The folks who sent us Debra Austin, Castell Bryant and Challis Lowe are now preparing to appoint three new trustees to the FAMU Board of Trustees. Interestingly enough, the Florida Board of Governors usually must publish its agenda a week in advance, no agenda has been posted for their July 8th & 9th meeting.The FL Board of Governors is under the leadership of realtor extraordinaire Carolyn K. Roberts, a strong Bryant and Lowe backer.
Ms. Roberts said of Lowe, "she's done a very good job under difficult circumstances. I have confidence in her." If Ms. Roberts meant helping to run FAMU into the ground, the Bryant-Lowe team did an excellenct job.
In shipping Ms. Austin out of the SUS Chancellor's office and pushing her off on FAMU, Ms. Roberts had this to say: "Debra is very dedicated to things she believes in." Apparently, Ms. Austin didn't believe in FAMU.
Roberts "lauded" the Bryant-Austin team calling them "strong women."
Further, time and time again, Ms. Roberts refused to reign in or "check" her girlfriends Challis, Castell, and Debra while they were wrecking havoc at FAMU.
Ms. Roberts doesn't seem to have FAMU's best interest at heart.
As National Alumni President Alvin Bryant, aptly noted, "In order for FAMU to move forward, we are going to need accomplished and engaged board members that will be supportive of FAMU."
Rattlers need to keep an eye on Ms. Roberts and the Florida Board of Governors to ensure that they don't saddle us with the kind of axis of evil board members they've appointed in the past.
I say get rid of all the FAMU naysayers. Out with the old and in with the new.
ReplyDeleteWhat excuse could this woman give for continously backing Castell, Lowe and Austin.
ReplyDeleteNo other BOT in the state has been saddled with such loosers!
Real RATTLERS are not asleep. Real RATTLERS know that the fight is ahead of us. Real RATTLERS know that there are MANY in Tallahassee who not only orchestrated FAMU's demise, but are also still hoping for that outcome.
ReplyDeletePlease remember that Ms. Roberts never supported the goals of FAMU, and believed that FAMU received special treatment...
ReplyDeleteEx-regents say they coddled FAMU Education leaders acknowledge the historically black university used race to seek and receive special treatment, and the school is suffering for it.
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TALLAHASSEE - Any time a red flag was raised about a problem at Florida A&M University - and it happened a lot - there was a good chance race would become an issue.
FAMU administrators and supporters often complained that the historically black school was singled out for criticism. They invoked past inequities, broken promises and special needs.
Such arguments were understandable, but not in FAMU's best interests, say many of the two dozen state education leaders interviewed by the St. Petersburg Times, most of whom are white. Some think the focus on race is a reason the school is still careening from one financial mess to another.
Several members of the former state Board of Regents now acknowledge they sometimes took it easier on FAMU, or granted requests not available to other schools, in part because they had become wary of the emphasis on race.
Much of that dynamic, they say, took root during the long tenure of former FAMU president Frederick Humphries, who often used race as a lobbying tool or let alumni and legislators do it for him.
"Other schools wouldn't have gotten away with this," said Steve Uhlfelder, a former regent from Tallahassee and current member of the group's successor, the Board of Governors. "It was as much our fault as his fault. You could only take so many body blows from the guy."
Many of the former regents are reluctant to criticize a man still considered an icon. Humphries has been widely praised for raising FAMU's national profile and for recruiting top students.
But his 16-year reign, which ended in 2001, was riddled with fiscal and management problems.
An FBI investigation of the FAMU financial aid office led to criminal convictions. The school at times failed to pay teachers or graduate assistants. There were late reports, poor accounting and problems with the spending of federal grant money.
"We were not held, in my opinion, to the same kind of rigorous standards as the other universities," said James Corbin, chairman of the FAMU Board of Trustees and one of the few African-Americans to serve on the Board of Regents.
The school's most recent problem, which involved late financial records and $1.8-million that was unaccounted for, may yet topple FAMU president Fred Gainous, Humphries' embattled successor. It already has brought the school national embarrassment.
Humphries, who now leads a Washington organization that supports historically black schools, declined to comment for this article. But he has said in previous interviews that he is not responsible for the school's latest problems. He also said he didn't push for anything that FAMU didn't deserve.
But it was the way he pushed that raised eyebrows.
"He didn't say "black.' But that's what he meant," said Hank Watson of Fort Lauderdale, a regent for eight years. "He knew how to work the system."
Despite the school's many problems, Humphries' reputation never suffered. Some regents said they didn't want to come down hard on him - at least in public - for fear of a backlash. They would instead ask the university system chancellor to speak to him privately. Or they would dispatch state employees to help the school.
"There were times we had uncomfortable conversations, and we backed off," said Carolyn Roberts, a former regent from Ocala who is now chairwoman of the Board of Governors.
State Sen. Al Lawson, D-Tallahassee, a FAMU graduate and Humphries' friend, said the former president invoked race only when he thought it would help the school get a fair shake from the state.
"Instead of running from it, he came out and said what's wrong," said Lawson, an African-American. "The way people resolve racial issues is to talk about them. ... (But) if you're the Board of Regents, you don't want to hear it."
Cutting corners For much of its 117-year history, FAMU was a victim of legal segregation. The school received less attention than Florida's other universities and far less money.
Administration and classroom buildings were allowed to crumble. The library leaked. The final indignity came when the state closed FAMU's law school in 1968. About the same time, the state opened a new law school at Florida State University a few blocks away.
Humphries, a graduate of FAMU, changed all of that after he arrived on campus in 1985.
Enrollment more than doubled during his tenure, fueled by the millions of dollars in corporate scholarships he helped attract. The school received almost $90-million for building renovations and new construction. By the early 1990s, FAMU was educating many of the nation's brightest black students, competing with Harvard University every year to see who could enroll the most.
The crowning achievement came in 1997, when the school was named the nation's College of the Year by Time magazine and the Princeton Review. An eternal flame on campus still celebrates the designation.
In 2001, Humphries stunned the school and the state when he announced his resignation. The regents praised him mightily, describing his work as "miraculous."
They didn't mention the many corners he was allowed to cut.
Unlike the state's other university presidents, Humphries was allowed to create student scholarships with money that was supposed to attract faculty. He was allowed to take in a much higher percentage of out-of-state students - some years as high as 30 percent - while graduating the lowest percentage of those students in the state. And during part of his tenure, FAMU received the highest per-student funding in the university system.
Some higher education officials say FAMU got more because it needed more. But they also admit to concerns about perceptions, especially those of African-Americans. Those concerns preceded Humphries' arrival at FAMU.
"There was nothing overt, but it was always there," said E.T. York, who was the university system chancellor in the 1970s. "There was a degree of sensitivity about how to deal with FAMU because the race card could be blamed."
When the school had significant problems - as it did dozens of times in the past decade - Humphries and his administrators faced few consequences.
There were no penalties when the school failed to pay adjunct professors or graduate assistants several times over several years. And when the school hired an associate dean it later learned had been convicted of raping a 13-year-old girl, several regents had sharp words for Humphries, but then decided to convene a special committee.
The committee eventually declared the incident a "once in a lifetime" circumstance. Some members, however, wondered whether FAMU officials should have been more suspicious, since the dean had spent the previous three years working in a pharmacy, not a university.
Bill Tucker, the faculty union president at FAMU, said few problems got fixed when Humphries was president.
"I always felt it was wrong for the board to look the other way," said Tucker, an African-American. "I've always felt that they didn't deal with the issues going on here."
There were reasons for discretion. In 1988, for example, the regents publicly chastised Humphries for a poor athletic department audit. Alumni and faculty demanded an apology. They said the board was rude to Humphries and would never treat a white president that way.
"You may have problems. You may want things corrected, but you don't talk to him like he was a little boy," said FAMU graduate Carrie Meek, then a state senator from Miami who later became one of the first African-Americans from Florida elected to Congress since Reconstruction. "You don't let it be a demeaning thing."
Guilt complex Watson, the former regent, said Humphries was particularly skilled at feeding what he called the board's "guilt complex."
When the regents considered curbing the number of FAMU students who did not meet the state's minimum admission requirements, Humphries warned against doing anything that would reduce minority participation in higher education. When the regents asked for a review of FAMU's educational mission, he asked why the school was being singled out.
And when FAMU lobbied to have its law school restored after three decades, Humphries told the regents it was the least they could do. "This is a chance for the state to wipe out an onerous act, to rectify a wrong," he said.
That was classic Humphries, who often fought for FAMU's growth by reminding regents of the racial prejudice Florida leaders had inflicted on the school for decades.
"Fred Humphries comes out of a different era in which the black community did suffer," said Cecilia Bryant of Jacksonville, a regent from 1982 to 1989. "If you are him, maybe you always wonder if someone says no, you always wonder if it's because of race. ... Those who didn't come from that, they can't understand."
Humphries often worked through surrogates, influential alumni or black legislators such as Lawson and former state Sen. Betty Holzendorf of Jacksonville.
Lawson said Humphries repeatedly had to remind the regents about a federal Office of Civil Rights order that required the state to spend millions of extra dollars on programs and buildings at FAMU.
The regents understand the need for extra money, but some wondered when it would end.
"At what point do you say you're caught up?" Bryant asked.
Jon Moyle, a regent for a decade from West Palm Beach, said he was never offended by Humphries' tactics. Presidents, he said, were expected to lobby hard for their schools.
