miscellaneous40

(August 6, 2010) Special Report So Many Years, So Many Committees How USM Breached its ‘Contract’ with Davida Williams Much has been made (through this investigative series) of how USM acted in ways that made a shambles out of Williams’ efforts to complete her dissertation. A previous report in this series provided court documents indicating that former liberal arts dean Glenn Harper claimed to have added Will Lyddon (of psychology) to Williams’ dissertation committee. Lyddon testified, however, that he was never asked to serve on the committee, nor was he ever provided with a copy of Williams’ dissertation.

(August 9, 2010) Special Report Eight Hundred Thousand Bones How the FCCC Jury Saw Davida Williams’ Case Clearly the FCCC jury overwhelmingly felt that USM et al.’s behavior vis-à-vis Williams was nothing less than despicable. To them, a whopping $800,000 was necessary to make her whole. That USM finds itself in such a predicament so often is, to some at least, itself despicable.

(August 10, 2010) Arnold Lasts One Year at MO State Two-Time CoB Dean Candidate Now Dean at Stephen F. Austin State University Marketing professor Danny Arnold, the former Mississippi State University faculty whose two attempts to win the USM b-school deanship failed, is now the new business dean at Stephen F. Austin State University. This news will likely come as a surprise to current and former CoBers given that Arnold, pictured below, had just assumed the reins at Missouri State University in 2009. The Missouri State b-school is home to former CoBers Stephen and Dana Haggard.

(August 10, 2010) GH Chatter 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 as “Bobbing for Bs”.

(August 17, 2010) . . breaking news . . USM Remains near Bottom in 2011 Rankings HATTIESBURG – The U.S. News & World Report’s 2011 rankings of U.S. colleges and universities were released on 17-August-2010, and USM remains mired at the bottom of the group of about 260 “national” institutions ranked by magazine. This year the periodical elected to separate these schools into only two tiers, as opposed to the traditional four tiers it has used in past years. The top 197 institutions (including ties) comprise Tier 1, which can be broken down into three groups of about 65 schools each, while the bottom 64 schools make up Tier 2. USM is included in the bottom 64 schools in the 2011 rankings, indicating that it remains what has been traditionally referred to as a Tier 4 institution.