UFF-FAU

2016 Administrator Survey Comments

FAU would be better served if Associate Provost ANTHONY ABBATE would:

  • N/A
  • This isn’t about Abbate’s work, but I do want to say that FAU would be better served if these tiny campuses did not have so much time and energy and so many resources devoted to them. They are satellite campuses. Let’s treat them like that.
  • Be more visible on Davie, but understands he has to be shared.
  • I am stationed at the Boca Raton campus.
  • Interact more often with Faculty

Additional comments about Associate Provost ANTHONY ABBATE:

  • He needs to be more visible. I saw the man once, and that is because his boss came from Boca to tour the campus. He stays in his office and many have not seen or we rarely hear from him.
  • Anthony Abbate has been all but invisible, I have no idea what he has been doing. Given that I only hear about him (not actually see him in person) 1 or 2 times per year, I can’t say that he uses faculty governance or keeps faculty informed about decisions. At the same time, the structural part of the campus seems to be falling apart around us, so I can’t say that he supports the development of the campus very well.
  • I don’t know what he does.
  • Likable, but he has no academic credibility whatsoever.
  • Have no chance to meet Anthony Abate, or evaluate any of his work.
  • I have tried to fairly represent my dealings with AP Abbate. He may be responsible for decisions that I am affected by, but have no primary knowledge of – both for better or worse. He has seemed to be interested in positively promoting the concerns of the Broward campuses.
  • I’ve never met him. Once in awhile, he sends an email.
  • I split my time between the Boca campus and Davie campus. So I might not be as aware of what goes on on the Davie campus as some other faculty. However, although I spend a significant amount of time in Davie, I have not had any communication with or from Associate Provost Abbate or his office. So, to me, it appears as if he is not engaged at all with faculty.
  • He keeps a very low profile among the faculty. He could be doing a very fine job but I just don’t know.
  • N/A
  • Quite approachable and respectful

FAU would be better served if Associate Provost ELIAH WATLINGTON would:

  • Receive more timely support from Provost’s office on issues affecting the Jupiter campus.
  • Address the substantive issues on campus and not just where swings, hammocks and vending machines are placed.
  • Be replaced by someone who understands the uniqueness of the Jupiter campus (its potential for true collaboration with its partners, Scripps Florida and Max Planck Florida Institute) and the developing contribution of the College of Science in growing true Bachelor of Science degree programs in Jupiter. Dr. Watlington does not have the political willpower or resources to press the Honors College to work with the College of Science in developing BS degree programs. Instead, under her watch, we now have what amount to the Honors College scrambling to cobble together weak BS degree programs that will compete with stronger, effective but “new to Jupiter” BS degree programs in the College of Science. This is not thoughtful leadership!
  • Seems to be a nice person.
  • Who is he?
  • N/A
  • Be allowed to be in Jupiter more often. Her schedule requires constant travel yet she manages to do it all
  • I am not affiliated with the northern campuses.
  • Be present and visible
  • Get the secretaries on Jupiter to treat faculty and students better and stop with the attitude
  • Does not seem sincere
  • Seems false and fake
  • Seems to kiss up too much to admin
  • Fix the campus grounds, the campus has deteriorated greatly over the past few years
  • She says a lot that she does not follow through with or actually do, actions speak louder than words
  • Not sure this provost is adequate or qualified for this position
  • She is never around
  • She is a bad example for the local community
  • She does not respond to emails
  • She is not good at getting back to people
  • A lot of lost respect for this weak leadership
  • So much more could be done here in Jupiter with Scrips and MP, etc.
  • Morale is very low here
  • This is no reflection on Watlington, but many of us believe that it makes little sense to devote so much university energy to these tiny satellite campuses.
  • Support staff not helpful to faculty and students, too much attitude
  • Allow more space for campus free-speech zones. The current ones are better modeled as a place to store garden units or chickens.

Additional comments about Associate Provost ELIAH WATLINGTON:

  • The Jupiter campus is led by its Campus Leadership Campus, which is chaired by Dr. Watlington. Several of the council members report not to Dr. Watlington but to their unit supervisors in Boca. This circumstance often means that decisions that could be made quickly in Jupiter are delayed until supervisors in Boca have the time and disposition to consider issues brought to their attention. Given the diligence with which the council operates both individually and as a collaborative team, it would serve FAU’s strategic plan far more if the council were to be granted greater decision-making autonomy.
  • Never heard of this person before.
  • She doesn’t keep her promises.
  • The grounds and campus have become very shabby and unkempt no one makes things look nice around campus like Boca
  • I never see this person much around campus
  • She says a lot of sweet talking that she never follows through with
  • Actions speak louder than words
  • Probably most people would have more respect for her if she had gone through the ranks like most admin. should go through before getting to the top.
  • She has never even obtained tenure or been a real professor or researcher.
  • You never see them around campus?????
  • Again, no chance to meet her or to see any results of her work
  • N/A
  • We need a real leader who is a true academic who has gone through the P&T process and has been a professor before
  • How much longer do the professors have to put up with his weak leadership in Jupiter?
  • Dr. Wat lies a lot, she says things that she never follows through with, it makes her look bad
  • FAU’s most capable administrator.
  • One of the most conscientious, ethical people I have met.
  • I don’t consider it a bad thing thing that I don’t know a lot about Watlington.