Betty Castor often spoke of the University of South Florida's urban mission. John Hitt stressed the University of Central Florida's close proximity to the Space Coast. Mitch Maidique emphasized Florida International University's predominantly Hispanic student body in Miami.
"He did what was necessary," said Cecil Keene of St. Petersburg, an African American who served as a regent from 1987 to 1993. "He brought it up, but I was never afraid of it. I wasn't going to be embarrassed about it."
Charles Reed, the university chancellor for much of Humphries' tenure, said Humphries never invoked race in any of their conversations. He said he wouldn't have allowed it.
"I would have kicked Fred's a-- till his nose bled, and Fred knew that," said Reed, now a university chancellor in California.
Adam Herbert, the state's first African-American chancellor and Reed's successor, had a different experience.
Soon after taking over, Herbert announced a plan to place each of the state's universities into a category suitable to its size, status and mission. He put FAMU in the "comprehensive" category, a designation that placed it among the state's smallest and newest schools.
Many FAMU supporters called the plan racist and accused Herbert of being insensitive to the effects of segregation. Students took to the streets in protest. Some said the plan was really designed to protect predominantly white FSU by limiting FAMU's growth.
Humphries was conspicuously quiet during much of the clamor. When asked whether he thought there was any validity to the FSU theory, he said he didn't know. But he said he would be interested in finding out.
Herbert declined to be interviewed for this story. In the end, he agreed to reclassify FAMU as a "comprehensive/doctoral" institution.
The category was created especially for the school, which had it all to its own.
Crisis mode FAMU made national headlines in November after the Times reported its latest financial mess, which came to light after the school missed the deadline to turn in annual financial statements accounting for more than $100-million of taxpayer money spent last year. Without those reports, Florida's bond and credit ratings were in jeopardy.
State officials refused to issue paychecks to 19 top FAMU administrators until the school turned over the records. It complied - six weeks late - but its books were still out of balance by $1.8-million. That money was finally accounted for last month.
Gainous, Humphries' successor and a FAMU alumnus, said he is working to solve the problems. But it will take time to turn around, he said. Meanwhile, his job remains in jeopardy, and the criticism keeps coming.
Just last week, state Sen. Les Miller, D-Tampa, grew frustrated when questioning Gainous at a Senate education appropriations committee meeting.
"To have people continuously say FAMU can't do things because it is a predominantly black university is a bunch of bull," said Miller, the committee's only black member. "FAMU will have standards, and those standards will have to be in place just like any other university."
- Staff writer Lucy Morgan and researchers Kitty Bennett and Cathy Wos contributed to this report.
Problems at FAMU Here is a partial list of the financial and administrative problems that have dogged Florida A&M University in recent years:
1995: A state audit into FAMU's financial aid office shows missed deadlines, overpayments, reporting errors, mathematical miscalculations and trouble tracking the status of student borrowers.
1995: The school loses track of 22 campus cell phones, leaving them open for abuse.
1996-97: The administrator of a federal grant hires her live-in boyfriend to be the program's computer specialist. Despite a state report outlining the problem, he continues to work for the school and be paid by the grant.
1997: The state threatens to decertify the FAMU Boosters because the fundraising group fails to give audited financial statements to the state for two years.
1997: A number of adjunct professors go without pay for several weeks because the school has overspent its $1-million adjunct faculty budget by $500,000.
1997-1999: A state audit shows poor accounting methods and spending guidelines that cost the foundation $350,000. The report also raises questions about Humphries and other top administrators using money for Christmas gifts and jewelry.
1998: A number of graduate assistants are paid two or more weeks late.
1998: The FBI, U.S. Department of Education and Florida Department of Law Enforcement launch an investigation into missing money at the financial aid office.
1999: A number of adjunct professors go without pay for six weeks.
1999: A state audit shows the financial aid office awarded $300,000 more than was authorized by paying students who weren't qualified academically and by giving too much money to students who were qualified.
2000: Federal authorities arrest a financial aid officer charged with soliciting and accepting bribes from students in exchange for submitting fake records for extra aid. At least two other employees and 13 students are thought to be involved in the scheme, which dates to 1996.
2000: The school hires an associate dean, then learns he has been convicted of raping a 13-year-old girl in Texas. He resigns when it becomes public.
2001: FAMU's longtime education dean is charged with stealing $60,000.
2001: State auditors launch an investigation into why Humphries used most of the money in accounts for two $1-million chairs at the business school on student scholarships and not faculty.
2003: New FAMU president Fred Gainous fires the administrator of a federal grant after an internal inquiry uncovers questionable spending, including tens of thousands of dollars spent on trips for Humphries, who is working as a consultant.
2003: Gainous discovers Humphries' construction budgets since 1990 are off by more than $3-million. About $1.5-million is used to pay contractors who have not been paid in years.
