It worked for Hillary Clinton, so Missouri Southern State University Bruce Speck decided to give it a try.
Beginning Monday, Oct. 26, Speck will begin his own "listening tour" visiting different locations on the MSSU campus. The meetings are for any faculty member who would like to talk with Speck. Each of the four meetings is slated to last 90 minutes and will be held according to the following schedule:
Date Time Location
October 26 3:30-5:00 306 Plaster Hall
October 27 3:30-5:00 147 Justice Center
October 28 3:30-5:00 113 Taylor Hall
October 30 1:00-2:30 223 Webster Hall
Meetings will be scheduled with staff at a later date.
Given that the Board of Governors, on the same day they gifted Speck with a two-year contract renewal, told him to repair his non-existent relationship with the faculty, this begs the question:
Since when does it take five weeks to take a first step to build a bridge to the faculty? Speck's Geppetto needs to do a better job of pulling the strings.
8 comments:
Is it a coincidence that Speck is scheduling his listening meetings just a few days before the November 2 no-confidence vote?
He has always claimed to have an open-door policy, why is this necessary? An attempt to lead sheep to slaughter?
This is a joke. A sad, pathetic joke. If the Board really believes that this is "repairing relationships", they are as clueless as Speck. I'd like to see a report of attendance at and minutes from these meetings. And guess what, Board, the "re-invigoration" of the Academic Council will be equally as ineffective and pointless. The only thing that will repair relationships and morale at MSSU is the departure of Speck.
Who is Southern going to get to replace Speck? There are no internal candidates in a position to take the job. Speck and Leon both worked to make sure that no one who might appear to be an attractive president remained VP for very long. Why would a quality external candidate want to step into this mess?
I think the planning of these meetings -- all jam packed in the days right before the vote and five weeks after the vote -- are sadly pathetic in just how stunningly transparent the motive is. Speck isn't looking to listen to anyone. He'll looking for a public CYA event that allows him to say to Greg at the Globe on 11/3 that "he did his best, they rejected my overtures." This also allows the board a CYA as well.
Speck is a joke and an embarrassment at a level that is rarely seen in college administration (and that's even with Julio laying the bar for competence REAL low before him).
Sadly, though, I think 11:36 is right. If they fired him, who would come to take his place? When there was no public shit-storm of controversy before the best they could do was muster up a single on campus interviewing candidate (the joke himself). Now with the public shit-storm, I doubt you'd even get one person to show. In addition, the internal candidates -- many of whom I'm sure would jump at the chance to run things -- are themselves of very low quality.
It's a no win for MSSU, though the blame falls squarely on the doorstep of the Board, which over and over again proves that it is motivated by its own interests and narrow thinking, and not the best interests of the school.
If Dwight Douglas could be COMPLETELY REMOVED from the search process, I think MSSU could attract a highly qualified president. Douglas's term on the board ends in August, 2011, so we might have to wait until then. In the meantime, Governor Nixon could make THREE appointments to the board (Anderson, Ansley, and the position formerly held by Doug Davis).
I know HIllary Clinton. She is a good friend of mine. And you, sir, are no Hillary Clinton.
So I heard from someone who attended the first "listening meeting" today. Apparently, the only straight answers that BS gave to questions were ones for which the answer was "the board of governors decides that."
It is apparent from his lack of vision at MSSU and in previous positions (check out the report from MO Western--it's in the MSSU library if you know someone who can get you a copy) that BS actually *has* no original ideas, but can only follow others' lead, for good or bad.
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