The Board of the Institutions of Higher Learning issued the following statement:
The meeting of the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of
Higher Learning and the Chancellor of the University of Mississippi held
on Thursday was the culmination of discussions that began prior to his
medical diagnosis, were suspended during the Chancellor’s medical leave
of absence, and resumed at the request of the Chancellor when he
returned to full-time service.
The concerns centered on financial issues at the University of
Mississippi Medical Center, over which the Board of Trustees has the
constitutional duty to provide fiduciary oversight, as it does for all
public universities. However, we want to make it very clear that the
Board has no concerns over the personal integrity or honesty of Dr.
Jones or any other employee of UMMC.
The Board had discussed these and related concerns with Dr. Jones
over a lengthy period of time and these matters were not corrected to
the satisfaction of the Board of Trustees. The Board cannot directly
manage an institution or replace employees other than the institutional
executive officer; therefore, the only practical remedy available to the
Board was a change in leadership at the Chancellor level.
It had become clear prior to the March meeting that there was not
a majority in favor of contract renewal. The Chancellor was informed
that there was no path forward to renewal and that the contract would be
allowed to expire on its own terms. He indicated he would not resign or
retire.
The motion that was passed in executive session yesterday was:
In light of the fact that the contract of Dr. Jones expires by
its own terms on September 14, 2015 and that the Board has not extended
the term of that contract, the Commissioner is directed to begin
appropriate preparations to conduct a search process for the next
Chancellor of the University of Mississippi in accordance with the
Board’s policy related to such searches.
- Nine members voted in favor: Trustees Blakeslee, Cummins, Dye, Hooper, Parker, Patterson, Perry, Rouse and Smith
- Two members voted against: Trustees Owens and Robinson
- One member was absent: Trustee Pickering
The University of Mississippi is one of the great public universities in our nation. The Board of Trustees is committed to selecting the best possible leader to take the university to even greater levels of achievement.
The Board of Trustees recessed its meeting on Friday until Monday at 4:00 p.m. Members of the Board may participate in the meeting via teleconference. Members of the public and media may attend the meeting in the IHL Board Room, located in the Universities Center, 3825 Ridgewood Road, Jackson, MS 39211. An Executive Session may be held in accordance with the Open Meetings Act.
48 comments:
Well, I hope this puts the "Stand with Dan " crowd in a different light.
The USM appointees were the only idiots wanting him to stay!
From an outsider's perspective, Jone's drive for affirmative action and cultural change, was his focus. No different from the so-called "progressives". Neither political party will take a stand on political correctness where it effects their advantage. Colleges have become states of Marxism, where students are being indoctrinated. Poor state's of affairs all over.
Ole Miss was very poorly run and its growth had nothing to do with Jones.
11:46 Only one USM idiot, the other idiot was JSU.
Does IHL really think this statement is gonna make this go away?
So what was this great issue at UMMC that outweighs record enrollment, great test scores, great fundraising, etc?
And why was this group of political stooges allowed to take away our chancellor without even telling us about this issue beforehand? Or even telling us about it since, in any specifics?
This IHL decision stinks to high heaven.
My understanding is that the IHL can expect to have to defend this decision before SACS in an accredidation investigation. You can full expect other university presidents to have Jones' back in his battle against political cronies.
What's the ranking national of UMMC? Ole miss undergrad?
Hubris is what sunk Jones.
When 75% of your BOD is telling you to get some shit resolved pronto you damn well better pay attention.
So if UMMC is so poorly run, why did IHL Board just last month appoint Associate Vice Chancellor to replace the retiring Vice Chancellor?
Ole Miss is ranked #78 best public University in America. MSU #84 and USM unranked.
Top Public Universities:
UM 78
MSU 84
USM NR
What does ranking have to do with how Jones did his job? People like this are too stupid to understand UMC's contributions to the medical field. The University has record enrollment and is turning down 40% of the applications it receives. They raised the enrollment requirements to keep UGA, UT-A, and now OU rejects from enrolling. Jones was probably tasked with cleaning up the Financial Aid department at UMC which in severely lacking in internal controls and intelligence.
