So is it possible for an utterly failed administration to exit gracefully? In the case of CSU, apparently not. With a rumored departure of January 1st, the Watson regime cannot end soon enough. What the university will be faced with unfortunately is a scorched earth departure. Observers have seen evidence of this in recent months as micro layoffs and other superfluous reorganizations have occurred. The elimination of security positions in the police department, the firing of the Directors of Admissions and Financial Aid, the reassignment of the Director of TRIO, the elimination of the Associate Director of International Programs all speak to an intentional policy of continuing to destroy the university. And all of this comes as the Provost continues to fail at her position and Cheri Sidney occupies an empty office suite doing who knows what besides collecting a six figure salary. The destruction of corporate memory by this administration has been inconceivable. Any person who would defend the actions of this regime is obviously someone who knows nothing about higher education, is a lackey or just plain stupid. Knowing that the run is mercifully coming to an end you might expect that there wouldn’t be a new Vice President for Administration and Finance joining this failed regime. I have it on good authority that the incumbent interim VP was told not to announce his departure or that a successor was being brought in. Given this administration’s history of incompetent hires, one can only imagine what skill set this phantom VP brings and the damage s/he wreak might in the next three months.
I asked a colleague in a non-academic department how evaluations were conducted and the most insightful observation was that evaluation is impossible if you don’t have the tools to do the job. Watson and his minions have done everything in their power to deprive the faculty and staff of the tools necessary to do their jobs. It’s clear who the losers in this are and also clear who bears responsibility. It is the secretive body currently attempting to hire a successor to Watson. Maybe in another couple of months the Board might have a meeting and vote on the hire and then by January let the university know who will be taking over the reins. And then again maybe not. This Board has demonstrated the same propensities as the president in terms of not effectively communicating with the university.
So none of this Kafkaesque theater surprises me. It just saddens me.
I asked a colleague in a non-academic department how evaluations were conducted and the most insightful observation was that evaluation is impossible if you don’t have the tools to do the job. Watson and his minions have done everything in their power to deprive the faculty and staff of the tools necessary to do their jobs. It’s clear who the losers in this are and also clear who bears responsibility. It is the secretive body currently attempting to hire a successor to Watson. Maybe in another couple of months the Board might have a meeting and vote on the hire and then by January let the university know who will be taking over the reins. And then again maybe not. This Board has demonstrated the same propensities as the president in terms of not effectively communicating with the university.
So none of this Kafkaesque theater surprises me. It just saddens me.
Somewhere in the Board Regulations or Governing Policies there is a statement that the hiring of VPs or higher must be done in a university-wide search, e.g. faculty participation. How many of the Watson cronies have been hired that way? Then again, if Anthony Young with Zollar, Joyce, Curtin, Leak, Smith, and Hatch allows Watson to feather the nests of his friends and loyal retainers, then it is the Board who are truly to blame for the abuse of the public trust they were given to uphold.
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