2012-2013 Administrator Survey Written Comments

admin
August 28th, 2013
No Comments

Administrative Comments 2013

Link to:

Mary Jane Saunders, University President
Brenda Claiborne, University Provost
Heather Coltman, Interim Dean, College of Arts and Letters
Som Bhattacharya, Interim Dean, College of Business
Rosalyn Carter, Dean, College for Design and Social Inquiry
Valerie Bristor, Dean, College of Education
Mohammad Ilyas, Interim Dean, College of Engineering and Computer Science
Jeffrey Buller, Dean, Honors College
William Miller, Dean, University Libraries
David Bjorkman, Dean, College of Medicine
Marlaine Smith, Dean, College of Nursing
Gary Perry, Dean, College of Science
Anthony Abbatte, Associate Provost of the Broward Campuses
Eliah Watlington, Associate Provost of the Northern Campuses
Barry Rosson, Dean, Graduate College
Edward Pratt, Dean, Undergraduate Studies
Florida Atlantic University Schools

Comments for President Mary Jane Saunders:
The university would be better served if President SAUNDERS would:

She needs to listen to people and learn. She should not get defensive for constructive criticisms. She needs to come out and inform the university community at times of crisis instead of hiding in her office. She should meet with people and give them the opportunity to express their views for common good of the institution.
Think before she acts. The bad press the university has been receiving is a direct reflection on her leadership or lack thereof.
be forthright with faculty, staff, and students.
support her faculty, above all. We do need pay raises. There are grievance procedures, if students are unhappy with the type of instruction in the classroom. These should be carefully followed at all times, rather than run to the media. The GEO decision was a poor one, given the damage it did to our university’s reputation. We need to be careful about which companies FAU associates itself with. Companies send a message—and have an impact on how we feel about FAU. They become part of our identity. Hopefully, we will not be tempted to do this ever again, no matter the offer. She did well with SACS, on the other hand. I have to admit.
Resign; her tenure as president of the university has tarnished our reputation, both locally and nationally.
quit. Her behavior these past months has been an embarrassment and extremely objectionable. Her arrogance is unacceptable at a university. I cannot overstate that anger I and many of my colleagues feel toward her responses to the various issues that developed recently. Her unwillingness to have an open discussion with student and faculty is indicative of her imperialist behavior.
Resign. Go to jail for hit-and-run and serve her time with GEO Group.
Step down
satyed here forever and ever
Look for another job.
Learn to LISTEN TO people who have objections – not fire them because they were brave enough to speak up.Better figure out that “silence” if/when you bother to ask for feedback or input is NOT the same thing as consensus nor agreement with your perspective.Stop hiding when bad decisions come to light: she and the Provost created the mess last year of arbitrary minimums for class sizes and the decision to eliminate classes they felt were under-enrolled (only to have to rescind these when it was clear neither had thought about the number of courses required for graduation).
Respect faculty and units and not interfere with them without knowing more about each situation.
She should exercise moral integrity with regard to her decisions and not sell the university to special interests, even her own
Be replaced by someone who could take critical advice, conduct due diligence, respected arts and letters, also (not hit students with cars). The handling of the GEO Group affair was an embarrassment that should be fireable. The belief that the university should support for profit prisons, (the sign on the stadium is a show of support), shows a lack of understanding of the role of the university.
get more input directly from faculty and students.
Find Another University
President Saunders has not made academic excellence her primary mission. She has put us in the position of having to beg for our resources towards the stadium. In spite of the start of the medical program, which is great for academics, the university as a whole is suffering because we have created two expensive initiatives without state support that are draining our resources from the rest of the institution.
Resign as soon as possible
QUIT!!! I look forward to a vote of NO CONFIDENCE.
Recruit and continue to develop a mature crisis-management team that can help prepare her for events that mar the face of the university.
Replaced
Surround herself with competent advisers and get some stability in the upper administration
Continue with her strategic vision
Develop a moral compass that better guides the university in funding decisions. Stop palling around with faculty members. Learn more about what faculty are doing. Be warmer to everyone.
be fired now.
work hard to re-earn the trust and good will of the faculty.
be less isolated from faculty and students. She is the most isolated president I have ever known here or anywhere.
talk honestly to the faculty about their academic freedom.
change her management style, show respect for the faculty, be a good role model for students (especially women students), and demonstrate that she values a liberal arts education.
As a scientist, she must know that most people who have attained excellence in the STEM fields are broadly educated and want their students and post-docs to be, as well.
Without a good liberal arts education, most of the STEM graduates of FAU will always be working for other STEM people who have studied humanities, languages and social sciences.
As a university president (and human being),she should take responsibility for her decisions and try to fix those that do not serve the interests of the university community. She should also apologize in public to the young woman whom she bruised with her car.
uphold academic freedom
engage people in true dialogue when controversial issues arise
communicate her ideas to faculty as I cannot recall any communication outside of general press releases.
Resign from her position and find a better professional fit for her in the corporate world. The cult of her image is unbearable for students. The Saunders-Claiborne tandem has turned FAU in a place it has never been in the 15 years I have been here.
Saunders is absolutely terrible. She is a disgrace to the academy. The incompetence of this administration combined with its arbitrary and vindictive abuse of power is intolerable. Faculty morale is at the lowest ever, and student morale is better only because it is bolstered by the optimism of youth. Saunders should go–period. No golden parachute; no grand thank you, because none was earned.
Deeply reflect on what has occurred over the past six months here at FAU.
Assume more responsibility for her decisions and mistakes.
Talk less and listen more
Respectfully include faculty and students in major decisions impacting the image of the university and educational programming, and increase visibility with students and faculty.
Get some therapy? Leave, immediately. Wear better clothes, leave FAU alone.
Seriously,is there anything left for President Saunders to do to the FAU community. Words cannot convey how deeply flawed this president is, not simply as an administrator, but as an academic. In the time she has been at FAU, she has managed to disrespect, de-value, and embarrass the faculty to such degrees that having her represent us in any capacity is humiliating. How much longer can this president continue to surround herself by the people who only say yes to her misguided and flawed understanding of presidential leadership. I would hope that BOT, some of who are graduates of FAU, would wise up and come to recognize that the faculty have moved this university ahead in significant ways, despite the unprecedented pathetic leadership we serve under, a vote of no confidence can not come soon enough, it will serve notice to those in the administration and the BOT that faculty are the heart and soul of this university, and that whatever she has gained in favor with the political powers…she has lost with her faculty
be fired. She has been causing all the negative publicity (e.g. Geo, running and hitting a student protesting, and not protecting academic freedom for one of the FAU faculty)
Resign. “Poor” does not even begin to describe her as a university president. Her decision to accept the six million from a corrupt prison company demonstrates not only a complete lack of ethics, but an ignorance of how students, faculty, and the larger community would react to that decision. Faculty, students, and community felt disgust and horror. That she could not foresee how that would play out in the media is shocking.That she “clipped” a student protester with her car’s mirror and simply drove off- that’s hit and run where I come from, That’s criminal. That student protesters are now being accused of misconduct for asserting their right to demonstrate
has already supplied new fuel for the media. Saunders is dragging our university’s name through the mud. It can only get worse.
(1) Consider stepping down from her position as president: in light of her official reaction to recent events, and in light of what she did *not* say in the wake of recent events.(2) Recognize that one of the main goals of the university is to give students an outlet for, and opportunities to begin conceptualizing and tangibly committing to, their (hopefully, lifelong) engagement with public / civic affairs. In the college/university context, some of the most traditional forms of this type of activity are: the organized political protest, the organized student position statement/petition, the organized chants/demonstration, etc. Such events are common at higher institutions, and are an entirely natural outgrowth of the college/university experience, especially where there is a strong residential environment. It is therefore entirely unsurprising that the recent protests involved considerable participation by Honors College / Honors Campus students in particular. I feel strongly that these protests indicate that the Honors College is in some way “doing it right” – i.e., they are succeeding in creating an environment in which high-achieving, highly motivated, highly socially engaged students feel the call to come together and, in traditional college fashion, become active and visible participants who weigh in on current issues.
Take next flight back to ohio [one-way]
resign.
Same as above for Provost
President SAUNDERS should resign. She is simply not fit for the job. She is out of touch with the university and has made a long series of very bad decisions that will take several years, if not a decade, for the university to recover from. The mistakes that she has made span the range from the very obvious Geoservices issue and how she has dealt with it to campus closings that will clearly cost far more to implement than they will save.When asked to explain her decisions or to listen to faculty input she seems to lose control and make irrational statements. Rather than seeking an open dialog and a constructive working relationship with her faculty (and with the FAU community in general) – one that might help her to understand and deal with the myriad of difficult and complex problems that face the university – she seems to be afraid of discourse. Her main goals appear to be hiding herself away from uncomfortable questions and that pesky reality thing.
leave before she completely destroys this university.
One fails to comprehend the incompetency at this level. Her inability to address criticism of the GEO group was shocking with a Town-Hall that had GEO group plants, no mics, and general disdain for community participation. She refuses to speak up regarding academic freedom, the pillar of any university. She hits a student with her car and then blames the student. She has become completely removed from the campus community who is afraid of her students, disdainful of her faculty, and generally intolerant to the general goals of a university. She is out of touch with reality, and it becomes increasingly clear that she needs to be removed from her position. She has become an embarrassment for FAU, and each times she tries to improve the situation, she makes it worse. If she had any common sense, she would step down for the good of the university. But she doesn’t. So she will continue to destroy the university until she must leave.
One can only hope that President Saunders is able to learn quickly from the many mistakes she has made. While the Governor appoints individuals to serve as the Board of Trustees, these powerful people are not faculty or students and it is up to the President to offer the Board alternative and creative ideas based on research, teaching, and service. I am still hopeful.
Resign immediately.
Resign. Barring that, consider consulting with more than 2-3 “yes” (wo)men when making decisions on the University’s behalf. Barring that, look into a PR firm with expertise in damage control.
stand up for academic freedom. It is shameful that the university administration did not stand up for the faculty member in Communication and uphold his right to teach his students in his own way, which was perfectly legitimate. Furthermore, she should not comply with the interference of the Governor in this matter. Allowing the instructor to be removed from his job was really shameful. Caving in to politicians will only make FAU worse off.
resign
Stepped Down
resigned
resign immediately, she has ruined FAU’s reputation by the unprecedented lack of command of her staff…she has lost all confidence from faculty
I support her with GEO. I don’t support her on pretty much everything else. I still don’t know why we hired the least competent person in the pool, but that seems to be an FAU tradition for administrators. PC choices have the same results time and again.
Resign and allow the ENTIRE University Administration to be audited by the state – or if possible, the federal government.
It doesn’t matter; the Board of Trustees has repeatedly demonstrated its inability to identify competence, so there is no reason to think they will be able to find, much less hire, a capable replacement.
Let this short evaluation serve as notice to the BOT::::FIRE SAUNDERS IMMEDIATELY WHILE THERE IS STILL A UNIVERSITY IN BOCA RATON. Honestly, categorically, in every imagineable way, she is not suited to be a university president…..
have some respect for FAU faculty and students and their intelligence.
Resign
Learn how to handle bad publicity without making it worse, as she seems to have done in 3 recent occurrences. She seems to have gorgotten about academic freedom and freedom of speech.
Resign
transform herself into a good leader. Hire good people rather than incompetent loyalists. She has surrounded herself with people who are incapable of developing FAU. She should listen to people’s advice. If she doesn’t change, she should resign to minimize the damage that she has already done to FAU. The worst president ever? Good leadership inspires. President Saunders’ leadership inspires fear (of challenging her). I fear she will drag FAU down with her. The downward momentum is apparent.
Be fired. For cause.
Resign
Fire half of the “assistant/associate” VPs/Provosts/Etc and pay the faculty more. Based on the 3% we now put into our retirement and the fact we haven’t had a raise in years plus the fact we are below state/national pay rates, she should administer at least a 10% raise to all faculty. Those of us who are tenure-track especially deserve this as our future earning potential at FAU is based highly on what we make before promotion. Anything less would be like a slap in the face. Aside from this unlikely event, she does need to take a hard look at the upper administration and re-evalute the need of some of them to be paid what they are. We have many “assistant VPs/etc.” who are probably paid 6 figures, yet most universities have those people as “directors” (and more appropriately so) making maybe 60K a year. For example, do we really need an Assistant Provost of e-Learning?? This is ridiculous! Sure, we should have a “Director of e-Learning”, but not a provost. This is but one example of the lunacy of the upper administration. To me, that sounds like one of FAU’s biggest waste of money. While I would hate to see people fired or demoted, it makes the faculty sick to see all these overpaid administrators when we are severely underpaid and can’t get approval for desperately needed faculty positions.
resign
Leave. She gives women leaders a bad name and closes the glass ceiling. Shame on her for her lack of leadership, bringing bad press to FAU, and GEO. She is cold, dismissive, and does not care for the community of students and faculty. A total novice president and the worst I’ve ever seen.
Leave the university. Not threaten academic freedom. Not sell out to prison companies. Consult the faculty every now and again.
Resign and disappear as quickly as possible so that the recovery from her incompetent regime can begin
Resign, since she has become a source of national embarrassment.
Resign and be considerate with faculty members instead of focusing on not being fired!
Have some basic understanding of what the mission of a university should be, and stand by those principles, rather than obsequiously trying to do the bidding of corporations and cater to popularist sentiments
listen to a few dissenting voices from the faculty before making any decisions.
Realize that she is governing an intellectual collaborative, where participatory management is not only essential but actually expected–and not a cut-throat competitive, entrepreneurial enterprise, where autocratic decision-making may be more readily acceptable. Moreover, the best leaders in either environment do not “kill the messengers.”
she would resign.
She should be fired for all that has happened here, she doesn’t listen to faculty, he visit to the Coffee with the Prof. are examples, dismissing us and not listening, FAU should not be flying its flag too high, it is an embarrassment to the public and other institutions. Both the President and Provost should step down, the mediocrity at FAU is horrible
Fire MJ!
stop stonewalling, stop running away from the hard choices that need to be made, stop acting like a CEO and start acting like a university president
resign
leave town
We were unhappy with Brogan –
Brogan PLEASE COME BACK!!!!
Saunders has to go. Despotic, abusive, tyranical, unprofessional, unethical, and dehumanizing – not to mention bordering illegal – rule is not what FAU should have right now.
Arrange for an impartial investigation of the Jupiter incident, over which she has no control. Let the facts speak for themselves, and help to restore FAU’s badly bruised reputation. Snide remarks from people in the community about FAU are not indicative of a healthy community relationship, and we hear a LOT of them lately.
Resign gracefully before being pushed out.
Resign
Resign
leave and take her inner circle with her
Stop micro-managing
This spring President Saunders has shown she is not fit to run this university. She has no respect for students, faculty, academic freedom, or the university’s reputation. I would urge that she be replaced but, under the current board of trustees, I suspect her replacement would be not better.
Think before acting. Poor decisions all along, mostly stemming from an autocratic instead of inclusive style of leadership. Support the university community and not corporate prison donors. Support free speech and talk to your students, even if they are protesting. They won’t bite. Don’t hit them with your car. Seek input from faculty before making major decisions. A university should be a democratic, inclusive place.
Make a strong statement in support of academic freedom and publicly address some of the criticisms resulting from the various problems this past semester.
Resign or be removed by the Chancellor and Board of Trustees.
seek employment elsewhere.
I have given the President the benefit of the doubt over the last eighteen months. Mistakes were made by surrounding herself with officials who did not have the best interests of the university in mind.
At this point, however, taking personal responsibility for the destruction of morale at FAU, the creation of a climate of fear, and the lack of professional and personal strength to hold other administrators accountable for their own role in destroying morale, and creating a climate of petty vendettas and fear of retribution is the first order of business.
resign. Barring that, it would be good if Dr. Saunders would guide the university in a less Stalinesque fashion. It’s okay when one makes a poor decision to admit that a mistake was made, and perhaps even to apologize for that mistake, rather than going after the people who point out the mistake.
learn how to interact better with students, faculty, and the public. She treats students and faculty like the enemy rather than the heart of the university.
If she would respect freedom of speech and academic freedom. The University would be better served if she would not create a hostile environment for students and faculty.
stand up for the university. The “Jesus stomping” incident was disgusting, the administration’s behavior included. It was correct to suspend to a student who made physical threats; when he then misrepresents the situation to a bunch of rabble-rousers, he should be expelled. The university should not have apologized to him. Academic freedom should be defended. Poole should be allowed to speak on his own behalf. FAU’s conduct here has been shameful.
Be the person she was when she interviewed for the job. Stop posturing for the politicos and be her authentic self, whoever that might be. Recognize that faculty and students are the folks who will help her, not treat them as adversaries. Take some classes in diversity, cross cultural communication, critical thinking.
She has severely hurt the ethics, morals and academic reputation of FAU. SHE NEEDS TO GO!!
Stop stonewalling, support academic freedom . Fire the development person responsible for the GEO deal.
Think before issuing statements to the press.
Acknowledge mistakes and state that ‘it was learning experience’-not hem haw about with excuses and meaningless rhetoric.
resign and leave us alone. We were much better off under Brogan and as far as I can remember under any president since FAU was founded. She is an embarrassment as a person, and as a scientist without a scientific conscience. FAU has never had as low a reputation as it does now.
Move on!
Saunders has proven time and again that she is not a Leader. She cannot handle routine duties very well, and in a crisis she cuts and runs.
She has been a disgrace to FAU should be replaced as soon as possible.
Apologize to the student she hit with her car.
Stop asking for apologies from others.
Please stop over reacting.
resign
be fired
University had seen too many slip-ups and controversial decisions from president Saunders lately. There seems to be very little concern for the faculty and instructors, as well as for students.
Be replaced.
leave, after cleaning up after some of her worst decisions–she should restore the Provost’s office, for example, eliminating the vice presidency for SP&IT, among other things, and getting a new VP for development.
Create more community building across colleges…help the sciences to see the importance of the humanities and visa versa.
Resign.
resign, it would save the university from further embarrassment.
Resign
It saddens me to say this, but I believe the best option right now would be resignation.
resign & leave. Does not support academic freedom. Does not support faculty. Does not support (or even like) students. Does not handle crises (of her own making) well. Brought shame and dishonor to FAU.
also leave
resign immediately. Never could I imagine a worse leader. The sad thing is that students will have FAU associated with their names the rest of their lives, most faculty will still be at FAU 10 years from now, but President Saunders has been able to come in, destroy the university’s reputation, and she’ll be gone by next year. The rest of us will have to dedicate ourselves to picking up the pieces.
remind herself of why she ever wanted to be in academic administration. She spoke eloquently about this at her inauguration but she seems to have forgotten everything that she said.
Get a spine transplant. She has handled ALL of the most recent issues poorly and almost single-handedly damaged FAU’s reputation. FAU’s rep was trending upward, but once again FAU seems to mean: Find Another University. She now appears to fit in well with the other miscreants who are out BOT.
resign
Resign–or at least put a stop to the torrent of public embarrassment and spectacle that has resulted from the upper administration’s mismanagement.
She has surrounded herself with people that think just like her. She needs associates that are strong in her weak areas (which are many).
Apologize.
Stop being so defensive.
Listen to those who disagree with you, not only those who agree with you.
leave.
Resign
Resign
KEEP A CLOSER EYE ON THE COB ESPECIALLY DISCRETIONARY SPENDING
She should be fired with prejudice and imprisoned for misusing funds!
Resigns
As a feminist, it gives me great pain to give such a poor evaluation to an administrator. I had such high hopes but I am now completely deflated by her lack of leadership and administrative decisions. The list is just too long to even enumerate here due to the lack of time I have to complete this document. But the actions of non-support of academic freedom was the straw that broke the camels back, made me turn my back and shake my head in shame and disgust. ABSOLUTELY PITIFUL AND WRONG-HEADED!
care more about her faculty and students than “saving face” and trying to appeal to the public. I think she and the BOT are out of touch with the needs of college students and faculty and are more concerned with lining their pockets than anything else.
Improve her public image to better reflect the good job she is doing in other areas.
resign immediately.
Step down
leave, along with the provost. they are destroying this university
I think we cannot have a worse president that her! She has made very poor decisions that alienated faculty and students. I think she is so isolated in her sphere that she does not seem to understand what a university is! she looks at it as a company to run.. Someone should tell her that she is applying the same kind of decisions that got busnisses in trouble in the first place.
I do realize that she came at a difficult time and had a lot on her plate, but she has consistently acted in ways that prove that she does not value transparency, shared governance, and academic freedom
resign- No vision for FAU’s future; Elimination of core laboratory supporting staff positions under the guise of budget cuts and no concern for the quality of education- This is in contrast to other universities in the SUS system (e.g., FIU) with new hires and salary increase for the faculty
Resign.
apologize to Jewish students who received mocked eviction notices…condemns ‘Students for Justice In palestine’ for putting these notices…
Resign.
apologizes for her mistakes
resign
step down. The lack of leadership and total disconnect is embarrassing.
Joking?
Immediately be removed from her position. The Faculty Senate and all college Faculty Assemblies should proceed with a vote of no confidence in her at every meeting until she is gone.
Really?
Resign immediately!
consult broadly before making decisions. Stop being so autocratic. Stop being so defensive. Be the leader that we thought you would be when you came here. Have a vision that is realistic rather than smoke and mirrors. FAU is not going to become a major center for scientific research — sorry, but the money and the staffing just isn’t in place, and neither of them are going to show up.
Resign.
resign.
Resign and promise to never take another position in academia ever again.
Just resign.
be fired.
resign.
It’s not easy, but she should be able to handle dicussions better, be more inclusive of faculty in decision making, and strenghthen her nerves.
leave FAU immediately.
immediately left and never worked in higher education again.
Sadly, it is now time for the president to step down, as her administration has proved lacking.
Resign.
truly understand what it means to be a university president, or be able to simply articulate a position.
Resign.
Resign along with the Board of Trustees, a bunch of self-serving political appointees with no concern or love for students or faculty of FAU.