12:34
do you think the IHL will listen to you your t-shirt wearing friends?
I initially was greatly bothered by the decision. I thought Jones did a fine job. But when your Board tells you to do something, and you don't, termination is not only justified but appropriate. There are several smart people on the board who had intel and voted to force him out.
11:54, learn to keep up before letting your fingers get to the keys. Jones did the appointment of the Vice Chancellor at UMMC, not IHL. That was one of the 'bones of contention" between Jones and IHL.
For those that are saying the IHL will pay for this decision, my question is just what do you think this could 'cost' any of the IHL members. My read is that they all seem to be positioned that there is little that the Jones supporters can do that would hurt them individually/professionally.
Dan Jones is not some loved Ole Miss person. All this out cry is put together by Dan and using a lot of dumb sheep.
Many, many leaders and people of this State do not like the Obama plans Jones was pushing.
Phil Bryant wanted Jones gone three years ago. He finally got enough of his appointees on the Board with the Ole Miss Board members that were already mad at Jones.
This has Phil Bryant written all over it...
2:01pm
BS!
UMC is ranked #149 nationally (that is low by the way... 149 Out of #201)
Howard university ranks higher than UMC.
The med school is not ranked!
Another upstanding liberal progressive, John Grisham, says Jones was doing a fine job. Not that he knows a damned thing about it.
Obviously, there was someone on the Board who has had Dan Jones' back the entire time he has served. Had it not been for that, he would have been gone long ago. His "my way or the highway" mentality is just one of the things that added to his downfall. Maybe now the university can hire someone to replace him who at least has a small amount of common sense.
5:16, that is a good theory but it doesn't hold water.
Yes, it is probably true that Bryant wanted Jones gone (or rather, some of his supporters wanted him gone, so therefore....) but as of the date of Jones' termination, Bryant had the same number of appointees on the IHL board as he did three years ago - four of twelve.
Bryant might have tried to influence his appointees just as he did on the Jr. College Board, this didn't happen because Bryant finally got enough appointees on board.
The IstandwithDan crowd need to stand down and take a deep breath. If they continue their scorched earth campaign, it will cause deep damage to the university. They need to think of the possibility that maybe, just maybe, Dan deserved this. We don't know all the facts and thus its not fair to brand all those supporting this move as racists who want to bring back the confederacy. It does no one any good to personally attack the other side. There are merits to any firing and Dans supporters should wait for ALL the facts to come out before continuing to shell the other side.
The purge of the trial lawyer cabal continues. Jones' handlers were tone deaf and politically dumb.
6:53 ESAD. He got SCREWED. This ain't going away. To hell with you Divie ass rednecks. The war is over. We got our asses kicked. Get over it
For those screeching about "TEH LIBRULS," see how well your redneck imagery and hillbilly mascot would go over with prospective students (i.e., recruits) in 2015 and beyond.
Chancellor Khayat has joined those who stand with Dan Jones.
http://www.clarionledger.com/story/opinion/columnists/2015/03/22/khayat-calls-dan-jones-firing-egregious/25200645/
I've always wondered if he was such a great cardiologist,what was doing in the university administration sector?
I would think even an average cardiologist makes much more than any Chancellor.
Do any of you out there actually own a business? Come on. We all have a boss. Dr. Jones' boss said "hey, follow our policies". He didn't. What would happen to you if you pulled that crap? You LEAVE.
He can argue, he can say "it's not fair". He can try to rally support. But, at the end of the day, he should stand up, be a man, and leave.
9:36, oh yes, education is just another business.
... Ironically, IHL itself has no "boss" to answer to, can't be fired, has no responsibility or accountability.
So I gather you favor Khayat's suggestion to do away with them?
