Rauner Makes Everyone Pay for the Excesses of a Few: Who is Really Responsible For the Kinds of Abuses He Describes?

Those of you who have been following the recent reports on Chicago State’s fiscal woes may have noticed a reference to a recent memo written by Rauner asking what state universities plan to do to cut “waste.” Here is a copy of that memorandum. I have no idea if any of the figures Rauner cites are accurate, but as far as I know, no one at Chicago State has access to a private jet. As for the other accusations, you can decide for yourself to which schools he refers. Of course, if he’s serious about addressing some of these issues, destroying the state’s system of public education seems a somewhat extreme response. After all, the vast majority of faculty, staff and students, for their employment or attendance at the various state schools, will not receive “car and driver services, memberships to multiple country clubs,” or “lavish golden parachutes,” like the “$480,418 in severance after just seven months on the job,” UIUC “gave fired University President Timothy Flanagan,” or the “$400,000” in severance pay UIUC “attempted to pay fired Chancellor Phyllis Wise.” Additionally, the vast majority of faculty, staff and students at the Illinois public universities have no hand in procurement or salary “waste,” or hiring and promotions based on “cronyism.” We have received neither “31.1 percent” salary increases in any seven-year period, nor “627,000” for our lobbying efforts. Nonetheless, we will pay the price for the political posturing of our Governor and legislators.

Just who is responsible for the kinds of abuses Rauner cites? Who hires university presidents? Is it Boards of Trustees who are recommended by legislators and appointed by the Governor? Using our own little university as an example, remember back in March 2013 when we had the opportunity to rid ourselves of our president and his crony-infested administration? Who was that who rode to his rescue by staging a circus at two separate Board meetings? Were there well-known political figures involved in the effort to retain our execrable president? Was it not the Governor of Illinois who failed to re-appoint Board members who favored our former president's removal and replaced them with Watson supporters? Exactly how much of a voice do university faculty, staff and students have in these matters? Of course in this twisted state political system, it makes perfect sense to hold the "little people" accountable for the misdeeds of the powerful.

I had more to say on this topic but it’s time for me to get on Chicago State's private jet and fly to the Bahamas for a nice junket on the taxpayers.

With the Junior G-Man Out of Office, it's Now Just a Regular Car

Yesterday I noticed something different about the state car driven by the President of Chicago State. You may remember how our former president had the car outfitted with red and blue auxiliary lights in the front. Now the two are simply standard white lights. Looks like no more junior policeman in the president's office.

CSU Faculty Accomplishment--Dr. Lionel Kimble

For critics of our university, here's what our faculty do on a regular basis. This program features my friend and colleague, Dr. Lionel Kimble. Lionel, congratulations on your book!

Editor Still Needed for Our Web Site Material

As if we needed a reminder that some things may be slow to change, this currently appears as the top story on the CSU web site. Someone (preferably an English language speaker) needs to proofread this material before it's posted. This is embarrassing.

Some Observations on Week One

Building on the most recent post from my esteemed colleague, I will make some observations about Dr. Calhoun’s first week and some predictions about the kinds of cultural changes I believe will occur under his administration.

Most important is that Dr. Calhoun begins his term with a clean slate. Changing the masthead on this forum is a sign of the good faith of its contributors and a reflection of our belief that better things are ahead as we see the development and maturation of the reforms we are convinced will come.

Here are some of the things I know Dr. Calhoun did his first week. Taken the first steps toward the creation of a new culture of cooperation and mutual respect between the administration, staff, and faculty by establishing open communication with the leadership of both the Faculty Senate and the UPI 4100 local. Both Dr. Beverly and I had productive and cordial meetings with our new President this past week, an experience that took place almost never during the Watson administration.

Dr. Calhoun also responded quickly to e-mails from the union leadership about pressing personnel matters. In contrast to the Watson administration, his timely replies obviously spurred other senior management personnel to also respond in an appropriate time frame. I have to say that not being ignored by upper level administrators on matters important to our faculty and staff was a refreshing change from the deafening silence of the Watson administration.

Finally, Dr. Calhoun resolved a long-standing issue for me relative to the receipt of important enrollment information from the university administration. Simply, after several months of asking to be included on an e-mail distribution list, one e-mail to the President did the trick. I was added the same day I made the request.

Needless to say, having to appeal to the President for some of the matters I described above should not be necessary in a well administered university. That, of course, is the residue of the Watson administration, where even mundane decisions often required his approval. In my estimation, a seismic cultural shift is underway; it will be interesting to see how fast (or if) some of our holdovers figure out that it’s not business as usual here at Chicago State.

Here are some changes I think we will see in the very near future: No more silence from the administration when important issues are communicated. No more personnel decisions made at the top that benefit one or two persons at the expense of the university at large. Specifically, no more hiring based on personal loyalty or political reliability rather than basic competence, No more micro-managing of things like personnel decisions. No more wasting of faculty time on studies that are completely disregarded by the administration. No more seemingly gratuitous and insouciant violations of contractual deadlines.

This does not mean there will not be disagreement, even vigorous disagreement, in the future. However, at this point, I am content to wait and see how things develop. The stark contrast between the early management styles of our new President and our former President gives me reason for cautious optimism. Like all of us on this campus, I fervently desire that this president succeeds and that our school flourishes. I also believe that those two things are now inextricably linked.

A New Look For A New Year

So loyal readers, you may have noticed the long running graphic of Crony State University has been replaced. Currently the administrators of this humble blog are endeavoring to introduce a new graphic, more consistent with the expected improvements being considered by President Calhoun. This does not mean that the existing cronies are exonerated or departed and it does not mean that we will not continue to keep the community informed on goings on as we have for almost seven years. We do hope to bring you more good news especially about areas that we have reported on. 

Thanks to you loyal readers for your support and we look forward to keeping you as informed as we always have.

Week One Is In The Books

So we have come to the end of the first week of the Calhoun Administration and it is clear a new tone is being set. I have no idea what his plan(s) is/are but I am convinced he has a plan. Morale seems to be improving as long suffering employees welcome 2016. The Faculty Senate Social Committee is hosting a dinner and has invited President Calhoun to attend. This purely social event was the brain child of Dr. Tonya Hall. Her leadership was instrumental in reforming the committee and undertaking a bold event at the beginning of the semester and new year. Thanks in advance to the Social Committee members for all of their work and to the Faculty Senate Vice President, Jason Raynovich for supporting the committee in planning this first of its kind event. 

All competent executives take some time to evaluate the situations that they enter into. Hasty decision making is usually the sign of incompetent leadership. Thoughtful and measured decision making is the opposite. I hope that as President Calhoun evaluates the condition of CSU he realizes that faculty will be supportive of his efforts to repair damage done by the former regime. We eagerly await the results of his assessment and stand ready to support the changes needed to make the university viable again.

The Henderson Enrollment Fiasco Continues: Another Semester With Fewer Students Coming Your Way

There is no shame in making a mistake. However, refusing to admit when you’re wrong is either: 1) arrogant, or 2) ignorant. Most important, a stubborn refusal to acknowledge one’s mistakes makes it impossible to learn from them. This dynamic is again on display here at Chicago State as one of the key holdovers from the Watson administration refuses to acknowledge a catastrophic decision that continues to damage the university.

Given the time of year, I can only be referring to our school’s enrollment and the ongoing problems with advising coupled with an utterly stupid decision to cut courses this week. This morning, the university’s enrollment stood at 3624, down more than one thousand from last fall and nearly twelve hundred from last spring. It seems that extending the window for enrollment might be an appropriate response. Not here.

Of course, the poor unfortunates laboring in the Advising Center are currently swamped with students. I have received reports that two hour waits for advising are not uncommon and one student claimed to have waited four hours to see an advisor. Given the problems with the centralized advising system during the fall semester, why have they not been addressed? Why are our students being treated like this? Whose interests does this system serve?

The simple answer to the first two questions is that Angela Henderson, the architect of this system, is unwilling to accept responsibility for its failure. As you may recall, she issued an edict in August directing everyone to do advising in the Advising Center, then followed that up with another fiat in November essentially prohibiting faculty from doing any advising. The result in the fall? A new enrollment low of 4767, down 151 students from the previous spring, off 434 from the previous fall. Undaunted however, Henderson forges ahead with the same system for spring registration. Although the final numbers will not be in until February, I expect us to be in between 4300 and 4400, a unsurprising climax to six-plus years of administrative incompetence and crony hiring.

Congratulations!!!!

So loyal readers, it is with great pleasure I am able to extend my most heartfelt congratulations to my esteemed colleague Dr. Sarah Buck. Dr. Buck was the recipient of an award recently that will have her traveling to Montreal, Canada to accept. Please note the following below.

Much of the work of many of my faculty colleagues goes unnoticed. Thus I am extremely happy to share their work with you as it brings great credit to them and to this university. 

Sarah, well done!!!

Happy New Year!

So loyal readers, it is now official. Dr. Thomas Calhoun is now the president of Chicago State University. Let us all hope that 2016 is the year that that healing and repair of our humble university begins and that Baldy's Gang is invited to pursue other career opportunities.

The countdown is over.