Additional comments about President SAUNDERS:

For the sake of the university, Saunders should resign and not serve her term. She denied any agency to the students, she hit a student with her car, left the scene of the accident, drove the wrong way down a one-way street and then had the audacity to tell the dean that he and the students owed her an apology! He lack of support of Poole and her lack of understanding academic freedom was amazing for a university president. Because of her actions, FAU was a laughing stock or a disgrace on the news programs, New York Times, and even the Colbert Show. Students are concerned that her behavior will have a negative impact on their degree. She needs to leave FAU to heal from the wounds she caused.
She seems like a nice person in a difficult job. There are just some challenging issues that she has had to contend with during her tenure.
I will not honor the President with a comment – After all, she doesn’t listen!
This is an appeal to the
Board of Trustees to take action and replace her.
She is awesome. Best Pres I have ever worked for.
A disaster and an embarrassment. She is not strong enough to stand up to the BOT. These are dark days for FAU. Its a shame that so many hard working faculty and staff are subject to her bad decisions (or inability to make decisions for the greater good of FAU). I wonder if our reputation will ever recover.
Catastrophic. President Saunders only seems responsive to the wills of the board of trustees (with the consequences we saw during the GEO debacle; I still cannot believe we made it to the Colbert report). At the same time, she is sometimes arrogant with Faculty and students (even on the radio during interviews). Crownism in the upper administration is rampant in this university, while faculty and staff suffer salary cuts and layoffs. We were told last year that the budget situation was very difficult: the solution was a rushed job that caused severe disruptions, closings and displacements, followed with constant procrastination and flip-flopping. In the end, the issues were only short termed. DON’T WE HAVE AN EMERGENCY FUND FOR THESE SITUATIONS???
Stop denigrating the value of what the College of Business contributes to the university community: the ability of some of its faculty to attract external monies TO the College is EXACTLY EQUIVALENT to receiving grants as per the ‘pure research’ STEM areas. If you’re going to denigrate its value – don’t come slinking around to TAKE IT FROM THE COLLEGE EITHER!Finally, understand and help convey to the university community that just because some of its faculty are paid (substantially in some cases) more than other areas, does not mean the university’s job is to ensure they get less so that those who are paid less get more… The College of Business is one of the most productive generators of FTE and degrees for the university – stop marginalizing it.
The president clearly serves the Board of Trustees (they hired her) and not the faculty and students.
She brags about diversity of the student body, but continually shows that she is not really concerned about the issues and scholarship surrounding diverse communities. A brief list: She has supported for profit prisons that disproportionately effect Black and Brown communities; failed to support the academic freedom of a Black instructor; provided no support for Black History, Hispanic History, or Women’s History month. Despite Hispanic and Black Students making up 39% of the student population, the faculty is only a combined 13%. Her entire tenure has demonstrated that the universities repeated promotion of its high percentage of black and brown graduates says more about the students than the university. Because the university has provided little in institutional support for diversity between faculty and students.
Need to get advise outside of her inner circle.Consult widely.
Her actions speak for themselves.
As much as people did not like President Brogan, on a positive side, he was ALWAYS interested in the academic growth of this institution. He went to watch his faculty teach, he participated in numerous events across all campuses and disciplines, and seemed to be moving the university forward as a whole. President Saunders has clearly embraced athletics and sciences–these are important programs in regards to community presence, but by ignoring the pressures of the BOT to diminish the rest of our offerings, and to sit silent as our governor has blasted much of what a university does in offering diverse and comprehensive curricula, I find her to be an ineffective advocate for, and leader of, FAU.
She is not credible to most faculty and students. Even people in the community think of her as a administrative masquerade and a figure of incompetence. FAU’s image would improve tremendously if it had a new president who had a true vision in phase with this university and its population, instead of having to contemplate MJ Saunders’ plastic smile on propaganda paid by students’ tuition…
Very disappointing negative publicity about the university and the leadership.
the singularly worst univ president I’ve observed – so insular, so full of herself. So, what’s her answer–fire people, drive her auto into students, DEMAND apologies. OMG
DO we need them, given the past year? This is the worse President of a University I have ever come across, and that is quite a few. Most of the time, even if bad Presidents, they are articulate and know how to spin. She does not know how to administrate, in so incompetent that it goes beyond evaluation, and has shown herself to be completely unaware of what higher education is or is supposed to be that she is just pathetic. Her annual report had more to do with athletics than academics. What do you say about a President that has blown every issue that has come up, (oh, I guess she did okay on accred–while driving everyone to distraction, and without realizing that is a rather minor part of University functioning–) her favorite words are “GO OWLS.” Really. Really? People say that if we get rid of her we will get someone just as bad, I do not think that is possible, at least get someone who doesn’t consistently act as a child.
Overall, she is ineffective. She is too controlling, and thus too much of her time is focused on internal matters. Consequently, she has done little to raise additional funds that would help the colleges and faculty to excel. Perhaps the biggest problem, though, is that she continues to support the current Provost, who is the worst I have ever seen. President Saunders would gain considerable respect of the faculty and deans by firing Provost Claiborne.
The University has been in a reaction mode since the fiscal crisis of 2008, and must move past meaningless acronyms and sound bites into a strategic plan that revolves around our present strengths, and the vital role of a regional university in strengthening the culture. Our international research will always be important, but a mere fraction of our mission.
She should not make comments that violate academic freedom. Listen to the students, and definitely she should listen to the faculty. She refused to talk with us about the recent Geo Group issue. Poor judgement.
I doubt she will still be here by the time this survey is finished. In any case, her string of fiascos says enough.
In a “Sun Sentinel” article dated April 3,2013, President Saunders is quoted as having made the Kafkaesque remark, “I kind of feel like a kidney stone.”Many in the university community also feel that she is “kind of like a kidney stone.”
She can change that.
Shame on you President Saunders!! You have mocked, de-valued, disrespected,and embarrassesed the FAU community by your flawed leadership style…if you choose not to listen to your faculty,don’t be surprised when they bring a vote of no confidence forward.
This is just a general comment: One of the key responsibilities of a college or university (and therefore, by extension, of a university president) would in fact seem to be to respect students as full participants in sociopolitical life, and to understand that one of the main tasks of the university has (always) been to help form more informed, more capable, more engaged and aware citizens. We need to mentor students in this respect, just as we mentor them in other aspects, including their intellectual, social, moral, and athletic growth. To be effective mentors of students as publicly engaged citizens, we need to openly acknowledge the validity of their desire to engage in public life, and we need to validate their freedom to, and desire to, to speak up, even (or especially) when their views, values, perspectives, or priorities are not fully shared by administration. We need to acknowledge that they have the right (and even the obligation) to express opinions (opinions that, one hopes, are well thought out, critically sound, and based where appropriate on fact or observed experience).The beauty, and the complexity, of free speech as enshrined in our Constitution is a vital point for students to understand and see up close; it is also vital that students understand “free speech” and the right to assemble to be more than a mere intellectual idea, or formal law, or empty ideal, but instead a constitutionally-protected guarantee of freedom of expression, and one of the cornerstones upon which the American understanding of the relationship between the individual and the state is based.In my view, students need to experience all of these aspects of free speech, and really “live it,” if they are to understand and thus value its tremendous power, and deeply radical nature. Free speech does lead to real-world effects, real-world actions, real-world consequences. It is often “messy,” it is often contentious, it is often uncomfortable. It is also often challenging. The Constitution protects the individual’s right to produce this kind of discomfort, contention, challenge. And it would seem to be the university’s goal (or even obligation) to give students the right to participate fully in this process.Please note that none of this implies that the university or college must SHARE the students’ views or priorities, either in part or in full, or APPROVE of the exact methods the students might use to call attention to their message(s). It simply means that it would seem urgent for a university (and therefore, also, its President) to be able to support students’ rights to gather, to protest, to express views.
To sum up: It would seem to be entirely possible (and indeed, highly desirable) for a university president to be able to craft and release a statement that, while fundamentally disagreeing with, or taking issue with, the students’ overall position, or student actions taken, or methods used to protest, nevertheless recognizes in these students a laudable commitment to deeper concerns involving social justice, and a stronger, more equitable society. Such a letter, issued by the President, might for instance reinforce the role of the university to provide a forum for the open exploration of ideas and debate. Such a letter might also present the existence of such (typical) student activity as proof that FAU is in fact “doing it right,” insomuch as it is in the business of forming students who are deeply concerned with matters of ethics, social justice, and political engagement, and by extension, FAU’s strong commitment to forming “the whole student.” These students did not protest the stadium naming simply to be difficult. These students were sharing and expressing deeply held beliefs, and positions.

