Rumble and Stumble in the SOPA Dean seach committee?
On Tuesday, January 5, 2019 Provost
Harris met with the SOPA faculty to answer questions and provide answers to
critical and pertinent questions that were germane to the future of SOPA
leadership. Provost Harris did his best
to downplay and deflect questions that most of the SOPA faculty as well as the
former SOPA committee asked him.
Questions were raised as to why was the previous committee disbanded and
moreover what exactly did the previous committee do wrong for the search
process to be so broken according to the Provost?
Several faculty also asked Provost to condemn and disavow the nasty and unprovoked email sent by Dr. Bullard (former dean of SOPA) who called most of his own colleagues and SOPA faculty as “deadwood” and that these faculty were “addicted to overloads” (extra classes payment). The Provost refused to do this and kept insisting that the faculty needed to move on and forget the past. Easier said than done however. Dr. Bullard was present at the meeting and appeared to snicker and giggle at the memory of his now infamous email that was made public through an Open Records request and sent to Provost Harris in January 2018 when he first arrived at TSU’s campus.
Several faculty also asked Provost to condemn and disavow the nasty and unprovoked email sent by Dr. Bullard (former dean of SOPA) who called most of his own colleagues and SOPA faculty as “deadwood” and that these faculty were “addicted to overloads” (extra classes payment). The Provost refused to do this and kept insisting that the faculty needed to move on and forget the past. Easier said than done however. Dr. Bullard was present at the meeting and appeared to snicker and giggle at the memory of his now infamous email that was made public through an Open Records request and sent to Provost Harris in January 2018 when he first arrived at TSU’s campus.
The email was particularly hurtful to
several faculty members who were vocal at the meeting, most notably 2 AJ
professors who were quite upset about the implication that they were
“deadwood”. One of the professors has
recently published a book and the other is the current Forensics Lab Director who has spent most of her career in public service working on grants and has a
stellar reputation with all her students as an approachable, effective and
likable teacher.
We at Transparency State condemn Dr.
Bullard for this type of petty and bad behavior towards his own
colleagues. We are also deeply and
shamefully disappointed in the attitude of Provost Harris, whom as our defacto
leader (since King Lane is out shopping for a new palace) should be held to a
higher standard and should openly condemn Dr. Bullard for such an unnecessary
and juvenile email.
The real question about the so-called "failed dean search" was never
addressed- why was Dr. Adams rejected by King Lane when former Provost Wilson
recommended him as the best candidate for permanent dean? Are the rumors really true that King Lane is
jealous of Dr. Adams success as Director of the EMPA program which has been
wildly and lucratively successful for SOPA as well as for all of TSU? After all, SOPA appears to be the ONLY school
which is not bleeding red and Dr. Adams has to be granted major street cred for
his leadership and management of the EMPA program. Perhaps this is also why King Lane refuses to
allow the proposed DPA program to go forward?
After all, if we cannot hold our
leaders accountable to the awful behavior of our own colleagues, who can?
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