"I've always wondered if he was such a great cardiologist,what was doing in the university administration sector? "
He was not a cardiologist.
Perhaps he felt a few hundred thousand per year was enough, and wanted to serve as an administrator (I'm not saying he was GOOD at it, I'm just saying there is more to life than money, believe it or not).
And why did my post with the accurate ranking of UMC not get posted? #142 out of #157 (5:27 is apparently clueless, confusing 2:01's ranking of Ole Miss for UMC's, and thinking there are 201 medical schools in the USA).
The haughty progressive liberals do like to gather around the fire-barrel and hurl insults about The Confederacy and Rednecks, neither of which affected the ouster of Jones.
But, when you smell like fish, you gotta sling around some red herrings.
Like others have said, there is a lesson here. Do what your boss says, or find another job. Guess they didn't teach Jones that in Med school. The IHL had the right, legal authority, and responsiblity to decide yes/no on a contract to Jones. The law gave them that. Whether you agree or not, they did their job. Apparently more than Jones did his. He failed to obey his boss.
And now we get to see that parade of people with more money than sense act like money gives you authority. Be careful who you defend.
Khayat is behind 95% of the outcry. He is the one person that put Jones in and he is still pulling strings. This is all Roberts doing
Good grief!
I can't believe some of these comments.
First of all, a university is not and should not be run like a business nor should it be a political football or all about football!
A university should be a place of intellectual freedom and exploration!
It should be a place where students and faculty look to the future not simply preserve the past.
It should be a place where new ideas can be born.
Universities expand knowledge , not limit it. Universities teach you how to test through empirical and critical evaluations the validity of beliefs, ideas, the known. Universities shouldn't tell you what to think but how to go about thinking rationally so you can make a sound decision.
Instead, most of you want to politicize everything so as to reinforce what YOU think is true whether it's true and valid or not!
IHL and it's internal politics and unwillingness to critically look at why our university system hasn't progressed as it should IS the problem !
8:13--you nailed it!! Thank you for you comments
8:13:
Progressed to what? What exactly do you suppose our universities should have progressed to?
They've obviously grown. We have 3 major universities and several smaller ones in a small state. We have several HBCs as well as several private universities. We seem to have a healthy junior college system.
Where are these place supposed to progress?
My opinion? We do not support, recognize or even applaud common vocational instruction. We have evolved to require (for employment) that someone have a college degree that has no bearing on their employability. We have progressed to a system that puts families in debt with no real return.
This country progressed on the backs of those common vocations. You can not have a system of professional service if everyone is either professional or in poverty. It doesn't sustain itself.
Quite frankly, we put too much in to "college education" because it's just become generally accepted without any critical thought to it's overall positive addition to the human condition.
And, lastly, very few modern teaching institutions promote critical thinking. Modern teaching promotes parroting a common theory/concept. Medicine is dumbed down. Law is dumbed down. Why? It is dumbed down because this country subscribed to the notion that anyone can be a doctor/lawyer, etc and diversity and access is more important than producing good doctors and lawyers.
We have legislated professional curation of every aspect of modern life. Whether it be red tape, unnecessary complexity or outright oppression of critical thinking, we have made the entrepreneur or innovator or "inventor" no longer the subject of the American dream. It's been supplanted by parrots of professional services who outnumber those that they are supposed to service.
So, forgive me if I think both sides and most commentary about this issue is fruitless.
10:39 you make good points, but the world we live in dictates a "college education"
If our state were doing an exceptional job on higher education there would be little need for Phoenix University, Strayer, etc, etc. There seems to be a big market for vocational education in the private sector as well (Antonelli, etc).
I don't see Mississippi blazing any new trailers in higher education or any education for that matter, we might as well make the best of what we have available.
If the college board blinks on this one, it will signal their end as an entity. Why have them if college alumni can force management decisions?
Difficult to dumb down competitive specialty medicine... Only the best and the brightest get those coveted spots. Lawyers? Easy to dumb that down?
