I’ve gotten a lot of nice emails, but this is the first one critical of something I’ve written. I’m printing it without comment:
Most of your blogs are good. But that was not cool to post a link about the new football coach getting two DUIs (http://ucflovesmoney.blogspot.com/2009/01/so-it-goes.html). Why would you do that - how long ago was that - 13/16 years ago? That man has nothing to do with athletics getting more $ than departments. Should the college look at how much $ they spend on athletics - sure. Should they cut money - possibly. But as a graduate (both UG and GRAD) I am glad UCF is trying to build up the football program - even though I don't know anything about football I know when I am in a job interview people will ask me about the Knights. Do they ask about some obscure research done by a math prof - no - they ask about football. It doesn't make it right - and sure it sucks. But it isn't that man's problem. And at the end of the day most of the jocks will be back in school to get a real education after their athletic career ends - just like when I was getting my masters at UCF- I sat next to a former NFL player. His degree in communications didn't get him as far as he thought it would. So let the people in athletics have the little bit of glory they can get.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Unintentionally Funny
Terry Hickey:
No good deed goes unpunished, because the last thing I heard was we need bigger stipends, and now we need more graduate students.
You make me smile, little buddy. Graduate stipends were only increased because graduate student credit hour production sucked. If good deeds are punished, you got nothing to worry about.
No good deed goes unpunished, because the last thing I heard was we need bigger stipends, and now we need more graduate students.
You make me smile, little buddy. Graduate stipends were only increased because graduate student credit hour production sucked. If good deeds are punished, you got nothing to worry about.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Mea Culpa
In an earlier post, I said that UCF administrators did the right thing by declining administrative bonuses. When I wrote this, I wondered if I was being naïve, but I decided to not think the worst of them. In a letter to his colleagues, Jim Gilkeson set me straight:
Last week, President Hitt and Provost Hickey visited the faculty in some of our colleges and told them to expect unpaid "furloughs" (aka leave without pay or salary cuts) because of UCF's dire financial condition.
All the while, 300 palm trees are planted in front of the President's gated residence. The university announces that it is going to proceed with $82,000 worth of excellence awards and $500,000 in TIP, RIA, and SoTL salary increases, both actions being in violation of state labor law. Dozens of administrators retire, replacements are hired, and then the retired administrators are hired back on new contracts, covertly swelling the ranks of UCF's administration, while the number of classroom faculty dwindles. Through it all, President Hitt's 5-figure car allowance, gold-plated health care plan, and deferred compensation package remain intact.
The final straw? That secret bonus plan for UCF's top 11 administrators? President Hitt and his VPs didn't turn down the bonuses (as they claimed in a press release that was circulated one day before a television report about them was going to air), they merely deferred the bonuses to a later date. Our senior administrators still think they deserve over $450,000 in bonuses. Outrageous. They say there’s no money for raises. They make threats of pay cuts. Yet our senior administration still plans to pay itself half a million in bonuses – as soon as it won’t be a public relations nightmare to do so. It’s bad enough when this sort of behavior drives multi-billion dollar financial institutions into bankruptcy; it’s unbelievable that it would happen at a tax-payer supported, public university.
UCF administrators think only of themselves. I’m sorry I suggested otherwise. To my loyal readers, I will do better in the future.
Last week, President Hitt and Provost Hickey visited the faculty in some of our colleges and told them to expect unpaid "furloughs" (aka leave without pay or salary cuts) because of UCF's dire financial condition.
All the while, 300 palm trees are planted in front of the President's gated residence. The university announces that it is going to proceed with $82,000 worth of excellence awards and $500,000 in TIP, RIA, and SoTL salary increases, both actions being in violation of state labor law. Dozens of administrators retire, replacements are hired, and then the retired administrators are hired back on new contracts, covertly swelling the ranks of UCF's administration, while the number of classroom faculty dwindles. Through it all, President Hitt's 5-figure car allowance, gold-plated health care plan, and deferred compensation package remain intact.
