Naturally, University President Bruce Speck, citing that all-purpose refuge for scoundrels, personnel, says he cannot discuss anything about Katz' departure:
University President Bruce Speck acknowledged Tuesday night that Norman Katz had resigned “effective immediately.” Speck said he could not disclose the reasons behind Katz’s resignation on personnel grounds.Speck is using the crutch of "personnel" in what will prove to be an unsuccessful attempt to avoid another huge public embarrassment for the university.
Speck also was not yet disclosing whether the university would still have to pay Katz any money even though he will not be teaching on campus next semester and will no longer be teaching an online course this semester. Documents obtained Tuesday by the Globe show that the university and Katz earlier this year had inked a contract worth about $78,000 over a period of more than a year and a half. That was separate from a contract to pay Katz $1,800 this semester to teach an online accounting course.
“I don’t know where that ties into all this” yet, Speck said in reference to questions about money.
Many of the salient questions from last week, chiefly what happened and how it happened, still remain unanswered since reports that Katz had been hired to teach at Southern despite his felony conviction. Neither Speck nor A.J. Anglin, the university’s vice president for academic affairs, would comment Tuesday on Katz specifically or on the circumstances surrounding his hiring, again saying personnel matters were involved.
And so, the legacy of Dwight Douglas continues to grow.
what do you need to know other than the man quit. you're just looking for a fight. the less said the better to prevent a lawsuit
ReplyDeleteThis absolutely needs a thorough investigation. How in the world did this man end up with the job. Who was responsible. Did it have anything to do with the Speck administration's drive to devalue tenured and tenure-track faculty and slip in interchangeable cheap instructors. We also need to know what process was used that would end with the hiring of Norman Katz. Are qualified applicants steering clear of MSSU?
ReplyDeleteI sure hope Anglin and/or Debbie Dutch Kelley receive a written reprimand in the file over this. They are always so quick to do this to other employees on campus.
ReplyDeleteNot only are qualified instructors steering clear, but a little birdie tells me that qualified students are staying away in droves. The heyday of MSSU ended when Léon was "retired" and Bruce was hired, and when Douglas and his henchman Nodler were put in charge. MSSU missed a chance to become a top-notch institution and now is saddled with below-par leaders, from the presidency to the board down to the department heads, who for the most part are people who couldn't get hired anywhere else. Even the faculty senate is run by people who toe the line and suck up to the regime. Compared to PSU, MSU and even Crowder College, MSSU has become a huge joke. It's an embarrassment.
ReplyDeleteAre the students getting a quality education? Are they getting fair market value for the money they are spending to attend MSSU?
ReplyDeleteIf not, close it down and convert the facility to a veterans hospital.
Three years into his disastrous reign, Bruce continues to blame everything on the previous administration and won't take personal responsibility for anything. Leon personally interviewed every single candidate for a teaching position but Bruce said he did not want to do that and delegated that to the VP's. And now it has blown up on his face to the embarrassment of us all.
ReplyDeleteWe need to have another campaign calling for the resignation of Speck and Douglas.
Dwight's problem is a shortness of stature.
ReplyDeleteI would support Nodler to replace Speck if he would get rid of the 'dirty dozen' faculty members who continue to spend time degrading MSSU instead of contributing to the quality of education being provided to students.
ReplyDeleteany excuse to blame ... who put the hiring policy in place and when...I would not want to ever be so evil minded as some the faculty...or Randy.
ReplyDeleteIt's sad that they want to kill the college for selfish reasons.
The blood is on their hands and as graduate of the school, I'm holding them responsible.
Campus-wide, except in the Athletics Department, there is widespread disgust for Speck and his President's Team.
ReplyDeleteHere are some facts:
ReplyDeleteMany faculty wanted Leon gone. But never have they been as united against the administration as they are now.
How can virtually all they faculty be so wrong/evil at the same time toward the same guy? He sucks.
The administration is getting in the way of faculty educating students. They teachers just want to do their jobs. Speck is making that increasingly difficult.
Let's say this hiring policy is a holdover. Leon still interviewed each candidate for a faculty post personally. That shows accountability. And if it was a bad hire, he was responsible. You never heard him say it was the fault of Donald Darnton or Leon Billingsly.
This administration is about to begin a purge of anyone they think asks too many questions.
