Index

"Where All of 'the Magic' Happens": An Investigative Report on Martha's $300,000+ Boudoir Makeover" According to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), the 2007 median value of new homes in Mississippi stood at $135,000. Unfortunately for Mississippi's taxpayers, this figure is less than 45 percent of the amount of money that USM President, Martha Saunders, requested to renovate her boudoir in the President's mansion in Hattiesburg...". See also, Saunders’ “Boudoir Makeover” Expenses Continue to Mount

(June 8, 2009) The Mermaid President "USM president Martha Saunders had some bad news to deliver USM faculty at the 5-June-09 Faculty Senate meeting. There she told those gathered that USM has many "underwater endowments" that will remain a problematic issue into the near future. Of 739 scholarship endowments at USM, Saunders told the Faculty Senate that 435 (or 58.9%) are underwater endowments at the current time. ...".

Many years ago, a colleague who was a close friend of a prior provost at USM told me that the provost said that he preferred to use donated money from the USM Foundation because he didn't have to account for it. Because the colleague was unable to provide any direct evidence for his statements, I was unwilling to report it. However, when Dean Doty was interviewing for another Dean's position he proudly informed the audience that:

"The fun money is private money. At Southern Miss, I've got state dollars and I've got Foundation dollars. It's real easy to tell them apart. I tell people I've got two checkbooks. I've got my booze account and my non-booze account. Out of the state money I'm pretty constrained what in I can do. ... Foundation dollars, that's when I take my money out of my booze account, I can pretty much do anything I want with it." (For an introduction to USM Foundation issues, see DePree's guest editorial in the Meridian Star.)

Over the past several years, usmnews.net has published literally thousands of reports from current and former faculty who shared 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.

(Updated August 12, 2010) The CoB's Brain Drain, 2003-Present -- Part 3 An Illustrated History "There is little argument with the notion that the College of Business at USM has been severely diminished by the faculty flight that has occurred since former CoB dean, Harold Doty, assumed the reins of management. ...".

We continue with Rod Posey. "... Is using false information and ad hoc standards to punish those whom he doesn’t like what he teaches in the church where he serves a minister? One can only hope not. It certainly doesn’t sound very Christian...".

(Final update, August 13, 2008) The CoB's Brain Drain, 2003-Present -- Part 1 An Illustrated History "There is little argument with the notion that the College of Business at USM has been severely diminished by the faculty flight that has occurred since former CoB dean, Harold Doty, assumed the reins of management. ...".

The following information has been obtained through sworn testimony. Here is an opportunity for you to see what is often hidden. It is rare that we get a chance to question University of Southern Mississippi's Ombudsmen under oath (or any ombudsman for that matter) about how they perform their duties. This series of reports chronicles the inside story. For more reports, please click here.

(July 1, 2010) Part 15 "...What should trouble all of us is that any faculty member may have the misfortune to be the subject of an ombudsman's investigation. Any of us may be subject to termination proceedings based on his findings - all without a shred of evidence. And don't think it can't happen to you...".

Three years have passed since Martha Saunders, President of the University of Southern Mississippi banned Professor DePree from teaching, service, faculty governance rights, and the College of Business building, but not other parts of the campus. Martha Saunders, having been duly sworn to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, was questioned recently in a deposition re litigation styled DePree v. Saunders, et al. Keep in mind by conservative estimate the cost President Saunders incurred to investigate Dr. DePree and conduct this campaign against his speech was between $2 million and $2.5 million.

Part 39 "... More than the truth, more than the spirit of inquiry and scholarly integrity, Saunders honors the principle of “I don’t know.” Again and again throughout her deposition she repeats, “I don’t know.” Even worse, she blithely admits that she does not know when she will know. The extent to which she repeats “I don’t know” when it is her duty to know brings disrepute upon the office of President of the University of Southern Mississippi and corrupts the standards to which every faculty is entitled...". For more in the series, please click here.

(August 20, 2010) Say Anything "The message from the Lance Nail administration about the new “national ranking” for the CoB shows the lengths that 21st Century university administrators will go to convince the public that something positive is being done with their tax dollars. The idea that U.S. News & World Report has the CoB ranked at 215th among 368 U.S. b-schools is more humorous than noteworthy. The reality is - and one had to read the marginal comments provided by THA’s Ed Kemp to catch this - that USN&WR has the CoB in a 45-way tie for 215th (out of only 368 b-schools surveyed)...".

(August 23, 2010) Saunders Like Thames, Doty by Duane Cobb "After watching all of the new Student Powered Videos at usm.edu, it was interesting to see that USM chose to air (on local television) one featuring new President Martha Saunders playing piano and continuing to wear out the borrowed "ride all the rides" phrase. The "USM family" got a steady dose of such self-promotion from former President Shelby Thames, so it seems now as though nothing much has changed...".

(September 1, 2010) "Though the list of suspected terminations is growing as reports come in, accounting for the CoB’s three terminations has been difficult. So far only MIS’ Kuo Lane Chen, a tenured associate professor, is on the list. Chatter has it that either Erin Drake-Bridges or Gallayanee Yaoyuneyong or both join Chen. Given that these two are untenured assistant professors in fashion merchandising, it’s difficult to imagine one was cut without the other. Thus, it is quite plausible that Chen, Drake-Bridges, and Yaoyuneyong comprise the CoB’s trio...".

More than two years have passed since citizens were denied the opportunity to determine whether Dr. Saunders' plane is cost effective; USM Moves to Block Info on the USM Plane’s Movements. In 2009, usmnews.net discovered that Dr. Saunders took the necessary steps to prevent the general public from finding out about the movements (whereabouts) of the USM airplane -- so much for Saunders' promise of 'building trust' and 'transparen[cy]'. Yesterday upon receipt of documents obtained through a Mississippi Open Records request, we discovered that Dr. Saunders wanted to keep this information out of our hands so badly that she was willing to pay $250 in taxpayers' dollars for a web block. While the amount may be trivial, the behavior is foolish and underscores her willingness to conceal the use of significant taxpayer dollars related to her airplane. usmnews.net will report what USM's records show. For background information, check out usmnews.net's archived reports about Saunders' Plane. Click here for more in the President Saunders' Extravagance series.

Part 4 - “And I said to myself, this is the business we’ve chosen.” "Via a Mississippi Open Records Act request, USMNEWS.net recently obtained a large batch of documents from USM relating to USM president Martha Saunders’ university aircraft. This series, Aunt Martha’s Extravagance, provides analysis of these documents. This installment highlights an early March-09 trip, using the USM plane, to Washington, D.C., made by Saunders, Chad Driskell (Saunders’ executive assistant for external affairs), Cecil Burge (USM vice president for research), Julian Allen (USM associate vice president for research), Richard Hadden (USM director of strategic venture development), and David Davies (honors college dean). As the insert below shows, USM charged itself $4,680 for this jaunt to D.C...".

(August 30, 2010) How Much Does President Saunders’ Plane Really Cost? "At the Faculty Senate Meeting of December 5, 2008, Provost Lyman told the Senators: ”total cost is approximately $200,000 per year.” Let’s take a look at what the plane really costs based on documents provided by the University in response to an Open Records Act request. During the first seventeen (17) months the total costs of Dr. Saunders’ airplane was a cash outflow of $591,231.71. That averages $34,778.34 per month. $34,778.34 x 12 = $417,340.08

(August 30, 2010) What Does a One Day a Month Furlough Mean? As part of its effort to cut $15 million from the USM budget, the Martha Saunders administration intends to save $3.25 million from a one day per month furlough of USM faculty and staff. Below is a sample of CoB faculty, and how each will be affected by this policy. To the right of each is the amount this will cost him/her during 2011-12 (in salary alone):...".

The following information was obtained from the University of Southern Mississippi by way of a Mississippi Open Records request. The University provided data about flights (dates, destinations and passengers) and actual cash outflows related to an airplane (N777AQ) leased by President Saunders with taxpayer and student dollars.

Part 5: QUESTION: WHAT DOES A TRIP FROM HATTIESBURG, MS TO MADISON, MS COST? "... On April 16, 2010, Mystery Passenger(s) flew round trip from Hattiesburg, MS, to Madison, MS on airplane N777AQ. The Interdepartmental Invoice shows the flight charged to the “President’s Office.” The flight time was .9 hours. No stated purpose was provided on the Interdepartmental Invoice...". For more in the series, click here.

Part 5 -- 'Debunking the Deplaning' "... This installment departs from the prior four by examining a heretofore overlooked issue regarding Saunders’ $2 million airplane. How, when Saunders flies to Jackson, Gulfport, Mobile, New Orleans, and other locales that are easily within driving distance of Hattiesburg, does she get from the airport (her ultimate destination) to her ultimate destination (the airport)?...".