A university should aspire to a goal far beyond the production of graduates who are competent in X or Y discipline, and whose sole concerns are limited to these areas. A university should instead aspire to play a key role in developing a more participatory and deeply informed and rflective / critical citizenry, at all levels — local, state, national, and international.

Perhaps one (or more) of FAU’s current students will go on to become a constitutional law expert, or a circuit court judge, or an appellate judge, or a Supreme Court justice. They will have gotten a valuable first-hand look at the idea of free speech right here at FAU. And that is very valuable.

One last point: University administrative decisions, such as the recent one regarding the naming of the FAU Stadium, are not, contrary to what some seem to think, outside the purview of FAU’s students, staff, faculty, alumni. Such decisions DO implicate these university groups, and by protesting such decisions, students are in fact developing into the “whole student,” the one who is able to recognize what (well-informed, engaged-citizen) adults have already learned: administrative decisions do matter, laws do matter, policies do matter, political actions do matter. Voting matters. Raising one’s voice to express an opinion matters.

Let’s not continue to treat our students here at FAU as though they were juveniles who aren’t fully able to comprehend what’s at stake in a particular administrative action or decision. Sure, students may not have access to the whole back story, or to the whole economic picture. But these students are our future leaders. We need to encourage their growth, provide mentorship. Someday these same students will be having to make their own tough decisions, and having to explain and defend those decisions publicly — and, one hopes, with clarity and insightfulness.
I thought Brogan was the worst to happen to fau, but now he starts to look good.
This president has been very effective and expect will continue to be. The GEO and “Owlcatraz” incidents have detracted attention from all the very good things she does and is doing for our institution.
Could it possibly get any worse? Godzilla, maybe?
Under President Saunders’ leadership, FAU has improved its recognition within the community as an academic institution. I like that President Saunders is consistently pushing us to work for the best interests of our students!
Her rants about lower level administrators (and orders to fire them!) have become common knowledge. She’s thin skinned, inaccessible, and, frankly, either a liar or stupid–she didn’t know about GEO’s record? PLEEEEASE! Seated on that chair to receive students, I wonder if MJS perceived herself as the Czarina–now forced to indulge the rabble. How about another rant in which she fires herself!
Although her and the board’s decision to accept money from Geo was unfortunate, it is even more unfortunate that she does not see how poor a job the Provost is doing; nor does she stand up for faculty academic freedom when the chips are down.
Continuing to prove that she is an incompetent leader, MJ consoles herself by stating that she has the confidence of the Board of Trustees. Unfortunately, the faculty, who are a better judge of her performance, is not similarly impressed. She is an embarrassment to the University. The students and faculty would be best served if she were to resign and take Brenda, the Wicked Witch of the West, with her.
An Embarassement – mostly because of her temper and quick trigger. Take some time to learn the facts before jumping to conclusions.
huge disappointment
It is time for the BOT to dismiss Saunders…she is seriously flawed as an administrator and leader. She is far too insecure, can not admit when she is wrong, is punitive, overbearing, unimaginative, selfish, mean-spirited, vindictive, vain, entitlded, and simply the worst leader for any university. Consequently, she has become an embarrassment for FAU, and has made our university a national laughing stock…..shame on the trustees for keeping her in the position.
Even if she were a good President, which she is not, she should step down. Too many distractions and international news stories that have shamed us in her short term.
A student balls up his fist and hits his other hand three times, simulating hitting a professor and says that he “feels like hitting” the professor. The student received an apology. What will the president give a student who physically attacks and hurts a faculty member? A medal?
The recent scandals simply confirm what has been obvious for some time now. There must be something profoundly wrong with the Board of Trustees that they could have selected someone with such poor leadership and communication skills. President Saunders is reported to have thrown tantrums when encountering uncomfortable situations and has routinely hidden behind subordinates rather than stepping forward as a leader should. Even her vision for FAU is unrealistic (though it may be appealing to those more concerned with image than with substance). She has explicitly stated that she does not want the medical school to train the primary care physicians this region needs.
She should seriously think about bridging the distance she has caused between her office and the faculty…..
The President continues to show poor judgement, arrogance and aloofness. She lacks a vision for FAU, appearing to be driven by self preservation than motivation to lead and inspire faculty and students to greatness. Further, she exhibits poor problem solving skills, choosing to be feisty and dig a deeper hole when confronted with a problem.
I hate to say it, but President Saunders has become an embarrassment to the university. What sealed it in my mind was the dismissive way she has treated students about the GEO Group. I have never seen an administrator handle student relations in such a ham-handed way. It is horrifying and infuriating how she has now attempted to intimidate students because they provided statements against her. And from what I can tell, it’s simply an extension of her same dismissive attitude toward the faculty.
Worst president this institution has had
President Saunders has proven to be a major disappointment. She came here with a plan for FAU’s development but has appointed people who are incapable of implementing anything. Saunders is insecure and hyper-sensitive. The recent crises are only a symptom of the problem. Long before the public relations nightmares her leadership team revealed their incompetence in the ordinary operations of the university. She repeatedly cites the SACS report as her major achievement, but SACS was only a success if you do not consider the high costs: her focus on credentialling has made the university paranoid about educational innovation lest her credentials police knock on our office doors. The worst bureaucratic regime.
She has done irreparable harm to FAU.
The damage done by President Saunders’ mis steps has greatly harmed the university. Her performance in handling Dr. Deandre Poole’s criticism shows lack of support for faculty and academic freedom. Her hit and run injury to the student protesting in Jupiter shows lack of concern for students. If, as reported in the April 7 2013 letter from the editor in the Palm Beach Post, the President made a cryptic reference saying that the student won’t be dong that again, she should be fired immediately. There is no room in a university for someone with such low regard for students.
OK, so the President has made a few mistakes, but I think the media and students blow it way out of proportion. No one seems to focus on the things that she has done an outstanding job on, like SACS.
She can be surrounded by only her disciples. Everyone else is out. She is living in a utopia that she can do whatever she wants. It is apparent with recent incidents that she cannot. She is pushing forward that FAU is a research university but does not know how to achieve it. No plan, no support but lots of talk. In the mean time, she is increasing student number. In addition, she is creating more bureaucracy by hiring more administrators. She has chocked the university. How do all these fit with being a research university?
Get her out.
This person heads the gang that can’t shoot straight. They appear to fire, get ready, then aim – in that order. I have never seen lower morale at this institution by both faculty and staff, and that is saying something. I am so embarrassed by my university that when I am out locally, I now try to hide where I work in discussions, because I am sick trying to defend the indefensible from her and her top administrators’ (in)actions. If she and the others whom she brought along with her would leave, it will still take many years for FAU to recover from their utterly failed administration. From SACs and the preposterous certification policy debacle, to Owlcatraz, to hitting students with her car and not stopping, to her handling of Mr. Poole, to her…I could go on but what is the use. I feel sick to my stomach just thinking about her and her administration, and it is my prediction that the incompetent FAU BOT will continue to back her instead of admitting the mistake of hiring her and her minions.
It is incredible that she claims to have been “afraid for her safety” in the Jupiter incident, a phrase clearly dictated to her by a lawyer. In so doing, she in effect treats peaceful student protesters as if they were thugs and criminals. And then she coerces the dean of the Honors College into writing a letter denouncing his own students! She is both a bully and a coward, and she has to go.
She seems to be more concerned about her personal “p/r” than the pedagogical effectiveness of this university. In that regard, it is very difficult to reconcile her contradictory goals of higher enrollments and greater retention with her quality enhancement initiatives and Research I goals. Doesn’t she realize that her determined pressure for quantity drastically diminishes quality???
Tracy James is not her fault and her handling of it was acceptable. The Geo deal was a terrible misjudgment and complete lack of common sense. Btw. most people don’t move their cars when others are too close for whatever reasons. The worst crisis management was the “step (or stomp) on Jesus”. If it had been aggressively dealt with, there would have been no case. Obviously, the student told a blunt lie to the media and instead of defending the faculty member the administration waiting until the shit-storm was so big, it could not be stopped anymore. Then a completely unjustified apology, for what??? to whom?? This handling is hard to beat in its incompetence.
Low pay, ranked low, not merit or market equity, lost benefits, lost professors, what incentive do we have to stay here? mediocrity reigns high here, it is a horrible workplace, secretaries treat faculty like crap, Deans and chair are ineffective and play favorites, it has become the worst university, we deserve better and need a better president and provost, both now should step down, they have proven to be extremely ineffective.
Her behavior during the GEO controversy was shameful. She ran and hid rather than sitting down to talk about the issues. The opposite of what is expected of university leadership.She refuses to be realistic about the effects of budget cuts. She pretends that everything is fine and insists that everyone else collude in the deception.
She is an embarrassment to our college. She needs to go immediately.
PLEASE get rid of Saunders!!!!!!!!!!
She needs to have a fair investigation of the Jupiter protest incidence. Hit-and-run driving is a SERIOUS offense, and cannot be swept under the rug. Intimidating students is a horrible example. More information about this whole situation is needed.
The President needs to clean house, eg find a new provost and media affairs director,and repair relations with students, especially in the Honors College.
The Board has contributed to the President’s troubles lately and as such is doing a disservice to the university. The President must manage the board and bust their unilateral, narrow minded approach to decision making.
Faculty in some colleges at FAU are significantly underpaid yet there has been no attempt by the president to address this problem.
The gender pay inequity is shameful and a class action law suit waiting to happen.
Senior faculty are left behind as the administration continues to turn its back on salary compression.
I had high hopes for FAU with her but this has been a disastrous year. Her inability to handle negative news and crises is her Achilles. Next search we should find out more about how people handle bad news and negative events. By the way, why doesn’t she shake hands with the students at graduation?
Take responsibility for your actions. Avoiding e-mails from students or running from a protest is not a good management style. Why do you bother having administrators if you are going to second guess every thing they do. How are you going to get good advice if you fire everyone who disagrees with you?
President Saunders did an excellent job making sure that FAU was well prepared for the SACS review and FAU then received the highest SACS rating for accreditation. Her job is made more difficult by the fact that she has to work with a Board, legislature and Governor of the State of Florida who do not support academic freedom, let alone public and higher education. The President and Provost managed the huge 2012 cuts in our budget while still protecting tenured faculty and almost all tenure line faculty as well as our teaching loads. These are very important. I think that the President and FAU in general needs to have better advice on such decisions as having the GEO group sponsor the stadium. I wonder how no one seemed to anticipate that this would result in national negative attention.
Her lack of experience in such a high administrative position is constantly apparent. Decisions do not appear to be made thoughtflly in many cases and she appears to act too quickly and defensively, motivated by either fear or personal lack of confidence, to the detriment of the edification of the university and the accomplishment of its true mission. Her seemingly personal need to be “right” supercedes her ability to “do what is right”, which has been especially apparent in recent situations she has mishandled during the spring of 2013. These have drawn negative attention to the university, and rather than choosing ethical, transparent ways to approach and solve problems quickly,she has behaved in quite the opposite manner, misrepresenting her administrators and her faculty.
This is an administration of mindless bureaucrats who serve an egotistical tyrant.
Words that come to mind when thinking about Dr. Saunders at this point: Insecure, petty, unprofessional, self-serving. How can someone, who appears from the outside as so focused on photo opportunities and spinning news to their own favor, have such a “tin ear” regarding open discussion, and the willingness to make ill-informed, wrong headed decisions. What makes it all the more tragic is that Dr. Saunders exhibits not one iota of self-awareness at how her actions and those of her controllers (BOT) are viewed by many. She and her cabal have lost any respect they might have had from other adult professionals.
My views are largely colored by the events of spring 2013. While I am glad she began to pay attention to contemp social issues, it appears that the effort has taken us nowhere.
Chik fillet stadium is a BAD idea.
Out of touch. Great with the sound bites that have no substance.
An astonishing series of bad decisions and bungled PR have convinced me that Pres. Saunders is unfit for this job. I supported her up until the recent spate of atrocious decisions. Who is she taking advice from??
The recent events have distracted the president and the entire university from our core purposes. This is unfortunate for her and FAU. She should consider options which include stepping aside for the good of the whole, especially if these issues are not contained soon.
She started with promise. But her hubris and defensiveness have undone her promise. She will not listen to counsel (look at how many folks have been fired for stating an opposing view) and she is authoritarian. She is egotistical to a fault. She surrounds herself with yes-men (yes-women) who have adopted her “take no prisoners” approach to administration. Her handling of the multiple crises this semester has been simply appaling – she is in way over her head and it is imperative that she be replaced. She has destroyed the reputation of FAU, and it will take many years for the institution to recover.
When she was hired I thought she would ruin the University. Sadly, it turns out I was right. She is incompetent, acting out of fear and defensiveness, and takes advice only from a set of staff people who just dont have a grasp of the complexity of FAU. She needs to be open, trusting, and rely on the Provost and deans to advise her.
I am embarrassed that she is our president. She repeatedly makes bad decisions.
She has failed to take advantage of the presence of Scripps and Max Planck, and has demoralized faculty. In her defense of FAU, she damns the university with faint praise. She is a weak leader, who cannot tolerate criticism.
Constantly smiles but doesn’t know how to work WITH people. Likes to run everything by fear.
Saunders is an absolutely horrible president. She is far too insecure, vain, and self-absorbed to president. She appears to be incapable of taking any advice or direction from folks around her, who in many cases are not smarter than she is, but want to help her save herself from additional unprofessional acts.
What a mess she has created by poor appointments and weak decisions
President Saunders has made some abysmal decisions this year that have reflected poorly on some units or faculty specifically and FAU generally. I have been disspointed and embarrassed about some FAU policies this year (eg, the GEO debacle, the Deandre Poole incident), and believe that the President’s lack of support for faculty academic freedom has threatened the culture and collegiality of the entire university. We have many remarkable faculty who currently feel mistrusted and threatened by the University administration.
Replacing tenured lines with instructors might theoretically be acceptable if there was a simultaneous push to promote faculty research, raise admission standards or some other tangible upside to make up for the reduction in qualified professors teaching students. Sadly, this has not happened. In other words, I was initially ready to suspend judgment and allow President Saunders an opportunity to implement her vision for the university, but it has become clear that this vision is one of mediocrity not excellence.
No understanding or appreciation for disciplines/majors outside of science.
President Saunders set about almost immediately to establishing a confrontational relationship with faculty, where she made it clear that she didn’t trust as, didn’t want to hear our opinions, and didn’t want to work with us. Now, as the university falls apart around her, hopefully she sees that maintaining a good relationship with faculty could have served her in times like this. Too bad it is too late.
FAU’s reputation is a mess. Some of the problems are her own fault (GEO Group – what was she thinking?), others she simply handled poorly. Her damage-control statements are dumb. (And why do we have so many administrators? Where did the “deeply sorry” Senior Vice President for Student Affairs come from? $190,000 a year? And we don’t have enough money to support summer classes? Give me a break!) I feel sorry for her, but she is not competent to handle this job.
When she arrived, she had lots of support. She has lost most of it. She is autocratic and isolated. She is a bully rather than a leader. Her responses to the challenges to the GEO stadium and the Poole case were embarrassing at best and appalling at worst.
President Saunders is Rick Scott’s lackey. It’s a terrible, terrible shame.
As a scientist she seems to see everything as black and white. Unfortunately, every problem is multifaceted and needs many talents to solve. She just doesn’t understand that.
Please apologize…please.
She is the worst PR manager ever!!
I have a feeling due to the recent events and negative press FAU has gotten this past semester, there will be a greater attrition rate than usual (add to the negative press low salaries, which breeds even more discontent). President Saunders may have been a great teacher, but she’s no great administrator.
I feel that the university is not currently functioning as a community. It seems like major decisions are announced after the decision has been finalized rather than providing an opportunity for the university as a whole to have input. This type decision making has led to a large degree of frustration among faculty,staff, and students who feel like their opinions are not being heard or valued. President Saunders would be a better leader if she provided more opportunity for the university community to be heard prior to making major decisions. Tough decisions are easier to implement if people’s opposition is at least respectively heard and thoughtfully responded to.
I had high hopes for President Saunders when she first arrived at FAU and was one of her staunchest supporters. But it has since become apparent that she is simply not ready for prime time. The debacles over the stadium naming, supporting academic freedom, aggression toward students, and refusing to listen to criticism, all demonstrate a deep character flaw. Her paranoia about the SACS review reached insane levels. Her temper and anger toward faculty and deans is legendary and extremely unprofessional. She has made a mockery of FAU by cutting herself off from the people and realities that exist outside her office and coterie of close sychophants, thus turning the 3rd floor into a bunker or fortress. She embarrasses the university at every turn and has no ability whatsoever to exercise leadership when it is called for. Instead she plays the victim. She had made the university the laughing stock of the SUS and give the BOT license to trash our valued institution. She is poison — cancer that must be excised from this noble place of learning.
None
I have worked at four universities under seven presidents excluding Dr. Saunders. She is the worst president I have worked for. My main concern with both Dr. Saunders and Dr. Claiborne is their apparent disregard for academic standards. I may have missed it, but I have not heard either top administrator mention high academic standards. Dr. Saunders solution to the State budget cuts was to increase enrollment. Based on her actions her method of increasing enrollments is to lower academic standards. In my previous jobs, we were concerned if class GPA’s were too high. We knew that not all of our students had the ability and/or the desire to do well in our classes. Here, administrators are concerned if our class GPAs are too low; although, I teach in one of the hardest subjects on campus, and several of my students are not prepared to understand the material we cover. I hope they are not that way with the medical school.
raise the level of students and faculty..otherwise we will ahve more Tracys…ask media not to cover the personal blogs of lunatics with tenure…ask them to write about accomplished faculty…
needs more transparency
The worst. And we’ve had some doozies. How incompetent can you term a College President. Now she has blamed faculty, students, staff and parents for her troubles. The only ones she hasn’t blamed is her supportive (so far) Board, who obviously know nothing about higher Education or leadership, the police, who she allows to run
their own show, and of course, herself, who she has consistently put in the position of “victim.” The only question is what real institution of higher education would still allow her to have an office, let alone her famous bodyguard and police protection. This is what we need in a President? Let’s get serious, please.
The recent public relations fiascos have only underscored what we have been saying all along: MJ Saunders is in far over her head, caters to an ill-informed and intellectually limited Board of Trustees at the expense of academic freedom and the faculty, and has extremely poor interpersonal skills. She has lost the support of the students and faculty, and there is no way for her to regain our trust.
The only choice now is to put FAU under receivership until the administration and Board are replaced.
FAU is not a good fit for her
A major disappointment. Can we say “We miss Brogan” already?
Good person, doing a tough job, maybe not up to the challenge. We know she is buffeted by many pressures, but that’s why she gets the big money — to manage those pressures, to solve those problems. Her astronomically large (by faculty standards) paycheck makes it hard for the faculty to feel much sympathy for her.
She has seriously damaged the reputation of FAU at a time when we could least afford anymore bad press.
Dr. Saunders needs better advisors and staff to achieve university goals.
Where to begin? She has no respect for faculty and no respect for students. She is completely incapable of seeing that there may be a valid opinion that differs from hers, she hears all sorts of things, but listens to none. Her incompetence on the controversial issues that have faced FAU this year is astounding. To claim to have no knowledge of GEO groups misdeeds when they’re easy to find with a quick google search means she’s either an imbecile or is quite happy to bare-faced lie to people for her thirty pieces of silver. She refuses to see anywhere she has put a foot wrong. Everything is always someone else’s fault. A president of a university is ultimately responsible. The buck stops with the president. MJ Saunders is always looking for someone to pass it on to. She is a PR disaster, she is a terrible president, and a poor human being. The BOT should remove her for the good of FAU.
No leadership.
No communication with students.
Put FAU on every newspaper headline on the negative side.
MJ Saunders is by far the worst president in FAU history. She is dictatorial, overly hierarchical, disdainful and dismissive of faculty, and a terrible public speaker. She represents the University poorly. She is taking the University in the wrong direction. She should be fired along with the entire shameful Board of Trustees with her.
She’s an embarrassment.
Saunders has been nothing but a disaster for FAU. Her responses to the recent incidents have been (to be charitable) inept. She is rigid and contemptuous of faculty. She has lost what little support from faculty she had. Even after several years, she seems to have no sense of what FAU is and so tries to make it something it’s not. She’s not going to be effective from this point on because no one on the faculty will listen to or care what she says, thinks, or wants. FAU cannot prosper until she is gone, an eventuality that we all fervently hope is imminent.
Absolutely abysmal. A terrible leader. Paranoid. Makes indefensible decisions. Was frightened by 6-8 honors students with paper signs. Makes FAU a mockery. Is supported by absolutely no one. Awful. Awful. Awful.
She is excellent
Appears to be wholly unfit for the position of President of this University.
If she learns from the recent mistakes, she can again become the best president in FAU’s history.
Poor and ineffective leader.
MJ Saunders who has violated the law by leaving the scene of an accident, has something in common with most the Board of Trustee members who should be all investigated by the Attorney General for cover-ups as white collar criminals.
She lost respect from students, faculty, staff, press, and the community. She sould leave FAU.
I have no confidence in the president’s managerial competence.