The final straw? That secret bonus plan for UCF's top 11 administrators? President Hitt and his VPs didn't turn down the bonuses (as they claimed in a press release that was circulated one day before a television report about them was going to air), they merely deferred the bonuses to a later date. Our senior administrators still think they deserve over $450,000 in bonuses. Outrageous. They say there’s no money for raises. They make threats of pay cuts. Yet our senior administration still plans to pay itself half a million in bonuses – as soon as it won’t be a public relations nightmare to do so. It’s bad enough when this sort of behavior drives multi-billion dollar financial institutions into bankruptcy; it’s unbelievable that it would happen at a tax-payer supported, public university.
UCF administrators think only of themselves. I’m sorry I suggested otherwise. To my loyal readers, I will do better in the future.
Heston Concedes UCF’s Naïve Optimism
UCF is having trouble finding a corporation to pay a bunch of money for the naming rights to the arena. Here’s the telling paragraph in the story:
Money from the naming rights was built into the arena's revenue model from the beginning, said UCF spokesman Grant Heston, though it's not clear how much the university hopes to get at this point.
Money from the naming rights was built into the arena's revenue model from the beginning, said UCF spokesman Grant Heston, though it's not clear how much the university hopes to get at this point.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Bizarro World
First, UCF punished an administrator for stealing and now eleven UCF administrators are turning down $469,000 worth of raises. If this keeps up*, I’ll have to change the name of this blog to UCF Loves Doing the Right Thing.
* It won’t.
* It won’t.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Stopping the Corruption
The Sentinel is right to conclude that state lawmakers should be prohibited from state employment. I would also suggest that any time a state agency wants to hire the child, spouse, or sibling of a legislator that there should be an independent review to determine that the job is essential and that the candidate with the legislative connection is the best qualified.
Monday, February 2, 2009
How To Steal From UCF
Bill Wetherell* used to do the schedule for UCF Regional Campuses. He hated his boss, David Harrison – Vice Provost for Regional Campuses, and attempted to manipulate events so that Harrison would be fired.
Harrison, however, thought Bill was wonderful and one of the best people he had working for him. So, when an anonymous tipster lodged a complaint that Bill illegally subverted the competitive bid process and steered thousands of dollars in UCF money to the Wetherell family sign making company, Harrison initially dismissed it as without merit.
Later, Harrison was given evidence of Bill’s betrayal that was so damning that even the childishly-naïve Harrison concluded that Bill was his enemy. Although the merits of the complaint had not changed, Harrison reversed his earlier position and ordered a formal investigation of the allegation of financial impropriety.
The point of this story: If you are going to steal from UCF, make sure you don’t have or make any enemies. If Jamal Nayfeh, who used his UCF credit card to buy a home theatre system, had been better liked and more politically connected, he may have gotten away with it or only had to slowly pay back the stolen funds à la David Mealor.
Remember, Mealor was reported because he made an enemy of a low-level employee, but he was left unpunished by the more powerful because he was politically connected. At UCF, if everybody loves or fears you, you can take whatever you want.
* Years earlier, Wetherell had been sentenced to several years in Federal Prison for his involvement in political graft.
Harrison, however, thought Bill was wonderful and one of the best people he had working for him. So, when an anonymous tipster lodged a complaint that Bill illegally subverted the competitive bid process and steered thousands of dollars in UCF money to the Wetherell family sign making company, Harrison initially dismissed it as without merit.
Later, Harrison was given evidence of Bill’s betrayal that was so damning that even the childishly-naïve Harrison concluded that Bill was his enemy. Although the merits of the complaint had not changed, Harrison reversed his earlier position and ordered a formal investigation of the allegation of financial impropriety.
The point of this story: If you are going to steal from UCF, make sure you don’t have or make any enemies. If Jamal Nayfeh, who used his UCF credit card to buy a home theatre system, had been better liked and more politically connected, he may have gotten away with it or only had to slowly pay back the stolen funds à la David Mealor.
Remember, Mealor was reported because he made an enemy of a low-level employee, but he was left unpunished by the more powerful because he was politically connected. At UCF, if everybody loves or fears you, you can take whatever you want.
* Years earlier, Wetherell had been sentenced to several years in Federal Prison for his involvement in political graft.
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