(September 1, 2010) Grin and Bear Her: Saunders Already Bored with $15 Million Budget Cut Issues "It has been mere hours since the Martha Saunders administration of USM announced that at least 29 faculty would be losing their jobs thanks to a $15 million budget cut, and already Saunders’ mind is back on USM’s centennial celebration...".

(September 2, 2010) Just Plane Ridiculous by Duane Cobb "Many of the followers of the trials surrounding the recent round of budget cuts at USM are as sharp as tacks. The online readers of The Hattiesburg American are noticing that USM seems to be alone, at least among Mississippi’s eight public universities, in terminating tenured and tenure-track faculty...".

(September 2, 2010) Floating Scenarios "A number of CoB faculty termination scenarios are being brought to USMNEWS.net's attention. From the USM administration and media reports, we know that three CoB faculty have been terminated as a result of the FY2011 budget cut of $15 million. Each scenario discussed below includes...".

(September 3, 2010) Is Information about the USM Plane Being Covered Up? "This week at USM couldn’t have gone any worse had USM president Martha Saunders prepared the Golden Eagles football team for its game against South Carolina and USM head football coach Larry Fedora dealt with the $15 million FY2012 budget cut. Regular followers of USMNEWS.net are aware that much of bad press surrounding the Hattiesburg-based campus these days involves reaction to Saunders’ decision to terminate 29 tenured and tenure-track faculty, a figure that raised the number of terminal contracts that Saunders has issued to similarly situated faculty to more than 40 since 2009...".

(September 3, 2010) USM Students Arrange Town Hall Meeting on Budget Cuts: President Saunders to be on Hand to Answer Questions "The USM Student Government Association has arranged an evening “Student Town Hall Meeting” regarding the FY2012 budget cuts for 14-September-2010 in the Thad Cochran Center...".

(September 3, 2010) New Interim CFO to Lead Q&A on Budget Crisis "Recently appointed to USM’s chief financial post (on an interim basis), Russ Willis begins his duties by moderating a Q&A session on the USM budget crisis....Sources note that it is interesting that Willis will lead this Q&A, especially given that he recently received a 28.4% raise when he was promoted from human resources director to interim CFO. This came at the same time that outgoing CFO, Joe Morgan, was demoted to director of internal operations in the alumni affairs office. Yet, Morgan was allowed to retain his CFO salary despite the demotion...".

Special Report (September 3, 2010) Do You Think President Saunders is Overly Concerned with the 29 Terminated Faculty "Many members of the USM faculty and wider community are doubtful that USM president Martha Saunders’ show of concern for the plight of the 29 tenured and tenure-track faculty that she terminated on 26-Aug-2010 is genuine. The news that she hurried out of the state - to the USM vs. South Carolina football game on 2-Sept-2010 - after announcing the cuts to the general public on 30-Aug-2010, and dealing with them a bit more on 31-Aug-2010, has bothered many over the past day or so. The USM family’s feelings, at least with regard to Saunders’ escape to South Carolina, may be injured even more by this report, which is a one photo illustrated history of Saunders’ last 24 hours. That single photo is inserted below:...".

(September 7, 2010) "Welcome Aboard IHL Air" Which IHL Board Members are Using the USM Plane "This Special Report examines use of the USM plane by various IHL board members, including the IHL commissioner, Hank Bounds. To begin, Table 1 below lists the IHL board members, including Bounds, along with information both on the number of trips taken on the plane and a brief description of each trip taken...".

(September 7, 2010) ‘Hughes-Dugan Bromance’ Still White Hot The professional “bromance” that has been going on between the CoB’s director of accounting, Kirby “Skip” Hughes, and the new Horne Professor of Accounting, Michael Dugan, is as hot as ever. What began with Hughes’ praise of Dugan as one of the most caring professors in higher education, and then continued with more “Hughes love” over Dugan being rated as one of the top 500 academic accountants in the nation, has now boiled over into praise of Dugan from Hughes about Dugan’s extraordinary ability to place USM accounting graduates into prestigious accounting positions nationwide.

(September 7, 2010) Pride and Priorities "Many in the USM family are now angered by the Martha Saunders administration’s plan to adjust to the recent E&G (state funding) cut of $15 million (for FY 2012). That plan - (1) to eliminate 29 tenured and tenure track faculty, (2) institute a one day per month employee furlough, and (3) establish a massive retirement incentive program - runs contrary to those of the state’s seven other public institutions, none of which reportedly will be terminating faculty. At the same time USM’s FY 2011 and FY 2012 E&G packages have taken, or soon will have taken, massive hits, reports are that Richard Giannini’s athletics department has seen its budget increase, even if only modestly...".