- Sources: Interviews, inspector general reports, meeting minutes and Times archives. Compiled by staff writer Anita Kumar and researcher Kitty Bennett
Ms. Roberts is very much Jeb's supporter and is still doing his bidding. She is definitely one who has not shown that she understands (or simply does not care) about the purpose of FAMU. These folks need to remember that they are the ones who used the Florida Constitution to separate black students because they would not accept us in the state university system. The wrong that was done back then resulted in the disparity in education that still needs to be fixed. Instead of pushing for honors for Bush and praising Castell all these politicians (whether they were elected or purchased the seats) need to focus on the students. WE ARE OF VOTING AGE and WE WILL USE OUR POWER. Unlike what the article below states FAMU administration should choose to be all about education and not all about politics...
ReplyDeletePalm Beach Post Editorial
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Critics accuse the University of Florida Faculty Senate of playing politics by denying Jeb Bush an honorary degree. If the faculty did, the politics didn't start there.
Mr. Bush left office in January, hardly a decent interval, given UF's policy against granting honorary degrees to sitting politicians. The push came from Carolyn Roberts, whom Mr. Bush named to the Board of Governors, and former UF President Marshall Criser, whom Mr. Bush named to lead the Scripps Florida Funding Corp.
The university's honorary degrees committee was divided. Given the split, Faculty Senate Chairwoman Danaya Wright, a law professor, requested that UF's administration hold off on the nomination. Instead, it went to the committee, which voted it down, 38-28. Some dissenters may have acted out of pettiness. But there's a valid argument against giving even a symbolic honor to someone who did so much direct harm to Florida higher education and indirect harm to UF.
At Mr. Bush's urging, the Legislature dismantled the Board of Regents, which had run the university system. Gov. Bush gave himself the power to appoint all the new trustees at all 11 universities. More politics, in other words. Rather than operate higher education on a systemwide basis, as states with the best universities do, Florida now makes year-to-year decisions based on who's got the power in the Legislature. More politics, in other words.
Also, Mr. Bush abolished affirmative action in university admissions. He said it would produce better results. In fact, he acted to keep off the 2000 ballot an amendment to end affirmative action. He worried that it would send more Democrats to the polls, where they would vote against his brother. More politics, in other words. African-American enrollment is down at UF.
Journalism Professor Mary Ann Ferguson voted for Mr. Bush. But she noted that UF President Bernard Machen is begging the Legislature to approve a $500-per-semester fee just to pay for teachers and advisers: "It seemed to me that not supporting the award would make Dr. Machen's job more difficult and ... our own jobs will be more difficult." Politics, in other words.
Even as Mr. Bush was leaving office, a study was reporting that the state's higher education system needs an overhaul. Last week, Mr. Bush was awarded face-saving honorary alumnus status. The student Senate followed with a resolution honoring him, after omitting references that might have been seen as criticizing the Faculty Senate. It was all about politics, not education. How fitting for a story with Jeb Bush at the center.
Someone please explain how Steve Uhlfelder has gained so much power in Florida education affairs. To my knowledge he has no educational experience and he is inarticulate and nervous when speaking before large groups, totally unimpressive. I expected so much more from this man he can spew such hatred for FAMU. I guess that Bush connection goes a long way...
ReplyDeletePlease excuse the typo in the first message--
ReplyDeleteSomeone please explain how Steve Uhlfelder has gained so much power in Florida education affairs. To my knowledge he has no educational experience and he is inarticulate and nervous when speaking before large groups, totally unimpressive. I expected so much more from this man who can spew such hatred for FAMU. I guess that Bush connection goes a long way...
Real RATTLERS are asleep. Look what Humphries and Ammons did right under your eyes!
ReplyDeleteHumphries and Ammons left FAMU with clean financial statement audits, multimillion dollar surpluses, and its biggest endowment ever.
ReplyDeleteRattlers know exactly what those two did. That's why we brought Ammons back to clean up Corbin-Castell's mess.
9:53,
ReplyDeleteok would you care to comment on the above posted article from the st. pete times?
is st. pete times not telling the truth? or are you just that much in denial?
denial is more appropriate.
Ammons is part of the problem!
ReplyDeleteThe St. Pete Times got it wrong and continues to stand by their guns, however wrong they may be.
ReplyDeleteThe St. Pete Times is one of the most respected papers in the country.
ReplyDeleteDid the inspector general get it wrong as well? How about the FBI?
Your defending a house of cards that has already fallen.
Don't look now FAMU's enrollment is projected at 8000 students. Just think only 30 percent of those will graduate!
ReplyDeleteAmmons is not going to change a thing! More of the same with Ammons. SACs is going to shut FAMU's doors!
