The Chronicle News Blog: New School Faculty Members May Hold No-Confidence Vote in Bob Kerrey
Senior faculty members at the New School, extremely disturbed by the abrupt departure of the New York institution’s provost, will meet on Wednesday afternoon in a hastily called session of the Faculty Senate, and may hold a vote of no confidence in the president, Bob Kerrey, the former U.S. senator.
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Providence Journal: Higher education retirees were offered lucrative incentives
PROVIDENCE — Over the last 25 years, former Rhode Island College President John Nazarian donated hundreds of thousands of dollars — and three baby grand pianos — to the school where he spent his undergraduate years, his 54-year academic career and his adult life.
And when he retired in June at the age of 75, the college gave Nazarian something back: a $205,008 severance check.
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Posted in Administration, Salary/Economic Benefits
The Tennessean: Regents chief’s cost-cutting ideas inflame Tenn. colleges
4-day weeks, required peer tutoring in plan
With only a few months to go as chancellor of the Tennessee Board of Regents, Charles Manning could have coasted to a quiet exit from his role overseeing 45 state universities, community colleges and technology centers, leaving long-term budget headaches to his replacement.
Manning will not go quietly, it turns out.
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Inside Higher Ed: Scrutiny for a Presidential Spouse
Carol Petersen, wife of the system president, John Petersen, was recently banned by the university’s board from any contact with donors or staff members at the university following an incident in which she is alleged to have treated a donor rudely, leaving the donor in tears. The ban was lifted only after John Petersen wrote a letter to the university pledging that his wife’s activities would be conducted only as a volunteer and with no authority over anyone. President Petersen also acknowledged that the incident and its handling would be part of his five-year review, currently being conducted by his board. The situation escalated to a point that the state’s governor, Phil Bredesen, was informed.
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San Diego Union-Tribune: Administrators’ pay hike raises ire of CSU faculty
Students turned away because of funding
Some California State University faculty members are angry the system has awarded pay raises of up to 19 percent to high-level administrators while turning away students because of inadequate funding.
The raises represent a fraction of the CSU system’s proposed $5.1 billion budget and were approved during the course of the year.
At a time when the 23 campuses are under pressure to trim budgets, and 10,000 applicants are being shut out by a newly enforced enrollment cap, the salary increases seem ill-advised to some.
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Posted in Administration, Budgets & Funding
HowTheUniversityWorks.com: Tennessee Takes First Annual ‘Turkey at the Top’ Award
Turkey at the top is always intensely competitive. This year’s contenders included first runner-up Robert Felner, the U of Louisville dean indicted for conspiracy to commit fraud, money laundering, and tax evasion in what the feds allege are repeated acts of embezzlement of grant monies amounting to over $2 million. Not content with these escapades, Felner racked up 31 grievances and complaints in his 5 years at the “U of L” but was consistently backed against the faculty by upper administration, especially Provost Shirley Willihnganz and President James Ramsey, who spent extravagantly on lawyers and consultants to prop up his administration despite what numerous accounts (including this one and others that I’ve privately confirmed) termed an “onslaught” of complaints from faculty, staff and students alleging “unsavory behavior, ranging from sexual harassment to workplace intimidation.” This pair continued the authoritarian regime of wall-to-wall administrative solidarity and secrecy established by their high-living predecessors, former provost Carol Garrison and former president John Shumaker—later found sharing lavish hotel rooms and limousines at public expense, while jetting to trysts in the University of Tennessee’s private plane.
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Tagged Robert Felner
The Olympian: WSU president takes $100,000 pay cut
The university says Floyd told the board of regents Friday he would lead by example with the voluntary cut.
The board accepted his request and lowered his pay to $625,000 a year, effective Jan. 1.
In Seattle, University of Washington president Mark Emmert decided to forgo a pay raise this year.
Regents completed their annual review Thursday and said Emmert has done and exceptional job, but they did not consider a pay increase, at his request.
He earns $905,000 a year. The Seattle Times reports Emmert also sits on the boards of two companies that pay him $340,000 a year in cash and stock.
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Posted in Administration, Salary/Economic Benefits
The Chronicle News Blog: Privacy Worries Cancel New Mexico State U.’s Presidential Search
With no finalists left in the hopper, New Mexico State University’s governing board voted on Monday to terminate the search for a new president, the Associated Press reports.
A search committee had settled on five finalists. But state law requires that their identities be made public 21 days before a hiring decision. Four of the candidates pulled out because they did not want their names disclosed. The fifth was hired elsewhere.
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The Chronicle News Blog: U.S. Senator Questions Whether College Presidents Should Serve on Corporate Boards
Washington — Sen. Charles E. Grassley has issued a written statement urging college trustees to reconsider whether their presidents should serve on corporate boards.
“University boards should look at what students gain or lose from having the university president sit on corporate boards, such as Bear Stearns,” said Mr. Grassley, an Iowa Republican and the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee. “Maybe there are fund-raising gains, but those gains might be undercut by time away from the institution or conflicts of interest.”
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Posted in Administration, Corporate University
Seattle Times: Ex-WSU provost assigned to Tri-City campus
Washington State University announced Monday that former provost Steven Hoch will work at the Tri-City campus in January as a history instructor.
