Ramsey got Felner's assurance. Now we get Stone's.

I was talking recently to a friend. He's a former Frankfort insider, and refugee from the Fletcher Administration, who had met with Louisville President James Ramsey a few times on business in recent years. He thought Ramsey was a heck of a fella. Still does.

He thinks its a shame that Ramsey is now being tarnished by his protection of former CEHD Dean Robert Felner. But he knows how it goes. One bad act, or a major failure of judgment, can indeed outweigh tons of other good acts in the eyes of the public.

Unfortunately, in Ramsey's case, the long-term protection of Felner despite very disturbing evidence of several varieties of harassment lays heavy on the balance sheet. Then there's the recent revelation of worse; missing grant money and Prince Georges County Schools Superintendent John Deasy's instant degree.

But all is not lost. Just as Felner had Ramsey's support, Ramsey has the support of at least two members of the Board of Trustees. Previously J Chester Porter declared,

"We have worked with (U of L President) Jim (Ramsey) and (Provost) Shirley
(Willihnganz) long enough to know they, too, care deeply about the welfare of
all the University's employees and students."

One supposes that caring is the attribute that trumps all else.

In a letter to the editor in today's C-J, another Trustee, William Stone, jumped in the bunker with Porter.

As just one trustee of the University of Louisville, I want to publicly declare my support and confidence in the ability, integrity and judgment of our outstanding president, James Ramsey.

My friend would concur about Ramsey's ability. But in the Felner case, it is specifically integrity and judgment that are in doubt. When relatively weak persons sought his help to redress grievances, there was none to be had.

Stone laments the "almost daily hammering" at the hands of the Courier. Others lamented that it took C-J three weeks to get on the story to begin with. But Stone would assure us that Ramsey "has been pushing the right levers to get to the essence of the issues confronting us."

Then Stone tries and fails to compare the situation at Louisville with the Duke University lacrosse team. He thinks that Ramsey addressing the issues publicly is "courageous."

Apparently Stone, Ramsey, and the media agree that "the facts and truth should dominate the ultimate judgment of an individual." That's why media reports have all been based on university documents and verified facts. Stone would prefer that the media just kept it to themselves.

But not to worry. All is well. We have his assurance.

I can assure all those who read this offering, from the perspective of someone who has been intimately engaged with U of L as an 30-year overseer before becoming a trustee, that the leadership of our beloved U of L is in steady and skilled hands. We will come out of this stronger and better as we continue our inevitable journey toward national academic prominence.

I'm pretty sure Ramsey had Felner's assurance, too.

Hat tip to Jake.

21 Former U of L Faculty complain of inaction on Felner

Twenty-one former faculty members at the Ville's College of Education and Human Development sent a snappy letter to university Trustees, perhaps prompting Chair J. Chester Porter's defense of President James Ramsey and Provost Shirley Willihnganz's inaction in the "Felner Affair."

...and they offer proof of their claims

Porter

August 22, 2008

To: University of Louisville Board of Trustees

From: Twenty-one former UofL faculty members who served under Robert Felner

Re: “The Felner Affair” in the College of Education and Human Development (CEHD)

We write this letter to the Board of Trustees of the University of Louisville in response to what is being referred to in newspaper, TV, and blogosphere reports in Kentucky and elsewhere as “The Felner Affair.”

We are former UofL CEHD faculty members who served under Dean Robert Felner. Some of us left UofL in part because of Dean Felner’s abusive and unethical behavior.
We take issue with President Ramsey’s assertion in news reports about the “Felner Affair” that input from faculty to the higher administration was nothing more than “anonymous crap.” We would like to set the record straight by presenting the facts.

Setting aside alleged misconduct currently under federal investigation, Robert Felner’s actions included the following: He –-

• brushed aside repeated queries by faculty about his excessive and questionable expenditures;


• created a hostile workplace, which included influencing voting;


• publicly humiliated people, screamed at them, spread falsehoods about them;


• professionally undermined those who dared to oppose him;


• made inappropriate personal advances;


• made a mockery of accepted collegial governance policies;


• violated principles governing the hiring of new faculty and the promotion of other faculty;


• showered resources on those who supported him;


• denied resources to those who stood up and questioned him, and threatened them with dire consequences;


• hired an excessively large number of administrators, many of whom inflicted cruel and unfair sanctions on faculty not in Felner’s favor; and


• cultivated inappropriate relationships with female employees, giving some
  questionably qualified persons extreme salaries.