5:41 That's what I thought, then I realized the poster is probably referring to lowering med school admission standards for, ahem, "protected classes". You know how those Social Justice Warriors are.
What do you call the guy who graduates dead last in his med school class?
Doctor.
The plantation owners and their mascot in a clown costume are dying out but they still have some pull!
Where does the acquisition/operation of Grenada Lake Medical Center and Holmes County Medical Center by UMMC fit into this story? I can’t see how public university can justify ownership or operation of rural county hospitals. This is a stretch of the university’s primary missions of education & research, and a significant financial risk.
Regarding the finances of UMMC, an audit of the salaries of all the professional personnel needs to take place with an accounting of their exact duties. I suspect if you match the relative value unit (RVU) for each clinician, it will be significantly lower than the equivalent private practice physician. They may claim that the difference is made up with research, but the medical center's ranking doesn't support that claim. There are too many people being supported by our tax dollars. 10:08, there is also the operations of Lexington as well.
UMMC is buying up the public hospitals at fire sale prices. I'm assuming this somehow fits into the 'MississippiCAN' bs. When you find out that your rural doctor IS indeed a med school student in one of these hospitals parading around as a doctor you can thank me later for telling you to go to Alabama, New Orleans, or Memphis for medical services.
#whoisthesocialistnow?
"If our state were doing an exceptional job on higher education there would be little need for Phoenix University, Strayer, etc, etc."
Are YOU SERIOUS? Are you actually suggesting these make-believe diploma mills are educational institutions and that they have emerged to serve a purpose, based on a need being unmet?
10:39 am You seem to equate growing in size with progress. I do not.
I'm referring to the rankings of our universities as academic institutions. I'm referring to their standards and whether they attract quality students and faculty and graduate those who contribute positively to their professions.
I don't disagree that our public academic institutions are declining . They have become political footballs for those who know the cost of everything and value of nothing. Corporate America has been purchasing academic integrity as a result. They are also under assault from those who fear knowledge and fear science and from those want only their world view taught.
The IHL , during the time I dealt with them, were individual advocates for their schools and/or had little interest in learning how to carry out their new responsibilities but rather relied on their " experiences in life"( some of which was irrelevant to the tasks at hand) or their " gut" feelings. And, most were interested in increasing their personal agenda in some way or just bragging rights. Some were just " too busy" to devote any real time getting " up to speed" on how to improve a public university system.
Now that every single thing in this country is about politics or money and we've lost all sense of aiming for ideals that once mattered like " being the best" and sacrificing in the short term for long term gains, we'll see more of this badly handled, poorly explained generation of needless conflict.
We'll all just keep being expected to choose up sides without a clear understanding of what the " sides" are.
Dan Jones is losing his position as the Ole Miss Chancellor because of a clear breach of fiduciary duty to the University of Mississippi, specifically to UMMC. Time after time, the Mississippi State legislature has had to bail out UMMC for poor financial decisions and the buck stops with the man at the top....no different that Rick Ray's termination as the Mississippi State basketball coach....if your team does not perform to acceptable standards, the guy at the top gets replaced.
I read an article that stated he "demanded" cultural diversity and acceptance. First of all, you do not demand another person to follow. While I know that there are those who fight acceptance and diversity tooth and nail, those two things are what each individual has to determine in their own mind if it is a worthwhile goal. Dan Jones caused more division than he did cohesiveness at our Ole Miss. UMMC will survive just as the Gertrude C. Ford Center will. After reading this article from the IHL, I understand that this process had been going on for quite awhile and those things that should have been taken care of were not taken care of. Just as any employee in our state, any of us can lose our jobs at any given second. Dr. Jones will be where he is until the end of his contract in September and someone else will be in his seat. If he had put as much effort into taking care of the business side instead of the "demanding" side, his contract may have been renewed. By the way, I am happy that the cancer is under control and hope he continues to do well in every way.
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