Comments for Provost Brenda Claiborne

resign. Her lack of understanding about the college of arts and letters is overwhelming.
Resign.
Allowed Deans and Chairs to do their jobs. Stop micromanaging.
leave
Become a faculty advocate. No awareness of programs. Most faculty work very hard and have pride in their programs and students’ success yet we are not treated as professionals. Decisions are made with no *real* consultation with impacted programs.
Look for another job.
Stop strangling the faculty. Both she and President Saunders need to stop micro-managing/feeling compelled to second-guess review every decision made by faculty in their colleges… BOTH need to learn how to think through unintended negatives of ‘solutions’ before unilaterally dumping them on everyone else.
left
respect faculty, genuinely seek input and act for the greater good and in support of students
Provost Claiborne has continually disrespected the abilities and competence of faculty in the Arts & Letters. She fails to listen to faculty.
Listen to the faculty, Understand FAU’s culture, and not take drastic steps to cut faculty teaching load during summer.
visit the partner campuses once a year.
Talk to faculty and students more.
Resign
QUIT!!! I have served under 10 Provosts throughout my career, and this one is by far the worst. I look forward to a vote of NO CONFIDENCE.
Were to be replaced
Get competent people hired in important upper administrative positions at this university.
Excellent leadership for SACS
be fired ASAP.
immediately dismiss associate provost Alperin, who is no longer a friend of the faculty and seems increasingly indifferent to academic excellence. Send her back to the Social Work faculty, which is, I hear, under-staffed.
advocate effectively for students and faculty
RESIGN
The Provost is a disaster. She is overseeing and micromanaging the destruction of academic feedom, the integrity of the curriculum, and the stability of the academic programs.
learn to trust in the collective knowledge of the faculty and Deans and work to become more inclusive.
Who knows. Get out of FAU.
OMG–there simply is not enough space provided in this tiny box to begin to explain just how pathetic Brenda is as a provost, seriously. She has absolutely no vision for the academic issues, should get down on her hands and knees and thank all of her faculty who made the SACS review a success..her office had nothing to do with the substance of why the SACS evalution was outstanding…it reflects the outstanding faculty here at FAU, who work under the misguided, insufferable, and incompetent cloud of an administrator whose lack of competence for the job is only exceeded by her lack of self-confidence and by her unprofessional insecurity that precludes her from surrounding herself by people who are smarter than she is…instead, she believes she can do no wrong, and those who disagree are resigned….
be fired. She does not know how to be a leader for the university. No sense of getting input from faculty on important matters
Resign. But short of that she needs to realize that administrators below her are maintaining that she has made decisions,which, in fact, she has not. In this way they serve their own agendas. She needs to wise up and know what’s going on at FAU, and she won’t find that out from her underlings.
(1) Make decisions in a timely manner.
(2) Uphold principles of academic freedom in a stronger and more visible way.
(3) Work to create a more inclusive atmosphere.
(4) Better prioritize the university’s academic goals.
(5) Make much greater efforts to be accessible to faculty members and the student body.
(6) Related to point 5 above: She should also make much greater efforts to meet with outside constituents (visitors, dignitaries, outside scholars, etc.) on behalf of the university. The Provost is, after the President, the primary public face of the university, and should be more visible and accessible as such.
Resign
Respect faculty governance in decisions ranging from tenure requirements to the selection of chair. Understand that the faculty should be consulted on major changes since they have valuable experience as teachers and administrators; in so doing, the Provost could avoid major debacles such as the 2012 summer teaching semester—thanks to the Provost the college lost a great deal of money over all the confusion over cancelled and re-established courses.
Be more transparent in decision-making; agree to hire more tenure track people; be fair in all P&T decisions
Provost CLAIBORNE should resign. She appears to be uninformed and uninterested in any input from faculty and staff. She seems to make her decisions in a vacuum.
Spending two million dollars on the extremely superficial and redundant QEP advertising campaign was unnecessary and a complete waste of resources at a time when the university is supposedly having to make difficult budget decisions. I was frankly embarrassed to spend class time showing the video as requested and then having to defend questions from students about its seeming lack of any real content/substance. We have long been doing almost all of ugrad research and training initiative that are being touted as new and original. There was no serious threat that we would not be SACs accredited. The entire QEP is a boondoggle and waste of money.