In response to these actions by Felner, we, the faculty, followed appropriate procedures seeking relief. First, we went to Dean Felner in an attempt to resolve issues. When that failed, some of us met personally with and or wrote to Provost Shirley Willihnganz, and some of those complaints were copied to President Ramsey. Some of us met with University sexual harassment officers.

More than a third of all full-time faculty members in the College met with the faculty grievance officer. More than thirty grievances or complaints were sent to the Provost’s office, most of them bravely signed. To our knowledge, nothing was done, and Felner often bragged openly at faculty meetings that he had the full support of the Provost and President.

After the administration failed to take action, and the situation continued to deteriorate, the faculty of the CEHD in an open meeting in March of 2006 voted “No Confidence” in Dean Felner. Felner sat in the same room and observed the proceedings. Such a vote is an extraordinary event, extremely rare and courageous, especially in the presence of an oppressive dean.

We are insulted by President Ramsey’s response to this crisis.

The items listed above, and especially the “No Confidence” vote, contradict the notion that the faculty were cowards and resorted only to “anonymous crap.” On the contrary, faculty stepped up repeatedly, knowing that any overt action would make them vulnerable to severe retaliation.

Universities take pride in their tolerance and collegial style of governance, and the faculty should feel free to speak their mind to the higher administration and be counted. Yet, when faculty did exactly that, they were systematically ignored and further targeted for abuse by Felner.

It’s troubling that President Ramsey and Provost Willihnganz seemed to convey the view that Felner was merely “cleaning house” in the College. Professors who left CEHD are highly accomplished, award-winning scholars and teachers, many with exemplary national reputations who were eagerly welcomed at other institutions. Not only did the University of Louisville sacrifice a great deal, the Greater Louisville Community also paid a significant price in losing faculty who served the public in unique ways and with distinction.

During Felner’s employment, progress slowed in many important areas, in part because of the considerable time and effort he invested attacking those who disagreed with him, and defending himself against accusations. We know Felner used the U.S. News and World Report annual rankings to justify his actions. We question the validity, accuracy and relevance of data provided for the rankings which created a misleading image that the CEHD at UofL had made dramatic improvement in a very short time. While the normal improvements were being made by faculty, morale was plunging and good faculty were leaving in increasing numbers. We believe a closer look would reveal that any achievements during Felner’s deanship were made despite him, not because of him

Notwithstanding the abominable actions allowed during Felner’s tenure, we continue to love UofL and want to see it thrive. To do this, however, requires responsible leadership. The present scandal calls for accountability, and we believe the Board of Trustees should address this in a meaningful and substantive manner. Please note; one or more of the undersigned has information, or based upon information and belief, would assert and produce appropriate substantive support for each of the above mentioned issues.

Sincerely,

Bryant Stamford
Pedro Portes
Ellen McIntyre
Yash Bhagwanji
John Burke
Laura Cherry
George Cunningham
Joe Devitis
Christos Dimitriadis
Kara Gallagher (Mohr)
Elizabeth Kirsch
Andy Kemp
Chong Lee
Phyllis Metcalf-Turner
Justin Moore
Jennifer Olive
Elizabeth Rightmyer
Lea Smith
Bernie Strenecky
John Strope
Randy Wells

Please note, because of the timeliness of the issues cited above, we felt the need to forward this letter now. Faculty and staff who are presently at UofL were not invited to participate. Moreover, at this time of year, it’s extremely difficult to contact faculty spread across the country, because many are out of the office and not available. Thus, although there are twenty-one signatures on this letter, a substantial number, if timing were not an issue and there was perceived to be no need to protect those still in the employment of the University, we believe many more signatures could have been obtained from those who would support the contents of this letter.

Once again, a tip of the hat to Jake at Page One.

C-J smacks Ramsey, Willihnganz and Porter

Whew. That was a bunch of Felner stuff to catch up on in one day.

We end with C-J's editorial saying that the resentment of the U of L faculty was justified and a result of the failure of the university top leadership to act.

After being drug, kicking and screaming, into a story they didn't seem to want to cover for weeks - C-J is shocked; shocked to find that U of L leadership covered for their golden goose - only to find he didn't bring in so much of the gold himself, and arguably took credit that rightfully belonged to others - all while behaving badly and putting the university in jeopardy.

