Today's St. Petersburg Times called our University "financially mismanaged". On the one hand, they criticized us, then on the other praised the current direction we are headed. Here's the opening paragraph, "the latest report from financially mismanaged Florida A&M University is encouraging. But only encouraging. The Board of Governors, which oversees the state's 11 universities, learned last week from a recent auditor's general examination that FAMU had a $2.7-million surplus for 2004-05. This would be reason to celebrate if that amount had not been far less than the $8-million reported in a KPMG audit last fall." Read the entire editorial here: FAMU reforms are lagging
Also, on another note, we understand that faculty contracts are FINALLY ready. I'm not saying that they are correct, but the University is advancing something.
It actually looks like the article gave Dr. Bryant credit for improving the college. That's interesting, considering most of the Rattler Nation response folks like to dog her out at every chance.
ReplyDeleteThe SPTimes failed to mention that Castell has fallen into the same trap of hiring her friends that it claimed her predecessors followed. If she didn't hire her friends would Eva and Vivian be working?
ReplyDeleteThe SPTimes doesn't have all its facts straight and is trying to have it both ways with this editorial.
SPT is not more informed than those FAMUans who research, look at the facts, and have first hand knowledge of what is going on in Tallahassee.
ReplyDeleteBryant did not inherit the problem of reporting an $8M surplus that never ever existed. That was a problem she created on her own. And contrary to what SPT reports, there is not a $2.7M surplus; it is a net asset. There is no surplus at all, only a $10M deficit.
We don't need SPT to tell us what we can clearly see with our own eyes. Bryant came into a bad financial situation and made it WORSE!
FAMU needs to hire a white president to come in and keep ya'll in line. "Da Man" won't put up with folk blogging on the net all day at FAMU or talking long distance on state time, instead of doing their work...
ReplyDeleteCastell will get the names of the peolpe who are blogging on the net and talking on the phone instead of doing their working and fire them.
ReplyDeleteAmen godblesscastell!
ReplyDeletePeople.....People.....People......
ReplyDeleteWe all have to just have to have to face the facts.
"IT IS WHAT IT IS"
CVB has done more harm than good
SPT needs to do a fact check on that surplus, and it needs to fully expound on the problems created by CVB as well as those solved.
ReplyDeleteFor every one good thing that has happened under her watch. five bad things have happened. Hence the bad certainly trump out the good.
ReplyDeleteAgain, we need a white president. Ya'll are gonna criticize any black man or woman who gives their best (hint: Gainous and Bryant), but ya'll will marvel at anything that whitey says do.
ReplyDeleteI for one don't believe whitey's ice is cooler than mine. Right is right, wrong is wrong, regardless of skin tone.
ReplyDeleteGod bless Castell talks about Bryant doing right, but never gets into any specifics.
ReplyDeletePlease explain how reporting a nonexistant surplus and covering up a $10M deficit helped our financial condition. Please explain how Bryant's hires have been better than the previous staff in the Division of Fiscal Affairs. What has Bryant done that has had any positive impact at all on FAMU's finances?
In all those areas, she has brought destruction and confusion. Instead of just blindly supporting Castell, please list some specific financial record-keeping improvements.
I agree with (4:52 PM). This is an excellent point for God Bless Castell and the St.Pete Times to explain in their lukewarm support of this distruction maker (CVB).
ReplyDeleteDid anyone say CrackHead? This is exactly why one should not use drugs.
ReplyDeleteGod bless castell, please explain how Castell has "righted the ship." She certainly has not helped FAMU in the area of financial accounting, because the books are a complete MESS! the auditor general's report is clear proof that she is mismanaging our finances. Why do you continue to support someone who has worsened the condition of our financial division?
ReplyDeleteI agree. GBC (God Bless Castell) should heed the advice from "Coming to America:" STAY OFF THE DRUGS!
ReplyDelete(God Bless Castell) ignores the fact that many of us were strong supporters of Castell, but can no longer support her because it is clear that she has done more harm than good. I hope God will help us to get rid of her.
ReplyDeleteIrregardless to who is at the helm, no institution can move in a positive direction without permanent leadership over a 2 year period (it will be greater than that by the time a new president is put into place). Furthermore, it speaks to incapability of a board not to find and appoint a capable leader within 1.5 years (time since 1/05).
ReplyDeleteThese two statements on their face should say that the institution is weakening due to weak leadership and weak oversight. Either of these are death tolls to faculty and students. Using these as metrics, rather than financial records (which are in such disarray it is impossible to say anything intelligible about them), FAM is in bad shape. The student numbers are down and there are no corrective actions in place and there has not been any in light of the lower numbers (which causes lower revenues). Faculty activity and morale is at an all time low. As the faculty is the back bone of the university, there treatment has been nothing less than deplorable.
