Felner: Piled Higher and Deeper

Guilty or innocent - one thing is becoming clear. Robert Felner made an impression on the people he came into contact with - and much of it was not good. Described to KSN&C as a "New York street fighter," it's becoming easier to see how he might have earned the moniker.

Jacob Payne continues to peel the onion at Page One Kentucky. Last week he noted that Felner had been targeted for ....what ....vandalism? ....revenge?

...we uncovered police reports that reveal that Felner has done some things so wrong (or right) that people were driven to vandalize his convertible BMW. On more than one occasion.

Sweet ride.

This week Jake picks up where he left off...digging his way through what he describes as hundreds of documents. Among them are grievances filed by U of L faculty. Apparently some Page One commenters had suggested that Felner was the most grieved individual on campus and the College of Education and Human Development led the university when it came to keeping the Faculty Grievance Officer busy.

In 2005 (PDF link) the College of Education and Human Development was responsible for 42% (13) of faculty grievance consultations. That’s six more than the School of Medicine at 23%.

Fine and dandy, right? Maybe. Until one examines the 2006 (PDF link) report from the Faculty Grievance Officer. That year 15 (56%) of the 27 grievance consultations that took place were within the CEHD.

Quite a number. So many, in fact, that that grievance officer Suzanne Meeks had this to add: "Due to the number of consultations from CEHD, and the level of negative affect associated with those consultations, I have worked with the Provost’s office to recommend that they use administrative mechanisms to restore morale, faculty governance, and collegial interaction there. Although I believe interventions have been attempted ....they have yet been effective."

Then there was this from Meeks:

Over the three years of my tenure as FGO, I have consulted with at least one-third of the CEHD faculty. Throughout this time, I have heard talk of retaliation against faculty members who file grievances or requests for mediation. The majority of those I have spoken with are not willing to file grievances because of this fear of retaliation, which extends to those who testify at grievance hearings as well. This situation demonstrates a significant weakness in the grievance system, in that there is no way to prevent such retaliation when one files a complaint against someone who has the power to determine work load agreements and salary increases, approve expenditures, and allocate resources.

Out in the world the Felner investigation has been expanded yet again. Gary Kunich of the Kenosha News revealed new information last Friday (print edition only) that federal "agents returned Thursday to the University of Rhode Island for more interviews, but declined to say if they took any paperwork with them."

Federal investigators have also begun to examine Felner’s non-profit organization at the University of Rhode Island.

The Kenosha News has learned that investigators are looking at millions of dollars in grants that Felner brought in while working at various universities throughout the United States, as well as a defunct non-profit that no longer exists in Rock Island, Ill.

Keep on keeping on, Jake.