But lately, C-J has caught up, done some fine reporting, and has gotten it right in today's piece.

The real surprise

As it turns out, the most surprising aspect of the Felner Affair at the University of Louisville is not the possibility that taxpayers' money was squandered or pocketed. Waste and corruption are all too common.

What's shocking is the failure of top university administrators to look seriously enough, and early enough, at evidence that Education Dean Robert Felner was leaving academic wreckage behind, as he stomped toward his goal of giving the college a bigger and better national profile.

It's not as if feedback from the College of Education and Human Development was cheerful, as Mr. Felner was installed as a change agent. Indeed, informal complaints and formal grievances piled up.

Looking back, 21 former faculty who just sent a blistering letter to the U of L board about their experiences with Felner are hurt and outraged by the slow and insubstantial response. And they should be.

President James Ramsey and Provost Shirley Willihnganz should have admitted much, much sooner that Felner's tenure was collapsing into an organizational and managerial debacle. And they should have reacted accordingly.

Instead, even in the backwash of a federal investigation into the way Mr. Felner handled a $694,000 federal grant, Dr. Ramsey was still dismissing some faculty complaints and grievances as "anonymous crap."

And, just this week, board chairman J. Chester Porter pronounced himself "satisfied" with the way the administration handled faculty criticism and charges. He did this
without serious investigation of the letter's specifics and before a proposed Faculty Senate review produced any findings. All of which calls into question the university's good faith in dealing with allegations that people and careers were being abused.

This is no way to recruit the best and brightest professors and researchers, or to become a top 20 metropolitan research campus.

Ville Board Trustee Jumps into the Bunker with Ramsey & Willihnganz

This from Nancy at C-J:

Trustee chief backs U of L leaders in Felner inquiry
Porter 'satisfied' on Felner inquiry

The chairman of the University of Louisville board of trustees sent a letter to the full board this week saying he is "satisfied" with actions taken by the school's administration regarding faculty complaints and a federal investigation involving former education dean Robert Felner.

"We care about our employees -- they are a source of our pride," J. Chester Porter said in the letter. "We have worked with (U of L President) Jim (Ramsey) and (Provost) Shirley (Willihnganz) long enough to know they, too, care deeply about the
welfare of all the University's employees and students."

Porter acknowledges in his letter that "given issues raised in the media, there is little doubt that Dean Felner's personality may have accelerated the departure of some of the faculty."

He then says that during Felner's five-year tenure, Ramsey and Willihnganz "began to understand the tensions he created in the college" and notes it was the university's investigation that "alerted the U.S. Attorney to investigate peculiarities" in the College of Education and Human Development.

Felner, who resigned from the university June 30 to take a chancellor position at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside that he later backed out of, is the focus of a federal investigation sparked by his possible misappropriation of a $694,000 federal grant.

Porter's letter was in response to an open letter sent last week to the board by 21 former faculty who worked for Felner.

In the open letter, the former faculty took issue with comments made to the media in July by Ramsey, who characterized many of the faculty complaints and grievances against Felner as "anonymous crap."

"We are insulted by President Ramsey's response to this crisis," the letter states. "On the contrary, faculty stepped up repeatedly, knowing that any overt action would make them vulnerable to severe retaliation."

The letter went on to recount how faculty tried repeatedly to get the administration
to take action against Felner, including casting a no confidence vote against him in 2006.

A day after Ramsey made his comment about the grievances to the media, U of L Trustee Brent Fryrear, head of the university's staff senate, alerted Ramsey in an e-mail that he had received 15 to 20 calls before lunch from university employees upset by the comment, and "questioning whether or not the university takes its grievance process seriously."

"There are a number of staff who are leery of reporting incidents or filing grievances for fear of retribution and I believe this confirms their fears," Fryrear said in the e-mail, which was obtained yesterday by The Courier-Journal through an open-records request.

Porter told trustees in his letter they are welcome to discuss the points made in the faculty letter at the board's next meeting of its Personnel Committee in September.

He went on to explain several points made in the faculty letter, saying that Ramsey's anonymity comments related directly to a reporter's question regarding the grievance process.

"Jim had explained to the media numerous times that only four grievances were filed," Porter said. "References to 'more than 30 grievances' (in the faculty letter) were closer to the number of people who spoke to the grievance officer but did not pursue a grievance. The names of individuals who speak to a grievance officer are never released so those conversations may remain anonymous." ...