James Ammons, the incoming President of FAMU, spoke with students today at the "State and Fate" Rally outside of the Orange Room a few minutes ago. Ammons told students that he too is truly growing frustrated with the current direction that FAMU is headed. He promissed students that he would work hard to reverse the current course and to do better. He also asked students to be patient and wait until he gets in office.
I heard Ammons on campus. He was tentative and really didn't say much. He certainly did not have any answers or strong views. I have a feeling he is going to go to that Trustees meeting and get corrupted, like the rest of them.
ReplyDeleteDr. Ammons is a very cerebral and strategic leader like Dr. Humphries. He never puts all his cards on the table at once. He is adamantly against Castell's efforts to sell-out the E-School and has been working behind-the-scenes to battle against her.
ReplyDeleteIn the meanwhile, it's up to the students, faculty, and alumni to publicly confront Castell and hold her accountable for her actions. We can't let Castell continue to give the School away piece by piece. Or else, there won't be much for Ammons to lead once he gets here.
RN can you verify the rumor that is circulating that Dr. Ammons has asked the following people to resign from their positions before he arrives on campus in July?
ReplyDeleteProvost Debra Austin
Vice President Janie Greenleaf
Vice President Keith Jackson
Vice President Ron Joe
Vice President Rufus Little
Vice President Vincent June
Vice President Grace Ali
There are higher ups whispering about this across campus, but no official word or statement has been made.
If this is true, I am confident that we can begin to move in the right direction of getting our students affairs and finances in order.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
ReplyDeleteWell how discrete can his cards be if you are publishing this statement on the blog?
To 2:49.
ReplyDeleteHeck, there's only so much the man can say. He isn't in the BIG chair yet.
Well I for one can't wait for Grace Ali to leave. Bring on Charles O'Dour, a real financial manager!
ReplyDeleteIs this fool wearing a FURMAN T-shirt?
ReplyDeleteAt least Agnew wears Orange and Green.
Ammons has infact asked for even more resignations than posted.
ReplyDeletePREDICTION:
ReplyDeleteFAMU alumni, students, and faculty will turn on Ammons before the year is out.
He will be getting the same treatment from an ungrateful FAMU community as his predecessors. Whether he deserves it or not.
Prove me wrong.
Anonymous said...
ReplyDeletePREDICTION:
FAMU alumni, students, and faculty will turn on Ammons before the year is out.
He will be getting the same treatment from an ungrateful FAMU community as his predecessors. Whether he deserves it or not.
Prove me wrong.
4/06/2007 5:13 PM
You're obviously NOT a FAMUAN so we don't have to prove anything to YOU.
Anonymous said...
ReplyDeleteAmmons has infact asked for even more resignations than posted.
4/06/2007 4:55 PM
Can you share? Many of these people were not there when I was a student but I've heard all the bad info about them in the wind. Dr. Ammons don't need any of these people from Castell's Administration. I hope Little can find work again in DC !!!
Rufus Little first needs to worry about passing the Bar!
ReplyDeleteAfter all of the blog complaints, I have yet to see progress in trying to fix the problems in support of this great University. We know what the problems are but we should start a list of current concerns that the task force should address, the methodology that should be uses to solve the problems and a time line to fix the problem. The task force is not a fix all force. We as students and staff have to take responsibility for uplifting our University and solve our problems collectively. We need to ask ourselves what issues are at the top of the list and how do we solve them. We have some of the brightest and intelligent students and former students in the state. We can do this Rattlers!!!!! Let the task force know what we want and expect from them.
ReplyDeleteDon't forget the guy at EIT (or whatever they're call themselves now). I don't see any improvements he has made.
ReplyDeleteI thought that Greenleaf was already gone, or was that a rumor?
ReplyDeleteNot a rumor, her a** is grass. and it could not have happened to a nicer person. Gee, I wonder if they will be provided with police escorts on their last day? That would a nice touch!!!
ReplyDeleteAnonymous said...
ReplyDeleteBring on Charles O'Dour, a real financial manager!
4/06/2007 3:18 PM
Can you share with us his background?
Charles O'Duor was the budget director for FAMU's Division of Academic Affairs when James Ammons was provost. Ammons took O'Duor with him to NCCU and appointed him Vice Chancellor for Financial Affairs.