Most of the supporter's arguments have been on cleaning up the administration and fixing things. Either two things are true, there was such a mess that an interim could not clean it up or this person was just not the person for the job. Either way, this speaks to poor oversight. And as much hate there is for CVB, the board should share in it, not just Lowe.
FAM has done some good things and can do more. But folks are nervous about doing things with an unstable administration. Further, it is hard to cultivate a flowering university where its administration seems cold, distant and unfamiliar. By this time, faculty and students should have a relationship with the administration.
For the most part, it is ivory halls. The worse part is the faculty have little respect for those who have not risen through the ranks to the top. In fact, they are jittery of someone who does not have a university experience. Well, this is the case. All of our numbers are sub-Humphrey's and the aggregate numbers are worse than Gainous'. There is a clear argument against this interim administration regardless of what a not-in-the-know rag might say (I would trust Capital Outlook over SPT anyday about FAMU).
I look for the day of a clear direction with a permanent president. Alas, the only thing in our way is a more apt board. Everyone has an agenda. Just make sure the majority of them, have a FAM agenda.
You all allow Castell to pee all over FAMU. So as long as yall continue to allow her to do it, i say piss on!!
ReplyDeleteOk, let me interject.
ReplyDeleteWhile you guys are all safe in your jobs in corporate USA, the state of affairs at FAMU is probably interesting fodder for your lunch break's blogtime.
But what about the students? Don't you guys care? have you truely left us (FAMU) behind?
Fine, CVB bash or gossip ... ITS A BLOG for goodness sake that's what blogs are for (so dont get too sensitive GBCVB in ur heart of hearts you know some mistakes were made noone is perfect)...
But, what are you bloggers DOING outside of complaining!? There are a lot of older well-placed black folk on this site. Which means you have a lot more power within your pen/circle of friends than lets say.... an avg. person:).
SO instead of this Jibba-jabba about who said what and wasting time on CVB & Co.'s shenanigans.
You Vets can hatch a plan to get the school firm ground (in all aspects fin. acad. admin.)... a real working solution.
Not just the mob chant "Change the Administration!" (although a change may help.) But what should the new admin. do? Sometimes its easier to change a captain when there is a solid game plan.
You have the resources (mental, fin. social) or you know SOMEONE who does...Step up to the plate and quit talking about it!
I know collectively you can really make a difference.
god bless castell,
ReplyDeletePlease tell where in the Good Book say to be blind to transgressions around you.
To godbless castell: So are you impying CVB is the victim of unfair criticism.
ReplyDeleteGodBlessCastell,
ReplyDeleteAs my Grandma would say, "God don't like ugly."
And CVB's actions and attitude have certainly been ugly!!!!!!!
True dat!
ReplyDeleteY'all need to listen to the student on the Board ... And quit continuing to keep talking about all this BS - And use some of this so called energy towards doing something FOR the school you all claim to love so much!
ReplyDeleteYou all are STILL in here talking about some books that she only had the better part of FIVE months to try to comprehend WTF was going on up there. Those books for 2005 were f***ed up LONG BEFORE she arrived, and what you now have is the result of just trying to make some sense out of what was already there!
Question ...
Did any of you ever stop to think that maybe most of that $10M deficit you had had to do with the fact that there were actually GHOST employees living well on your School's payroll still on these books ... In addition to the additional unnecessary monies spent trying to hire "outside people" to come in and go over the work of the incomps who have been up there being paid to apparently do nothing for years - that some of YOU all have been out here actually defending as some form of "Institutional KNOWLEDGE"?
"LET THIS S*** GO!"
Regardless of how you feel about the woman, those books you all have been b****in' about - and that deficit - is the result of YOU being too MF'in' seflish to step up and show YOUR support for YOUR School!
Even Mickey Mouse's Beat Writer has had to call you out in her newspaper ... In hopes that you all will "WTFU" - And actually start DOING something for your School!!
Like someone else has posted up here ... Maybe the only way to get you all to do something is if it comes from D'Whyte Mann to finally tell you. I just HOPE you all will WTFU - And actually decide to DO something ... Before other articles telling you what you need to do comes out from somewhere else!!
>>>Those books for 2005 were f***ed up LONG BEFORE she arrived, and what you now have is the result of just trying to make some sense out of what was already there!<<<
ReplyDeleteIt might be hard for you to comprehend, but it is NOT OKAY for FAMU's president to report inaccurate financial numbers.
If she was not able to make any sense out of the numbers, then she should have been honest and reported that she had not gotten the books together. Instead, she gave a gleaming financial picture, full of false numbers. She claimed that she had taken FAMU from a $50M deficit to a $8M surplus.
