ALVIN WILLIAMS, FORMER PROFESSOR OF
MANAGEMENT AND INTERIM DEAN
For more articles and editorials concerning Dr. Williams, please click here.
(February 14, 2008) Williams' Fall '07 Proposals Fall Flat by Duane Cobb During the Fall 2007 CoB faculty meeting,
Interim CoB Dean Alvin Williams told CoB faculty and staff that he (Williams) would see to it that everyone in the CoB
had a personal webpage at www.usm.edu, and that each person's individual web page would house that person's vita.
(March 10, 2008) 31st & Pearl Williams' Legacy Not Stellar . . . Not Even Close Almost one year into Alvin Williams'
15-month Interim Dean stint, and it's safe to say that Williams' legacy is not a stellar one. And, that conclusion accounts
for the CoB's clean bill of health from AACSB. Although that bit if news had virtually no chance of salvaging Williams'
legacy in the CoB, even it would have been much better for Williams if it had arrived at its expected time -- April or May
of 2008 -- rather that in late fall of 2007. At least that way, Williams could have exited on a higher note. But, it was not to
be.
(March 13, 2008) Breaking News Williams Riding Herd on Gunther and the BBER HATTIESBURG – Interim CoB Dean,
Alvin Williams, appears to be riding herd on William Gunther, professor of economics and Director of the CoB's Bureau
of Business and Economic Research. After months of reports here at USMNEWS.NET showing how Gunther, who earns
more than $125,000 per year and who lives near Gulf Shores, Alabama, rarely does anything remotely resembling actual
work, Williams was elevated to Interim CoB Dean in April of 2007, citing an increase in the presence of the CoB's
centers and bureaus as one of his (Williams') main goals. Since that time, the level of activity in Gunther's BBER has
escalated dramatically, with the last example being the BBER's economic symposium to kick off the spring 2008
semester.
(April 28, 2008) Breaking News "Floundering CoB" Making "Half-Hearted" Fundraising Effort HATTIESBURG -- On 25
April 2008, Interim CoB Dean, Alvin Williams, e-mailed members of the CoB's management team and informed them
that Meredith Cothern, the CoB's new Development Officer, would be visiting the chairs in each of the CoB's three
departments in order to assess the "development-related' situation in each area.
(April 30, 2008) Special Report Sleepy Hollow – More on AJW & AACSB An Investigative Series on CoB Faculty
Research Credentials As USMNEWS.NET reporters and correspondents continue to sift through the pile of new
documentation from USM (received via a Freedom of Information Act request) regarding the CoB’s 2007-08 6th Year
Revew by AACSB, new reports will continue to arrive on the pages of the website. This report looks at a portion of
Interim Dean Alvin J. Williams’ response to AACSB regarding “Standard 10 – Faculty Qualifications.” The CoB’s
support in the development of junior faculties’ research agenda was found by the AACSB Peer Review Team in 2007 to
be woefully inadequate.