Watch.
Speck is not a good president....almost everyone acknowledges that. But is every poor decision on campus his fault?
ReplyDeleteIs every bad decision made by a Joplin Schools employee C.J. Huff's fault, Randy?
Examples please.
ReplyDelete1. The administration is getting in the way of faculty educating students.
2. They teachers just want to do their jobs.
3. Speck is making that increasingly difficult.
And, from 7:03:
4. Are the students getting a quality education?
5. Are they getting fair market value for the money they are spending to attend MSSU?
As a taxpayer, I want a Board of Regents to oversee progress; an administration to manage progress; a faculty to lead in the progress; and students making progress.
Randy, If this is in such need of an investigation, why don't you just do it? You seem to be the one wanting to stir the pot.
ReplyDeleteGet some of those goofy faculty members who pine for your attention to help you.
I have to question the intelligence of anyone who is content to not have the leaders at the university answer just how a convicted felon, an embezzler at that, can be hired to teach accounting at a taxpayer-financed institution. I don't care how much you support Bruce Speck, Dwight Douglas, and the powers that be, these are questions that need to be answered the non-answers and evasions are an indictment of those who are giving them.
ReplyDeleteMissouri Southern has never been a good place to get an education. It has had the reputation for being cheap and easy. Now it is even worse.
ReplyDeleteExamples please.
ReplyDelete1. The administration is getting in the way of faculty educating students.
Faculty are having to spend inordinate amounts of time fighting for academic integrity. Fighting to keep reasonable class sizes, fighting to keep reasonable teaching loads, fighting to restore sabbaticals and conference travel funds, fighting to preserve their departments and programs, etc.
All of this saps much of our energies from teaching students. It's a constant struggle with the administration, who would emphasize football above all else if given the opportunity.
Answers has it right. This is the perfect example of what is wrong with the faculty at MSSU.
ReplyDeleteAnswer's answers are the self-centered, me-driven attitude of many of the faculty. They want to spend less time with fewer students in the classroom and have we the taxpayer to pay for their travel and time off for career advancement.
I'd fire about half of these inbreds and hire replacements with one simple instruction; teach.
And, Randy, what qualifies you to question anyone's intelligence? I mean come on man, I know you.
Dwight and Bruce would love to turn MSSU into a technical school, similar to Crowder College. (Remember, Dwight used to be on the Crowder board.) Faculty would teach five or six classes per semester, not do any research or public service, and the university would focus on programs like truck driving and wasterwater management. There would be no need for Ph.D.s, and the savings could be spent on Athletics.
ReplyDeleteWhy is it Speck's support always tends to come from people far more removed from the day-to-day operations of MSSU, while the vast majority of people who have actually worked with Speck want him gone? That says an awful lot about the man's leadership ability (or lack thereof.)
ReplyDeleteLet's face it. Our MSSU is outdated and may not be needed. Go one hour South or East or just up the road to Pittsburg and get high quality college education.
ReplyDeleteAnon 3:26 has it right.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is that MSSU could actually compete with other universities, but instead it has chosen to make itself a community/technical school masquerading as a four year university.
I think it Bruce/Dwight had their way, you'd see commercials for MSSU listing "TV/VCR repair" and
"Air Conditioning" alongside the other majors.
This is why they are non-responsive to faculty are antagonistic to them - if you want to be a community/technical college, the quality of faculty simply don't matter as much. No quality 4 year institution that aspires to be more than a vo-tech could maintain the atmosphere that exists between administration and faculty and survive for long.
Dwight Douglas was never on the Crowder Board of Trustees. It is true that MSSU does seem to have decided to compete with Crowder. However, Crowder is far more that a vo-tech school. In addition to technical programs, Crowder provides an excellent AA program that enables its students to successfully transfer to any college of their choice. In addition to transferring, students can complete a four degree at Crowder through Crowder's partnership with MSU, U of A and several others.
ReplyDeleteCrowder can thank its lucky stars that Dwight Douglas wasn't on it Board of Trustees. Tatum was bad enough...
ReplyDeleteDouglas was on the Crowder Foundation Board, though...
DD's pride and glory is not being on the Crowder Foundation Board or the MSSU Board. It is having been on the Board of Governors of SMSU...