Those numbers were not even close to the truth. There was no surplus at all. However, there was a deficit that Bryant failed to reveal to the public.
The lack of honesty is the problem. If the state auditor general could look at FAMU's books and determine that the numbers did not add up, then there is no excuse for Bryant not being able to do the same.
We will NOT LET THIS GO! Stop defending incompetence!
>>>Did any of you ever stop to think that maybe most of that $10M deficit you had had to do with the fact that there were actually GHOST employees living well on your School's payroll still on these books ...<<<
ReplyDeleteThe books were not managed by ghost employees. They were managed by people that Bryant hired: Gerald Dunn, Rufus Little, and KPMG.
There is no way to deflect the blame. The people Bryant hired dropped the ball and turned in numbers that could not withstand the scrunity of the state auditors.
Again, if the state auditors could see that there were clear problems with the books, there is no excuse why Bryant and her financial staff could not do the same.
I do understand tht we need to step up to the plate. Since 1981 I have been a dues paying memeber of the NAA, purchased season tickets, made numerous donations to the school, and supported my alam mater in many ways. So my concern is just and I have but my money where my mouth is. I love FAMU and it pains me to see the university in such a sad state.
ReplyDeleteNow many of you will ask, will you keep giving and supporting, and the answer to that question is yes. Truth be told I will increase my giving and no what ever I can to help sustain Florida A&M University.
I maynot agree with CVB on numerous issues, but that doesn't mean I will punish the university to spite her.
Re:
ReplyDeleteWe will NOT LET THIS GO! Stop defending incompetence!
Then quit trying to make it seem like she is responsible for the books being this f***ed up for an entire year! There were SIX months of 100% incompetence that was going on BEFORE she arrived.
I think we need to put some timelines on when she started chopping heads up there. When did she start getting rid of the "institutional incompetence"? She didn't just walk in there on January 2nd with a chainsaw in her hands, so I think if you all want to keep harping on last years' books, go find out when the people started being replaced.
Of course it was crazy for her to report inaccurate numnbers ... But - Where did they come from, how were they derived, and WHO was responsible for them being THAT far off from the eventual truth in the first place?
She didn't come in and MAKE those numbers that bad. They were that bad BEFORE she arrived ... An were probably even worse!!
But like I said before - The 2005 books are history. The upcoming 2006 are TOTALLY hers to have to explain for ... So I think it's time to save all this energy being wasted on 2005, and wait and see what 2006 brings you!
The reason your Alma Mater can/will never move forward - Is because some of you continue to still live too much in the past. You're probably one of those Muggs are still trying to recruit today's kids by harping on the fact that we won the FIRST I-AA Championship - During the Disco Era!!!
"MOVE ON!"
When you talk about FAMU employees on the long distance telephone lines talking all the time and not doing their work--this is their work! Do you realize the majority of our students come from other states across the nation? We have to talk on state long distance lines to help our future students who are the future of FAMU. But on the other hand when you talk about the difference in the numbers reported from CVB the BOT gave her a $25000.00 raise for reporting false numbers, then gave her an annual raise for $300,000.00 a year. What about that?
ReplyDeleteYes that is true!!! The majority of FAMU's employees does not make $25,000.00 a year not to mention a bonus for reporting false information. If that had been one of FAMU employees that made a big mistake like that we would have been fired on the spot. BOT rewarded her for doing a piss poor job. What is wrong with this picture?
ReplyDeleteMaybe you all should be demanding that the folks who gave her the raise & bonus to pay it back - Out of THEIR pockets!!
ReplyDelete>>>She didn't come in and MAKE those numbers that bad. They were that bad BEFORE she arrived ... An were probably even worse!!<<<
ReplyDeleteBryant told flagrant lies about the university's financial condition. She told us that there was a $8M surplus. That was completely untrue and she knew it.
A NET ASSET IS NOT THE SAME AS A SURPLUS!
Bryant also denied that there was a deficit by claiming that FAMU was "in the black." In reality, there was a $10M deficit that she failed to report.
$8M + $10M = an $18M lie that Bryant told!
The condition of FAMU's financial books is not all Bryant's fault. But she is responsible for deliberately misrepresenting the numbers. There is no excuse for falsely claiming a net asset as a surplus and tell us that we finished "in the black" when there is a deficit.
Do like Apollo Creed's trainer told him in Rocky II ...
ReplyDelete"LET IT GO!"
No, I'll take the Anthony Hamilton approach when it comes to my alma mater:
ReplyDelete"No matter what the people say I'm gonna love you anyway. You are my life. I can't let go."
I have a question. When you say the University has a surplus, what are you saying you have a surplus in. I work at Florida State University, and each year our department heads make sure that any money we have is spent on whatever we can spend it on. WE try and spend every dime in our budget.
ReplyDelete