I believe part of the problem is that everyone at FAMU insist that the problems began at a specific point (immediately after Humphries left). Realistically, problems do not spring up overnight. When Ammons was specifically asked about his dealings with FAMU prior to 2001, his response was just to say that this is not a time to look back but to move forward...survive and thrive. The problems with that is you can't escape the past until someone takes responsibility. Every other president has come in with some catch slogan and a tune and failed us. Someone needs to just put all the cards on the table. After that, we can start rebuilding this house (if the costs doesn't make our legislators balk).
ReplyDelete10:48
ReplyDeleteYou could not of said it better!
Realistically, problems do not spring up overnight.
ReplyDeleteThe severe audit problems did spring up overnight. FAMU had clean financial statement audits from 1978 to 2002. In 2003, Fred Gainous (with pressure from Jim Corbin), fired all the senior officials in the controller's office.
The state auditor general cited the severe lack of institutional knowledge that resulted from those firings as the biggest reason for FAMU's string of bad financial statement audits since 2002.
Castell made the problems even worse by paying KPMG millions to do nothing and failing to hire competent financial managers. Under Castell, FAMU received its first qualified audit EVER. That never happened under Humphries.
A qualified audit means that Castell's books were so bad they they could not be audited. Every one of Humphries' audits at FAMU and Ammons' audits at NCCU have been unqualified.
I believe part of the problem is that everyone at FAMU insist that the problems began at a specific point (immediately after Humphries left).
Humphries left FAMU with surpluses in the operating and athletic budgets as well as a $65M endowment (after inheriting an endowment of less than $6M).
Those surpluses turned into deficits because of the reckless spending in the athletic department (conducted by Jim Corbin and J.R.E. Lee, III) as well as the enrollment drop (caused by Castell shutting down the recruitment program).
5:11pm said:
ReplyDeleteSomeone please explain how Steve Uhlfelder has gained so much power in Florida education affairs. To my knowledge he has no educational experience and he is inarticulate and nervous when speaking before large groups, totally unimpressive. I expected so much more from this man who can spew such hatred for FAMU.
Uhfelder is still pissed because Dr. Hump's son snatched his lucrative consulting contract with Microsoft. Since then, he's had a vendetta against FAMU being that Dr. Hump was then president. He was devoid of developed brain matter then, and still is.
In regards to Barbara Barnes getting appointed the Interim Provost, I would like to express my disgust by using the words of Florida Evans after James funeral==
ReplyDelete"Damn. Damn. Damn."
Here's another financial timeline for you:
ReplyDelete1985: FAMU receives a clean, unqualified financial statement audit from the Florida auditor general with no findings.
1986: FAMU receives a clean, unqualified financial statement audit from the Florida auditor general with no findings.
1987: FAMU receives a clean, unqualified financial statement audit from the Florida auditor general with no findings.
1988: FAMU receives a clean, unqualified financial statement audit from the Florida auditor general with no findings.
1989: FAMU receives a clean, unqualified financial statement audit from the Florida auditor general with no findings.
1990: FAMU receives a clean, unqualified financial statement audit from the Florida auditor general with no findings.
1991: FAMU receives a clean, unqualified financial statement audit from the Florida auditor general with no findings.
1992: FAMU receives a clean, unqualified financial statement audit from the Florida auditor general with no findings.
1993: FAMU receives a clean, unqualified financial statement audit from the Florida auditor general with no findings.
1994: FAMU receives a clean, unqualified financial statement audit from the Florida auditor general with no findings.
1995: FAMU receives a clean, unqualified financial statement audit from the Florida auditor general with no findings.
1996: FAMU receives a clean, unqualified financial statement audit from the Florida auditor general with no findings.
1997: FAMU receives a clean, unqualified financial statement audit from the Florida auditor general with no findings.
1998: FAMU receives a clean, unqualified financial statement audit from the Florida auditor general with no findings.
1999: FAMU receives a clean, unqualified financial statement audit from the Florida auditor general with no findings.
2000: FAMU receives a clean, unqualified financial statement audit from the Florida auditor general with no findings.
2001: FAMU receives a clean, unqualified financial statement audit from the Florida auditor general with no findings.
2002: FAMU receives a clean, unqualified financial statement audit from the Florida auditor general with no findings.
2003: Jim Corbin pressures Fred Gainous to fire V.K. Sharma, Robert O'Kelley and Marie Shetty from the controller's office.
2003: FAMU's receives a financial statement audit with 5 findings. They are the first findings on a FAMU financial statement since 1977.
FAMU is not the only public university that's had operational audit findings. Just look at these findings from FSU.
ReplyDeleteFSU Operational Audit: 2005-048
Release Date: 10/22/2004
http://www.state.fl.us/audgen/pages/summaries/2005-048.htm
This operational audit for the period January 1, 2002, through December 31, 2003, and selected transactions through June 30, 2004, disclosed the following:
Finding No. 1: The University’s Ringling Museum of Art has not completed its review of an insurance consultant’s report regarding adequacy of coverage and made the necessary changes to its policies as of June 2004.
