Category Archives: Administration

The New York Times: List of Finalists Submitted for New SUNY Chancellor

After more than a yearlong search for a new chancellor to lead the State University of New York, a panel has submitted a list of finalists to Gov. David A. Paterson, who is expected to meet with the candidates during the next two weeks before selecting one, according to education and state officials.

The search for a chancellor comes as SUNY, the nation’s largest public university system, is facing the biggest budget cuts in its history and trying to address the “grave concerns” expressed by a high-level state commission this summer about the quality of many of its schools.

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Inside Higher Ed: Turning a Blind Eye

Amid a wave of complaints about Robert Felner, a former University of Louisville dean who is now under federal investigation, administrators supported the embattled dean and even bankrolled a lawyer to defend him from faculty critics. While the university’s president and provost have recently apologized for backing Felner for so long, details emerging from the controversy show a broken grievance process at Louisville that many say favors administrators and leaves professors unprotected from retaliation.

Felner left Louisville in June to become chancellor at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, only to back out of that position when news of the federal investigation into allegations of misappropriated grant money became public. Asked about Felner’s departure, Louisville’s provost let linger the possibility that he was ultimately pressured to leave, even though Felner retained public support from the president throughout the saga.

“Things that are personnel-related we don’t talk about, and anything we might have done [can’t be discussed],” says Shirley Willihnganz, the provost. “Dean Felner did leave, taking a job at a much smaller place with a $50,000 less salary.”

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The Virginian-Pilot: ODU suspends presidential search after finalist withdraws

The Old Dominion University Board of Visitors has temporarily suspended its search for a new president, ODU Rector Marc Jacobson said in an e-mail Friday.

The board didn’t specify how long the search process will be on hold.

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Courier-Journal: The real surprise

August 29, 2008

As it turns out, the most surprising aspect of the Felner Affair at the University of Louisville is not the possibility that taxpayers’ money was squandered or pocketed. Waste and corruption are all too common.

What’s shocking is the failure of top university administrators to look seriously enough, and early enough, at evidence that Education Dean Robert Felner was leaving academic wreckage behind, as he stomped toward his goal of giving the college a bigger and better national profile.

It’s not as if feedback from the College of Education and Human Development was cheerful, as Mr. Felner was installed as a change agent. Indeed, informal complaints and formal grievances piled up.

Looking back, 21 former faculty who just sent a blistering letter to the U of L board about their experiences with Felner are hurt and outraged by the slow and insubstantial response. And they should be.

President James Ramsey and Provost Shirley Willihnganz should have admitted much, much sooner that Felner’s tenure was collapsing into an organizational and managerial debacle. And they should have reacted accordingly.

Instead, even in the backwash of a federal investigation into the way Mr. Felner handled a $694,000 federal grant, Dr. Ramsey was still dismissing some faculty complaints and grievances as “anonymous crap.” And, just this week, board chairman J. Chester Porter pronounced himself “satisfied” with the way the administration handled faculty criticism and charges. He did this without serious investigation of the letter’s specifics and before a proposed Faculty Senate review produced any findings. All of which calls into question the university’s good faith in dealing with allegations that people and careers were being abused.

This is no way to recruit the best and brightest professors and researchers, or to become a top 20 metropolitan research campus.

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The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette: Hardin resigns as president of UCA

CONWAY — Lu Hardin is resigning as president of the University of Central Arkansas effective Sept. 16 after an executive session with the Board of Trustees Thursday.

Tom Courtway, the university’s general counsel and director of governmental relations, will serve as interim president.

Hardin will be given a paid sabbatical until the end of the university’s fiscal year June 30 for health reasons and receive his public and private salary. On July 1, 2009 he will be paid his public salary either per month according to the terms of his contract or be given a lump-sum payment for the next three fiscal years totaling $670,162.35.

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