Missouri Southern State University's embattled president Dr. Bruce Speck appears to be headed for another defining moment in his controversial tenure Monday when the university's Faculty Senate meets.
From all indications, a vote of "no confidence" in Speck's administration appears likely.
Earlier Turner Report posts on Speck can be found at this link.
We can only hope that MSSU is rid of this pompous ass sooner rather than later. Of the 40 people who applied for MSSU presidency in 2007, we picked the very worst one.
ReplyDeleteRoger Chelf:
ReplyDeleteWe should have a campus-wide vote of no confidence, not just a faculty senate vote. And we should have separate votes of no confidence in Speck, Douglas, and the board as a whole.
Totally agree with Anonymous 6:21 am. They are all responsible for the sorry state of affairs at the university. Wish we could add Nodler to the no confidence vote as well.
ReplyDeleteEven more than those three, a very hard look needs to be made at those top level deans and administrators who have NOT resigned to go "back to the classroom," and some department heads around campus who are, by their very sucking up to the powers that be, complicit in what Speck et al are doing to MSSU: for example, several in arts and sciences including the dean, Debbie Dutch K., the alumni director, the public relations director, and the director of international studies. If these people are just afraid of losing their jobs, then they need to be ashamed for not standing up for many of their people who lost their jobs this past year or who were forced to retire before they wanted to. There are things that have been happening in every department -- but Arts and Sciences caught the brunt of the cuts.
ReplyDeleteAnon 9:50:
ReplyDeleteAmen.
The immediate problems at MSSU is obviously Speck, who it never ceases to amaze me has little to no leadership ability whatsoever. It's amazing to me that a person could get this high up in administration and have no understanding of how to lead. The fact that he sparked the, IMO, almost entirely moribund faculty to organize an AAUP chapter and possibly give a vote of no confidence is evidence of something, and it's not his skill set as a president.
But the problems at MSSU are cultural and systemic at this point, and run far deeper than Speck. Some of the deans, department heads and staff are entirely complicit in what was going on. Some of the deans could only be deans at MSSU -- somewhere else, doing the job would require more than just saying "yes, that sounds good" to everything. To replace the president but yet leave some of these people in place would be a real shame.
WHOA! Let's not get carried away. There are some that are clearly complicit and "part of the team": Agee, DDK, Yust, Eis, the budget director, Messick (?), the arts and sciences dean (we know why he got the job), yes. But let's not forget we have been in the middle of a very tough recession and its no crime to protect yourself and your family by being careful on your job so as not to lose it.
ReplyDeleteI believe Chelf is playing partisan politics. He has no tolerance for people or their opinions unless they are a liberal democrat. He, as faculty Senate President, should no make comments like that in public, but should act in a more professional manner. Let's not forget that Leon was President FAR TOO LONG! And could it be possible he has contributed to our misfortune now??? Maybe more him, than current President Speck.
ReplyDeleteI don't think Messick was complicit at all. He took what he thought was going to be a nice, plum appointment just prior to his retirement, and was trying to do his best to serve. However, it is obvious that the victuals put upon his plate were not to his liking, and were far more than he could stomach. So, he left to "go back to the classroom." Messick has always been a straight arrow. Perhaps, for some, too straight. But he is an honest man who was caught up in something he couldn't change. He did the honorable thing when he stepped aside.
ReplyDeleteYes, the Arts and Sciences Dean is a Milquetoast fer shure! And he should be outta there. There are several others who are deans who should be somewhere making $30,000 annually, because that is all they are worth. Some who spend most of their afternoons away from the office and who disappear on many occasions and who are often late with paperwork and don't like to deal with problems. Some, who perhaps enjoy the tennis court or the pub more than being in the office. In a REAL university, these people would never have received tenure.
The MSSU AAUP chapter had a great turnout at Quincy Magoo's last night, with close to 50 faculty members attending. The discussion was lively, and everyone agreed that we need a quick resolution to the Speck matter. For the good of the university, we just can't go on like this.
ReplyDeleteNot all of those at the Friday afternoon gathering were there for AAUP. The President of AAUP chose to hijack a regular social gathering of faculty (begun two years ago) by scheduling an AAUP get-together at the same time, day, and place. While some of those who went to the regular gathering may be AAUP members, others are not. I have no issue with AAUP or its members, but identify a time, place, and location that does not infringe on a faculty social gathering and then insinuate that the group that gathered were there for AAUP!