FAU would be better served if Gradaute College Dean DEBORAH FLOYD would:

  • Dean needs to get out of her office and see the reality Barry rosson was much better as a dean
  • Get rid of the bureaucracy.
  • Be consistent in her treatment of the colleges.
  • Not hide behind others to achieve her agenda.
  • Steps down
  • Dean Floyd is out of contact with the reality of the real needs of graduate faculty. She is a pure administrator.
  • 1. Increase stipends for graduate students and health insurance!
    2. Look into more quality education rather than a “number of graduates” driven program
  • I understand the Dean Floyd – as all administrators – has a difficult task, but it has also seemed at times that she has acted precipitously and in ways that have caused reversals or modifications of policies. Some of this has come, at least apparently, from a lack of consultation prior to the implementation of actions or policies.
  • Get in touch with faculty. Analyze disparities in salaries between faculty and question “why?”. Dig deep into the issues with salaries especially for those faculty members with terminal degrees making less than $50,000 and bring equity with other salaries in the departments and colleges, in fact, bring equity to salaries nationally and with other state universities.
  • I never heard about Dean Floyd. This might be good or bad?
  • be better if Dr. Floyd would pay attention towards creating an environment for promoting research.
  • FAU does not need, and cannot afford, a graduate college.
  • Redistribute resources to academic colleges.
  • ?
  • Thank you for your great leadership
  • Have greater visibility to all graduate faculty,
  • Dean Floyd should lead the way in acknowledging the fact that the MFA is a terminal degree and in every way the equivalent of a doctorate. The graduate college’s understanding of the MFA is extremely limited, both in terms of how FAU faculty with MFA’s are viewed and understood and how FAU’s own MFA candidates are viewed and understood.
  • I don’t know, who is she?
  • Not only encourage a collegial manner, but actively seek to maintain such
  • Get someone real
  • Design websites
  • She does not treat faculty respectfully
  • She talks down to and is condescending to her faculty
  • She acts like she is better than others
  • Her attitude of superiority is annoying
  • Better then the other, but she just needs to have an attitude adjustment in how she talks to people
  • Do you realize how you project yourself to others? You act holier than thou
  • Be given more autonomy.
  • left, or realized faculty exist and actually listened.
  • Continue to do what she is doing- excellent job.
  • Dr. Floyd is highly knowledgeable, open for ideas, timely and always well-prepared. Her commitment is far above question.
  • Go back to community college where she belongs
  • She is new so I have too little experience with her to know.
  • ..stop following the precedents of her predecessor and building an unwieldy and unnecessarily complex enterprise. The graduate college tries to be helpful, but it is mostly a bureaucratic hindrance to getting things done. It keeps growing and growing and growing and it seems to do little to benefit our graduate programs. I know she is trying to make it more helpful, but she hasn’t quite managed it yet.
  • Out of touch
  • Not nice to faculty
  • Too much attitude
  • She is a know it all
  • Does not care for or listen to faculty
  • Find more money to support graduate education. Dr. Floyd needs the attention of the provost and president who are focused on undergraduate education.
  • Resign
  • Provide research funding “annually” to support the student research projects like the FAU undergraduate research grants. The Graduate Research and Inquiry Program (GRIP) grant should be provided every year.
  • Consult with deans and department chairs before making policies that hinder our building a good graduate program. She should listen to and heed the words of deans and chairs in order to avoid making it *more* difficult to run a graduate program.
    She should recognize that policies that aid some of the colleges will not be useful in all of them. A good administrator is able to differentiate between the needs of different colleges rather than applying policies across the entire university.
  • Let go of the “top down” approach. Listen more, talk less.
  • Resign.
  • step down; stop badmouthing faculty
  • focus on service rather than control. The Graduate College is nothing more than an endless snarl of dysfunctional bureaucracy. Frustrating to everyone.
  • It is very concerning that the College of Engineering is allowed to lower significantly the GRE and TOEFFL requirements. We raise the acceptance criteria for undergrads but LOWER for accepting GRADUATE students. Only at FAU, some cynics say!
    Also, please check and recheck NAVITAS: we accept weak foreign students, but not American born students! This seems to be a discrimination!
  • ?