Finding No. 2: A reconciliation of the physical observation of the art collection at the Ringling Museum of Art made in June 2003 to the art collection records had not been completed as of June 2004.
Finding No. 3: Ringling Museum of Art personnel have not consulted with a fire safety expert concerning the advisability and appropriateness of a fixed fire suppression system for art objects on display.
Finding No. 4: The University contracted with a private vendor to sell maintenance, repair, and operational supplies for use in repairing, renovating, and maintaining University facilities; however, the vendor’s prices were not always monitored by the University to evaluate maximum cost savings.
Finding No. 5: University departments did not always monitor cellular phone usage, identify and obtain reimbursement for personal cellular phone calls, or periodically determine if employees were using the most economical cellular phone calling plans.
Finding No. 6: The University did not periodically reconcile its claim records with its athletic insurance company’s claim records in the 2002 year to ensure that all applicable payments were reimbursed by the insurance company.
Finding No. 7: The University has not sought competitive proposals from other insurance companies since signing the original contract in 1993 for student athletic insurance coverage.
Finding No. 8: We noted several instances in which background checks were not on file for what appeared to be positions of special trust, contrary to University policy.
Finding No. 9: We noted several instances in which employees that were granted sabbaticals and professional development leave did not file required reports of accomplishment timely or at all. We also noted three employees that did not return to work for the required time period after returning from leave.
Finding No. 10: The President’s salary cap of $225,000 paid from public funds was exceeded by approximately $65,000 for the 2003-04 fiscal year, contrary to law.
Finding No. 11: Although labor and benefits represent a significant cost of major construction projects, the University does not review documentation supporting these costs.
Finding No. 12: We noted several instances in which minor construction project documentation was insufficient to demonstrate that project costs were reasonable and maximum cost savings were realized by the University.
================================
FSU Operational Audit: 2007-129
Release Date: 02/28/2007
http://www.state.fl.us/audgen/pages/summaries/2007-129.htm
Our operational audit for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2006, disclosed the following:
Finding No. 1: The University’s competitive procurement threshold exceeded the limit established by Board of Governors Rules.
Finding No. 2: University personnel did not always comply with University policies when entering into written contracts.
Finding No. 3: Although the University had implemented a security awareness program, University records did not demonstrate that all appropriate personnel had been apprised of the importance of preserving the integrity, availability, and confidentiality of the data entrusted to them.
Finding No. 4: The Northwest Regional Data Center did not utilize service level agreements as a formal mechanism to specify roles and responsibilities, service level expectations, and mitigation procedures.
Finding No. 5: The Northwest Regional Data Center disaster recovery plan lacked key provisions essential for ensuring a timely and orderly resumption of operations, should an interruption in information technology services occur.
I agree that during Dr. Ammons' tenure under Humphries he (Ammons) was knowledgeable about a lot of things. Whatever Fred knew, so too did Ammons. There were a lot of misdealings and misdeeds and misappropriations of funds from one account to the other. Fred Humphries did a lot for the school, but he also did a lot to the school. The mess that we're just now trying to straighten out is a result of how Huumphries and Ammons handled things from a financial, administrative and managerial poit when Humphries was president and Ammons was provost. Now, there are some of you on this site who wish to hell that this wasn't the case with Humphries and Ammons, but truth be told, Ammons was as much to blame as Humphries. The fact theat Ammons doesn't wish to comment on previous financial dealings, insisting that the coversation start anew about the university's renewed efforts toward stability, is nothing more than avoidance, avoidance, avoidance. Now, I'm a graduate of the university--two degrees, actually, and an employee there now, but I know that when Fred Humphries came to FAMU in 1986 and left in 2001, there were still a dired number of problems of the kind that we now see surfacing. He was good people, and I, for one, thinks that he did a wonderful job at selling the university, he is not totally blameless in this situation in which we find ourselves. Nor is James Ammons. Now, Ammons can avoid the questions as he wishes, but hotse of us who worked under Fred Humphries administration, mus call a spade a spade when we see it. We cannot change what we don't acknolwedge. I, too, like James Ammons, but let us be real about this situation. Just how much did he contribute to the financial madness and mayhem that we now find ourselves?
ReplyDeletePlease excuse all of my typos & misspellings in the above post. I see every last one of them. Fat fingers flying across the keyboard...
ReplyDeleteThere were a lot of misdealings and misdeeds and misappropriations of funds from one account to the other.
ReplyDeleteFAMU had clean financial statement audits each year. Plus, it's average number of operational audit findings were no higher than other universities -- only about 6 each year.
FSU had 12 findings just in 2005. However, the Humphries bashers don't want to deal with those cold hard facts.
