ARTICLES CONCERNING
MARTHA D. SAUNDERS, PRESIDENT
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI

For more articles and editorials concerning Dr. Saunders please click here.

(October 8, 2009) “All too predictable.” All too predictable bureaucratic “leadership” is characterized by _________. Readers are encouraged to fill in the blank with their experiences. Share yours with usmnews.net. (Requests for confidentiality will be honored.)

(October 12, 2009) President Saunders Swipes at Becker, and More . . . A LOOK AT SAUNDERS’ 12-OCT-09 BLOG Former CoB tourism management chairperson, Cherylynn Becker, was an opponent of the USM Charcoal Room. She made that fact plain and clear shortly after her arrival at USM during the Harold Doty administration (2003-07). Thus, it was no surprise that the Charcoal Room closed shortly after Becker’s arrival as TM chair, and that the CoB’s two best TM profs, Tanya Ruetzler and Jim Taylor, exited the CoB at about the same time. (Not surprisingly, the two of them landed at Ole Miss, the flagship institution of MS. Becker failed at TM administration, and has since been moved to management by CoB administrators as a result of her many failings).

(October 13, 2009) Longing AN EDITORIAL ON THE WAY THINGS ARE AT SOUTHERN MISS Today's (12-Oct-09) blog from USM president Martha Saunders, which invites USM faculty and staff to come and enjoy the festivities at the 13-Oct-09 "open house" for the new University Club, highlights the way things often work at USM. In doing so it hints at three types of "longing" that characterize the way USM administrators operate. The first type of longing centers around things that the institution can easily (readily) turn into a reality. Examples of these include establishing a University Club, or at the more local level, setting up a new CoB Honors House for well-connected students. Often times these forms of longing center around reconstructing the way things once were at USM, as emphasized by Saunders' latest post about missing the Charcoal Room and the original University Club.

(October 15, 2009) Mississippi Could Learn From North Dakota Mississippi taxpayers and lawmakers could learn a few lessons from North Dakota. See The Chronicle of Higher Education report: “North Dakota State University President Resigns Amid Uproar Over New House.”

(October 19, 2009) “Mission Creep”? During the current hard times, President Saunders finds money to spend on new projects she wants. Are the projects well considered or are they evidence of wasteful, ill-conceived “mission creep” discussed in a Chronicle of Higher Education article by Charles Miller? First, consider one of the many new Saunders’ spending initiatives the IHL reported from its October 14-15, 2009 meeting: