A Real"Whodoneit?" (December 8, 2006)
CoB News, May 2007 (May 25, 2007)
Money, Money, Money, Money: Consulting and Paid Service in USM’s College of Business (May 24, 2007)
Saunders Speak out Against Administration Abuse of Faculty (May 22, 2007)
CoB Civility 101 by Duane Cobb (May 21, 2007)
GoogleTM Management Faculty (May 20, 2007)
MgtMkt News, May 2007 (May 14, 2007)
What we would like to hear from the new Dean (May 14, 2007)
Who is Running the CoB? (May 11, 2007)
Den of Robbers (May 8, 2007)
Are CoB Students Getting Their Money's Worth? by Duane Cobb (May 2, 2007)
Move over Boys (April 30, 2007)
(Mock) CoB Job Openings in The Chronicle (April 29, 2007)
Who Reads usmpride.com? (May 19, 2007 update)
Money, Money, Money, Money: Consulting and Paid Service in USM’s College of Business (May 24, 2007)
Saunders Speak out Against Administration Abuse of Faculty (May 22, 2007)
CoB Civility 101 by Duane Cobb (May 21, 2007)
GoogleTM Management Faculty (May 20, 2007)
MgtMkt News, May 2007 (May 14, 2007)
What we would like to hear from the new Dean (May 14, 2007)
Who is Running the CoB? (May 11, 2007)
Den of Robbers (May 8, 2007)
Are CoB Students Getting Their Money's Worth? by Duane Cobb (May 2, 2007)
Move over Boys (April 30, 2007)
(Mock) CoB Job Openings in The Chronicle (April 29, 2007)
Who Reads usmpride.com? (May 19, 2007 update)
Is Something Rotten in Denmark? (December 20, 2006)
Ethics Update (December 18, 2006)(Updated December 19, 2006)
CoB 90210 (December 17, 2006)
A Jury of Your Peers? An Investigative Series on the CoB Advisory Committee’s Role in the Grievance Process, part 5 (December 16, 2006)
A Look at picaprof Grades in MIS (by Course) (December 12, 2006)
The Trellis Green Lawsuit: A Decade Later, part 11 (December 9, 2006)
GH Chatter is a series at USMNEWS that provides a glimpse at what CoB faculty and students, are discussing throughout the corridors of Joseph Greene Hall.
(October 4, 2007) "According to CoB students, there is apparently a rigor differential between FIN 300 courses taught by Matthew Hood and Farooq Malik, with Hood being the most challenging of the two. Expect class enrollment trends to follow from that, with Malik's future sections bursting at the seams...".
(October 8, 2007) "The Jim Henderson chatter from our last installment gets even more interesting. Some faculty are saying that Henderson boasted, at the 4-May-07 CoB faculty meeting, about having "bombed" more undergraduate students than any other faculty present in the meeting room (JGH 303). What is it with some accounting faculty wanting to see students do bad?...".
(October 16, 2007) "From all of the chatter surrounding the 2007-08 P&T season, the proceedings in the CAC are going to be exciting. One or more CAC members in each department have withheld voting at the departmental level in order to join the fray at the College (CAC) level...".
(November 2, 2007) "...Are CoB students asking you if you will still be teaching here next fall ('08)? If not yet, don't be surprised to get that question. More and more have been getting it of late."
(November 13, 2007) "Have you noticed a "spring" in Harold Doty's "step" lately? Some faculty are saying that he has one because he is out on the job market now and appears to have some leads. We'll have to wait and see if anything pans out...".
(November 26, 2007) "Haven't seen assistant professor of international business, John Lambert, lately? If you haven't, that's because he's reportedly been away in Europe putting together the CoB's new graduate program in international business...".
(December 5, 2007) "This is the time of the semester when students often request recommendation letters from CoB faculty. It seems that some faculty in management and marketing are directing that students write the letters themselves, and, when finished, present them to the respective faculty for signatures...".
(January 15, 2008) GH Chatter "Word around Greene Hall is that SAIS Director, Steven Jackson, has devised a new set of research requirements for the corps of instruction in accounting...".
(January 30, 2008) "Akbar Marvasti’s first foray into the EFIB hiring machine is drawing a lot of attention. As the leader of this year’s EFIB search team, Marvasti’s selection of finalists is “turning heads” in and outside of Joseph Greene Hall. It looks like making the CoB “a fun place to work” might be high on the agenda again...".
(February 11, 2008) "Brace yourselves! The story that the CoB's 2007-08 search for a new Dean has been a complete bust is now circulating. That likely means another year, another Interim. With current Interim Dean Alvin Williams jaunting off to join the faculty at the University of South Alabama for 2008-09, it won't be him....".
(February 18, 2008) "Talk is going on about the promotion class of 2007-08. Though there is no official confirmation, some are saying that Gwen Pate, associate professor of accounting and Director of Undergraduate Services in the CoB, is being promoted to professor without having to go through the usual channels for doing so...".
(March 11, 2008) "Some CoB faculty are talking these days about the story that former CoB Associate Dean, Farhang Niroomand, is a finalist for business school Dean at another university...".
(March 20, 2008) "According to stories circulating, CEE Director, Susan Doty, has been embarrassing herself (not a concern) and the CoB (a concern) in recent weeks. On one occasion, at a conference session on AACSB accreditation issues, ...".
(March 27, 2008) "A number of future AACSB accreditation scenarios are circulating lately. Two are old news...".
(April 4, 2007) "Discussions about the Harold Doty’s 'Conversations with Susan' story is making the rounds.
(April 10, 2008) "Contrary to sourced speculation in the recent news story entitled Retread Redux, talk around the CoB is that Chang Tseh-Hsieh will not be extending his “helping hand” to assist newly hired CoB-GC MIS faculty, Dale Lunsford. ...".
(April 21, 2008) "The run-off candidates for a CoB Faculty Senate seat are being discussed. They are Catherine Price (TM), Brigitte Burgess (FM), and Gwen Pate (ACC)...".
(April 25, 2008) "Predictions are circulating around Greene Hall that Lance Nail and Glenn Pittman are frontrunners for the CoB Dean’s job. However, talk in the hallis that President Saunders will go with the younger Nail."
(April 29, 2008) "Current CoB Dean finalist Danny Arnold and the CoB's own Farhang Niroomand have apparently lost out on the Dean's job at the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith...".
(May 1, 2008) Stories are circulating about 2 or 3 additional retirements following the end of the 2007-08 year later this month. If even one of these comes to fruition, the CoB’s human resources situation will go from desperate to something worse.
(May 12, 2008) "CoB faculty are still waiting on Lance Nail's decision regarding USM President Martha Saunders' offer for Nail to become the fifth business school dean in USM history...".
(June 23, 2008) "CoB faculty have been talking about the so-called "resignations" of former CoB Dean Harold Doty, and Doty's Associate Dean Farhang Niroomand, since the day they occurred (9-April-07). The subject came up again recently, when accounting instructor Patty Munn was asked about it by legal counsel during a deposition in a United States District Court case...".
(September 8, 2008) Stories are circulating around Greene Hall about CoB faculty receiving "secret raises" at the end of the 2007-08 academic year. If it is true that former interim CoB dean,
(October 3, 2008) "News that the CoB-GC group is becoming more dysfunctional over time is spreading around Greene Hall (and beyond) a bit. Word is that the “one CoB” theme of the past is further from true now than it ever has been...".
(October 6, 2008) "... Is former CoB dean Harold Doty on the prowl for a new job in Tennessee? If chatter around the CoB is any indication, it appears so...".
(October 10, 2008) "The situation involving Jim Henderson's use of the SAIS' administrative assistant to proctor his exam in his absence gets more interesting by the day. Now, ...".
(October 24, 2008) It's not surprising that the "disarray" of Mississippi's higher education system is a popular topic of conversations among CoBers. For readers outside of Mississippi, it was recently discovered that the former interim president of Mississippi State University in Starkville authorized MSU workers and equipment to be used to provide landscape services at the Jackson residence of Thomas Meredith, the head of Mississippi's central higher education board (the IHL).
(October 27, 2008) "Stories are spreading that former CoB dean and current management professor Harold Doty is seeking a position at the University of North Texas. Texas is Doty's home, so a UNT opening would likely be of interest to him. Speaking of UNT openings,...".
(November 24, 2008) "The recent USMNEWS.net story about EFIB chairman George Carter's "EFIB Fridays" paper presentation is providing water cooler fodder around the greater CoB. Word is that former TM chair Cheri Becker has a good story about Carter's so-called knowledge...".
(November 26, 2008) Some CoBers are reporting that former CoB associate dean Farhang Niroomand recently lost out on a nice, new job opportunity, and he did so to a former CoBer. Hopefully more details will come out soon. This promises to be an entertaining news item.
(December 9, 2008) "Jon Carr's final days in the CoB are nearing. Carr, who recently had a publication in the Academy of Management Journal, had a number of other "revise and resubmit" situations with various premier journals in business (management, IB) during his CoB tenure, however these failed to further materialize...".
(December 10, 2008) "The “planegate” saga at USM is often a topic of conversation among CoBers and USMers alike. According to the chatter, those who missed the Dec-08 USM faculty senate meeting should take a listen to the podcast. Doing so promises to provide a clearer picture of just who new provost Robert Lyman is, and just how gullible some of USM’s faculty appear to be...".
(December 15, 2008) "New CoB dean Lance Nail's habitual absence from Greene Hall has some CoB faculty worried about the organization's chances for a turnaround. There is certainly cause for concern in this regard. There are also other signs that are ominous,...".
(January 8, 2009) "People are beginning to wonder aloud how CoB dean Lance Nail's plan to hire six new department chairs (as part of the CoB reorganization) is going to work out. The state's (and nation's) dire economic predicament was the most common suspect in late fall 2008 conversations when it comes to stumbling blocks facing the six hiring processes...".
(January 13, 2009) "Discussions continue about Dean Lance Nail’s plan to standards for differential teaching loads. Just hearing that such a plan is in the works is enough to scare some of the CoB’s old-timers, who feel entitled to their cushy teaching loads despite having written off research....".
(January 19, 2009) "The news that Farhang Niroomand has become the new business school dean at the University of Houston -- Victoria has CoB faculty all jacked up in excitement and anticipation. Some have discussed whether or not Niroomand will want, or try, to take any of the CoB's current faculty with him when he leaves for UH-V this June..".
(January 27, 2009) "From the sound of conversations, it’s looking more and more like USM will soon be inviting the IHL to eliminate the CoB’s economics degree programs. Cutting low volume academic programs is one way the state’s eight public institutions are being asked to address the state’s dire budget situation...".
(February 6, 2009) "The recent story about former CoB dean Harold Doty’s mysterious years at the University of Arkansas (1990-95) is a hot conversation topic. Some are saying that former CoB economist Charles Sawyer was relaying to CoBers even before Sawyer’s summer ‘06 teaching gig at UA that Doty was persona non grata at the University of Arkansas...".
(March 11, 2009) "Apparently there is renewed interest in Harold Doty's prospects as dean. Chatter has it that Doty is in the running for the dean's opening at the University of Texas at Tyler.
(April 1, 2009) "Word around Greene Hall these days is that economics instructor Susan Doty (“Ms. Doty”) may not have been “let go” after all, as reported previously. .
(May 19, 2009) Today's Chatter "The 2008-09 tenure class was certainly a motley bunch. About the only one not surrounded by controversy is Fujun Lai of decision sciences. Chatter has it that John Clark's (FIN) tenure faced some behind-the-scenes opposition from the first floor (of JAG) of all places...".
(May 21, 2009) Just as one CoBer asked what conventional wisdom was with respect to CoB dean Lance Nail searching next year (2009-10) for permanent replacements for his new interim department chairs, another chimed in and said that Nail would do whatever it takes to allow him (Nail) to travel even more next year than he did this year.
(June 30, 2009) "CoB faculty and staff can't help but chat these days about all the changes happening in and around Joseph Greene Hall. Vending machines and an eating area are going in just outside of the School of Accounting office, while new accounting director Skip Hughes is now moving in. The CFS' stock ticker is reportedly history, as many predicted here months ago...".
(August 6, 2009) " Speculation that the CoB's economics program is going to cut is still just that - speculation - yet stories are circulating around JAG that one of ECO's faculty already has alternative employment secured for the 2010-11 academic year...".
(August 19, 2009) "Following the recent story in Inside Higher Ed, many CoBers are expecting that the ECO faculty's rage over the decision to eliminate ECO will soon result in articles appearing in The Chronicle of Higher Education, The Hattiesburg American and The Student Printz...".
(September 8, 2009) "Although various CoB faculty can state that they know bits and pieces of what’s going on with regard to USM’s $8.5 million budget cut, or with regard to the termination of the ECO majors for that matter, it’s amazing how little is known about these issues by the typical CoBer...".
 |
 |
 |
USMNEWS.NET
GH Chatter
(September 9, 2009) "The move of the CoB's economists to the CoAL (for 2010-11) continues to be a hot topic in the JAG. Most believe that among the so-called "retirees" that Edward Nissan will retire ("traditionally") to England, Trellis Green will get either "traditional" retirement or a "traditional" form of "phased retirement," and that George Carter and Mark Klinedinst will get...".
(September 10, 2009) "According to chatter, many believe that the reason behind there being no official announcement about the 'ECO plan' is that USM president Martha Saunders wants...".
(September 14, 2009) "Chatter surrounding USM associate provost Bill Powell hosting the AAUP-USM new year kickoff party is quite lively. Some are saying Powell, as an agent for the Saunders administration, shouldn't be trusted by AAUPers and other USM faculty. Others are saying that Saunders should no longer trust her agent...".
(September 16, 2009) GH Chatter "Will ECO faculty attend CoB dean Lance Nail's 'State of the CoB' presentation on Friday, 18-Sept-09? Some say 'yes,' others say 'no.'...". (For more GH Chatter, click here.)
(October 14, 2009) GH Chatter, October 14, 2009 "The chatter in the hallways at JGH has it that last Wednesday the CoB staff was told that the budget situation was dire and getting worse...".
(October 21, 2009) GH Chatter, October 21, 2009 "Chatter about the five mostly senior economists who are retiring so that the four so-called junior economists can continue their USM careers over in the CoAL has turned humorous...".
(October 29, 2009) GH Chatter, October 29, 2009 "Recent reports say that former CoB marketing professor/TM professor Tony Henthorne, now with UNLV, has wed former CoB student Katie Pounders. Pounders is now in the PhD program (MKT) at LSU...".
(November 2, 2009) GH Chatter, November 2, 2009 "... USM’s big national tv loss to Houston on Saturday dropped the Golden Eagles to 5-4 on the year. Now even getting to a bowl is at issue. Should the Eagles fail to get to New Orleans or somewhere comparable, chatter has it that the Academic Planning Group may have to absorb an additional $100,000 or so in budget cuts to the institution in order to assist Richard Giannini's 'situation.'...".
(November 9, 2009) GH Chatter, November 9, 2009 "... There has been some recent buzz about faculty turnover in the CoB. Of course, the old EFIB (and the CoB) will be losing five economists to retirement and four others to the CoAL. Word is that a non-ECO EFIBer may be leaving after 2009-10 as well...".
(November 20, 2009) GH Chatter, November 20, 2009 "There has been some chatter about the USMNEWS.net editor’s recent federal appeals court win (reversal and remand) in a case involving USM. It has been stated that more legal jeopardy is not what USM Martha Saunders needs now, especially facing the racial discrimination mess that is brewing up at the University of Wisconsin - Whitewater from her previous presidency...".
(December 8, 2009) GH Chatter, December 8, 2009 "There has been chatter about George Carter, Mark Klinedinst, et al seeking emeritus status and hoping to retain office spaces inside JGH. That sounds like a disaster for CoB dean Lance Nail, assuming it comes about. Most other speculation has William Gunther heading back to Josephine, AL, and Edward Nissan travelling the globe (on his own dime now). There has been some chatter about Carter hooking up with William Carey University...".
(December 14, 2009) GH Chatter, December 14, 2009 "There has been some recent chatter about the departure of Melissa McIntyre leaving the accounting department. Word is that new ACC head Skip Hughes did not like McIntyre's choice of hairstyle. As one might expect, this type of buzz has prompted some CoBers to look into what LSUers might have to say about their old colleague Hughes...".
(December 17, 2009) GH Chatter, December 17, 2009 "Not surprisingly, the new USMNEWS.net series on accounting chair Kirby "Skip" Hughes is generating lots of chatter. After what we've read so far, how could it not? It's difficult to imagine that his chairmanship will carry on for any real length of time, or that it won't end badly.
(January 13, 2010) (GH Chatter, 13 January, 2010) "There are strong indications, according to chatter, that former CoB management professor Stephen Bushardt, now with Spring Hill College in Mobile, is gearing up to conclude his SHC duties after 2009-10 so that he can join former CoB dean Harold Doty at the University of Texas at Tyler, where Doty now serves as b-school dean. This move, should it materialize, would not likely surprise many CoBers who knew both of these former central CoB figures...".
(GH Chatter, 13 January, 2010) "The news of former CoBer Stephen Bushardt's upcoming move to the University of Texas at Tyler, where he will serve dean Harold Doty as management chair, continues to cause a stir. That Bushardt's wife recently filed a restraining order against him is also generating a lot of chatter. When these two former USM b-schoolers get together an exciting new chapter in CoB history promises to begin...".
(GH Chatter, 8 February, 2010) "Reports coming into usmnews.net suggest that an effort is underway to build a case against Sonia Gaines-Littles, the CoB second-in-command, and this effort has its origins across campus. No one would be surprised if such an effort came from within the CoB since Sonia has ruffled many feathers and continues to do so. Talk in the halls is, she spewed her venom across campus on or near someone who does not have to take it and does not report to Dean Lance Nail...".
(GH Chatter, 10 February, 2010) "Word from the Department of Accounting at the McCoy College of Business Administration, Texas State University-San Marcos, is that one of the accounting faculty at USM’s CoB has tossed a hat in the ring to become their new Chair of the Department of Accounting...".
(GH Chatter, 2 March, 2010) "Some real interesting chatter of late - some are saying that Mississippi IHL Commissioner Hank Bounds will be the next president of USM. And, the story has Bounds forcing current USM president Martha Saunders out sooner rather than later, and assuming the position at that point...".
(GH Chatter, 25 March, 2010) "Word around JAG has it that David Duhon may have to relinquish his chairmanship of management and international business in the coming months. This is a title that Duhon has held (at least on an interim basis) for some time now. Another shake-up in the CoB will likely surprise few, if any, of its faculty/staff...".
(GH Chatter, 6 April, 2010) Word around JAG is that Michael Dugan may not be the only new ACC hire for 2009-10. Chatter has it that CoB dean Lance Nail and SoA director Skip Hughes are planning to hire a new MPA director...".
(GH Chatter, 7 April, 2010) "There is some mixed chatter popping up about prospective new CoB accounting Michael Dugan from Alabama. The phrases “straight shooter” and “nice guy” are popping up here and there, as is the belief that he can be a political player. Of course, these are mixed signals...".
(GH Chatter, 9 April, 2010) "Word around JGH and other parts of campus is that there is growing hostility concerning the hiring of new, expensive faculty in ACC...".
(GH Chatter, 13 April, 2010) "GH Chatter Stories are spreading that the Lance Nail administration threw Skip Hughes and the accountants a bone when Charles Jordan was presented with the 2010 AT&T Outstanding Faculty Award at the recent CoB awards banquet...".
(GH Chatter, 21 April, 2010) "Could CoB dean Lance Nail be headed Birmingham? Some very juicy chatter from the past 48 hours says it’s possible. In what capacity? New dean of the b-school at Samford University. SU is a Tier 2 university - easily a major step up for Nail, given USM’s Tier 4 status at the moment. A recent net search suggests that this move would not happen until after the 2010-11 academic year, so don’t expect any major announcement just yet...".
(GH Chatter, 30 April, 2010) "The 3rd floor CoB staffers recently put on a nice dessert party for the five retiring economics professors. Though there was a decent turnout, one of the retiring economists - former EFIB chairman George Carter - failed to show...".
(GH Chatter, 4 May, 2010) "If the whispers around the Southern Miss campus are correct, the new version of an economics area in Arts and Letters is going to last a very short period of time...".
(May 19, 2010) "According to talk, life in JAG in summer 2010 will be chaotic. The CoB’s graduate services people are apparently moving into the old economics administration suite. Decision scientists are being moved around all over the place. Economists are vacating, with some going home. Accounting is moving to the top floor. Skip Hughes is setting up shop in the grad director’s space. There is also discussion of redecorating and construction projects...".
(May 25, 2010) "More evidence that former CoB management professor is headed west to join former CoB dean Harold Doty at the University of Texas at Tyler - word is that Bushardt does not appear on the 2010-11 course schedules at Spring Hill College...".
