The word on the street is that the Missouri Southern State University Board of Governors are not all in lockstep with the regime that produced Dr. Bruce Speck as university president.
Reportedly, when the board extended Speck's contract recently, the vote was far from unanimous. The story making the rounds is that three voted to give Speck the boot.
The votes and who voted which way are public record. The Board of Governors, like other boards in the state of Missouri are may discuss hiring, firing, promotion, or discipline in closed session, but any vote has to take place in open session.
Of course, in this day and age, when reporters automatically leave meetings when boards go into closed session, there usually is no one around when open sessions resume.
Of course, I could be wrong, perhaps a reporter did check to see if the vote was unanimous, found out it was, and that was all there was to it.
On the other hand, it is awful easy just to run the press release.
(Full disclosure: I ran the news release, too, though I received it from another source and not from the university. Of course, I am not being paid to do this either.)
15 comments:
If it's true, that's encouraging news. It means that at least some of the Board is beginning to smell a rat. All it takes is one more to put an end to the unfortunate Speck era.
So now your just spreading the rumor? Why not just call and ask since it is, as you note, a public record? Or is it just better to try to hurt Speck with you item - true or not?
What a sorry bunch of "reporting" this is, Randy. What a rumor monger you are...your personal vendettas are a total disgrace. What shows the unmitgated gall and ignorance you show when you climb on your toliet seat and criticize people, newspapers and all your other targets.
I wish you superiors at school would take note and throw you out of the classroom.
I don't know Mr. Speck and have no clue about how he actually is running the school, but you make me believe he might be doing a good job if you don't like him...
This post of yours is absolutely disgusting, petty and mean spirited.
What's going on at MSSU with the situation between Speck and his Academic VP? I heard he was asked to step down after only two weeks on the job!!!
It is always possible that after it became clear that only three members would vote to oust Speck that they decided to vote with the majority to hide the discord.
To anyone who actually knows anything about the situation, Speck has been an utter disgrace for MSSU. It's very sad for the university when most on campus wish that Julio Leon was actually still around.
My guess is that the Board -- even those who may not like Speck -- realizes that there are hardly scores of qualified people ready to take over the job, so they are stuck. After all, Speck himself got the job after being the only one left in the candidate pool at the end of the search. Why would things be any different now, if not worse?
To Anonymous 2:35, I can't disagree with anything you said, but quite frankly, MSSU would be much better off just leaving the president's position vacant. Speck has gone out and alienated many groups of people, including the Joplin Catholics and Lionbackers who wanted Coach Corn as the AD, who will never again support MSSU. Speck is also making many enemies for the university in Jefferson City.
Nothing mean or disgusting about Turner's rumors report. They are all over town and I know for a fact of two governors who wanted Speck fired. There is strong dissatisfaction by some governors and that's why Douglas, the Freeman Hospital man, declined to seek reelection to board chair. He smelled it... Problem is, Speck continues to screw up and do what Douglas and Agee tell him... Where is the new chair? Since the change in board leadership (June) Speck has had three (3!) different people in the second most important position at the college: vice president of academic affairs. Poor Missouri Southern...
KEEP THE PRESSURE ON, RANDY TURNER. This board won't...
Anon 4:32:
You're likely correct, even if it is sad to say it aloud. The president's position at a college is an important and necessary one, providing wisdom, guidance and direction for the institution.
So when you say -- correctly -- that MSSU would be better off with an empty president's office, a situation that would leave MSSU like a ship without a captain circling aimlessly in the water, that's revealing something quite sad and pathetic, but sobering, about the current state of decay at MSSU.
Anonymous 2:35 pm:
I do wish Leon was back (I wished he'd never left!)and it would not be a sad day for the university if he was back. To the contrary.
The man knew where he wanted to take us. We may not have liked his leadership style but he was effective and trustworthy. Above all, he had class.
All of the above are sorely lacking in Bruce.
At least with Leon we got salary increases every single year. Two years under Speck equals two years of no raises. And to really add insult to injury, Speck makes about $20,000 more a year than Leon did.
The main difference between Leon and Speck? Leon refused to allow his accountants to include depreciation in the budget, because it's not a cash expense. With Speck, depreciation is a budget-busting expense of nearly four million dollars that puts the university deep into the hole, hence no raises.
Anon 8:25:
I think when a hypothetical Julio return is seen as a good day the presidential bar is so low it's been buried six feet under the ground.
Anon 1:23
Bruce has already buried the presidential bar 12 feet underground.
And it keeps getting worser.
Anon 6:10
I don't doubt that, as it was my basic point: Bruce is _so_ bad that people are wishing Leon was back.
But there's a difference between saying this and saying -- separate from the Bruce debacle -- that Leon in charge was a good thing. Unless the bar for "good president" is so low it is buried underground.
MSSU can, and should, do far better than both aforementioned bozos.
Post a Comment