Law School Interim Dean James Douglas maybe on his way out the door, if he doesn't get a 5% raise. It seems that Mr. Douglas, who's salary is paid by Texas Southern University and reimbursed by FAMU, had planned to return to Texas on June 30th, but FAMU suspended its search for a new law school dean and needs him to say on longer. FAMU did not notify Mr. Douglas that it needed to extend his contract until seven days ago. Mr. Douglas has agreed to stay on until January, but only if the FAMU provided him with a 5% pay raise to help offset the expense of maintaining homes in both Texas and Florida. Castell said no!
We understand that, Mr. Douglas maintains that he can no longer carry this financial burden without additional compensation. Mr. Douglas has offered to stay on until July 30, under his current contract. As a employee of Texas Southern University, Mr. Douglas was not eligible for the recent 2% pay raise available to all FAMU employees.
Law School faculty have expressed concern about this brewing issue and the instability in the Dean's position at the FAMU College of Law. Theyl suggest that Dean Douglas has placed the FAMU College of Law on firm footing and on the path to full accreditation. Without his intimate experience and knowledge of the American Bar Association accreditation process, the school would be in an unfavorable position.
Mr. Douglas, who was appointed interim dean on June 5, 2005, after former Dean Percy Luney was forced out, is popular among students and faculty at the College of Law.
See: Profile Interim Dean James Douglas
is everything just falling apart down their?
ReplyDeleteCB needs to be arrested for all the drama she is keeping up.
Wow, RN, you really don't sleep. This is as good as the 24-hour news coverage on CNN.
ReplyDelete"Wow, RN, you really don't sleep. This is as good as the 24-hour news coverage on CNN."
ReplyDeleteTRU DAT!!! Thanks!!!
God gawd, give the man the dam raise, before you mukk up this program!!!!
ReplyDeleteIs there no aspect of FAMU this stubborn witch will not try to wreck?
The man is NOT "popular among students and faculty." Dunno what your source is for that ...
ReplyDeleteanonymous @ 1:52 is right. This dean is not liked or respected. And he's not good for the law school.
ReplyDeleteCan I be the dean?
ReplyDeleteWhat a comedy ACt this is turning out to be>>>>>>>>>
How many more dean changes can the law school withstand? This is nothing but a personnel merry-go-round.
ReplyDeleteFolks don't like Castell either, but the BOT gave a her a $35K raise and $50 bonus.
ReplyDeleteWhat's the difference?
Whether the dean is liked or disliked the law school needs some form of stability until either we receive a permanent dean or the college of law receives full accreditation. The sudden changes are only putting our students legal careers on the line.
ReplyDeleteIf we can give Castell a raise why not give the dean a raise and allow him to continue the work that he has been doing. Let's do the math here, 5% is nothing compared to what Castell got....
There is no reason to delay the selection process for a Law school Dean. There are "finalists" already, and the Law School is not in Tallahassee. It can go about its business and attract som Positive Press
ReplyDeleteThe law school is in serious danger of not obtaining full aba accreditation and being turned over to the university of central florida.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous at 152 and 340 sound like some of the founding faculty who have been running scared since dean douglas forced them to actually show up for class and work. As a student who unfortunately had to take some of their classes I appreciate having a dean who believes that professors should actually teach and show up for class.
ReplyDeleteThis is awesome. Nothing has gone right since I started at the law school and I dont know why anything should start going right now. As a student, I have not heard a single positive comment about our current dean. Then again, who cares?
ReplyDeleteI am not sure who wrote that the Dean is popular among students and faculty at the FAMU law school, but that information is incorrect. He is not popular with the senior faculty, and sure is not popular with the students. Douglas ignores students, will not return phone calls or honor scheduled meetings, and only cares about his daily activities. He tells everyone that he has an "open door policy" and is always available to chat, but his secretaries guard the way to his office and will not let anyone in. Unless you can catch him on the way to or from his 2-hour lunch break/nap, you can forget talking to him. He is only in FL to allow things to "blow over" in Texas following the lawsuits he lost, including the infamous Harrington v. Harris case in which 3 professors were successful in their discrimination suits filed against Douglas and the President of TSU.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous at 907 is completely wrong. It's the senior faculty who are not popular with students. Dean Douglas is forcing them to work and they don't like that. Some professors here actually complain about having to work...on Fridays!
ReplyDeleteRN keep up the good work. I encourage you to focus more on the law school. Talk to some students, like me, who had to deal with one professor bad mouthing a visiting professor because she was concerned that we might want to take that professor's family law class. The crisis of leadership at the law school is not being caused by the dean.
Anonymous at 907 what are you doing to make the school better. Stop complaining and stop listening to faculty who are trying to tear down the dean so they can get his job.
ReplyDeleteSo what really is going on at the law school?
ReplyDeleteAre the professors unwilling to assist students outside of class and Friday? What are the concerns of the students and have they been expressed to the interim president?
How many students are involved with the local alumni chapter?
I think if there are some real pressing issues at our law school, then maybe you should get a forum with interim president and get the alumni and others who worked so hard to have this school returned involved.