ReplyDeleteYes, Dr Leon may have stayed too long. The same can (now) be said of Dr. Speck. I think the faculty and staff are mature enough to separate issues related to needed cuts due to the recession or lowered enrollment and those caused by misrepresentation and poor leadership and management by Speck.
ReplyDeleteFor example, to state in one meeting that wile the budget has achieved some cuts there is still more that are needed, and then turn around and announce two new building projects which are not funded but 'will be built anyway' is poor leadership, management and simply stupid. Speck says he wants shared governance, but then at every opportunity he shuts faculty out of the decision process. Why isn't there a Faculty Senate rep on the VPAA search committee?
If nothing else, the atmosphere of fear and low morale is enough to vote no confidence in his abilities as a manager and leader. He simply doesn't have the skill set to lead this University into the future.
Whoa again! MSSU Student (we know who you are) Now you are blaming Chelf and the deans, and the department heads for the sorry mess at the university.
ReplyDeleteLET US BE CLEAR ONE MORE TIME:
The sorry mess we face is the result of the EXCLUSIVE failure of THE TWO MEN AT THE TOP. Douglas got us Speck and together they instituted unnecessary measures to solve an imaginary financial crisis. Douglas sent Speck after the international mission (Leon's baby)They tried to blame Leon for the imaginary financial crisis with the help of a few administrators in the business area. As soon as they could not explain away "depreciation" expense to the dentist or Hacker or the Chart, it was clear to all what was going on. You can blame Agee, Dutch Kelly, Yust, Eis, Gibson all you want but the responsibility is exclusively Douglas's and Speck's.
Douglas's downfall was chosing an incompetent academic administrator as president who has no common sense whatsoever. All Speck has is an easy smile, a glad-hand, call-me-Bruce handshake, and the stupid belief he can sing.
Agree with Anonymous 7:19 am. The faculty senate should now include Douglas in the vote of no confidence and seek his resignation from the board.
ReplyDeleteNothing will be solved until Douglas and Speck are gone!
Douglas and Speck may in fact be the head of the problem, but to think that getting rid of them and getting better people will fix the problems at MSSU entirely is just fantasy.
ReplyDeleteThe problem starts at the top, but in this case it continues downward into the institutional culture of MSSU, which is far from healthy to say the least.
Until the overall culture at the school changes, no real progress will be seen. That will mean getting rid of the rotting head first, but after that, the institution needs to take a long hard inward look at the systemic problems of the institution. Boy are there lots of them.
For the sake of the school, I hope all these things happen.
Who exactly are we talking about. You talk about culture and systemic failure. So far you've talked about deans and department heads but the only only one identified so far is the dean of arts and sciences... Who are the others? So far, we know of Agee, Yust, Eis, Gibson, DDK.
ReplyDeleteBe more specific so we know you know what you are talking about...
So far, you are all "hot air".
I would be happy to identify one of the concrete systemic problems. How about no customer service? How can you expect students to stay when they get the run around every time they come into Hearnes Hall? Admissions, Financial Aid, etc., are often unhelpful and rude. There are plenty of good people who work in Hearnes, but the philosophy is hardly student-centered. People don't take ownership of problems and actually solve them, they just send the student somewhere else. I have talked to many frustrated students who were on the verge of going to another institution (and there are other options) just to get out of the bureaucratic nightmare. Southern exists in a competitive environment, and that has to change.
ReplyDeleteThe University can't just force students to jump through whatever hoops it likes, because they can and will go elsewhere. It's a short drive to Pittsburg. The idiot fee payment policy is a case in point. Why drop students from all their classes if they owe more than a few dollars to the school, when we are fighting for increased enrollment? Other schools work with students to avoid dropping them. Southern does it automatically.
Right now, Southern has no idea what its mission is. Focusing on serving the needs of its students would be a great start to getting back on track. Unfortunately, it's going to take a lot of time (and probably a lot of new people) to get the culture to change.
Yes, I'd love to hear an analysis of the "lots" of "systemic problems" at MSSU besides top administration. Please enlighten us.
ReplyDeleteBesides Speck, the two other people who need to be shown the door are Debbie Dutch Kelley (inhumane resources)and Linda Eis (treasurer). Jeff Gibson (budgeting) maybe, because he'll never return a phone call and he joined with Eis to pull the depreciation crap on us.
ReplyDelete