ReplyDeleteO'Duor inherited a terrible set of state audit findings when he began the job and immediately turned NCCU's books around. NCCU has consistently received clean state audits under his watch.
We need O'Duor at FAMU YESTERDAY!
I'm all for the resignations on the list except for Dr. Keith Jackson. His performance thus far has been exemplary, and he has deep industry and research connections. One can look at the Plasma Physics Center as an example of his capability.
ReplyDeletePlease give me a break. Keith Jackson ain't worth shti. If not for him, our dwindling research funds would have grown exponentially.
ReplyDeleteHe is a fraud and only thinks of FAMU as a glorified high school at best. Read his two opinion pieces in the TDO.
Send his tired arse back to California, Morehouse or Howard U and his flunky VP as well or better yet, CePAST since Joe Johnson brought him here.
Keith Jackson is a fraud!
ReplyDeleteFYI...it is customary in higher education for the incoming president to ask for letters of resignation from all VPs. Trust the VPs at FAMU expect to be replaced.
ReplyDeleteIt is nearly impossible to enact change when you do not have an executive staff that is supportive of your vision and direction for the university.
I must say I can't wait to see our new administration.
All of Castell's VPs understood that they were being hired by a temporary president. That makes them temporary employees.
ReplyDeleteAfter aiding Corbin & Castell's smear campaign against Ammons, Rufus and Vinnie should expect to be asked to resign.
Rufus and Vinnie are two incompetent, conniving, scoundrels. No one with any sense will hire them for the same money Castell did.
With their low character and destructive actions against FAMU, I don't care if those two are sent to the damn bread line.
Keith Jackson is a fraud!
ReplyDeleteKeith Jackson has done very little for research at FAMU. He has a very elitist attitude and thinks that the only real researchers on campus are those in the "hard sciences." He has even called other faculty members "mickey mouse" researchers.
ReplyDeleteWhat has he done for the grad students lately. Most Research VP put grad students and post-docs on their priority lists for funding and support. What program has he established for this group?
We need them as faculty, and they need us to help them.
What is his publication record?
Do you really expect for a VP working for Castell to have their own voice? Do you really believe that a VP has time to research. It's clear that Castell was literally that, hell. Everyone, except those like her, had to walk on egg shells.
ReplyDeleteKeith Jackson like Ron Joe had to work within the imposed constraints. The rest the crew: Austin, Greenleaf, Little, June, Ali, McBride all have personal relationships with CVB and all, except Austin, were all like Thelma, somewhat qualified but not ready for their level of responsibility.
And frankly, there is allot of soft research on campus. That's a fact. It's not our game. We do not come close to UF and FSU when it comes to breakthroughs and research accolades.
Anonymous said...
ReplyDeleteCharles O'Duor was the budget director for FAMU's Division of Academic Affairs when James Ammons was provost. Ammons took O'Duor with him to NCCU and appointed him Vice Chancellor for Financial Affairs.
O'Duor inherited a terrible set of state audit findings when he began the job and immediately turned NCCU's books around. NCCU has consistently received clean state audits under his watch.
We need O'Duor at FAMU YESTERDAY!
4/07/2007 3:31 AM
Thank you for responding. I hope we can get him back!
Does anyone have an idea who Dr. Ammons will bring back with him?
They definately need to get rid of that clown uncle tom VP of Technology Henderpoop!! He definately dosen't know what the hell he is doing. All he has done is flooded the university with more worthless consultants that prevent the univeristy from really thriving on its own...
ReplyDeleteDr. Ammons will likely bring back:
ReplyDeleteCharles O'Duor, NCCU VC of Financial Affairs (former Budget Director of the FAMU Division of Academic Affairs)
Roland Gaines, NCCU VC of Student Affairs (former Associate VP of the FAMU Division of Student Affairs)
Sharon Saunders, NCCU special assistant to the Chancellor for Public Relations (former Interim VP of FAMU University Relations and Public Affairs)
Kimberly Phifer-McGee, NCCU Director of Distance Learning (and former director of FAMU's Instructional Media Center and Distance Learning Programs)
Not all of these men and women will be doing the exact same jobs at FAMU that they have been doing at NCCU. For example, Gaines just retired from the VC of Student Affairs position at NCCU. But he will very likely have a job working directly in the FAMU President's Office.
Dr. Ammons is going to bring a team of proven leaders to FAMU (much like Dr. Humphries brought with him from TSU). These are going to be exciting times for FAMU.
You can read more about the FAMUans Dr. Ammons took to NCCU (and will probably bring back to Tallahassee) at the following link:
http://www.nccu.edu/campus/echo/archive2-0102/c-ammons.html
THE MIAMI HERALD SAID...
ReplyDeleteHIGHER EDUCATION
FAMU's new leader faces storm clouds
As the historically black university prepares for a new leader, unresolved issues and infighting mean big trouble.
BY STEPHANIE GARRY
sgarry@MiamiHerald.com
TALLAHASSEE -- Florida A&M University has seen brighter days -- when its famed ''Marching 100'' band played with Prince at the Super Bowl. When Time Magazine named it College of the Year. When it overtook Howard University as the No. 1 granter of bachelor's degrees to black students.
But the years of glory have also been haunted by scandal: Money missing by the millions. Financial aid officers taking bribes from students. Ghost employees.
Each attempt to correct the course has been met with still more accounting mysteries. As a new president readies to take the reins, hope has returned that fresh leadership will mean a new day. But deep divisions over what will fix FAMU, and continuing infighting, have stymied efforts at progress.
The stakes are high: An audit this month so angered state lawmakers they considered calling for a criminal investigation and even shutting down the state's only public, historically black university.
''There's a cloud that hangs over the university,'' state Sen. Al Lawson, a FAMU graduate whose district includes the school, told a crowd at FAMU Day at the Capitol. 'The biggest question that some of you might have is, `When is this going to stop? When are we going to have great audits?' I tell you that the best has yet to come.''
Even the effort to find a new president was controversial. The FAMU board of trustees voted to hire James Ammons, chancellor of North Carolina Central University -- by one vote. Alumni responded to the split vote by demanding lawmakers and Gov. Charlie Crist purge dissenters from the board.
''It is sad,'' said Castell Bryant, who is serving as interim president. ``And it makes it even worse because FAMU has so many problems. You don't need this kind of fighting.''
THE TROUBLE STARTS
FAMU's missteps began at least as early as 1997, the same year Time named it College of the Year. The state threatened to shut down the Boosters, the school's athletic fundraising group, for not providing financial statements. That was near the end of the 16-year tenure of president Frederick Humphries. Things got worse under successor Fred Gainous, whose pay was suspended by the state's chief financial officer until he handed over financial documents. The trustees effectively fired him in 2004, and Bryant was called in to clean up the mess. The former head of Miami-Dade College took a no-nonsense approach, cleaning house of inefficient administrators and programs. Now on her way out, she has made improvements -- and enemies.
For every leak Bryant has plugged, more have sprung up. The latest is a state audit that discovered that $39 million of the school's budget is unaccounted for, that $2.7 million in missing property -- including computers -- hasn't been reported to the police, that professors haven't been paid and that students haven't received financial aid on time.
Challis Lowe, chairwoman of the FAMU Board of Trustees, said Bryant's new policies are meant to solve old problems -- such as tightening payroll rules to cleanse the school of ghost employees who were fraudulently pulling down checks.
But Lowe said the solutions have also created more problems, such as the unpaid faculty. She added that the trustees couldn't be responsible for the items in the audit, which dealt with day-to-day operations and weren't made known to the board.
''Our ability to really provide governance is really only as good as the information we get,'' Lowe said. ``Without that information, we have no legitimate basis on which to make decisions.''
Lawson, the senator who represents FAMU's district, said the audit shows new leadership is needed on the board. He's lobbying to convince the Senate not to confirm Lowe. For the most part, the debate is over who is better equipped to fix FAMU. Some believe that only FAMU people can solve FAMU's problems -- Ammons is a graduate and former provost. The other side thinks the school needs radical change and fresh blood.
''It was clear to me that there was still need for significant change,'' said Lowe, who said she has talked with the incoming president about the board's vote over his hiring and reconciled their differences. ``Sometimes it's easier for change to be brought about by an outsider rather than an insider.''
