The special Board of Governors task force on FAMU management and finances gets down to business today in Jacksonville.
The task force, created during the legislative session because of a scathing operational audit of the university, has scheduled a six-hour meeting at the University of North Florida to chart a course of action for the coming months.
The group received reports in April and May from FAMU Interim President Castell Bryant and some university officials, detailing problems in financial accounting and administration.
Continue reading: FAMU Task force
The Palm Beach Post is at it again...
On another note, those agressive apologist for Castell Bryant at the Palm Beach Post are at it again. This is a newspaper that never seems to let little things, like the facts, get in the way of their own bias.
Here's a quote from their editorial today: "The audit, for example, found that the university couldn't account for $39 million, which makes up 10 percent of the operating budget. During the 16-year tenure of Frederick Humphries, the culture of unaccountability became so entrenched that it overwhelmed Fred Gainous, who succeeded Dr. Humphries in 2002. By 2005, when interim President Castell Bryant required employees to collect paychecks in person, she discovered dozens who had been getting paid for doing no work. Dr. Bryant found that getting to the root of FAMU's issues was like peeling back the many layers of an onion."
The truth of the matter is that the $39 million in spending that state auditors recently questioned was the result of shoddy management on the part of Castell Bryant , alone, and not Dr. Humphries.
The PB Post has taken its attack on FAMU even further by taking jabs at incoming president James Ammons. "Dr. Ammons worked at FAMU for nearly 20 years before leaving in 2001 to be chancellor of North Carolina Central University. So he's the former insider who knows where reform should start, or he helped to create the culture that needs reform, " the Post said.
Read more here: FAMU needs culture change
Thank you Palm Beach for the truth!!
ReplyDeleteYellow journalism at its best! Now the citizens of Tampa should understand why they will never have the Florida Classic again. The paper that represents their overall interest has been on constant attack of FAMU since it has been know that Bryant would have to step down. The interesting thing is how that tried to blame FAMU on "crying" about the tuition percentage hike. If you look back at the papers you will find that CEO Robinson said we did not need the tuition increase because it would hurt our recruitment program. So know everything that goes in the SUS is placed at the feet of FAMU. SHAME ON YOU ST. PETERSBURG TIME!
ReplyDeleteplease excuse the typos
ReplyDeleteThe Truth? If that is the case lets tell the truth about all of the institutions in the SUS. Will the Democrat of the SPT do some "investigating" reporting into the "true" reasons the two major higher educational institutions demand a tuition increase? Has money been mis-managed at these “flagship schools;” is there a crack in their financial infrastructure? I demand to know, because I am a tax paying citizen of Florida and I want to know everything that is going on at all of these institutions. So get to it editors, lets investigate all of these institutions in the same manner that you are investigating FAMU.
ReplyDeleteTo: 9:46 a.m
ReplyDeleteCastell is that you? Shouldn't you be out fleecing someone again and stealing taxpayers money?
As an Alumni, I can help but wonder what is left for FAMU? Even if we like the old folks (like Dr. Humphries), we cannot move forward on good memories. Dr. Humphries is listed as a Regent Professor at the College of Law and there are many others from the past still somehow affiliated with different areas of FAMU. In the end, all of this stuff comes down to appearance. Alumni will need to know that our school is being cleaned up and that includes cutting ties that bind us to the past in a negative way and moving forward with a younger, fresher, upward outlook.
ReplyDeleteOK, and FSU currently has on its payroll two former President's --- Bernie Sliger and Dale Lick--- as well as a former SUS Chancellor Barbara Newell.
ReplyDeleteSo what's your point?
I don't quite understand why people still, at this point in the horrific fiscal affairs of the university, still will not accept the truth (in publications) of what they know to be true. We know that prior to Castell's interim presidency that the school was deeply mired in financial chaos and was, in many instances, unable to account for the millions of dollars that flowed through the university. We know that Humphries was instrumental in getting the university on the national map, so to speak. We know that there were people and schools and colleges and divisions within the university that did whatever they wanted to, money-wise, and were never, ever called on the carpet for engaging in such dispicable financial shenanigans. We know this. We know that Ammons was provost for six(?) years under Humphries' watch and knew of the financial and mismanagement goings-on that was occuring at the university. We know that the madness did not begin with Castell Bryant, but was exacerbated by her ineptitude. We know this. The woman certainly was responsible for doing so many administratively, fiscally, and academically incorrect things that are impossible to list, that she should surely be held to the letter of irresponsibility. Now, why and how we can get so angry at the messenger(s) for reporting the truth is beyond me. Ammons, during his tenure as provost, knew as much as Fred Humphries. He had as much knowlege as the president, perhaps even more, because the president deferred to him in many situations, even though he (Humphries) was the chief operating officer of the institution. We know that Castell Bryant created her share of the chaos that the university inhaled (and came rightfully be blamed for operating the university in the steely manner in which she did for two and one-half years), but we surely know that prior to her arrival the university was in financial trouble. We don't like to call a spade a spade, but we must call things as we see them if we are going to move forward. Now, I question whether or not reactions to the Palm Beach Post article would have generated the same kind of response had Roosevelt Wilson (of the Capital Outlook) written it. I think not. And while we are not please with having our stories continuously splashed across the state's newspapers, let us not be angry at the truth, no matter who brings the message.
