I'm Just Curious About.....

So I’m curious when did the Chief of Police turn into the chief hall monitor? To wit, at the recent Town Hall meeting on Tuesday, the Chief directed workers in her supervisory chain to leave the town hall meeting before it was over or possibly before they began to ask unpleasant questions of the administration. The high school like environment created by the failed regime is clearly exemplified by this act. The paternalistic approach in the treatment of adults is to be expected.  However, it seems a bit inconsistent for the administration to invite staff to an ostensibly important town hall meeting only to abruptly uninvite them.In the more than two decades of being here, I have never seen such a capricious use of managerial authority and such a failure in personal leadership as exhibited by the new chief of police. Having no experience in a university environment, the chief has demonstrated a total lack of situational and environmental awareness.
It is also troubling that someone with only a background in law enforcement has responsibility for an enterprise as complex and important as the physical facilities of a university. Typically that role is held by an engineer, architect or planner. They have the knowledge and experience to manage complex facilities issues. It would be like putting me in charge of the police department. I have never been a certified officer so it would be inappropriate to hold such a position. Why does this administration believe that someone with no experience in an area should be put in charge o that area. It is all very curious indeed.
I am also curious about yet another interim vice president being appointed in the quickening twilight of this regime. Did the administration bring him in to cover up financial shenanigans prior to Dr. Calhoun arriving on campus? Or should we refer to the new interim as “The Miner” Is he here digging up things previously buried so that the new president has a clear accounting of both dollars and processes? Is The Miner here asking hard questions of other senior administrators?
I would hope that Dr. Calhoun is extended the courtesy of a full accounting of the past six years especially in the areas identified in audit reports and is given the opportunity to both change the culture and fix the problems of a dysfunctional culture at the same time.
Finally, I am curious why the president and the provost continue their ridiculous “listening tour.” The only thing I would need to hear from either of them is within how many days of January 1st, 2016 are they going to be permanently gone from this campus. There is nothing else I need to hear or say. So here’s an idea; stop the charade! No one here wants to hear anything else you have to say. You have failed, utterly and now it is time for you to leave and let the process of progress and advancement begin.
As of this writing it is only 62 days until January 1st, 2016. Only 62 days until the university can begin its long night’s journey into day.

A Fine Mess for the New President to Clean Up

As the new president of Chicago State prepares to assume his duties on January 1, 2016, what does he inherit? Looking back at the last several years, it is possible to assess the legacy of the outgoing administration. Obviously, our enrollment is down to levels not seen at the school since before the mid-1960s. The Chicago State web site is touting the new foundation, which has apparently received its 501(c)(3) tax status. Its efficacy is yet to be determined. While faculty ranks have been reduced, the administration is fairly bursting with high-salaried administrators who have produced a consistent track record of failure. Recently, the administration filled several positions at the Vice President and Director levels.

The school’s reputation has deteriorated since the embarrassing Elnora Daniel vacated the premises in 2008 (actually 2007, since she had a sabbatical year courtesy of our Board of Trustees). One of the contributing factors to that decline in our public image has been the number of lawsuits currently wending their ways through the courts. In particular, the suits by James Crowley, Glenn Meeks, and LaShondra Peebles have already cost the university dearly. Anyone who reads this forum regularly is familiar with the now better than $4 million award to James Crowley. Although the Meeks and Peebles matters remain in litigation, the cost to the university has already been substantial. The legal services required to defend various administrators have grown to nearly $600,000, with no end currently in sight.

In the past two fiscal years, the total contract legal expenses at Chicago State have exceeded $1.16 million. Altogether since January 1, 2010, the Chicago State administration has spent a total of $1.83 million for contract legal services, with $1.7 million going to 15 separate law firms and one contract employee with previous service as Chicago State’s General Counsel, Sonja Clayton-Pederson (now Sonja Armstrong). The yearly legal expenses for these firms/person look like this:

Fiscal 2010—$48,551.20; Fiscal 2011—130,552.50; Fiscal 2012—$179,479.80; Fiscal 2013—$182,978.60; Fiscal 2014—$758,500.40; Fiscal 2015—$405,667.87.

The firms making the most money from Chicago State include: Pugh, Jones & Johnson (defended the administration in the Crowley case)—$279,969.10; Fisher-Phillips (defense attorneys of record against both Meeks and Peebles)—$210,175.90; Franczek-Radalet (a firm the university has not used since 2013—$208,634.80; and $165,430 for former employee Sonja Armstrong. In addition, the administration has an open contract for $100,000 with Smith Amundsen, according to Circuit Court records, the firm that will represent the university in the Crowley appeal, and another open contract for $200,000 for the Stephen Stern law firm. According to the university, no record of either that contract or any invoice exists.

