Why nobody wants to sit with LydiaAfter nearly three years on the job, SBI Dean Lydia McKinley-Floyd was dismissed yesterday by Provost Cynthia Hughes Harris. Shawnta S. Friday-Stroud, a professor of management, took over immediately as interim dean.
McKinley-Floyd will stay on as a professor in the school. When selected as dean in 2006, many felt that she was least qualified for the position.
Prior to coming to FAMU, McKinley-Floyd served as associate dean of the College of Business at Savannah (GA) State University. She earned a salary of $180,000 a year as SBI dean.
Under her leadership, SBI continued to sputter much like an aging automobile badly in need of a tune-up. Faculty and staff morale in SBI was low, and students and alumni were unhappy. This past summer, she ran off the architect of SBI's highly successful Wall Street project, which placed 45 students in internships on "the street".
McKinley-Floyd is said to have failed to deliver on her promise to move the school closer to accreditation, and was reportedly a an inadequate fundraiser.
McKinley-Floyd was SBI's third dean since the retirement of founding dean Sybil Mobley. A search committee is expected to be formed soon with the goal of having a new dean in place by August.
I don't want to see anybody lose a job, but she was a hire that should never have been made. There was nothing in her cv that suggested she would do well in this position. I can understand why she would have accepted the position, but I can't understand why CVB extended the offer.
ReplyDeleteDr. Friday? Is the roster that short at SBI these days?
ReplyDeleteI guess they ran off all the good professors while trying to get on board with the accreditation. Mobley never would have let things go down like that.
Sounds like SBI is on the "Road to Redemption", and rightfully so..but not so fast....Friday-Stroud has some work to do, like cleaning up the mess made by McKinley-Floyd, and clearing the swamp of more of the same! I suggest that she start that immediately...since the alligators are getting older and more restless than ever...I wonder who those "old" alligators could be? Ahhh, they know who they are, and they should just ease on down the road, gracefully and with dignity! It's time to "move this bus."
ReplyDeletePlease be respectful of the people (older) who kept the bus running. I am so tired of those types of statements. If the person or persons are not doing their jobs is one thing, however if they are positive contributing members of their perspective staffs, LEAVE THEM THE HECK ALONE. I can assure you that the most younger persons wil not stay on their jobs as long as some of these folks have.
ReplyDelete4/02/2009 8:53 AM
ReplyDeleteIn all do respect.....in terms of FAMU and how it runs, oftentimes these "older" people haven't been keeping their jobs for so long because they have deserved it. This is the good-ole-boy/girl network. Most of these "older" people stay here because they have NO other choice. FAMU is the only place they can work because they tolerate sub par performance in far too many cases. Anyone actually good at what they do should have no worries about employment.
I think its time for an outsider to come in a clean up the university. Its too many people in SBI who want to get the school back to how it was. The cheese has moved and yesterday's strategy will not work in today's environment. We need someone who is not afraid to make changes, however unpopular they may be and make SBI current an relevant again. Dr. Friday is a good band-aid but the school needs surgery
ReplyDeleteListen, I really want people to stop bad mouthing my school, especially people that went there. Every school, trust me, has plenty of sub-par performers. Many of them simply hide under the name of the school. The "old" ways at SBI attracted national achievement scholars and, if my classmates are any indication, students who would go on to be groundbreakers in every field. If something needs to be corrected, please let's correct it and get on with it so that we can regain our prestige. In the meantime, let's also respect those who sacrificed a lot to extend a level of compassion and a realism to students embarking on a corporate journey.
ReplyDelete1:10, CVB extended the offer because she wanted to give a chance to someone who was equally as unqualified as she was to run an institution. End of story.
ReplyDeleteIt's about time! Good riddance to bad rubbish. Lydia will not be missed. I am sure the faculty don't even want her taking up a line that a real academician could have. What was CVB thinking when she hired her anyway? She hasn't been recruiting students nor has she been fundraising. I guess they had to wait until SACS was finished... Shawnta Friday did an excellent job heading up SACS. I am sure she will do a great job as interim--better than SBI has had since Dean Mobley retired. Besides, she has the backbone and political fortitude to do some very badly needed preliminary clean-up.
ReplyDeletePls the only reason she gone cause she not part of that inner circle of Ammons. There plenty of VP's and Associate VP's that haven't done no more than she has and yet they still in their posistions. Whoever they bring in will probably be related, sleeping with, friends, or owe some favor to in her place. That what I'm getting tired of at FAMU. Yes I know this happens at other schools but that don't me we have to. This is a HBCU meaning we can't be like other schools we have to better and beyond them just to even the a slight bit of respect. The people that being put in posistions at FAMU have no clue what they doing and/or not doing it well. I'm giving Ammons the benefit of the doubt cause this is his second year I believe and the economy, but if two years from now these people still not doing much for this school I expect him do what he needs to replace them (hard to do that with friends and family)
ReplyDelete12:33 were you sleepy when you typed your comments?
ReplyDelete1:04PM, ROTFLMAO!!! I was thinking the same thing. My eyes actually crossed and I got a slight headache while reading 12:33 post. lol
ReplyDelete12:33
ReplyDeleteI get what you trying to say. Seems like you was frustrated when you wrote that but I do get what you saying. I worked for FAMU for years so I understand what you saying completely. Had to leave cause it was like a road to nowhere at times. Hopefully it will get better.. we can only pray on it.
It's easy to criticize when you're not the one on the block. This is a good move and I think it was in the making to be this way since Ammons got here. I hope that she will be a useful professor and faculty member. I'm so excited and I await an awesome turnaround for SBI and FAMU. Let's see how many "outsiders" you'd trust when you have a job like President of FAMU.
ReplyDeleteAs a former SBI professor, I support Friday-Stroud. She is very hard working and very professional. This is a very positive change.
ReplyDelete$180 THOUSAND
ReplyDeleteDam
just dam
What is the possibility of SBI luring Lawrence back to resume leadership of the Wall Street Project (WSP)? The WSP was one of the most positive and successful initiative associated with SBI in quite a long time. Lawrence appeared to have had a great command of the intricates necessary to inspire, prepare, and place students into these exceptionally competitive internship positions. He also did a great job building corportate partnerships. This year, his first away from the school, only 12 students received Wall Street offers. I'm not sure what role the market played, but it was also bad during our recording breaking year. The WSP gave the school an identity that has been missing since Mobley's glory days.
ReplyDeleteTo 8:53 am, you're probably one of the older ones that need to just go home and get out of the way and allow some younger ones the opportunity to move SBI in the direction that it deserves to be in! Friday-Stroud is one among some of the other younger ones who has her fingers on the pulse and knows exactly what SBI needs. Having Dr. Lawrence back only add "value" to the package. It's a win, win game. While I do feel for Dr. McKinley-Floyd, she surrounded herself and believed in the wrong people, who turned on her as soon as they walked out of her office! Know that 8:53am.
ReplyDelete7:03 not only are you disrespectful of what the "older" generation has done for you. Were it not for the seasoned employees there would be no FAMU. On behalf of 8:53's it is hoped that one day you will have the opportunity to Love what you do for as many years as some of these people.
ReplyDeleteWhen you surround yourself with people you trust, you expect them to be honest with you at all cost. Let's see what is going to happen to Dr. Ammons legacy when he is finally told the truth about his adminsitrative team. GOD help FAMU.
I hope SBI is able to bring Dr. Lawrence back. He thinks and acts different from most other SBI faculty. In complex economic times like these, he seems to know what is going on beneath the surface and is able to translate things for students in comprehendible manner. I know that he has a cockiness or edge to him, but corporate folks and students just seem to love and respect him. I know that other black folks may have a problem with that, but he truly represents the business and industry in SBI.
