Texas Hotline Costs Niroomand $344.52 Taxpayers Left Wondering How Much in Unrecovered Public Funds Now Exist Texas’ system of public access to government information is one of the better ones in the United States. That fact was recently made clear when USMNEWS.net acquired documents pertaining to the so-called audit of University of Houston- Victoria business school dean Farhang Niroomand’s March-2010 trip to Washington, D.C. to discuss grant-related matters with U.S. Department of Education officials.

Dear usmnews.net, Thanks for revisiting some of the older reports. How about one of the reports about how (former associate dean) Niroomand spent money during his time at Southern Miss? Apparently, the old dog is still playing the same tricks at UH-V.

. . . breaking news . . . Nail Hits CoB’s AACSB Accreditation on the Head HATTIESBURG – Reports coming out of USM’s business college suggest that the AACSB Peer Review Team was more than pleased with what they saw earlier this week in USM’s CoB. As a result, they have reportedly given CoB dean Lance Nail and USM president Martha Saunders the preliminary word that USM’s CoB will hold on to its AACSB accreditation for at least another five years.

Special Report Niroomand “Visits” Seattle, USM Pays: An Investigative Series on CoB Travel This “Special Report” continues a multi-part examination of Employee Travel Vouchers in USM’s College of Business. In this report, we examine the details of yet another “Academic Visit” made by CoB Associate Dean Farhang Niroomand (also Professor of Economics). Niroomand made an “Academic visit” to Seattle in March of 2003. The details of this trip are curious, as readers will see below.

History Revisited Sami Dakhlia once taught economics at the University of Southern Mississippi. Currently, Dr. Dakhlia is a Professor of Economics and Strategy at ESCE-Paris, France. As usmnews.net often does, let us revisit a little history in which Dr. Dakhlia played a pivotal role.

President Saunders Continues to Squander Student and Taxpayer Money on Her Airplane PART 1 We at www.usmnews.net, recently received another set of information related to President Saunders’ airplane, N777AQ. We now have two years of actual costs of N777AQ. As you may recall, it is owned by the University of Southern Mississippi Foundation in name only because all costs are paid by University of Southern Mississippi. That is, taxpayers and USM students pay all costs associated with President Saunders’ airplane. (See, lease agreement obtained through a Mississippi Open Records request.)

Tedious An Investigative Series on CoB Faculty Research Credentials USMNEWS.net hears from readers from time to time, and one theme that has come across over the past three years pertains to the research records of CoB accounting professor Charles Jordan and former CoB accounting Professor Stan Clark.

Special Report Niroomand’s “Academic Visits” to Atlanta An Investigative Series on CoB Travel This “Special Report” begins a multi-part examination of Employee Travel Vouchers in USM’s College of Business. In this report, we examine the details of three trips to Atlanta, Georgia, all made by CoB Associate Dean Farhang Niroomand (also Professor of Economics), and all occurring during the first part of 2003.

Admin-Double Speak, Does it Mean Anything? On October 28, 2011, The Hattiesburg American published a Southern Miss press release entitled "Laurie Benvenutti, a Bay St. Louis, native, is the University of Southern Mississippi Alumni Association's new manager for constituent relations." (What is a "manager for constituent relations"?)

Is Your Department Bigger than Airplane Operations? A Campus-Wide Comparison Much has been made around the USM campus, Hattiesburg, and Mississippi, as well as on the pages of USMNEWS.net, The Hattiesburg American, The Student Printz and other media outlets about USM president Martha Saunders’ decision to sign a $2 million lease of a Beechcraft airplane (for USM) during the worst economic period since the Great Depression. To add to the plane lease news, one recent report indicates that USMNEWS.

. . . breaking news . . . Case Against Doty Getting White Hot HATTIES- BURG – As the insert below points out, former University of Texas-Tyler business school advisor Karen St. John and her attorney, David Fielding of Fielding, Parker & Hallmon, L.L.P., have informed the Texas Assistant Attorney General via a letter dated 24-Oct-2011 that St. John’s husband, Jeremy St. John, has joined her lawsuit against the University of Texas-Tyler, as represented by its president, Rod Mabry, and its business school dean, Harold Doty.

The Penn State Strategy of Public Relations A November 9, 2011 "USM Mailout" included the following: "University Communications Launches New WebsiteThe Office of University Communications has launched a new website with tools and resources to assist units with communication needs. Here, information can be found on the available communication services as well as important resources to help ensure the university is promoted in the best way possible...". (Emphasis added.)

Is USM an Institution Lost in the Academic Sea? Faculty Senate President’s Remarks Say It’s So In his opening remarks at the 4-Nov-2011 USM faculty senate meeting, faculty senate president Timothy Rehner painted the picture of an academic institution that is seemingly without a compass. USMNEWS.net reporters have transcribed Rehner’s comments for USMNEWS.net readers to consider:

Stretching the Truth to Stretch the Trip An Investigative Series on CoB Faculty Travel This Special Report returns to the now well-known AACSB junket to Paris made by the CoB’s Dean Harold Doty and Associate Dean Farhang Niroomand. Visitors to usmpride.com will recall that Niroomand’s trip to this AACSB meeting consumed more than $4,000. A report on Doty’s expenses is forthcoming. The screen below shows how much Niroomand’s trip to Paris cost taxpayers, not including the registration fee, which totaled almost $1,200 by itself:

Special Report Series Promises, Promises Former CoB Dean in Hot Water Once Again PART 11 These documents indicate that former UT-T business student advisor, Karen St. John, is suing UT-T for harm caused by actions largely taken by Doty vis-à-vis St. John’s employment. In late fall of 2011, St. John’s husband, Jeremy St. John, another former member of UT-T’s business school, joined her cause as co-plaintiff in the case against UT-T.