Interested parties should MAKE NOISE about the fact that the Dean selection process has been suspended. All the major work has been done.
ReplyDeleteThe Dean search and the Law School are removed from the "Issues" paralyzing Tallahassee.
The interim Dean is ready to go home; can't raise money or make Florida friends, or stabilize and unify the faculty around the mission.
MAKE SOME NOISE !!
Liberate the Law School.
Great, when I enrolled in the school we had professors not getting paid who were working and professors getting paid who were not working. Get ready, UCF is just waiting to take over the law school. FAMU faculty are not publishing scholarship, are divided, and unlike FIU, the college of law cannot attract high profile scholars from other institutions. How do I know this as a student? Because most of our faculty are more than happy to tell students everything. It only took me one month here during my 1L year to realize that the faculty here are dysfunctional. Some hardly even come to work or keep office hours. Faculty should spend their time holding office hours, publishing, and teaching and not hanging out with students and bad mouthing the dean.
ReplyDeleteThe key players are The Florida Bar, The other State Law School Deans, the Governor, the BOT...all should be contacted BY THE FAMUCOL STUDENTS about the critical need to complete the Dean selection process now!!!! Especially since the Law School is not directly involved in "Tallahassee"
ReplyDeleteEngage others in this demand!
ITS YOUR FUTURE
No one of any stature wants to take the dean's position here. The word is out about FAMU law. No scholarship production, low salaries, no lateral hires, dysfunctional faculty, and students who come here simply to transfer to other schools after one year. Dean Douglas tried to turn things around.
ReplyDeleteThe choices: lift it up, or let it go (to CFU), or let it die, vindicating those who didn't want its rebirth in the first place. If you want FAMUCOL to live, get a Dean, now!!!
ReplyDeleteBesides open revolution, the law is all we have as a weapon. FAMUCOL COULD be the place where the legal minds of the Diaspora COULD be cultivated, but first, Get a Dean!!!
We have a dean in place who could make things happen. He just needs the support of the faculty who should cowboy up and stop trying to get his job. The law school situation is shaky, shaky, shaky. Don't sleep on what's going on at the law school.
ReplyDeleteThe Dean and the faculty are both to blame. Douglas could work harder, but ignores the real issues and is only concerned with himself. Word. He has made no attempt to reach out to the community; many lawyers in Orlando don't even know the school is open! Trust me on this one! I joined the Orange County Bar Ass'n. and they are like "FAMU .. ?" The faculty refuse to write and get published, they are only worried about getting paid and running off to their home lives. The admin closes down at 4:30 each day, and the staff take 2 hour lunch breaks. Office hours here are a joke. The senior faculty only fight with one another over scarce resources, and then try to keep the junior faculty down. No senior faculty are qualified to be Dean anyhow. I wish they were all fired. I hope UCF rumors are true, and we get taken over ASAP so there can be some organization here. We still don't have our Fall 2006 schedules or can even register!!! It is July!!! I don't want to graduate without ABA approval and not be able to sit for the bar, or only be able to sit for the FL bar like the graduates of Barry a few years back. Get busy fixin' or get busy leavin'! I pray that the Dean gets things under control with the faculty or they all just get cleaned outta here.
ReplyDeleteFact is, the Dean does not have a commitment to FAMU. He wants to go back home to TSU. He didn't apply this time. He isn't likely to be here past December, at best.
ReplyDeletePress to get a permanent dean !!!
Call upon the Governor and the BOT to complete the Dean Selection Process
RN,
ReplyDeleteAny inside info on who is going to be the next dean of the law school? Word is that CB does not have any confidence in any of the faculty who applied for the job and wants to bring in an outsider to clean house. Apparently she's tired of getting letters about professors not holding office hours, not teaching and constantly canceling classes, and is very concerned that FIU Law is so far ahead of FAMU law.
We know it won't be any of the founding faculty. One of them applied and she didn't even make pass the paper stage.
ReplyDeleteWord on the street is that law school faculty are so fractured that they are now engaged in an e-mail battle over the use of the word, "retreat!"
The Organized Students must demand that the Dean Selection Process be completed. As long as the Dean's Position is in limbo, ALL PARTIES will watch the FAMUCOL choke on its own phlegm.The Students are seen as indifferent or powerless to course-correct their own futures and destinies-Heartless
ReplyDeleteWho are the organized students?
ReplyDeleteCB already has a dean in mind. Hint: he's a bigwig
ReplyDeleteAre you talking about Alcee Hastings?
ReplyDeleteHint: reach out and touch somebody's hand, make this world a better place, if you can...
ReplyDeleteWhat is the status of the law school's quest to obtain approval from the ABA. I'm scheduled to enroll in the fall...should I still come?
ReplyDeleteAppropriations are being carved up w/o FAMUCOL at the table. The instability is causing potential contributors to turn away . ABA has no respect for an institution that is lethargic about taking command of its own destiny.Get a Dean! Finish the process !
ReplyDeleteWho are the finalists for the dean slot?
ReplyDelete