These legal fees are going to increase dramatically since neither the Meeks suit nor the Peebles suit has gone to trial. How much will these cases ultimately cost Chicago State? Right now, the price tag for these various matters exceeds $4.5 million. If either Meeks or Peebles wins a judgement against the university, the damages are likely to be extensive. Finally, the attorney fees for plaintiffs’ attorneys are usually part of any award. How much will those be? Obviously, there are no guarantees in court, but given the university’s track record in litigation, there seems little reason to think the monetary bleeding will stop soon. Altogether, just these three cases could cost Chicago State somewhere around $10 million. Quite a gift from the current administration to our new president.

Congratulations to Another CSU Alumnus

So I was paging through my emails and got the Official Use Only version of the document below. It is the press release from the Cook County Department of Homeland Security. Their long serving director has stepped down and County Board President Toni Preckwinkle has appointed a new director, Ernest Brown, to head the agency. With a long career in public safety I was especially gratified to discover that Mr. Brown is a graduate of CSU from my department. I am hopeful under the incoming administration there will be a heightened focus on emergency management both as an academic endeavor and a practical application. The outgoing regime has been remarkably inept in this area highlighting its status as a kakistocracy (I love dictionary.com) of the first order. 

Congratulations to Mr. Ernest Brown, CSU alum and new director of the Cook County Department of Homeland Security. 

 

A Big Difference Between 2009 and 2015: Chicago State's Board Selects a New President

“It is with heavy heart that we will say goodbye to [our departing president].. . Our new president will have to utilize all those talents as he comes in to a situation that is not ideal.” Nikki Zollar, Anthony Young, October 8, 2015.

Some random thoughts on last Thursday’s selection: First, I found striking the difference between the university community’s response to Thomas Calhoun’s selection as president in 2015 and the 2009 fiasco. Enthusiasm and optimism seemed to reign last Thursday, a sharp contrast with the feelings of anger and betrayal that marked the 2009 search process.

Second, the university community clearly favored Thomas Calhoun over the two other finalists. Whether or not one finds the process itself satisfactory, clearly this time the Board listened to the various constituencies at Chicago State and chose accordingly. In my estimation, the almost uniformly positive response to Calhoun’s selection reflects the belief of students, staff and faculty that the Board, rather than ramming an unpopular candidate down our throats, took seriously our concerns.

Third, we have a tremendous amount of work ahead of us to undo the damage done the past six years. Most important, several persons most responsible for our school’s decline remain in key administrative positions. The toxic administrative culture these persons have created must be eradicated in order for the university to realize what all of us hope will be a new beginning here at Chicago State. For the past several months, the administration has basically ground to a halt, failing to meet even their most basic responsibilities (like paying people their earnings for instance). The propensity for micro-management and concentration of power into one central location we have watched unfold since 2009 has not served us well. The alternative seems simple: empower various constituencies in a decentralized and mutually supportive structure in which the expertise of different persons or groups is utilized for the well-being of the entire university. This school must use its resources to the fullest.

We must never again witness the kind of behavior that brought us this:

(Page 81 of our 2015 Ethics Training).

Can we do this? I believe so. January 1 cannot come soon enough.

Listen to the tide slowly turning
Wash all our heartaches away
We're part of the fire that is burning
And from the ashes we can build another day

Moody Blues “The Story in Your Eyes” 1971

Please Sign the Petition to Save Illinois' Public Universities

To any of our readers outside the university who reside in Illinois. Please take a moment to sign the petition to save public education in Illinois. The petition is available here: https://www.change.org/p/illinois-state-house-illinois-state-senate-bruce-rauner-protect-higher-education-in-illinois. Also, please share the petition with your friends on facebook or other social media sites. Several state universities are facing the very real prospect of an impending shutdown if the posturing and preening Illinois politicians--who will be paid whether the state has a budget or not--continue to hold hundreds of thousands of students, state and university employees hostage. Since there has been little or no press coverage of the damage being done to the Illinois public higher education system, it is imperative that we make our voices heard.

On January 1, 2016, Chicago State's New President Takes Office

Most important from the perspective of the staff, faculty and students at Chicago State, Thomas Calhoun's contract begins on January 1, 2016 (as reported in the Chicago Tribune).

Thomas J. Calhoun is Selected as Chicago State's New President

Blogging live from the Board meeting: After three hours in executive session the Board is finally back. Nikki Zollar thanks the search participants. It's Thomas J. Calhoun. The Board votes unanimously to hire Thomas J. Calhoun. Chicago State has a new president.

Here We Go: Tomorrow New Prez Announcement by the BOT

Tomorrow the Board will hold a special meeting to, among other things, announce the new CSU president. See the agenda. 

CHICAGO STATE UNIVERSITY

Special Board of Trustees Meeting

Full Board Meeting

Academic Library, Auditorium Room 415

Thursday, October 8, 2015

8:30 a.m.

