Mobbing at USM

(April 15, 2011) Dear usmnews.net, Thanks for the report “Downward Mobbing Now Part of USM's Fabric.”  I have also followed the Feeling Safe at USM series, which brings me to the point of this email.

(April 14, 2011) Downward Mobbing Now Part of USM’s Fabric "At the end of USM’s spring 2011 convocation on 12-April-2011, a Q&A session was held, ostensibly to field questions about Responsibility Centered Management (RCM). To the USM administration’s surprise, that session went in an entirely different direction when history professor Doug Chambers questioned the administration about reports that a total of six (6) various USM faculty were currently suspended from teaching for fear of danger. USM provost Robert Lyman responded to Chambers, indicating that only three (3) faculty had been suspended during the current academic year in separate situations due to feelings of fear (of them) raised by their supervisors and co-workers...".

(April 18, 2011) Scary Bad "Recent news that the USM administration is expanding its piloted program of downward mobbing is spreading across cyberspace at a rapid pace. The admission by USM provost Robert Lyman that three USM faculty have been suspended this academic year pending the results of separate investigations into danger posed by their presence on campus surely sent a chill down the collective spine of the USM community...".

(April 19, 2011) Satirical Slants on Serious Situations  "Things at USM are indeed “scary bad.” Fortunately for those who wish to keep up with what is going on, there is USMNEWS.net, usmlite.com, The Hattiesburg American, and The Student Printz, though to a lesser extent than the others...".

(April 27, 2011) Greene Revealed as One of the ‘Scary Profs’ "In his 26-April-2011 report for The Student Printz entitled “Professor returns after suspension,” Justin Mitchell reveals that USM political science professor Kate Greene is one of the three (to six, or more) USM faculty who were suspended with pay some time during the 2010-11 academic year due to concerns of danger...".

(April 28, 2011) Is K.W. Greene Dangerous?  Assuming Greene’s behavior rises to a level requiring university review, i.e., “due process”, the question is, will the review be in accordance with USM's Tribal Morality or the Faculty Handbook and principles of reason, truth, or sound evidence?

(April 29, 2011) Focus Now Turning to ‘Scary Prof’ #3 His/Her Name Remains a Mystery, but Details are Leaking Out "With The Student Printz’s release of information on USM political science professor Kate Greene’s two-week suspension from teaching due to an in-class altercation with one of her students, the USM community has now learned more about two of the professors who have served suspensions from the institution out of fears of danger...".

(April 18, 2011) RESPONSE TO REQUEST FOR INFORMATION IN 31^ST & PEARL, SCARY BAD "... Dr. Saunders sat in the Courtroom and listened to the same testimony that the Judge obviously found troubling.  Dr. Saunders was and remained blithely untroubled about threatening and violent behavior directed at other faculty and staff by a college dean, an associate dean and a department chairwoman - not even recalling what she characterized as “serious”...". 

(May 4, 2011) A Psychiatric Exam for Martha Saunders: Martha Saunders Should Be Subject to the Same Standards She Imposes on other Faculty "Martha Saunders should assign herself to undergo a psychiatric exams based on her disagreeable behavior toward students.  I am suggesting nothing more than she apply the same standards to herself that she has insisted on applying to faculty...".

(May 3, 2011) Over the next few days, in addition to its regular news and opinion reports, usmnews.net will  publish some excerpts from an excellent article published in the Chronicle of Higher Education.  Mob Rule: In departmental disputes, professors can act just like animals, John Gravois, http://chronicle.com, Section: The Faculty, Volume 52, Issue 32, Page A10.  It is based, in significant part, on the work of Kenneth Westhues who has made an extensive study of academic mobbing.  The article outlines the various stages of a mobbing and why it happens.  Are you at risk?

"The first stage of a mobbing, as he outlines it, is a period of increasing social isolation. At this point, if you are the target, you might get left off certain guest lists. Colleagues begin to roll their eyes at you during meetings. You get the sense that more people dislike you than you once thought...".

(May 2, 2011) With the Saunders’ administration having forced between three and six faculty from their classrooms, this academic year alone, the author has contacted usmnews.net and asked that his letter to the editor be republished.  The request was accompanied by the following comment:  “I would guess that the faculty who found themselves summarily punished, with no due process, never thought it could happen to them.  But it has.  Freedom of speech and tenure have provided little or no protection.  Who is next on Saunders’ execution block?...”.

(May 9, 2011) The Administrative Roll in Mobbing  "Professors seeking to eliminate one of their colleagues cannot get very far without the backing of the administration, he said. And in cases where many professors are pitted against one, administrators' first instinct will often be to side with the majority...".

(May 16, 2011) Lyman, Faculty Senate Address “Dangerous Faculty” New Report Includes Transcript from Faculty Senate Meeting "The situation involving political science professor Kate Greene’s suspension from teaching her Supreme Court and Civil Liberties course was discussed at the 6-May-2011 USM Faculty Senate meeting...".