ReplyDeleteLawrence and the old brass don't seem to get along, particular he and Corbett. Corbett appears to resent him for wanting to tell her how to do her job. He also doesn't attend meetings, which rub a lot of the faculty the wrong way. Given the leadership at the school, I can't say that I blame him.
ReplyDeleteI'm with Lawrence on the meeting thing... I wish I had his boldness...there is a particular LARGE windbag that drives me up the wall at EVERY meeting and makes we wish I was out with Lawrence.. doing what ever he is doing.
ReplyDeleteWhy was Mobley so successful? She treated the faculty the way that they were used to being treated: like a bunch of cotton pickers. She ruled with the iron fist of a slave massa. Rewards and punishments were freely given.
ReplyDeleteOnce she was gone and they were left to rule themselves, they have could not figure out how to live and work as free men. Self governance and self discipline is a foreign concept.
Friday either needs to pick up the whip or trade the cotton pickers for some individuals that can govern themselves as professionals.
Lawrence also did not serve on any committees during his tenure at SBI. Maybe he thought that he was too good for committee work.
ReplyDeleteI love Sybil Mobley, make no mistake about that. I was a part of SBI when students used to go directly into her Lee Hall office and chat (although it had to be at the end of the day and only for a few minutes). But, Doc did not have a succession plan and consequently the whole thing fell apart when she left.
ReplyDeleteSo, while I love my mentor I must say she should have done better grooming a successor and developing a management team that could run without her.
OMG Dr. Friday-Stroud!!!!! She is absolutley AWESOME! She will be best for this job in my opinion in the interim and permanently. As a former student, I feel she will be able to bring some of the old ways and policies back with a more modern twist to fit today's market. As an almunus of FAMU (by way of SBI) this is indeed great news. By the way thos ewho speak negative against Friday-Stroud definitely know nothing about her be it her teachings nor her character. Thanks Dr. Ammons by way of Dr. Hughes-Harris!
ReplyDeleteDr. Friday-Stroud's classes changed my life...literally for the better!!! This is a great opportunity for FAMU's School of Business and Industry to regain it's compsure and stature within the business community and world. This woman is going to do AWESOME work....mark my words!!!
ReplyDeleteIt is not often that I criticize anyone but, people like "12:33 PM" and "223 PM", should read and re-read their comments before posting them. Hopefully, neither is college trained (especially at FAMU) because their grammar and sentence structure leave a lot to be desired. If they are, each one should be required to return and take high school remedial English.
ReplyDeleteTo: 9:18
ReplyDeleteYou've got your nerve criticizing someone else's writing. That comma that you have, after "but", shouldn't be there. It should precede the "but." Also, I'm not feeling why you placed another comma after "223 PM." There should not be a comma there, my oh-so- very-grammar-challenged friend. Finally, why you did not correct
"223" to read "2:23" is simply beyond me. Now, the logic of you telling someone to "return [to FAMU] and take high school and remedial English" makes no sense at all. While I certainly understand the point of your argument, FAMU does not offer "remedial English," nor does it offer "high school English," so for you to suggest that the blogger return (to the university) and "take" these courses makes absolutely no sense. May I ask where, oh, where, would the poster "take" (as in "carry") these courses? Lots more I can say, but I think you just might get my point. BTW, the above comma is properly placed. (This is YOUR lesson for the evening. Take heed, and while you're taking heed, remove that mote from thine eyeballs!)
Corbett will be gone too at the end of the year....
ReplyDelete10:00 we can play this game all day. For instance, consider your use of the noun grammar in "grammar challenged." The correct form calls for changing the noun "grammar" into the adverb grammatically before pairing with the adjective challenged. 9:18 would then be the "grammatically challenged" friend you desired.
ReplyDeleteI agree with 9:18. Someone needed to point out to 2:23 that the writing in that post suggested the author was semi-literate. We don't point out the weakness in writing to embarrass the writer, but to show concern that a very serious problem exists.