(May 26, 2010) "What caused USM president Martha Saunders to ask for the resignation of USM chief financial officer Joe Morgan, as USM provost Robert Lyman intimated at a recent faculty senate meeting?...".
(May 28, 2010) "Chatter has it that CoB dean Lance Nail is losing a major ally in Donna Davis, who is scheduled to retire on 30-June-2010. Recent reports here at USMNEWS.net show how Davis spoke up for Nail at the May-2010 faculty senate meeting, after other senators questioned the CoB’s high-dollar spending on accounting professors...".
(June 2, 2010) "The 19-May-2010 USMNEWS.net report about USM’s 'Kaetsu Court' generated some chatter about the notables who visited the campus around the time of the centennial graduation ceremony...".
(June 3, 2010) "The pending arrival on the third floor of JAG of the CoB’s accountants is causing all sorts of shuffling on that floor. However, chatter has it that none of the accounting faculty has even bothered to make the move, even though others are inconveniencing themselves to prepare the way...".
(June 10, 2010) "The recent report on assistant professor John Lambert is generating some talk. The report mentions that Lambert’s future tenure vote may be shaky. Chatter, however, indicates that he may not be with the CoB that long...".
(June 14, 2010) "The pending arrival at the University of Texas at Tyler’s b-school of former CoBer Stephen Bushardt is back on the radar. Why current UT-Tyler b-school dean Harold Doty, the former CoB dean, would hire Bushardt is boggling minds...".
(June 25, 2010) "Talk around JAG is that new accounting director Skip Hughes has already established dominance over the other chairs in the CoB. Skip has apparently gotten most, if not all, of what he’s asked for since arriving in 2009...".
(June 30, 2010) "Word around JAG is that some CoB administrators are not sad that alternative learning coordinator/executive assistant to the dean Sonia Gaines-Littles is leaving USM. This is interesting. It is well known by now that she is even less popular among rank-and-file CoB faculty and CoB staff...".
(July 7, 2010) "There has been some talk that tourism management will not be a separate academic area after the coming year (2010-11). ...".
(July 15, 2010) "Some CoBers are amazed that the accounting faculty are now located in four different locations on the 3rd floor of Greene Hall. Chatter has it that this is another example of how School of Accountancy director Skip Hughes is, with CoB dean Lance Nail’s support, running over the other CoB chairs...".
(August 10, 2010) "The phrase making up the title of a recent Special Report on the Davida Williams v. USM et al. lawsuit - 'The English House Call' - has generated some chatter. According to some it is reminiscent of CoB stories that have circulated over the years, such 'Bobbing for Bs'...".
(August 24, 2010) There is lots of chatter about the apparent secrecy surrounding the UPC’s suggested budget cuts. The Student Printz is printing ominous reports about the future cuts, and some in the Saunders administration are hinting here and there about them..."
(August 27, 2010) "Chatter has it that, in addressing the coming budget cuts, administrators across USM’s individual colleges have met with those tenured and tenure-track faculty who were picked by the Martha Saunders administration for termination after the current, 2010-11 academic year. As reported earlier, talk around the campus is that CoB faculty are in the mix, as they were last year when the nine economists were issued termination notices...".
(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...".
(September 20, 2010) "Chatter from around campus has it that USM associate provost Bill Powell earned some respect among the USM faculty for standing up to USM president Martha Saunders regarding the Saunders’ attempts to pin the blame for the 29 faculty terminations on the University Priorities Committee. How long this will last remains to be seen...".
(September 28, 2010) "Recent chatter about the imminent departure of USM legal counsel Lee Gore appears to be valid. Check out this former post on USM’s employment web pages:
Posting Number: 0001604
Job Title: Legal Counsel to the President
Posting Number: 0001604
Job Title: Legal Counsel to the President
(October 20, 2010) "The appeals process for the recent faculty terminations is, as expected, generating lots of chatter. It seems the USM liberal arts faculty are on the verge of an uprising of sorts regarding the composition of the appeals committee. For one, science & technology reportedly dominates the five faculty slots on the committee. Some are also saying that Tammy Barry, the academic council representative from the group, will provide a pro-administration take on budget cuts since she was once USM provost’s Robert Lyman’s student. Judging by chatter, the appeals process promises to be a three-ring circus...".