Hoch stepped down as provost in September after just seven weeks on the job as provost to take a personal leave after a shoving incident with another administrator. His term as provost ended Oct. 31 after he and WSU President Elson Floyd agreed he should not remain as provost.
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The Chronicle: Colorado State U.’s President Exits Abruptly
Larry E. Penley, Colorado State University’s president since 2003, resigned suddenly on Wednesday, surprising many on the Fort Collins campus and around the state. In a written statement, Mr. Penley said he wanted to be “free to pursue other leadership positions in higher education.” His last day will be November 30.
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The Muskegon Chronicle: Update: Baker College President Rick Amidon resigns
Rick E. Amidon, president of Muskegon’s Baker College resigned Saturday — just days after he was arrested in Oceana County where he is accused of driving under the influence of a combination of alcohol and a controlled substance.
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AP: Plagiarism alleged by Texas university president
McALLEN, Texas (AP) — The University of Texas System is investigating anonymous claims that the president of a south Texas university plagiarized portions of her dissertation.
A packet sent to the university system and several media outlets identifies the passages being questioned, but the packet’s authors are identified only as faculty members at the University of Texas-Pan American.
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Des Moines Register: University presidents’ bonuses now linked to goals
Iowa City, Ia. – University of Iowa President Sally Mason must lead the school in creating a new process to investigate sexual assaults on campus, complete a search for at least three new top administrators and make headway at restoring flood-damaged buildings to receive a $80,000 bonus in the coming year.
This will be the first time that Mason and the presidents of Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa have had annual bonuses tied to their job performance, according to Iowa Board of Regents Executive Director Robert Donley.
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Courier-Journal: Felner case may bring U of L new scrutiny on grants
School officials don’t anticipate problems
A day after its former education dean was indicted on charges of diverting federal research funds, the University of Louisville announced last week it was getting an $11.6 million health grant.
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To U of L officials, it was a clear indication that one bad experience won’t destroy their ambition of making the university, which has seen its grants nearly double in the past five years, into a major research institution.
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Posted in Administration, Corruption, Legal issues
Inside Higher Ed: Dean Whose Silence Couldn’t Be Bought
When he felt a student had been done an injustice, David Potter came to her defense. For him, it was a matter of principle. Now, the former associate dean of Syracuse University’s College of Arts and Science says he is out of a job because of it.
Last academic year, when he was the associate dean of student services, Potter helped reopen a sexual assault case brought against three varsity basketball players by a female student. The case, Potter said, was not handled by the university’s Judicial Affairs panel — as is standard practice. Instead, the case was informally resolved among the university and the lawyers of then-freshman basketball players Jonny Flynn, Antonio (Scoop) Jardine and Rick Jackson. The informal procedure was later closed after the female student withdrew from the university. Still, Potter said the student had not agreed to dropping the case with her leaving. Details of this initial resolution are unclear, but Potter said the female student was unhappy with the move. (A grand jury also declined to bring charges against the players, although the woman who filed the complaint stood behind her account of what took place.)
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Grand Rapids Press: Davenport University leader Randolph Flechsig to resign in 30 days
GRAND RAPIDS — Davenport University President Randolph Flechsig, who was sentenced this morning in a drunken driving case, has agreed to resign in 30 days.
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Seattle Times: WSU did not verify provost’s references
Washington State University President Elson Floyd said the university made a major mistake in not independently checking the references of former Provost Steven Hoch before hiring him. Hoch, meanwhile, says he was the victim of an employment bait-and-switch.
Washington State University President Elson Floyd said Friday that the university made a major mistake by not independently checking Steven Hoch’s references when hiring him for the $300,000-a-year provost’s job.
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Inside Higher Ed: McGill chancellor called racist
* McGill University’s chancellor, Richard W. Pound, is facing widespread criticism and calls for his resignation after he was quoted as saying that Canada was a nation of “savages” 400 years ago, before European settlement. The comments came in an interview in which Pound, a longtime official in the international Olympic movement, was offering praise for Chinese civilization — in contrast with Canada’s history prior to the arrival of Europeans — in the context of discussing this year’s Olympic games. Numerous McGill figures as well as leaders of Indian groups in Canada have condemned the comment. At McGill as at other Canadian universities, the role of chancellor is not like that of an American president or chancellor, but more like that of an influential board member, with additional ceremonial duties. Still, the position is closely associated with the university. McGill issued a statement over the weekend stating that Pound’s comments “are his own and are not made on behalf of McGill,” The Montreal Gazette reported.
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The Gazette: McGill distances itself from ‘savages’ comment
McGill University’s board of governors has dissociated itself from a comment by its chancellor, Richard Pound, in which he referred to native people here as savages. It issued a statement yesterday saying the university does not agree with the comments Pound made to a La Presse reporter in August in Beijing.
At the time, he was contrasting 5,000 years of Chinese civilization with that which existed here 400 years ago, when Canada was populated by about 10,000 people from Europe and the native population. The country at the time was “un pays des sauvages,” Pound was quoted as having said. In a recent interview, Pound said he had made a clumsy comment that was taken out of context.
Pound’s comments “are his own and are not made on behalf of McGill,” the university said.
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