In the two years that I think she has been here, she has only visiting with my group of faculty one time – it was a very surreal experience in that she spoke for an hour, we were told not to ask any questions (at a time when some very serious changes are being made to our program) and she then she immediately left.
go back to the laboratory. She’s incompetent as an adminstrator and has no spine.
Perhaps on her own she would be a good administrator, but she is a lackey for the president with no authority, legitimacy, or autonomy. One can’t believe anything she says since it might be directly contradicted by the practices enacted by the president and/or the BOT at any given time.
The Provost is the chief academic officer who needs to articulate a vision for the university that goes beyond economic productivity and speaks to the Quality of Life factors needed to make Southeast Florida attractive to families and businesses. It goes beyond STEM to issues of health, education, and welfare as well as a community based on respect and equity.
Resigned on the spot. Provost Claiborne defines her roll in terms of public relations–high marks from SACS–which add to her CV and exhaust others. She is positively IGNORANT (and pointedly refuses to learn) about how programs like ours operate around the country. She failed as a scientist and she has failed us.BTW, where is she when a smart and energetic faculty member receives threatening messages? I haven’t read her pro-freedom in the classroom remarks yet.
Resign. The university desperately needs an academic administrator, not an authoritarian supervisor.
resign. She makes it more difficult for faculty to do their jobs instead of less difficult. Neither she nor any other FAU administrator stood up for academic freedom in the recent case of the instructor in Communication. This faculty member did nothing wrong, yet he has been relieved of duty. This is shameful.
resign
Step down
became a department chair for a few years
Claiborne is without doubt the absolute worse provost in the history of FAU, not only does she lack all administrative skill, she lacks vision and credibility for the job.
If she would actually listen to the faculty on faculty issues, and maybe stop telling the Deans one thing, the Chairs another, and the faculty a third. she speaks with forked tongue.
Develop the capacity to think like the faculty member she used to be.
Resign and allow the ENTIRE University Administration to be audited by the State.
Recognize her weaknesses and find a job for which she is suited.
Let this short evaluation to the UFF serve as an open letter to the President AND the BOT…..FIRE BRENDA CLAIRBONE BEFORE SHE DOES ANY MORE DAMAGE TO FAU
be more available and follows the faculty governance process.
Show some vision and stop micromanaging.
Resign
Resign. The university needs a good, strong provost. We do not have one. Some centralization of power was necessary for FAU’s development, but centralization with incompetence is a disaster for FAU.
Go away.
Resign
resign
Leave. It has been abysmal since her entry on the FAU scene. Top-down management style with no collaborative spirit. She is the “boss” of faculty not a colleague.
Leave for another university. Or, at the very least, PRETEND like she cares about the faculty. What a joke.
Resign and disappear as quickly as possible
Resign! She is the worst administrator on campus. She puts unrealistic pressure on chairs to gather information, make reports etc.. in short delays, but takes unreasonable time herself to approve vital faculty position in departments, review 3rd year and tenure folders, gets a nice bonus for SACS after having done a terrible job in term of oranizing and preparing the visit putting a huge amount of pressure on certain faculty members who simply got an email saying ‘we passed with flying colors” Where is OUR raise for performing well and working extended hours to suit madame??
be replaced by a more competent and independent thinking administrator; however, she needs to be dismissed along with those under her immediate position. Her dependence on the same administrators that have marred the Provost ‘s Office during the past decade (such as D. Alperin) is a major part of FAU’s problems.
Hold deans and chairs more accountable (without demeaning or diminishing them).
not create an atmosphere as if big brother is watching you and simply let the faculty do their work.
She should be fired. She doesn’t listen and doesn’t care, she treats faculty and Dean’s horrible
The summer is a mess again. She is too worried about her $300K plus salary and could care less about FAU and advancing.
A serious joke that is not funny
Needs to go OUT – OUT – OUT – of FAU!
return to teaching and research
Find a job in another state.
be fired or leave
Include faculty and staff in decisions and stop trying to be a dictator. Avoid being penny wise and pound foolish. Perfect SACS score is not as important as nurturing faculty. Accreditation was a fiasco, leaving many faculty feeling subjected to a grilling. Four hour rule inflexibility was unnecessary.
Take a stronger stand in support of academic freedom. Support our current teaching loads and no more increases in class size.
be allowed by the President to use her own discretion and informed decision-making abilitites and be free to do the job she was hired to do.
stop doing what she is told to do by the president and start standing on her own two feet.
A consummate administrator, who is so far removed from the values and processes associated with higher education, that it would be humorous if it did not have such negative consequences.
talk more with Deans and department chairs.
work better with the faculty
give up trying to get the faculty to come up with weekly homework assignments and daily lesson plans. This is not an elementary school. I was hired for my expertise. She is in no position to evaluate me or what I do.
Learn more and faster from Diane Alperin and John Pritchett. Step up her game on the competence front.
Rethink how she makes decisions – ESP in accreditation.
She needs to find a new job
Support academic freedom!
get in touch with the trenches
Not discount instructors (I am not one.We need instructors to handle the masses at the incoming level. To use asst. profs (TT) to handle the large freshman classes is predestine them o failure and not be able to gain tenure!
Resign
Keep her eye on her purview and decision-making, and distance herself from the president and her advisors.
Take responsibility for academic matters and not let the president take all the blame for recent controversies.
be entrusted with running academic affairs, without interference from the President and BOT. She is more than capable, and her heart is in the right place. But she has not been allowed to simply take charge.
stay with us through these present crises and steer us into the future
Ever tried to sign any document of University significance in provost’s office? Good luck with that, unless of course associate provost will do it. Her people skills are damaging to the university administrators – chairs, deans etc. A lot of raised voice for almost non-existing competence.
be her own person, or quit.
resign.
resign
Resign
Resign.
How can the provost cut faculty research money and instead throw it at undergraduate research? When the faculty is not able to conduct research, it will become ineffective in the classroom. The idea that shifting the money to undergrads will magically make this go away is ridiculous.
leave
resign.
stop micromanaging so much and focus on the big picture.
more interested in quality education and not preoccupied with budgets.
Learn to use bullets in her missives. Written communications to faculty are rather wordy and paragraphs are too long. Additionally, she doesn’t follow-up when faculty make suggestions.
Treat Arts & Letters with respect, understanding, and intelligence.
Provost Claiborne should seek input from the humanities faculty about how best to promote and encourage humanities research and teaching.
Engage faculty in the decision making process and actually listen to others outside the inner circle of administrators.
Leave and take the president and graduate dean with her.
be more transparent
She should be fired with prejudice!
Resigns
As a feminist, it pains me to give such a poor evaluation of this provost. It is my opinion that she has placed herself in the ivory tower in the remote strata. Her behavior during the credentialing process has caused at least two highly valued faculty (that I know) to seek employment elsewhere. I know and understand the importance of the credentialing, of course, but actions were taken and commands were made that were brutal to put it lightly. Faculty were insulted, programs/departments were placed in needlessly awkward conditions that appeared to be dictatorial and not academically sounds. I know several more faculty who refer to FAU as the Titanic and are placing themselves on the market as well.
resign immediately. She is by far the worst Provost I have ever encountered. With her dismissive attitude she can barely conceal her disdain for faculty members.
Step down
consult the faculty before making decisions
Provost Claiborne seems to think that standards are to be upheld only for faculty. While she keeps asking more and more from faculty, she does not realize that those same faculty have less and less resources and are working in an increasingly more stressful environment.
No foresight or vision or leadership provided to FAU. Least and scant oncern to provide basic and necessary resources to provide quality education for undergrduate students in the laboratories which are run without full-time lab technicians year-after-year.
Resign
…raises standard of faculty by tremendous raise of standards for promotion and tenure….
Communicate
Advocate for students and faculty
Support all programs – not just those in science, engineering and the medical school
be an independent administrator
resign
Leave.
Be less closely identified with the president and out from under her thumb.
listen to top scholar-teachers at the university — their ideas will move FAU forward
Resign immediately!
realize that FAU is going to be stuck in a bad budget situation for a long time and so she needs to work with who’s here and stop believing that she can replace us all with new and better models!
Resign.
Visit the departments and the colleges more often and discuss their needs. For example, it has been two years since the college of engineering has had a permanent Dean.
There is a lack of leadership in various departments such as the department of Civil Engineering, which faculty requests fall on deaf ears, thus the chair term limits would be necessary.
resign.
go back to wherever she came from.
Just resign
resign.
have her own voice. I really don’t know where she stops and Saunders begins.
actually stands up for the academic issues she claims to the faculty that she supports, be someone who will say no at least once to those who would turn the university into Devry.
Leave.

Additional comments about Provost CLAIBORNE:

She did an effective job with SACS. I would like to see her visit with faculty more on a regular basis.
Provost Claiborne still tends to govern by executive fiat rather than by consultation with faculty and consensus-building. The recent failure to defend Dr. Poole–or at least slow the rush to judgment–is another indication that she is unfit for this position. Whatever happened to academic freedom?
I have been at FAU for 20 years and I have never met the provost. She hides in her office and issues edicts for faculty to follow. Her lack of support for faculty this past semester is deplorable
Never liked a decision that she couldn’t postpone. Indecisive. Interfers with university progress. When throwing something under the bus, slows the bus down to ensure a perfect hit with maximum suffering.
Dr Clairbone is not fit for the position. The SACS accreditation was completly blown out of proportion, while major problems are regularly put on the backburner. There was a short-lived attempt to communicate with the Faculty, but it was only a one-way street. The issues that put FAU in the local news lately were handled in an amateurish way to begin with. What an embarrassment.
She should leave.
Need to get advise outside of her inner circle.Consult widely.
It’s time for a new administration. This one has served the purposes of Governor Rick Scott.
I don’t believe that she has been afforded the power of her office to lead effectively. I think that we really have no idea what her initiatives could be, given our current climate.
It is very clear that she lacked experience at this level when joined FAU. That wouldn’t be so bad if her approach was supportive rather than dictatorial because the colleges know what they need to do to improve, and she could support those efforts. Instead, though, she is a micro manager obsessed with control, and as she meddles in college affairs, she hurts the individual colleges and the university as a whole.
She treats faculty like nincompoops who are only out to make her life miserable. Her edicts come down with the pomposity of a petty dictator. It was funny to see her panic about the reaccreditation. Faculty were forced to change syllabi retroactively, in direct violation of state law. There is no consultation or collegiality: orders are passed down and expected to be blindly obeyed.
She is the chief academic leader. She should try to become acquainted with the individuals on her faculty.We are all delighted with the outcome of the SACS review; but that is as much a reflection of her faculty as of her (and President Saunders).
Everything going through her office will remain on our desk forever and she keeps the university paralyzed and in a constant state of paranoia. Other administrators are terrified of her, as well as staff. Provost Claiborne has brought an aura with her to FAU that is extremely counter-productive for faculty, staff and administrators.
I appreciate her efforts in leading the SACS re-accreditation. However, the process and needed changes should have been managed more respectfully.
among the least informed administrators I’ve observed–she makes up for it, however, by talking about “experimentation”
Does she know that she is a Provost? Does she know what a Provost does? She seems to be nothing by an assistant to the President, and that isn’t saying much. Wouldn’t it be interesting to have a real Provost?
Brend Claiborne seriously needs to be relieved, and the sooner the better…she maybe be worse than President Saunders and Dean Coltman combined, which given their total lack of leadership and administrative abilities, is a tall order. Do us all a favor Provost Claiborne…fire your staff, and then resign…
SACS accreditation alone won’t make FAU a great university. Claiborne needs to examine our instructors one by one and see who has published books–and most important, whose books got the most favorable attention from the media. She needs to look at who won prestigious awards , fellowships, and grants–and most important, see if those honors received media attention. She should Google every faculty member’s name and see which names keep coming up again and again. It’s the attention that these faculty members get which brings acclaim to FAU and elevates its stature in the eyes of the public.
Saunder’s hand puppet
It is my impression that Provost Claiborne has set expectations for administrators, to the benefit of the university. She deserves credit for increasing the visibility of faculty and their accomplishments.
She needs to stay out of the third-year review process, and she needs to cut down on other unreasonable demands. She needs to make decisions in a timely manner, not after it’s too late to comply with them. She needs to actually stand up for the faculty instead of burying them under directives and paperwork.
Her incompetence is matched only by her immaturity, which has been demonstrated to a frightening extent during interactions between her and deans of colleges and chairs of departments. As a result of her appointment, students became the true losers. She insists on placing faculty in the classroom who have terminal degrees but who are not qualified to teach the subject for which they have been assigned. Adding to her lack of ability is her unprofessional behavior. She seems better suited to be a kindergarten teacher or a cheerleader with her cutesy mannerisms that have no place in university administration. I’ve never witnessed a more incompetent Provost in my 20+ years of university experience.
What a joke. She is totally inflexible and seams incapable of learning and adjusting.
seems often confused
Provost Claiborne should go back to the classroom, seriously, she is not provost material
She is the best thing that ever happened to other Universities, they are reaping our fleeing faculty.
The Provost rules from above with little or no input from faculty members.
Provost Claiborne has very poor management skills. She isolates herself and is inaccessible even to the deans of largest colleges, who are her direct subordinates. Her inaccessibility has left others with confrontation as the only available option. She makes inaccurate public statements and gives directions at the very last minute, providing inadequate time to carry out her requests and then changes her mind. Her repeated missteps have created utter demoralization and a widespread lack of confidence in her leadership.
Brenda Clairborne is an absolute joke as a provost….please read these comments and take the evaluation of your time as provost seriously….please resign immediately
Her diehard commitment to her understanding of the three-hour rule is among the dumbest leadership decisions I have seen in or out of academe. We have explained to her again and again that her interpretation does not fit either the SACS requirement or standard practices across the country. Why does she not trust professionals to control the pedagogy and curriculum they have created? She constantly acts as though she’s the smartest in the room, despite the fact that most all of us hold the same degrees and some of us have been in academia as long as she. There are great sources of wisdom on this campus and she consistently not only ignores them, but goes out of her way to insult them.
Incompetent, ineffective, stubborn
Does not listent to faculty
Has no interest in A&l college
I don’t think she will ever be a good provost.
She handles decisions in the worst possible manner. If there is a way to do it wrong, she does it. When there is a tough decision, she turns dear-in-the headlight-eyes to Diane Alparin, to make a decision.
The Provost does what the provost wants to do regardless of input she receives. While all departments claim they need “additional faculty”, there are departments who drastically need new faculty (for example, some departments have significantly LESS faculty than 20 years ago yet we are teaching many more students than 20 years ago). Many faculty feel they cannot approach her, and some fear approaching her. She needs to start listening to the faculty and make evaluations based on need rather than what is convenient. I’m sorry, but “budget cuts” are an excuse. If she really wanted to open up a faculty line, she could find the money somewhere. I wonder why we have so many overpaid administrators who can barely justify their positions and working 40 hours a week when faculty are extremely UNDERPAID based on state and national levels yet extremely OVERWORKED.
She is the worst after Diane Alperin. She is trying to micro manage everything but does not know what faculty is going through. So far what she has accomplished is a complete hierarchic mess. Even for a small thing faculty needs to go through a few layer of administration. Thanks to her nowadays this is what we have “administrators” nothing else – faculty and staff are fired and more administrators are hired. It MUST be the opposite: less administration, more faculty freedom. Additionally, administrators are not making themselves available. It is like a kingdom. This must be a new trend from Europe to adopt.
Provost Claiborne seems incapable of doing the right thing. I am so disappointed in her leadership – or lack thereof.
This administration is like the gang that can’t shoot straight – an utter embarrassment
be considerate with faculty members with respect! And focus on salary raises for faculty!
I have heard very conflicting opinions of her from another source–so it is hard to judge whether she is “the wicked witch” that she is sometimes portrayed as by at least one member of her “inner circle,” or the benevolent administrator that is her public persona (at least as I have had the limited opportunity to view it). So far, I’m still believing in the latter, but concerned that if it is the truth, she needs to do something to reach out to faculty so that their perception of her is not colored by an intermediary.
She should be fired
Fire her now
The provost is out of touch with faculty. The provost is not an advocate for faculty, unless one is in a favored discipline.
She cannot make timely decisions. She seems rigid and autocratic. She might be effective if she learns to share and delegate which could free her up to focus on priorities and time-sensitive matters.
I like her efforts to raise academic and tenure standards.
She headed up the effort that resulted in FAU getting an excellent review from SACS.
She is in a difficult position between the Deans and the President and not always allowed to act in the way she might choose to be an advocate for her Deans.
Admit when you’re wrong. Do proper research on issues before making decisions. Gain further education on the nature and role of higher education as it actually happens, not in the minds of other administrators. At this point, I respectfully suggest you resign. You have done much damage to the morale of many.
Despite the results, accreditation was a disastrous process that had NO consultation nor consideration for faculty. The panic of the administration had rough consequences for programs.
Recent controversial academic events should have been taken care of by the provost. She did not demonstrate the leadership needed to perform the duties if her office. Why did the Vice President for Student Affairs deliver a video about an academic matter when clearly that was the job of the provost?
She is demanding, sometimes to the point of overkill, but she always has the best intentions. She could learn to be more open and not rush to judgment. But overall, she is very effective and will be a great asset to FAU if allowed to simply manage Academic Affairs as she would like.
sometimes it takes too long for decisions to be made by her office. But overall she is fair, thoughtful and evidentiary. She should continue developing the good relationship she has with faculty and be more accessible.
We need new provost!
She is charming, but ineffective.
she does not know how to work with people; she only knows how to dictate. A university is supposed to have democratic values.
Thinks that fear is the way to run things.
Really a very poor provost.
Make some decisions
Provost Claiborne seems to make arbitrary decisions that are not in the best interest of faculty. For example, course cap sizes may be made without regard to disciplinary standards, best practice or student advantage. She takes a very long time making decisions that affect College and Departmental interests (eg, hiring decisions, course scheduling) and sometimes appears not to consider unit preferences in her decisionmaking. Moreover, while online learning was supposed to be a priority, there is limited support to establish best practices and encourage competency.
Seems to detest faculty. Not truthful.
Her double-talk, promising one thing in front of faculty and then doing the opposite, has grown tiring.
Good values, good ideas, just needs to lay off the micromanagement and focus on doing her job rather than trying to do everybody else’s job
Provost Claiborne is ill-informed about humanities research, i.e., what it constitutes, the process by which it is reviewed and published, and its social relevance.
You will get nothing from faculty and staff as long as you treat them poorly.
The president should be very upset with her provost because Brenda appears to have let crisis after crisis unfold at FAU without appropriate leadership. The communications via email and video about the controversial events should have come from the Provost, not the Vice President for Student Affairs.
clearly does not believe in faculty governance
It appears to me that some sort of amnesia must happen to individuals who move from teaching into administrative positions. They make demands that seem to indicate that they have never ever been in a classroom or have forgotten what it is like to be in the trenches.
She is without a doubt one of the most noxious individuals FAU has ever seen. She autocratic, stubborn, vindictive and has an extremely unpleasant personality. I don’t know how she ever got this far in administration. To make it even worse, she is not very bright and not above deception and dissembling to try and shield herself from embarrassing mistakes that she can never admit she makes (like the 3-hour contact rule that she has commanded but which has no legitimate basis for existing since on-line courses completely contradict its validity). Her reign of ignorance and terror must come to a swift end.
Raise faculty’s salaries in the College of Education.
Bad choice for a Provost by the President
should establish university professorships…eminent scholarships from existing faculty…reduce teaching laods of distingusihed professors and eminent scholars…
We have a Provost? I thought she was the President’s Assistant.
She’s doing the best she can in a very difficult position.
A complete disaster by every measure. FAU’s academics are taking serious and frequent hits ever since she came on board. Our academic reputation is being severely damaged. She should resign. NOW!
SACS Accreditation was a nightmare when it didn’t need to be. The credentialing crisis was completely mishandled. I know of a couple of strong faculty members lost due to the lack of respect shown while their credentials were being questioned.
An absolute disaster. She has no presence, relying on Assoc. Provost Alperin to actually do the work and know the ins-and-outs. She makes dreadful decisions that for a chief academic officer completely destroy any chance of academic improvement at the university. A terrible administrator without a single redeeming quality. She would be the worst person at the university were it not for MJ Saunders.
Unfortunately there is no score of ZERO in this survey
One memory: Provost Clairborn coming to the last faculty meeting before the summer and saying clear and loud that our proposed cuts were enough and NO position would be touched. Coming back after the summer and finding instructor’s office empty, and the instructor fired.
She is excellent
Worst provost we have had in 30 years and we have had the
It is challenging to respond to how the university would be better served by Provost Claiborne when the university has already been best served by her attention to the SACS visit. While the task was arduous, all involved know the effort out of the Provost office, lead by the provost office, was outstanding. We celebrated the achievement with a few days and then hit the road on other issues. This was a major achievement and needs to be recognized.Given the attention the SACs review required and the dire budget situation , the provost has been, by necessity, in reactive and repair mode.Time will allow the Provost to get much needed systems in place and then show the proactive skills she brings to the unversity. That is how the university would be better served – recognize and celebrate the contributions and achievements of the provost and provost office and let time provide the opportunity for other skills to surface that are more proactive in focus and helpful to faculty.
Likes to purport to be one of the faculty. It’s utterly disingenuous.

Comments on Interim Dean Coltman, College of Arts & Letters
The university would be better served if Interim Dean Coltman would:

Be replaced by someone who understood research and did not simply accept the demands from the president. The dean should better represent our interest.
GO back to teaching. This is a nice person who is an incompetent administrator and more interested in making her position permanent than thinking about the integrity of the College. She makes decisions without thinking about them, her knowledge and application of academic principles in areas other than music are non-existent, and her personnel decisions are routinely bad. She also hands out money she says she doesn’t have to her friends and those that can keep her from doing any real work, and her initiatives are ill-thought out and non-inclusive. In short, nice person, terrible administrator.
Be appointed as the Dean as soon as possible.
She has been very effective in terms of communicating with her faculty.
Keep her personal relationships out of professional decisions. Learn to say no when speaking to faculty rather than agreeing and then saying no behind closed doors. Create a safe environment for faculty to pursue concerns.
Seek more input from a variety of faculty and not just a select few
Stop paying her friends more than others, stop appointing her friends to admin positions, address faculty complaints about chairs in a fair and consistent way.
Be accessible to more faculty members, advocate more forcefully for our College, be attuned to the needs of all of the departments in the College. I realize that the higher administration gives her few resources and little freedom. Were she less restrained, she would, I think, make different decisions.
crawl under a rock
Honestly, how many evaluations does the upper administration need to conduct before it becomes apparent that Dean Coltman is a joke of a Dean, seriously the worst administrator this college has ever had. She lacks any scholarly/academic vision for the college, certainly is not an advocate for faculty, is routinely late for meetings (if she doesn’t cancel them), delegates of her business to others she can provide a stipend, and above all, is not a leader reflective of this faculty, she is beyond a poor administrator…she needs to resign or be fired…she really is just hanging on the job for the money….
Do a real search to fill this Dean’s position! We need a stronger advocate for our unit.
Act as an advocate for faculty and students rather than as a lackey for the upper administration. Providing positive feedback to faculty when they offer ideas on how to improve the college as opposed to shooting down potential projects for expanding the curriculum and fundraising. Inform herself about faculty rights and governance as well as departmental policies before she passes on the latest edict from the provost–she is often misinformed about even the provost’s policies and is responsible for a great deal of unnecessary bureaucratic confusion and error. Focus on eliminating unnecessary paperwork that distracts faculty from their service, teaching and research.
Step down. We need a permanent dean in place who can better advocate for faculty both privately and publicly. Seems like a good person located in a position that is ill-suited for her disposition.
become the regular dean. Heather Coltman is terrific.
Be retained permanently instead of bringing in someone from the outside.
Decline to renew eminent scholar status to three of the five ES in the college.
Our college would better servd if she resigned. Honestly, she is the worst dean we have ever had in the college. In every way, she is the worst example of what our college dean should be.
Better articulate our value to the university.
Become permanent and thus liss under the floor of the third floor
Dean Coltman needs to be fired immediately, she is a horrible dean, worse than the former dean if you can believe that. She has no administrative or leadership skills whatsoever, and the provost needs to wake up and recognize this
“resign”
Be more careful about the distribution of resources in the college and force tenured members of the college to actually do some work.
Step down
Dean Coltman should be made permanent Dean.
question the upper administrator and fight instead of acting like a wet cloth.
become the permanent dean…
leave town
Be made a permanent Dean
As the Provost et al opted to place a malleable figure who would not challenge their plans for the FAU system at large, I respectfully request that the current interim dean prove them wrong. Take pride in what *all* of the college accomplishes by your action, not platitudes.
be allowed to have interim position converted to permanent position ad continue to serve the college as Dean.
stop being the stooge of the upper administration.
Stand up to the Provost’s office and not knuckle under so quickly.
Focus on her job, her duties, the needs of departments in the college and less focused on catering to chairs as part of her campaign to influence their support of her, to vote for her for Dean position. Treating an office manager with respect and dignity would have been expected. “
be slightly more assertive with the president’s office about issues such as academic freedom.
be elevated from Interim Dean to permanent status
be appointed as permanent dean. We will not be able to find anyone better than her.
Become permanent dean
Resign or be replaced
be appointed permanent dean
be persuaded to stay on as permanent dean
Dean Coltman is an embarrassment to the college and does not represent academic faculty interests in any professional manner. She clearly shows preference to the arts, and lacks the leadership skills necessary to lead this college.
resign.
become the permanent dean and keep the same openness that she has now. She respects all of the disciplines in the college. She shows real commitment to the college and its future.
Promote the importance of A & L to MJ and the BOT and fought for higher salaries for A & L faculty
resign
Speak up more assertively for A&L.
leave and let someone else with administrative experience take over.
Resign
Call for a national search for the Dean’s position.
It appears that the past two deans have hired faculty within their disciplines/departments over departments that are severely under staffed – lines remaining unfilled for several years. This form of nepotism does not bode well for the department, the college, or the university. The faculty shortage adds demands on the existing faculty are exhausting and cause issues with moral and health. I am not aware if this is the case with the current interim dean, all should be aware of this.
be appointed as dean.
Take a firmer hand against overreach by the upper administration.
Be a stronger advocate for our college with the Provost and President. With an administration that is radically skewed towards the sciences we need our dean to find ways to get our voices heard and to be respected even when we disagree.
Dear Coltman has done a good job in very difficult times. The upper-administration seems to dislike deans who oppose their views so it is unclear how more vocal Dean Coltman could be without being made to resign.
Stop being a “yes-man” to the Provost…Though I quite understand that saying no in that direction could end her time as Dean. Actually, I think she’d be quite good if she didn’t have to answer to the failures that are our current President and Provost.
She went back to playing music for administrators which is all she is doing anyway
not be influenced by backdoor channels, i.e., busybody faculty members influencing the dean.
Be replaced soon, following an outside search.
be a stronger advocate for faculty, be willing to stand up more resolutely for the liberal arts, know how to handle a crisis, and be a stronger leader in all regards
Be replaced.