This is a "Dawn of a New Era", per our President. We who have stood the test and remain, God has answered our prayers. Those who have tried to kill us through demotions, evaluations, intimidation, etc, please PREPARE TO PACK YOUR BAGS. Your days are numbered: Miss June is gone-NEXT Kennedy-Lamar, Lassiter, Boyd, to name a few.
ReplyDeleteThe cloud is lifting and the nasty ways, hiding behind what you call "for the good of the university" are about to be exposed.
We know Spellman & Georgia Tech said no. Do you think that your quest for a ph.d is going to make any of you a better person?
For all of you who say you are concerned about FAMU, but act differently: LET YOUR TONUGE CLEAVE TO THE ROOF OF YOUR MOUTH. WE BID YOU FAREWELL & GODS SPEED.
RN I hope you have trained your successor. You will be missed.
Ammons is part of the problem!
ReplyDeleteFAMU has no class. This so called university is more like a feuding church than an institution of higher ed. No body takes this university serious!
ReplyDeleteDr. Ammons is FAMU's president, period!! Those of you who despise or hate FAMU regardless of who would be the president, "Go to hell". Besides, I thought this topic was about a witch.
ReplyDeleteFAMU - The No. 1 College In America
Ammons is NOW our President! For those of you who don't like it, we don't need your support. For those of you who want FAMU to thrive and prosper, let's do everything we can to support FAMU at this time. Let's all move FORWARD!!! Let's go Rattlers!!!!!
ReplyDeleteFAMU the number one college in America. Hello earth to poster earth to poster, FAMU is on PROBATION! Is that part of being number 1?
ReplyDeleteThat just shows you how good we are. How many other schools can be No. 1 in the country and on probation at the same time? Besides, that probation decision was politically motivated and will be revealed for what it's worth in due time. Now sit back and watch us strike.
ReplyDeleteFAMU - No. 1
Dr. Ammons is cleaning up Castell's mess!
ReplyDeleteFor the umpteenth time- those of you that continue to carry that garbage about someone having to clean up Dr. Humphries' mess, PLEASE, PLEASEEEEE produce you documentation? Or, point us to where we can find this evidence? If you can't, then go Black & Decker yourselves on both ends with your crap.
ReplyDelete4:08, what's the point of bringing up fsu? are we measuring ourselves against what fsu has done or has not done? are they the arbiter of our success? are they the standard bearers of what is good and right and academically correct? I don't think think so, but apparently you do. And that is sad. And you are too, if you believe that because fsu is a majority school, we much be measured agsinst them to claim success of any kind.
ReplyDelete8:11, apparently the school has some academic appeal to you, because you're here reading and commenting like so many others.
ReplyDelete10:59, you are absolutely delusional. FAMU, from which I have two degrees, is not #1. Hello? Are you a literate person or just pretending to be??? Have you been reading the newspapers lately??? The school is on probation. Probation, do you hear me??? No other schools in the country can offer a claim of being #1 and being on probation. It's #1 in graduating black students. That's different from being the #1 school in the entire nation of a thousand colleges and universities. I understand your pride and allegiance to the university, but let's be real here. Before you doubt my love of the university and allegiance to the university, please know that I have a pair of degrees from there and several of my family members graduated from FAMU. But we must be realistic about the school, and we must call a spade a spade, no matter what we wish the school to be. We know that the university has great potential to be whatever it is capable of being, but we must recognize and accept reality from fantasy and perception. (Excuse any typos I've made in this post.)
ReplyDeleteFAMU is a joke in the public realm. The school admits too many remedial students to boost enrollment numbers. It graduates 30 percent of it's students in a 6 year period, and it is widely known that many foxes are guarding the hen house at FAMU.
ReplyDeleteA forensic audit will be coming soon. My prediction is that the university across town will graduate more African Americans than FAMU next year.
AAAAAmen! The university across town will graduate more African Americans than FAMU next year.
ReplyDeleteGet beyond the head count & you'll find that the school down the street & around the corner already has a higher percentage of African Americans graduating w/in a 5 year period (that includes the ballers). Somewhere around 90%
The black student graduation rate at FSU is just as high as hispanic and white students. In fact amongst tier 1 research schools FSU is number 1 in graduating young black americans.
ReplyDeleteFSU is making great progress on diversity issues and I am very proud of the school and look for the numbers to increase.
Forgot to mention UF, UCF, and USF.....oh and FIU.
ReplyDeleteTheir rates are much higher than FAMU for graduating black students.
8:42 and 8:44, If all of those schools are so great, then why are you on our site? Apparently, there is something about FAMU that interests you. We are all about uplifting FAMU and our new president. Your thoughts are not needed or wanted. Go away!!!!