ReplyDelete11:49--what's YOUR point in including who and what FSU has on its board???
ReplyDeleteWe know that Ammons was provost for six(?) years under Humphries' watch and knew of the financial and mismanagement goings-on that was occuring at the university.
ReplyDeleteIf FAMU was such a financial mess under Humphries and Ammons, then how did the university manage to get clean financial statement audits every year? If Humphries and Ammons were such bad financial managers, then how were they able to leave surpluses in the operating budget, composite cash balance, and athletic department?
FAMU did not begin getting bad financial statement audits and multi-million dollar year-end deficits under people like Jim Corbin and Castell Bryant began tampering with the financial division.
Those are the facts that the anti-FAMU crowd simply can't handle. None of the FAMU bashers will ever mention the clean financial statement audits and surpluses that Humphries and Ammons created.
I assure you that I am most definitely not anti-FAMU, as you call it. It amazes me to no end that people don't want to face cold, hard facts. Let us remember that when the university functioned under the old Board of Regents, we had no idea what kind of financial crises the university was under simply because the Board was reluctant to criticze the university for fear of being called racists. We all knew--and I'm a university employee, by the way--as well as a graduate of the university with a pair of degrees--so I have a vested interest in the survival of the university. So much was going on under the helm of Humphries and Ammons, but was covered up. We all know this. This is not rocket science. Castell exposed a lot of mismanagement issues during her presidency--and believe me, I'm NO FAN OF CASTELL BRYANT--but when the legislature allowed universities to govern themselves, well, that's when much of what had been done under the table came to the light. Yes, Humphries and Ammons brought acadmic notoriety to the university and did great and wonderful things for the university, but we all know, including YOU, that there was a lot wrong in so many areas. Clean audits, yeah, according to how they were doing them, financial accountability? Well, that's a different story for another time. Castell Bryant nearly destroyed the university by her way of managing things, but we know that the university didn't just "get that way" during her 30 months there. It had been there, swept under the rug for longer than you and I both care to acknowledge.
ReplyDeleteYou people, talking about what WE KNOW, are ignorant. A clean audit is a clean audit. Humphries had clean audits. Gainous and Bryant did not have clean audit. You people, talking about the TRUTH, wouldn't know the TRUTH if it hit you between the eyes.
ReplyDeleteThe cited article said, "By 2005, when interim President Castell Bryant required employees to collect paychecks in person, she discovered dozens who had been getting paid for doing no work."
ReplyDeleteHas anyone seen any verification of this? Were ANY ghost employees discovered by the payroll audit? If so, how many? Who? What happened? Where is this documented?
y'all have had ghost employees for years. you guys have really messed things up, here comes a criminal investigation.
ReplyDeleteThere were never any ghost employees found doing the payroll audit as investigated by FDLE and the Office of Fiscal Responsibility. The only ghost employees that have ever been at FAMU were Castell, Lizzie, Rufus, June and the rest of her ignorant gangsters.
ReplyDeleteLet us remember that when the university functioned under the old Board of Regents, we had no idea what kind of financial crises the university was under simply because the Board was reluctant to criticze the university for fear of being called racists.
ReplyDeleteCharlie Reed, who was the State University System chancellor for most of Fred Humphries' tenure, stated that he held FAMU accountable. Reed is considered a national expert in higher ed and is currently chancellor of the California State System.
Former regents like Carolyn Roberts and Steve Steve Uhlfelder were the ones who said they kept quiet because they had guilty feelings about racism. However, that was their problem, not FAMU's.
Reed was the man in charge of supervising the day-to-day operations of the SUS and he treated Humphries no differently from any other president.
Additionally, the state auditor general's office checked the finanical statements back then just as it does now. It reported the good, the bad, and the ugly at all public universities -- FAMU included.
The state auditor made it clear that there were no problems with FAMU's financial statement audits from 1978 to 2002. Our financial statements did not become messed up until Jim Corbin and Castell Bryant began micromanaging the financial division through Fred Gainous, their puppet president.
Okay, in case yall don't know, this has to be Rufus Little taken up for castell. He basically told on himself. So Little we get the point, we know where your loyalty lies. So stop trying to hang in and leave, you obviously do not like Ammons.
ReplyDeleteRufus Little ain't published an auditor report in two damn years. He better have something to show on July 2.
ReplyDeleteThere were a couple. When I was in Orlando awhile back the audit found us paying somebody at that law school over a 100k (don't remember if 150 or 250). They were tryin' to offset his donation or something. I think his name was Cunningham. (not sure if first or last name). He had never even been to the school. That afternoon, I took off my FAMU shirt, cause folks down there were trippin'. The dean for the school got suspended or something. I am not sure if everything "worked out" and he is back now. There were a couple of other people too. Just remember that one cause I was down there when it broke out.
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