The USM settlement
By Staff
May 3, 2004
Disputed personnel decisions tend to detract from the main mission of education in Mississippi, which is to give young people the mental tools they need to build a successful life. That's why it was good news when beleaguered University of Southern Mississippi President Shelby Thames and two fired USM professors settled a conflict last week.
The two professors will remain at USM for two years in non-teaching roles and, in return, will not to pursue legal action against the university. It may or may not be the best solution, but it is a solution.
What was expected to be a two-day hearing featuring Thames, sociology professor Frank Glamser and English professor Gary Stringer was truncated when mediator Reuben Anderson announced the agreement. The College Board approved the deal on Friday.
Thames had testified that the professors had made misleading statements and acted dishonestly in digging into the qualifications of Angie Dvorak, USM's vice president of research and economic development. Thames and attorneys for the university indicated the real reason the professors initiated the investigation was their dislike of Thames' administration. Attorneys for the professors argued it was Thames, not the professors, who had acted unprofessionally in seeking to dismiss the two and had, in effect, retaliated against them. The professors had sent Dvorak's Social Security number out over the Internet in an effort to obtain information.
School officials have said Dvorak's credentials were checked and found to be correct, and she remains on the job. Suffice it to say, no one should misuse another person's Social Security number in this fashion, no matter what their personal like or dislike for their bosses.
All that said, it is clearly in the best interests of USM for this problem to go away. Somehow, the university needs to get out of a contentious atmosphere and back to the basic business of education. College Board President Thomas Colbert put it succinctly: Now we will be able to move ahead and continue focusing on providing first rate education at USM.''