Crowder's pardnering with MSU has been excellent. The Crowder students starting there and transfering to MSU have been very successful in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteMSSU has felt the sting of Crowder students not selecting to go to MSSU. This appears to be the main reason for MSSU's attempts at subjugating Crowder.
7:08
ReplyDeleteWell, I guess that's the whole problem. Why would a student transfer to MSSU and essentially enjoy little quality increase from Crowder when they can go to MSU and get a quality increase? I'd go to MSU too.
This is the whole problem with the morons in charge at MSSU. They think that "cheap, easy, convenient" is a winning strategy for a university that is NOT a community college or an online university.
Wrong. The aim is to have a race for the top, not a race to the bottom. Try explaining that to the resident morons, however - being bottom feeders themselves.
The problem at MSSU is simple: The president and his team do not have a vision for the university. Nothing, nada, zilch. They are merely reactionary to the problems that arise.
ReplyDeleteI've given Speck three years to get his act in place and he has been a major, MAJOR disapointment. Times up Bruce.
ReplyDeleteThe only bigger boondoggle developing in Southwest Missouri is Colonel Bill Long.
Perhaps, in two years, both Speck and Long will both be just a bad memory.
If Pittsburg State would wave out-of-state tuition for McDonald, Newton, Jasper and Barton Counties in Missouri, MSSU would be history.
ReplyDeleteBruce and Dwight (Speck and Spam) do have a vision for MSSU. It just is not a good one.
ReplyDeleteJust FYI: Pittsburg State has already waived out of state tuition for people in our area. They are also actively recruiting Missouri students.
ReplyDeleteI graduated from MSSU with my Bachelors degree, and PSU with my Masters. PSU was , by far, the higher quality experience.
The PSU out-of-state waver for MO residents in counties around MSSU is just for graduate admission, given that MSSU doesn't have graduate programs in the areas PSU is serving.
ReplyDeletePSU could not waive out of state to poach MSSU students without a serious violation of state to state regulations and agreements.
On another note, the unfortunate thing about MSSU is that the president and BOG will push to get the school to achieve actual excellence when the Joplin community demands it.
Unfortunately, they do not, and instead seem absolutely happy if MSSU teaches TV/VCR repair and cosmotology. As a result, there is no pressure from anyone to make the school better. Instead, race to the bottom is pursued. MSSU is essentially run nowadays as a huge continuing education college, whereas in quality institutions the CE division is an add-on to the normal college, not the core of what the college is all about.
Sad.
OK, for all of you who THINK you know what PSU does or doesn't allow for Missouri residents......From the PSU website:
ReplyDeleteGorilla Advantage In-State Tuition Plan (for undergraduates)
(Those admitted into the Gorilla Advantage Plan pay the equivalent of in-state tuition.)
You may be eligible for the Gorilla Advantage Plan if you are a US citizen and either live in (for 12 consecutive months), or graduate from, a high school in one of the following counties and meet the criteria below. (If qualifying based on location of high school, a student must attend PSU within one semester after high school graduation.)
Missouri - Barton, Barry, Bates, Cass, Cedar, Dade, Henry, Jackson, Jasper, Lawrence, McDonald, Newton, St. Clair, Vernon
Oklahoma - Craig, Delaware, Mayes, Nowata, Ottawa, Rogers, Tulsa, Washington
Arkansas - (Beginning in the Fall of 2011) - Benton & Washington
FRESHMEN
To be accepted, you must meet at least one of the following qualifications:
* 21 ACT composite score
* Graduate in the top 1/3 of your high school class
* Have a 2.5/4.0 cumulative GPA in the Kansas Core Curriculum*
* Have 24 or more transferable college credit hours with at least a 2.0/4.0 cumulative grade point average
*Kansas Core Curriculum:
* 4 units English
* 3 units Math (Algebra I level or higher will be accepted)
* 3 units Natural Science (at least one must be Chemistry or Physics)
* 3 units Social Science
TRANSFER
* 2.0/4.0 cumulative college GPA in a minimum of 24 credit hours
Thank you 7:11. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
ReplyDeleteBut for those of us who do not meet all of the listed criteria:
"PSU could not waive out of state to poach MSSU students without a serious violation of state to state regulations and agreements."
I'm still being punished, but, I am going to PSU anyway. The street talk at my high school is that PSU is the way to go and that MSSU has a long way to go.