Additional comments about Interim Dean Coltman:

She has failed in her support of diversity. Let programs like Ethnic Studies fail to be active. Lies about saying there is noone who would run the program.
In general, one starts to wonder whether it is possible to get a Dean for this college who is a good administrator. There hasn’t been one since I have been here, almost ten years. It is scary and sad. This Dean’s “visions” — if she actually has any that don’t come out of some administrative handbook somewhere– are poor and worse. She doesn’t use the faculty she has who have the expertise she needs, and she will do anything to keep her position. Bad situation.
The university administration made an excellent choice in selecting Heather Coltman as the Interim Dean two years ago. The college needed guidance and an administrator willing to consider all angles before making a decision. As the college endures one of its most difficult periods, Dr Colman should be empowered to heal these wounds and provide long-term direction by removing the attenuating ‘interim’ from her title.
She is a competent administrator.
Dean Coltman is not perceived as fair and unbiased. She is typically unavailable to the faculty and is rumored to pay her friends more than others are paid for summer appointments.
She is far more fair, reasonable, and creative than our last Dean. She definitely has the potential to be excellent.
I’d like to see what she would do under a different administration on the third floor.
Ironically, the College is losing one of the best, most respected people in her home department. How could this have happened? She should have done everything possible to keep him.
Dean Coltman is the worst example of an academic administrator at FAU, she is not an advocate for faculty, what she is, however, is an advocate for a misguided, uniformed, and bungler of a provost, which means she simply carries out the plans from the provost, who also should really return to the classroom. Dean Coltman is without a doubt the absolute worst administrator, she knows this, the faculty know this, and even the provost knows this,….but she represents the interests of the administration in fine fashion, she keeps blundering along…just another example of the poor decisions made by Diane Alperin, who should have retired years ago
Dean Coltman has consistently undermined the certificate programs in the college. Just as one example, there has been no head of Ethnic Studies program since the last faculty member in charge stepped down. There were no Black History month events held in 2012 as a result. The Dean interviewed several faculty who expressed interest in taking over the program and yet appointed no one. Regardless of whether Dean Coltman’s inaction is due to incompetence or a lack of interest in sustaining such programs, she does a severe disservice to the college and students.
She has done a good job of restoring balance to the college after our previous dean.
Heather Coltman is the worst dean in the history of our College. She needs to resign….are you out there Provost Claiborne…please relieve Heather Coltman immediately….the numbers for her evaluation should be in the negative, like –300
She’s very nice personally, but I feels she’s out of her depth. From below, it looks like she gets steamrolled by the administration. The allotment of tenure lines this year seemed to be heavily biased towards the arts.
Dean Coltman is a horrible dean who lacks all sense of leadership and administrative skills and who should be fired….
Incompetent and ineffective administrator
Heather is doing a great job, especially given the environment in which she serves.
Open the search process for a new Dean quickly
I will admit that I was skeptical, but Coltman has shown that she can do the job well. We should keep her on as the permanent appointee.
needs to go as far away as possible. Out of her league. A crook, liar, just needs to go away.
Create a more professional atmosphere in the Dean’s office. Be on time and prepared for meetings/functions. Focus on the busy task of overseeing a complex college.
She has taken on enormous responsibilities during her tenure including the SACS assessment procedure and articulation of new missions for the college. She is a visionary and important to our college.
A national search should be conducted for a Dean with proven administrative experience.
Collegial, attends functions, providing leadership with Global Human Rights Initiative.
Heather is under a good deal of pressure from upper level administrators. Under the circumstances, she is doing the best job she can without being fired!
An interim Dean who is not up to the job
in addition to being approachable, humble, inclusive and incredibly quick-witted, she is a huge proponent of consultation. She brings an infectious enthusiasm to work every day which is inspiring.
Heather has been great for the College. She is a profoundly intelligent and sensitive person, with a lot of energy and dedication. She works incredibly hard and supports the College tirelessly. It is amazing to me that she can finish up a hard day at her desk and then perform a concerto flawlessly with passion and technical brilliance. She is a great advocate for all of us. Her ability to engage with the community is unsurpassed in the College’s administrative history. I support her unreservedly.
Our college leadership is among the worst in the university.
Dean Coltman appears to have no plan for the college, no agenda, and no ability to stand up to the ridiculous mandates that come from the Provost and President. In fact, that seems to be why she is in the position: because the upper administration knows that she’ll do whatever they tell her. She comes across in meetings as unserious and utterly unequipped to advocate for our college.
It helps that she understands how FAU works and knows how hard it has been for the faculty in recent years. She has genuine respect for her colleagues, unlike some former administrators who shall not be named.
I think we should conduct a national search for the A&L position–if she’s the best of the applicants so be it. But we should see what’s out there.
She is makes decisions based on her own interests.
Someone from the outside would be best for DFS College of Arts and Letters.
doing an amazing job under incredibly difficult circumstances…it’s great to have a dean who actually respects the faculty and cares about the programs…
Considering what she has had to contend with, a college whose faculty had been demoralized by the previous Dean and a small but vocal cadre of ousted administrators placing her under unreasonable and oppressive surveillance, she has functioned surprisingly well, restoring evenhandedness and civility to the college.
Be fairer to departments that are outside the arts.
She is incompetent, knows nothing about academia or disciplines besides music, is a sycophant to an incompetent President. And us dangerous for the college because she had no integrity except that which keeps her in good graces to the administration. This college needs a dean who more than flatters the faculty we need a competent dean.
Unreliable. Does not have my back.
Bring someone else to lead the college.

Comments on Interim Dean Som Bhattacharya, College of Business
The university would be better served if Interim Dean Bhattacharya would:

Seriously, who is kidding who? I, personally, never seen, nor subjected to, such incompetence, disrespct, unfair treatment, procrastination, poor decision making, etc. That goes for the old “Dean” and the Interim. It’s all about creating a facade and marketing to try and look good, with virtually no substance. But the students know, just ask them.

Additional comments about Interim Dean Bhattacharya:
None

Comments on Dean Rosalyn Carter, College for Design and Social Inquiry Comments:
The university would be better served if Dean Carter would:

retire
Resign, or retire early
Retire.
discontinue favoritism.
step down
resign.

Additional comments about Dean Carter:

time for a change in the College leadership
Our Dean has created an atmosphere where faculty in some units do not feel support – either within the college itself or with university academic administration. That is, if we do not feel a policy made in our unit is fair or appropriate, we do not have any ability to question the policy without being made to feel like we are whining without justification or questioning leadership decisions that it is not our place to question. The best strategy has become to simply sit down, shut up and wait it out. No matter what we do to prove our worth or good intent, it is demeaned and minimized in the College. The atmosphere for faculty with administration in the College feels adversarial and unsupported.

Comments on Valerie Dean Bristor, College of Education
The university would be better served if Dean Bristor would:

Allocate resources based on factors other than politics of department chairs
Stop favoring CCEI.

Additional comments about Dean Bristor:

The Department of CCEI is always given preference. She is afraid of the faculty in CCEI.

Comments on Interim Dean Mohammad Ilyas, College of Engineering and Computer Science
The university would be better served if Interim Dean ILLYAS would:

Be the permanent dean. The incompetent administration above him made him permanent Dean and listen to him.
Promote and find research opportunities more aggressively.
Be appointed as permenent Dean
If interim dean continues as permanent dean
resign paving the way for an effective and scholarly leader, who will provide a fair and balanced administration to all the faculty rather than favoring a few select faculty across the college.
Dr. Ilyas is appointed as the Dean.
“1) If all the technical support group was replaced. They luck efficiency and knowledge, they do not show respect to the faculty, they take extensive lunch breaks and meetings with out any a back support, etc.
2) Each department should establish departmental budget committee.
Be offered a permanent Dean position.

Additional comments about Interim Dean ILLYAS:

It is a good thing Dr Ilyas is here. The fact is the Dean of Engineering is one of the reasons I still wish to work here. He did a good job healing the wounds caused by the previous Dean of Engineering.
Very solid and fair person. Nice contrast to the previous deans.
Has handled the Deans search process with dignity
He is excellent.
does not care how the department chairs spend/misuse the annual budget funds without any transparency and discussions with the department faculty
Dr. Ilyas is an EXCELLENT administrator.
“I think that Dr. Ilyas is doing great job as an interim dean.”
Dr. Ilyas has done an outstanding job. He has great vision and excellent leadership qualities.

Comments on Dean Jeffery Buller, Honors College
The university would be better served if your Dean Buller would:

work harder for the university rather than his private business

Additional comments on Dean Buller:
None
Comments on Dean William Miller, University Libraries
The university would be better served if Dean William Miller would:

Investigate personnel issues rather than believe whatever Assistant Deans and other supervisors tell him.

Additional comments on Dean Miller:
None

Comments on Interim Dean Bjorkman, College of Medicine
No comments.

Comments on Dean Marlaine Smith, College of Nursing
The university would be better served if Dean Marlaine Smith would:

Show appreciation for more than awards.

Additional comments about Dean Marlaine Smith:

Doing a good job in first year.

Comments on Dean Gary Perry, College of Science
The university would be better served if your College Dean would:

stay on as Dean (but he’s leaving at the end of June)

Additional comments about Dean Gary Perry:
None

Comments on Associate Provost Anthony Abbate
The university would be better served if Associate Provost Abbate would:

reach out more to community in Broward to enhance our mission.
Promote faculty of all depts in broward
Become an actual presence.
Make his presence and role better known. Too often, his work is overshadowed by what is happening in Boca.
Associate Provost ABBATE is absent and uninformed.
Dr. Abbate has ignored us for several years. I wonder what he does all day?
Try to expand the FAU presence in Broward instead of shrinking it.
Become more visible and clear what is the vision for our campuses – I cannot tell nor can students
Keep everyone better advised of ongoing issues, decisions, etc. beyond his once-a-year meeting.
show leadership
interact with Broward faculty.

Additional comments about Associate Provost Abbate:

He has taken care of himself and his immediate cohort.
He seems likeable enough. We really do not know what his mission his. He needs to become a better communicator
The administration should invest him with some power.
The fact that the FAU tower is still open is a proof that Dr Abbate is sometimes heard by the upper administration. He also inherited of a difficult situation.

Comments on Associate Provost Eliah Watlington
The university would be better served if Associate Provost Watlington would:

No idea what AP Watlington does…
actually let us know what she does to earn her salary.
She is never present
Kisses too much butt with the Deans, Provosts,and President
Pushes her own agenda which is not of the faculty on the northern campuses
WE need a provost up north who has been an Assist, Associt, and full Professor who know things and who is a true scholar, she has never gotten tenure or has much publications, she is nto a good role model for faculty, she only uses he sweet talk and kissing up to move ahead at FAU, we need and deserve better here, someone who is a person of her word who has walked the walk
Make herself better known. Then again, like the Tao te Ching says, the best leader is one we know least. She has kept a low profile. That is much better than being well known for making strikingly bad decisions (her bosses).
resign. She is rarely seen on campus, except at social functions. One reason may be that she has 2 jobs–Assoc Provost & Assoc Dean in COE. That is not realistic, besides being a conflict of interest.
This position should be eliminated, Watlington should step down.
be freed from some of her duties since she’s currently assigned far too much on campus and in the College of Ed.
Work to provide additional community support for faculty

Additional comments about Associate Provost Watlington:

- She is a great leader and very respected.
- Be present
  Get more money and improved technology for faculty in the north, computers are all too old
- Very personable once one meets her.
- I am not sure what she does. It seems like she could do more to help form a strategic plan that incorporates the Honors College into a broader plan for the campus.
- Completely incompetent, invisible, useless. She should be removed and the position closed – there is no need for her.
  She also talks to everyone like they’re three year olds.
- Warm and professional.
- I frankly have no idea what she does.
- Has upgraded classrooms and atrium to improved the learning environment through use of resources from suspended campus.Worked hard to move forward on northern campuses in difficult budget time.
- be more visible. During his time at FAU, I have never received a notice from his office of what is going on in the graduate program. He has never visited our department and never involved our faculty in any decision-making.
- Fire unneed staff.
  Resign.
- become Provost
- Not be dean.
- Was more attentive to the needs of individual programs.
- Let Dr Rosson focus on one role, either Dean of Graduate College or Vice-President of Sponsored Research.
  My two cents is that he should remain Dean of Graduate Studies, which was his official position to begin with.
- would introduce himself to the departments that have graduate programs.
- Eliminate the excessive bureaucracy that he has put into place.
- increase presence as Dean of the Graduate College. I believe Dr. Rosson’s dual Dean positions limit his ability to serve the needs of the Graduate College to his full potential.
- Run a McDonalds or go work for some corporation creating paperwork.
- Find a job as a figurehead somewhere else.
- restore all fee waivers for graduate students. You can’t have a university whose goal is to be a VH research university and make it impossible for departments to recruit students or require them to pay the fee waivers themselves if they use foundation funds to support students. A real research university provides fee waivers for students across the board instead of further burdening departments and colleges financially.
- resign
- Capricious decisions about graduate paperwork makes life for dept. advisors miserable.
- go
- The word poor does not do justice Dean Rosson’s administration of the graduate programs at the university
- Resign….he is a sorry excuse for a graduate dean
- Be less bureaucratic.
- Leave
- Stop trying to impose worthless bureaucratic procedures on us for no reason. The plan of study is the most worthless document invented.
- Become more visible, perhaps?
- be history and someone who is more transparent and interacts with faculty would be put in his place.
- Uses his model from his other university here which is ineffective, he does not listen to faculty, the who Grad. School is a huge mess
- go back to research and teaching
- Retire
- He does not interact in a meaningful way with faculty so that we can know much about him or his polities
- be replaced with a person who doesn’t constantly try to win favor from the president.
- Stop kowtowing to the higher administration. Principles are to be respected more than being a sycophant.
- resign. Barring that, it would be good if Dr. Rosson would consult faculty before making important decisions.
- I recently became aware that external members of thesis committees not only have to be appointed to the graduate faculty, which is bad enough, they also have to go through a background check, which involves submission of the SS# as well as other indignities. This is nonsense. In any normal place, none of this would happen. Is this in place because we have too many administrators who need something to do? Although I do not know Dean Rosson’s role in the decision to institute this and want to be fair, as the dean he’s responsible for such embarrassments.
- Get rid of the graduate college. It’s purpose is unclear to me. Learn about collegiality and consultative governance.
- Stop creating expensive and cumbersome systems.
  Return to Auburn University.
- be reassigned
- A lot of useless regulations and unnecessary paperwork. And for all this time, no raises for Graduate teaching assistants. And it is here in South Florida where cost of living is very high. We need to find another Graduate Dean
- leave FAU.
- Eliminate the position
- resign. Poor doesn’t begin to characterize his leadership as a graduate dean. He is a complete joke as a dean
- Resign
- How can FAU cut faculty research money and instead throw it at undergraduate research? When the faculty is not able to conduct research, it will become ineffective in the classroom. The idea that shifting the money to undergrads will magically make this go away is ridiculous.
- leave the university. His graduate office treats students horribly–nightmare stories from them. Getting plans of study approved, or other forms makes students wish they had gone to another university.
- Stop creating new forms all the time.
- I’ve been at FAU for nearly 10 years, and still don’t really understand the role of the graduate college in the curriculum. The graduate college ought to articulate its role more clearly. It would help if Dean Rosson was a more visible presence.
- be removed.
- There are many inadequacies in the implementation of electronic tracking of students, but the electron POS is a great step in the right direction. Students should be able to send their academic portfolios from FAU upon graduation as many institutions already do–he could advocate that FAU set up a similar division so that faculty and students would not have to start from scratch every time a student needs a letter of recommendation, etc.
- Create a system for continuous input from the various colleges, particularly faculty engaged in active recruiting and mentoring of graduate students.
- model the existing graduate college and research divisions to a successful university
- Hold more opportunities for faculty teaching graduate curricula to connect with him
- step down.
- be fired.
- Dean Rosson is a joke as a Graduate Dean,should be fired immediately
- be fired
- resign
- Return to his engineering career.
- Eliminate the unnecessary paperwork and actually support graduate teaching by providing curriculum, teaching and research grants.
- The main purpose of the graduate college appears to be to create as much paperwork as possible and a never-ending sequence of changing rules and procedures that only seem to have minor effects.
- help to streamline the process without so much paperwork
- quit and take all his forms with him.
- What does this guy do? His policy with removing graduate student stipends for non-teaching grad students is dysfunctional at best and suicidal at worst in terms of funding for the sciences. Let him go.
- It is my impression that many doctoral students do not find adequate jobs after graduation. It is a desaster if excellent young people as a rule spend five or six years with us, and then find a job that is unrelated to what they have learned. The dean needs to demand more from the departments! Sadly, I have not seen him in my department ever. Our graduate students need a strong helping hand!
- The Graduate College has instituted some important reforms, but the leadership that is lacking comes from positioning/articulating the role of FAU within the larger Academy. Putting plans of study on-line and standardizing dissertation margins are important, but not the role of a Graduate College Dean.
- Who’s Dean Rosson? Obviously he needs to get out of his office and make himself known (or hire a PR firm).
- resign
- RESIGN
- He should be fired with prejudice and imprisoned!
- I know that we would all be better served if he were not wearing so many hats. He carries too many duties and responsibilities. In my opinion he oversteps his authority far too often to be considerate of faculty and programs in order to be considered a good administrator.
- Let departments use their own graduate forms and let graduate forms be handwritten.
- improve communication with faculty about graduate college policies – There have been several changes in graduate college policies, and it has been difficult to know what the policy is at any given time, and the policy changes are not being communicated to faculty. I have had several graduate students come to me to say they have gotten an email about some new requirement for the graduate college, but I do not get those emails. And it is frustrating to not know how to advise students.
- Step Down.
- Be less autocratic and more willing to uphold academic standards consistently. He will often say the right words but then when push comes to shove, end up abandoning department and college standards for the path of least resistance. He needs to stop worrying about possible lawsuits all of the time when it comes to dealing fairly with students. All students should be treated equally no matter how scary they seem.
- Step down
- leave
- resign forthwith since he has the least and very poor academic credentials to lead and hold the position.
- list everyone’s achivement–not just those of eminent scholars’–in their annual report…
- focuses on one job/position
- resign
- be replaced
- Resign please. We don’t need more forms. What is his job anyway?
- work on decreasing instead of increasing the amount of paperwork necessary to move students through graduate programs
- Resign immediately from all positions and move far, far away from FAU.
- Let individual departments have more say in how they deal with problematic students.
- Minimize the graduate college bureaucracy
- resign.
- would resign and teach undergraduate courses
- Step down from his position as VP for Research and focus on doing a better job as Dean of the Graduate College.
- Have a taks force of graduate faculty to review and advise changes in policy and procedures
- Dean Rosson’s hiring violated the practice of not hiring someone in the Search Committee. A highly irregular hiring of an incompetent individual.
- dissolve the graduate college and send the funds back to actual academic programs.
- He is aloof and unavailable. I cannot identify any activity associated with his office. The programs he does provide for graduate students are poorly organized and lack content.
- Buries the faculty in procedural nonsense as Graduate Dean.
  Refuses to support research in a meaningful way. Fails to support SeaTech research activities – Stupidity personified because SeaTech supports his staff with indirect cost income! Because he didn’t apply for the job, how is he motivated to perform well?
- Class act. He is fair and he LISTENS
- Did Dr Rosson really want to be VP of Research? The perception is that he was asked to do it in a difficult time. Can’t this ambivalent situation be resolved?
- Totally incompetent.
- Very few decisions regarding curriculum or graduate student development can be best made from a distance. Allow those who work with students every day to be the strongest voice in all decisions.
- He’s a useless paper pusher who has made faculty’s lives more complicated. Of all the unhelpful offices on campus his takes the cake.
- This guy is a joke. What exactly is his job besides burdening faculty with needless paperwork, and putting obstacles in front of students that have nothing to do with their academic work? He had not met with academic departments or graduate programs, can’t put together a logical argument, and doesn’t seem to know anything about graduate programs. Whose friend was he?
- The worst dean at FAU
- he was appointed by the prez, yet another bad move from her
- This year decision regarding student petitions have been randomly inconsistent. It is nice the some students receive accommodation of their petitions, but others with *identical* circumstances have their petitions denied.
- Frankly, the Graduate College should be eliminated. The amount of money spent on paying the administrators of this college would be better spent investing in funding curricular and research projects.
- What has the Graduate College done to improve graduate programs at FAU?
- Have we met him? Has he made a presentation in any of the departments? I wonder who he is.
- Horrible graduate dean
- Barry who? I never see nor hear from him.
- He’s invisible to most faculty.
- Barry Rosson is a horrible Graduate Dean.
- Dean Rosson should not have been made VP for Research, a job he did not want. DOR is poorly run.
- I know who Dean Rosson is, but I really have no idea what he does.
- FAU should abolish the Graduate College; doing so would better serve students.
- He has his own kingdom and we do not need the extravagance of this pseudo operation. He is wasting taxpayer monies by collecting a paycheck. He makes decisions that are self-serving and unilateral.
- he should be let go, we have put up with enough of his mediocrity
- This college should be abolished. The colleges is unfriendly to students and faculty. It is a service college with no students and an arrogant attitude.
- The ultimate example of “white shirt” mentality that does not address the needs of the larger FAU community.
- Just too arrogant.
- Does not understand graduate assistantships and, as a result, is doing more harm than good with his new policies.
- untrustworthy, patronizing and unnecessarily pedantic
- He is contemptuous of FAU and its faculty, and actively harms the university.
- Unfriendly to faculty and students; too many forms that are not appropriate for all colleges and/or departments
- He is an integral part of a weak administration. This survey does not ask questions about his performance as VP for Research. In that role he has done a lot of damage, and research dollars will drop in certain areas as a result of his decisions.
- arrogant
- The graduate college appears to exist solely to create bureaucracy and paperwork for academic units. Welcome to the all administrative university.
- Do you really think that most of the faculty have any idea who this guy is and what he does? Maybe the chairs and grad directors could give useful feedback, but most of us have nothing to say….
- The graduate college is not responsive to faculty or students. The office is unfriendly and the operation is focused on forms not students or their educational pursuits.
- Regardless of good intentions, his actions have been very harmful to graduate students and graduate education at this university. He has created systems that are very cumbersome and have no place in a responsible, responsive university. He micro-manages tiny little matters and is a bully to students and faculty alike.
- He’s a contumelious, incompetent thug who has surrounded himself with people even more incompetent than himself (which is really saying something!).
- I feel that he uses his white, straight male privilege as well as his commanding stature to broadly.
- He needs to consult more with faculty and stop imposing new arbitrary policies on colleges and departments. He needs to stop pretending to care about the Arts & Letters and the inequalities that exists among colleges. He has talked about higher stipends for A & L TAs with more benefits but nothing ever comes of it. Meanwhile, the stipends have remained at the same low amount now for 20 years! The college is suffering terribly in recruiting.
- Provide research funding for graduate students.
- Very poor judgement on the part of the President to appoint ROSSON as Vice President for Research with dismal academic records
- he discontinued the coverage of trips to conferences introduced by Lemanski…
- Is NOT a faculty advocate. Believes everything that students say
- Just another incompetent FAU Administrator. One wonders where they find them all. Look at his record. Oh, what record.
- He’s not remotely competent for either job he holds at this time. FAU’s graduate studies and research are suffering enormously. He needs to be replaced by two competent individuals ASAP.
- i don’t work with much directly but everyone in that office is always very helpful
- Dr. Rosson needs the faculty support.
- Bootlicker extraordinare.
- No leadership for research. No research vision. Useless administrator. Useless.
- Has created havoc in the way he has handled the tuition waiver and Plan of Study issues. He still doesn’t appear to have the procedures and policies clear in his own mind. He failed to fully think things through before implementing new policies only to change things later. This has created a great deal of confusion. Communication between the Graduate College and the various academic departments is virtually non-existent.
- excessive paperwork hinders graduate education
- check into needs of improving standards across the board at the university. Overall, he is fine.
- By far the best administrator in the university; a real asset to FAU.
- be more visible. Pratt suffers from the same issues as Rossen.
- visit classes/departments/colleges
- promote scholarship
- He looks good only because other senior University admiinstrators are so bad.
- stand up to the Provost more when she proposes or does things that are harmful to the university.
- take over the graduate program
- No comments
- Resign. Go away.
- have a clearer vision about how to build the undergraduate programs….
- Be more visible.
- He is the best.
- Take over as Provost
- went away
- Become provost
- Be given more authority.
- Interact more with (and involve) faculty in administrative decisions and practices.
- A nice man, but incompetent and ineffective, he has no experience and is not a true scholar, we need better role models in leadership positions
- resign
- stand up to the unreasonable edicts of the president.
- He is in the unenviable position of having to work with a higher administration that does not value the core values of the Academy. He has been successful, thus far, in navigating the mine field of petty personalities.
- Become Provost or president.
- be reassigned
- A creator of various beaurocratic tricks and invetions that make faculty do more paperwork, rather than excel in research and teaching. Very pooor administrator who only cares to leve “his mark” on the university. Cannot answer any questions logically when confronted. We will be better off with another person.
- We have too many administrators dictating what others should do. We have an administrative night mare at FAU.
- Continue to push for excellence; generally he is doing a great job in a difficult situation.
- become university provost.
- Stay
- Hold more opportunities for faculty teaching in undergraduate curricula to connect with him
- be invisible
- Can he teach?
- Dean Pratt is an outstanding example of what academic administration should be all about…..other deans could learn by his example….are you out there administration…are you listening….Dean Pratt should be governing the university
- Make himself visible. i did not even know there was such a position
- Dr Pratt has good ideas.
- I think it’s a problem when the undergraduate studies dean advocates for weaker majors, making public statements that degrees have “too many courses” in the major. He is also not in favor of limited access or barrier exams for retention in competitive degree programs.
- I have no idea who this guy is. Do we even need him?
- What is there to say? A waste of money that should be going elsewhere. Hasn’t come up with one good idea as far as I can see, nor has he been an administrator. Whose friend was he?
- Ed Pratt is a nice guy–he likes people; and he has a big, warm smile that senior administrators might well emulate.
- Again, I ask: why would you think that we know who this guy is and what he does?
- Dean Pratt would be outstanding if he worked for any other administration. This administration hinders the best in people.
- No comments
- Too many to repeat. Just another sycophant for a bizarre incompetent President.
- his good ideas are often stifled by top-heavy administrative units
- his area seems really understaffed and Rosson’s area seems really overstaffed
- He does okay. The QEP has potential to be a draw for the university if Dean Pratt doesn’t drop the ball.
- He cares!!!!
- He is invisible to most faculty.
- I have really had no interaction with Dean Pratt.
- Take a stronger leadership role.
- We need a better and more effective person running and improving undergrad. programs
  this undergrad iniative is far fetched and out of touch
- Students have the right to protest without being intmidated.
- An administrator who is willing to make the tough decisions based upon sound research, listening to others, and working for the betterment of the university overall. Would make a more effective Provost.
- He seems to be doing an excellent job.
- An outstanding model of leadership. Everyone who has worked with him enjoys his style, which includes humor!
- seems overwhelmed, does not really have a full grasp of the scope of his job, does not take initiative
- At least FAU has one competent administrator.
- Best move FAU has made
- Communicate with the faculty; we have been further divided this year by a lack of communication. There have been major policy and program changes made during the school year, all without warning and completely without an explanation of the vision for our school.
- continue the outstanding job she is doing.
- Have faculty meetings, discuss important issues, and share/implement school policies. Faculty rarely know what is going on and information changes quickly without notice.
- Dr. Ferguson is a much needed change for the Henderson faculty. She is helping the school reach the potential that it has long had but had been stymied by ineffective leadership and lack of vision.
- She has transformed our school into a place I am again proud to be a part of.
- Dr. Ferguson is a terrific leader. She is respectful and cares about her staff an students.
- Dr. Ferguson and Dr. Collum are an outstanding administrative team who have greatly improved the climate of Henderson. Henderson is once again a remarkable institution for students and faculty!
- Ferguson is very good at public relations and working the crowd. However faculty have been removed from many shared decision-making areas except as needed by administration with a small group of teachers.
- The work atmosphere at Henderson is very positive. Dr. Ferguson’s arrival and her positive attitude made such a difference.
- Be involved with the school, speak to faculty at meetings, and keep the faculty informed of university issues.
- I have not met Dean Herbst, despite my efforts to do so; he is not available.
- I don’t think anybody knows who he is.
- He seems like a nice person. We seem him on campus, but it is more as a tour guide, than administrator.
- Be visible and engaged at all levels of the school.
- There is very little interaction with Dean Bristor and the general faculty at Henderson.
- Dean Bristor is very personable, and it would be nice if she were more visible at school events.

Comments for Dean Barry Rosson, Graduate College
The university would be better served if Dean ROSSON would:

Additional comments about Dean ROSSON:

Comments for Dean Edward Pratt, Undergraduate Studies Dean
The university would be better served if Dean PRATT would:

Additional comments about Dean PRATT:

Comments for Tammy Ferguson, Principal/Director of Florida Atlantic University Schools
The university would be better served if Principal/Director FERGUSON would:

2012-2013 Administrator Survey Written Comments

Leave a Reply Cancel reply