ReplyDeleteFAMU is #1 when it comes to encouraging black students to become all that they can be despite the obstaclels. Take note of the black students who have received degrees from those "other" schools, and the level of their independent academic successes. Many of them are given advancement simply because of the name behind the degree, not on individual skill, knowledge and ability . However, when comparing the quality of the education student-student, FAMU students will outshine any competitor, at all levels, when the playing field is equal. An education at FAMU teaches one to be innovative, creative, resilent, spontaneous, understanding, patient, flexible, persistent, etc. These are all of the qualities that makes college gradute successful in any situation. FAMU is not a place for the spoiled or faint of heart. If you are not a RATTLER, then we understand why you whine.
ReplyDeleteAn earlier poster wrote:
ReplyDelete"For all of you who say you are concerned about FAMU, but act differently: LET YOUR TONUGE CLEAVE TO THE ROOF OF YOUR MOUTH. WE BID YOU FAREWELL & GODS SPEED."
Dear people, could we please get past the religious rhetoric and discuss our differences using clear language, reasoned argument, specific evidence, and respect for those who disagree?
Religion is one of the things holding FAMU back! A religious outlook causes people to divert attention from details, evidence, logic, and important differences.
A religious approach sets out to force everyone to agree with whoever is making the assertion, usually someone in power. Recruiting common belief hides the real differences and disagreements that we need to honor and live with.
This country was founded on a principle that separates religion from government. Let's keep religion separate from public education.
Talk sense, not gospel.
TO anon 11:33.
ReplyDeleteTalk about "remedial." Apparently you know a lot about the need for being in remedial classes. The "it's" in your post should be "its." "Its" is a possessive pronoun (which shows ownership of something). It is the correct word you should use, not "it's," which is a contraction for "it is" and "it has." Re-read you statement with "it is" and/or "it has" in the sentence, and see how jacked up you sound. Perhaps you need to enroll in the most basic remedial class at FAMU because it is quite apparent that you missed a few, basic English classes on your high and mighty rise to nowhere. Pot, don't call the kettle black.
Additionally, there are so many daggone misconstructions in other parts of your post. There are too many to mention here, but here's a start: "6 year" should actually be written: six-year. Oh, by the way, there are a number of open slots in a few of FAMU's remedial classes. Sign up now! You'll be accepted! All you have to do is provide a writing sample or, better yet, show 'em your RN post. That'll get you in quicker than you can say, "Dang. My bad."
ReplyDelete7/5/2007 1:18 He's still in charge. The devil is upset.
ReplyDeleteFAMU has a 6 year graduation rate of 30 percent.
ReplyDeleteDANG!!!!!! What is going on. FSU has a much higher rate, at or near 80 percent in 6 years. They also will graduate just as many or more black students as FAMU next year!
FAMU is the smallest and dumbest school in the state.
FAMU ain't number 1 in nothin'. The academics are terrible! It is common knowledge that the school is corrupt and full of thiefs. Furthermore, why do you accept students that do not even belong in a 4 year institution, to boost enrollment numbers? Consequently, the reputation and the academics suffer for those who deserve to start in 4 year institution.
ReplyDeleteFAMU is the number 1 joke!
FAMU has more No. 1 Academic Awards than any university in the state, PERIOD!!! To the worthless misfits who questions FAMU's academics, GET REAL.
ReplyDeleteFAMU - The No. 1 College In America
SBI, Journalism, Mock Trial Teams, Marching 100, No. 1 Producer or Black College Graduates, etc., etc.
Karl E. White is the most qualified! FAMU Needs a wall street background & someone with board experience at a successful university i.e. his UMASS Experience! We need the RattlerNation community to mass email the BOG and push his nomination! Buddy Fletcher founder of Fletcher Asset Management where Karl is the Chief Investment Officer gave 50 Million to Howard! We can begin to get Wall Street donors at FAMU!!!!! He is also alumni! Rattlers very critical nominee in Karl E. White!!! He needs our support right now!
ReplyDeleteAlthough, it breaks my heart to continuously read about FAMU's dirty laundry, we all know that what is done in the dark will come to the light.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I believe we have not begun to see what FAMU is made of. Yes, pride goeth before a fall. But sometimes a fall is what is needed to bring about change.
I am not a FAMU alumni, but I am proud of FAMU. It is time for the FAMU community to come together. Let the chips fall where they may but WE need to stand together.
FAMU does have problems but I suggest everyone take a tour over to the Black Archives and as Toni Morrison stated "remember."
We (as a people) have had to fight for everything we have and we will continue to fight for what is ours.
To Anonymous at 2:12 AM and 2:16 AM: With those two degrees, we certainly cannot excuse your typos and misspellings. What you have done, is to simply expose yourself as being part of the problem at FAMU. I, for one, am confident that FAMU can do a lot better without people like you, spreading and exposing your ignorance. Certainly, you should move on.
ReplyDelete7/08/2007 7:31 PM
ReplyDeleteThis is not a report or research report. It is a blog. And because we love and know each other (black people)it's okay for the blog. I'm sure you're not one of us.