Lawson is using the same time-for-change argument against Lowe: ``She's been there for the last two or three years and the university's financial situation has gotten worse. You've got to have a change in guard and this may be the proper time to do it.''
FEAR OF FAILURE
Underscoring the debate over FAMU's future is a fear that if the university doesn't shape up, legislators could kill it's funding and merge it with Tallahassee Community College or Florida State University. That's happened to historically black colleges before, mostly in the 1920s and '30s, said Marybeth Gasman, a University of Pennsylvania professor who researches historically black colleges.
''What was a common practice in the South was to wipe out a strong program at a black college by putting a similar program at a nearby white college,'' she said.
That happened to FAMU in the late '60s, when the Florida Legislature wiped out funding for the FAMU law school and the next year gave funding to one at FSU. The Republican-led Legislature in 2000 authorized the creation of two new law schools: One for FAMU and one for Florida International University in Miami. The law schools were pushed by a coalition of Hispanic and black legislators, but were created only after a deal was struck by House Speaker John Thrasher and Senate President Toni Jennings to also let FSU open a medical school.
Gasman said it's important to remember the purpose of historically black universities and consider individual responsibility when looking at a troubled school like FAMU. Though historically black schools deal with different problems, they all have two things in common: mistreatment by state governments and a unique role in the advancement of black people.
''They have a commitment to the racial uplift of African Americans,'' Gasman said. ``I'm always troubled by people who don't realize that. Their history precludes them from being just another state institution.''
Miami Herald staff writer Gary Fineout contributed to this report.
AND THE ST. PETE TIMES SAYS...
ReplyDeleteLeader turned college around
Now FAMU hopes its new president can do the same for his troubled alma mater.
By RON MATUS
Published April 8, 2007
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DURHAM, N.C. - The audit was searing, filled with terms like "significant deficiencies" and "missing documentation." It implied some employees at North Carolina Central University were running schemes to line their own pockets.
James Ammons' first thought: "embarrassing."
Embarrassing because Ammons was the university's new chancellor, and even though the problems happened before his watch, they were his responsibility now. Embarrassing because Ammons knew this wasn't NCCU's first bad audit; in fact, the historically black university hadn't had a clean one in more than 20 years.
And embarrassing because ugly stereotypes haunted him - the ones that suggest black people can't run big institutions or manage money.
So the new chancellor called a meeting. And in his slow, steady Central Florida drawl, he told the university's entire finance staff that the audit was unacceptable. He said he looked at everybody's academic credentials and knew it wasn't a matter of talent. "What do you need?" he asked.
I'll get it, he promised. But then, you have to get it done.
- - -
When Ammons assumes the helm of Florida A&M University July 2, supporters will be looking for a savior more than a president.
Florida's only historically black public university is facing one of the biggest crises in its 120-year history. Nagging fiscal problems threaten to undermine both its financial bond status and its academic accreditation.
FAMU's woes read like a script from a higher ed horror flick: Its pharmacy school is at risk of losing accreditation. Its once golden business school is still recovering from a morale slump that followed the retirement of its founding dean. And its engineering school appears headed for new management - at majority white Florida State University, no less.
Enrollment is down, students are threatening sit-ins and lawmakers say a criminal investigation could be next.
All this from a university that, 10 years ago, was Time magazine's College of the Year.
Meanwhile, at NCCU, the first thing visitors see when they drive south from Interstate 40 is a massive new dorm of stately red brick - and a crane on the skyline.
Situated on 106 acres of rolling green hills, NCCU is humming with thousands of new students and $121-million worth of construction, including a biotechnology center that aims to make NCCU a player in the state's high-powered Research Triangle.
Academically, NCCU is making a play for the nation's top black students, like FAMU used to do. Athletically, its football team went 11-1.
If NCCU is what FAMU was - a school on the rise - then Ammons is the common denominator. The Winter Haven native was FAMU's provost before taking the top job at NCCU in 2001. And NCCU supporters almost universally credit him with using the FAMU blueprint to turn a small-but-proud school into the fastest-growing university in North Carolina.
Ammons "brought a directed leadership," said Carlton Wilson, who chairs NCCU's history department. He "helped bring to fruition what people had been wanting to do for a long time."
The changes aren't just physical. NCCU student Jite Arhagba said before Ammons arrived, NCCU students would tell people what school they attended and the confused response would be, "N.C. State?" That doesn't happen as much anymore.
"We definitely get a lot of publicity," Arhagba said. "We can raise our heads higher and say, 'We go to Central.' "
Ammons' success has come despite a fair share of crises, including the unflattering audit, an outbreak of toxic mold in student dorms and a loss of accreditation at the business school. All share parallels with the administrative fires at FAMU, except they flared one by one instead of raging all at once.
But all were extinguished quickly, with Ammons both getting credit and sharing it.
The "student affairs vice chancellor and director of residential life went into a crisis mode," Ammons said of the 2003 mold incident, which forced NCCU to find off-campus accommodations for 500 students a week before fall classes began. "It was like a miracle."
In yet another blowup, Ammons and NCCU found themselves in the harsh glare of a national spotlight last year. After a black NCCU student accused white lacrosse players at nearby Duke University of raping her, the news hordes descended. Reporters wanted to know: Would Durham explode?
It could have, but it didn't. By all accounts, Ammons played a pivotal role during those early, tension-filled weeks, even if his contributions were overlooked by a media focused on other themes.
Crisis defused? That's not a story.
- - -
Ammons, 54, is not the kind of guy who takes over a room. At least, not at first.
He's tall, but not towering; charming, but not magnetic; a little reserved, but by no means a shrinking violet. At NCCU, students and faculty describe him as warm, humble, approachable, confident. When he greets students in the cafeteria, even the ones trying to "look hard" smile and shake his hand.
"He's just a down-to-earth man," said Rony Camille, editor of the student newspaper, the Campus Echo.
"A Southern gentleman," said Richard Smith, who heads NCCU's alumni association.
In interviews, Ammons, a political scientist by training, chooses his words carefully. He would rather not describe his feelings. He would rather say he was disappointed than mad.
But he does get mad.
Just before Christmas 2005, Ammons learned that the dean of the NCCU business school a soon-to-be former dean had allowed the school's accreditation from one agency to lapse while the school was in the process of seeking accreditation from another, more prestigious group. He found out because the first agency sent him a letter notifying him of NCCU's newly expired status.
"Inexcusable," Ammons recalled last week. "Disturbing," he said.
But wasn't he steamed?
"Oh yeah," he said. "Look, since I have been here - actually, since I have been a provost, a chancellor - I never experienced losing an accreditation. This was the first. It was just totally unexpected and disappointing."
Ammons asked faculty what they needed to get the accreditation back, then got them the resources they wanted.
"He gave us a blank check," said economics professor ABM Nasir. "He said, 'Do it your own way. What you need from me, just tell me.' "
In the meantime, Ammons met with students, parents and others in a series of meetings aimed at informing and reassuring. It's an approach he said he'll bring to FAMU.
"You have to make certain that everybody is informed, that they don't hear these things from other sources, that we are in control of the message, and that we're open and forthcoming and frank," Ammons said.
The end result: Restoring accreditation was expected to take more than a year, but NCCU got its status back before the business school's seniors graduated in the spring.
- - -
In March 2006, Ammons was on vacation with his wife. They had just landed in California when he got the call.
An NCCU student said she had been raped by lacrosse players from Duke.
"I was deeply troubled," Ammons said. About the student, of course. But also about the bigger picture.
"Durham is 40 percent African-American. It's a very ... civically engaged community," he said. So the situation "was very volatile. And then of course, when I was told that nobody had been arrested ..."
In the following days, students and other NCCU supporters urged Ammons to be aggressive, confrontational. Think what would have happened had black NCCU athletes been accused of raping a white Duke student, they said. Would the NCCU athletes still be going to class?
Ammons knew the answer. But he also believed other key players in the community, including Duke president Richard Brodhead - whom he considered a friend - were committed to doing the right thing. He had cultivated ties with them since arriving in Durham. He did not think they would let NCCU down.
So he went against the grain, and his own initial gut reaction.
"I'm human, too. And I'm African-American. I got to tell you, there was a temptation to take a harder line," he said.
But in the end, Ammons counseled his students to be patient, to be respectful of the system, and to let the system work. He made several appearances with Duke's president and encouraged NCCU students to meet with their Duke counterparts.
Outsiders and activists were urging NCCU students to take to the streets. Ammons wondered, "How long would my message stick?"
Long enough, it turns out, for other information to emerge and make the situation look less black and white.
Ammons "brought reason to people," said North Carolina state Rep. Mickey Michaux, an NCCU graduate who represents Durham. He "walked a fine line, but that's the way he is."
"James showed courage and dignity in insisting that the legal process be allowed to determine the truth," Brodhead said in a written statement. "One cannot overestimate the calming influence he had."
- - -
After the scathing audit, NCCU's finance staff told Ammons they needed more help and more training.
So Ammons found money to increase the number of internal auditors from one to four, and he instituted workshops so all administrators could get up to speed on policies and procedures. He also fired some NCCU employees and hired private companies to take over the bookstore and ticketing office.
Not very exciting, maybe. But NCCU's next audit came back squeaky clean.
Times staff writer Demorris Lee and researchers Cathy Wos and Carolyn Edds contributed to this report. Ron Matus can be reached at (727) 893-8873 or matus@sptimes.com.
James Ammons
Age: 54
Hometown: Winter Haven
Family: Wife, Judy; son, James Ammons III, 27.
Education: bachelor's degree, political science, Florida A&M (1974); master's degree, public administration, Florida State University (1975); Ph.D., government, FSU (1977).
FAMU salary: $325,000
Administrative experience includes: chancellor for North Carolina Central University (2001-present); various administrative posts at FAMU (1984-2001), including provost and vice president for academic affairs.
Professional activities include: board of directors, American Association of State Colleges and Universities; board of directors, American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education.
In regards to your accolades of Charles O'Duor they are very interesting. One person can not change a financial picture it takes strict disciple from your team consisting of budget, comptroller, auxiliary services, and human resources. These individuals are charged with ensuring that the campus is in compliance with state and federal regulations. Obviously, O'Duor had a strong staff and believe me it was to no thanks of his. Good luck if you think the financial picture will change easily. Any true finance individual knows that is not true. His office was a revolving door for all that entered check the records please!
ReplyDeleteGood luck if you think the financial picture will change easily. Any true finance individual knows that is not true. His office was a revolving door for all that entered check the records please!
ReplyDeleteBefore O'Duor, NCCU had bad audits. After one year, O'Duor and his staffers turned the financial books around. The audits have been clean ever since.
O'Duor's state audits at NCCU speak for themselves. If you want to argue that North Carolina's auditors got it wrong, please provide some substantial evidence.
Otherwise, your comments have no factual merit.
Although the roof has not crashed at NCCU the only year for a clean audit was the first year. The additional years there were exceptions on many items which were not a reflection on the administration. The same is true with FAMU the reasons behind the issues is that people/staff choose not to follow the rules as it relates to state and federal regulations and many times there is no awareness about it until an audit is performed or someone doesn't get a paycheck. FAMU is very large and with one auditor there is no way policing could be done effectively.
ReplyDeleteIt is easy to check the records for the past few audits at NCCU though the State Auditors office, but that is neither here nor there it takes adherance to the rules by all to succumb to clean audits which is random sampling unless there is a need for indebtness.
My suggestion to you was to check the record before you believe that people walk on water.
7:12 PM posted:
ReplyDeleteIf you want to argue that North Carolina's auditors got it wrong, please provide some substantial evidence.
Otherwise, your comments have no factual merit.
Anon @ 9:41AM- Reading is fundamental.
Please provide "some substantial evidence". Otherwise, STFU!
*Off-topic* That same "outfit" wears her everyday. I'm tired of seeing non-FAMU gear on FAMUans daily. Otherwise, I'm happy to see this ray of HOPE. Someone actually listening. Taking responsibility already.
ReplyDeleteAlthough the roof has not crashed at NCCU the only year for a clean audit was the first year.
ReplyDeleteW R O N G!
NCCU has been receiving clean audits since Ammons took over.