AGENDA

1. Call to Order…….......…………..…………..Trustee Anthony L. Young

2. Roll Call……………………………………… Ms. Bonnie Phillips

.

3. Verification of Meeting Notice…………… …Ms. Bonnie Phillips

4. Acknowledgement of President Search Committee…Trustee Anthony L. Young

5. Reports

  a. Academic and Student Affairs…………….Trustee James Joyce

     1. Action Items

          a. Partnerships to STEP-UP in Health Care Resolution.…Dr. Angela Henderson

          b. The Center for STEM Education & Research at Chicago State University Resolution...Dr. Angela Henderson

6. Recess into Executive Session Pursuant to The Illinois Open Meetings Act

         a. Employment Matters

         b. Legal Matters

7. Reconvene into Open Session

    1. Action Item

        a. Presidential Contract …………………Mr. Patrick Cage, Esq.

8. Introduction of New President………………Trustee Anthony L. Young

9. Other Matters

       a. Public and Employee Comments

10. Adjournment

Prepare for the Unthinkable

So I was catching up on news and one item caught my eye. I read this past Sunday that the FBI’s Philadelphia field office was warning colleges and universities in the city to be vigilant in light of the attack at the Oregon college last week. Apparently, monitoring of social media revealed a possible threat to higher education institutions in the city. Today Community College of Philadelphia was put on lock down as police searched for a possible gunman on campus. No suspects were found and no injuries were reported. This is especially troubling as urban environments provide much more cover for armed attackers to escape. The campus lock down in Philadelphia appears by all reports to have gone well.
That had me thinking, what would happen at CSU if there were a need to lock down the campus while an investigation or sweep were conducted? I am sure that law enforcement would manage well enough but what about the few thousand students, staff and faculty on campus who have never received any training or participated in any exercises to test the readiness for such an event. 

I have taught both graduate and undergraduate courses in Homeland Security and Emergency Management. I have quite a bit of training in this area and I am concerned at the lack of readiness on the part of the campus given the number of active shooter incidents in the past ten years at colleges and universities across the country. And it isn’t as if this campus is in the midst of a joyous renaissance. Morale is virtually non-existent and discontent is probably the highest I have witnessed in 24 years. These factors coupled with an administration that is clearly out of its depth provide the conditions for the perfect storm of mishandling a crisis of the kind witnessed in Oregon last week. I personally have spoken for years to the Board of Trustees meetings about the university’s lack of preparedness and have been ignored even though I possess the knowledge, skills and experience to speak authoritatively on the matter.  University administrators may imitate ostriches as much as they want but burying their heads in the sand does not prevent incidents or prepare institutions for these all too common occurrences.
As a vested member of this university, I am thankful for every day that passes without incident as we move closer to the end of the current regime. It is my fervent hope that a calamitous misfortune is not delivered to this campus. The university doesn’t deserve it and is clearly not prepared for it.

Remember the Maria Moore Lawsuit at City Colleges?: Here's How Much Watson's Behavior Cost the Taxpayers of Chicago

As has been chronicled on this blog, the James Crowley case is hardly the first instance of costly managerial misconduct by Wayne Watson. Some time ago, I speculated on the damages awarded to Maria Moore in her lawsuit against Watson for unlawful firing, harrassment and sundry other allegations. Now thanks to the miracle of FOIA (and the responsiveness of an institution other than Chicago State), it is possible to determine exactly how much Watson’s malfeasance cost the City Colleges.

First, Moore actually filed her lawsuit after Watson had become president of Chicago State. Second, while there is a confidentiality agreement in the settlement, it is not binding on parties not involved in the suit. Third, settlement agreements involving public agencies are public information. I’ve included a copy of the memorandum I received from City Colleges to insure that the vituperative occupant of Admin 313 knows that this information came through a request under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act.

Here’s the damage: total amount of the settlement cost the City Colleges (not Watson, of course), $1,175,000, broken down as follows:

To Maria Moore for lost wages: $252,014.
To Maria Moore for damages: $468,026.
To Robin Potter and Associates (attorneys for Maria Moore) for legal fees: $329,163.56
To John P. DeRose and Associates (attorneys for Maria Moore) for legal fees: $125, 796.44.

Just to emphasize, the City Colleges settled this lawsuit. If it had gone to trial, the City Colleges would most likely have lost with the resulting damages close to James Crowley territory. However, the City Colleges Board of Trustees recognized a loser when they saw one and did the responsible thing. Compare that to our own Board throwing more money down the rathole in order to appeal the Crowley verdict.

If you are counting, Wayne Watson has cost the taxpayers of Cook County at least $1,175,000 and has the taxpayers of Illinois on the hook for an additional $4,000,000 in the Crowley case. When will the Board put an end to this madness?

Here are the relevant documents: