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(September 20, 2010) “What You Talkin’ ‘bout, Willis?” USM CFO/HR Director Russ Willis Out Front in Support of Athletics For some reason, the Martha Saunders administration is putting USM’s new interim chief financial officer/long-time human resources director, Russ Willis, out front to deflect criticism of the institution's practice of providing its athletics department with millions of dollars in financial assistance from student tuition revenue and E&G (education and general) funds.

(October 28, 2010) Is Russ Willis Now Running Southern Miss? How Saunders Almost Never Goes Anywhere without Him, and Why that May Be The Mississippi IHL recently released the news that USM president Martha Saunders has been awarded, and has accepted, a four year contract extension. Judging by his presence at her side on any occasion wherein a tough question about USM might be asked, the IHL’s recent action on Saunders may have also extended USM human resources director and interim chief financial officer (and, maybe, its vice president for administrative affairs) Russ Willis’ tenure at USM by at least the same four years

(October 29, 2010) The Farm News Briefs from Southern Miss 29-Oct-2010 Dear USMNEWS.net . . . Russ Willis as shadow president - that makes sense. Does anyone else recall that is how former USM president Shelby Thames started, with President Aubrey Lucas, as VP and hatchet man?

(November 23, 2010) It’s Easy to Like ‘Senator B’ by Victoria Tyler The recent USMNEWS.net Special Report entitled IMPEACH is one of the more eye-opening reports posted to this website in a quite a while. That report details, through the example of USM’s new retention rewards program, the shoddy way in which the institution is being managed by the likes of president Martha Saunders, provost Robert Lyman, CFO Russ Willis, and so many others. The “star” of that Special Report is the unnamed USM faculty senator, referred to there simply as “Senator B.” In criticizing the ill-formulated retention rewards program, Senator B ran intellectual circles around Lyman, who was stuck defending the aforementioned administrative folly on behalf of Saunders.

(November 24, 2010) Sign Here If a Fedora Donation would be Classy, How about a Willis One? The $35,000 raise received this year by USM head football coach Larry Fedora has generated a firestorm on the USM campus (and beyond). The most recent chapter in the stormy story is the challenge put to Fedora at the 5-Nov-2010 faculty senate meeting, wherein “Senator A” argued that Fedora should donate the entire $35,000 raise to USM’s Centennial Scholarship Fund (CSF).