Additional comments about Graduate College Dean DEBORAH FLOYD:

  • Dr. Barry Rosson was much better administrator. Hire him back
  • Dr. Rosson Was much better than her. He had a vision
  • Appreciate her efforts to increase graduate student financial support.
    Appreciate the support given to graduate/ doctoral students in the form of workshops.
  • Not the right person for the position
  • She is new to the position so I don’t know anything about her.
  • Dean of the graduate college suppose to provide leadership for the graduate program, ensuring that the program receives adequate funding and expanding. Unfortunately the only way of “expansion” of the graduate program in FAU is superficially cutting the number of years students can stay in the program and receive the support. It is purely a game of numbers, political and other people’s game that the university cannot potentially win. For example, 4 years for a PhD degree may be adequate for some programs, but not today and not in the college of science. Besides, what we pay graduate students is anecdotal, if it won’t be so sad. No wonder we are technically still behind even FIU in our graduate programs. However, if the Dean of the Graduate College is not suppose to take care of these issues, please disregard my comments. But if not, why do we need a graduate dean?
  • I’ve never heard of this person before. I can’t say that she uses faculty governance or keeps faculty informed about decisions…
  • Is she the one who makes more forms?
  • Seems too high fluent for FAU, acts superior to most people
  • Is she from this planet?
  • Out of touch
  • not grounded
  • Out there
  • She seems too fake
  • High turnover rate in her office is a bad sign. Is she abusive toward the little people? Could be.
  • I have no active concerns re Dr. Floyd, just little communication.
  • Most faculty and GAs are loathe to interact with this administrator for fear of reprisal in some way.
  • I have not met her, but have been subject to the mounds of meaningless paperwork she seems to be expert at producing. From what I can gather from her communications, she has no knowledge of graduate programs or graduate culture, and is allowing the operation of Phd Programs, for example, that are used on 6000 level courses. That is just one example. There is no vision here, no attempt to define a program or involve faculty. It is almost silly if it did not once again, hurt students.
  • She has been very visible; I have seen her at many events.
  • Actions speak louder than words, I do not like how I see her treating people, all of us, it is not nice
    Retire you do not seem to have it in you anymore
  • Keep up the good work; don’t be afraid to step on some toes.
  • I am the graduate faculty and have had no interaction with her so I am not in a position to comment. I probably should be able to comment on it since I am heavily involved in graduate education. If she consults with faculty, it is at a committee level. I have seen her around but I am pretty sure she has no clue who I am.
  • Swelled head from her exalted position
  • I have had no interaction with her to date; I wouldn’t be able to pick her out of a lineup.
  • I have limited first hand knowledge of what this person does.
  • No support of faculty or faculty governance
  • In my department, the term “graduate college” is a dirty word: at meetings, the mere mention of the graduate college makes us roll our eyes because our experience is that its policies result in hindrance rather than help. If the policies she instantiates are necessary in some colleges, they do not serve the best interests of mine. Many of the policies she has instantiated seem unnecessary and cumbersome. Some of them have resulted in fewer applicants to our programs and poorer programs. Faculty are angry at arbitrary policies that restrict our ability to recruit, or retain, the best graduate students.
  • Kudos for starting the research grant for graduate students and advocating for more graduate research assistants.
  • Certainly an improvement over the previous Graduate College Dean.
  • There seems to be a lot of turnover in the graduate college staff, which can make communication a challenge. It’s not clear to me whether this is a product of Dean Floyd’s leadership style or if there are other factors at work.
  • This dean has done nothing at all for FAU’s graduate students, and clearly has no support from the administration. The turnover rate in her office is beyond ridiculous, and the people who work for her fear her. Instead of advocating for higher GTA stipends and providing more support for graduate recruitment, she has redecorated her office and added needless further layers of bureaucracy to the graduation process.
  • Please look into comments above!
  • Doesn’t seem to do much except create needless paperwork with more forms. Doesn’t have a vision, isn’t at all present, doesn’t engage faculty and hasn’t shown any knowledge about graduate programs and what is needed to operate them. Just another FAU Bureaucrat making a lot of money.

FAU would be better served if Undergraduate Studies Dean ED PRATT would:

  • Show more visibility and support for undergraduate programs.
  • be a provost. He is fair and knowledgeable
  • Again, this seems to be a position filled by someone who just sits there. I never heard about this person, and I was not awre there’s such a position.
  • maintain academic rigor.
  • We need a new dean. Dr. Pratt has been in this position for a long time.
  • Actually provide administrative leadership on academic policy, not just administrative metrics.
  • Learn something about higher education
  • Amazing dean!
  • in office too long, we need someone new and better
  • time for change
  • FAU would be well served if Dean Pratt were a more assertive and outspoke advocate for undergraduate studies, the undergraduate students, and undergraduate teaching. These practices and constituencies are the core of a successful university, and it is Dean Pratt’s responsibility to advocate on a daily basis for their centrality.
  • Eliminate the position and unit.
  • I don’t know that he is actually capable of anything
  • Solicit faculty input regarding policy decision and faculty-perceived issues.
  • Time to retire or step down
  • Been in too long
  • We need new blood
  • Things seem crazy and out of control now
  • Focus on students without all these assessments
  • Get raises for faculty
  • Consults faculty more.
  • Align himself more with the faculty, maybe with a bit less focus on “consultation” and more on faculty “governance”; think more deeply (and beyond just numbers) about the effects on student and faculty diversity of the various decisions being made, and care more about those effects.
  • Ed is honest and straight-forward.
  • Dean Pratt engages in all vital aspects of undergraduate studies. He remains open for ideas and suggestions and endorses good, feasible ideas. His collegiality is most appreciated. His vision aligns with the strategic plan.
  • use improved technology to relieve the faculty of the burden of reporting grades for his surveys. Why do we have to do two sets of reports when the graduating seniors are already included in the report we submit for our courses? Furthermore, how does that office help the students? Students in Broward complain that they pay the same tuition but get fewer services such as tutoring.
  • figure out what his job is, tell the rest of us, and then try to do it well. I’m sure that his days are busy but it is never clear what he is tasked to accomplish or how he contributes to what we do in the departments.
  • Actually consult faculty and departments before making changes.
  • Not hesitate to tell unpleasing truths to the upper administration.
    Urge upper administration to recognize student needs and make them one of the primary policy drivers.
    Not hesitate to speak openly when poor policies are being considered.
  • Take a stand, make a decision.
  • Resign immediately
  • Out of touch
    Need to get raises for faculty
    Listen to faculty better
    Make sense
  • He has done nothing but act as a mouthpiece for the administration, whatever flavor of the day that might be. Has shown no initiative at producing programs that would help undergraduates, or for that matter, any evidence that he knows what an undergraduate is. What does he do all day?

Additional comments about Undergraduate Studies Dean ED PRATT:

  • he can be our next provost
  • Dean Pratt is an overall good person and pleasant to work with. I am sure that he does what he suppose to do, but I have no basis for the fair assessment because he is not really visible to the colleges and department. But then again, what is better – a visible and demanding or an “invisible” undergraduate dean who quietly does his job?
  • I have no idea what this guy does.
  • Deserve a rise
  • Never see nor hear from this person; I can’t say that he uses faculty governance or keeps faculty informed about decisions…
  • Really doing his best in trying times. But still, some of these metric games are long-term bad.
  • Just another administrator acting as a spokesperson for an ignorant administration
  • Dean Pratt has significantly improved the undergraduate studies at FAU. He may be the best administrator at FAU.
  • Worst example of the eter principle currently at FAU
  • In too long
    Give someone else a chance
    You keep dumbing down everything
    Have higher standards
  • Empty suit. No standards for undergraduates. Promoting no D’s and Fs is going to run in FAU as an academic institution
  • I have never met this administrator either, but from his actions he seems to be nothing but a weak mouth piece for sometimes silly and sometimes damaging administrative viewpoints. There obviously is no vision and no attempt to actually as in a role which should be an important one. He seems only interested keeping his job, which is sad for our undergraduates/
  • He has built an outstanding team.
  • His suggestion to provide early feedback by submitting midterm grades was an excellent suggestion to improve student retention. Nonetheless, if the SPOT is important in faculty evaluations (and hence salaries) why was it watered down to six questions. The lack of information as to expected student grades make the SPOT virtually useless.
  • Please communicate to faculty AND TO STUDENTS more about the policies that are being made.
    Do not hesitate to call attention to policy decisions in the pipeline; find avenues of communication and encourage policy makers to listen to concerns. It is better for us to respond to plans while they are still being made than to discover plans after the fact and have to live with the results.
  • Ed is a genuinely good and caring administrator. He cares deeply about undergraduate education and values his employees. I wish that he would view decisions from a faculty perspective more rather than serving as an extension of the BOT.
  • IMO Dean Pratt shares legislative information and does not really make decisions.

FAU would be better served if Provost GARY PERRY would:

  • Fire many staff from his office. External search for college deans and chairs positions
  • Disconnected from the reality of balancing research with teaching loads. Low salaries, poor pension, heavy teaching loads, who-moved-my-cheese mentality with performance appraisal process ………..he is the perfect administrator to turn the academic side of the university into a BUSINESS. Yes, metrics are necessary but they must be balanced with promoting academic quality and integrity. This balance has been compromised under his leadership.
  • Stay on in his role.
    Continue to focus on quality and excellence, despite the metrics.
  • Would focus more on increasing faculty salary and adding additional resources (teaching assistants or cap numbers at 40 for on site classes) for faculty teaching large classes and provide more positions for BB staff to help faultily with course development.
  • He steps up and lead this university
  • Resign.
  • Remain more of a faculty member than an administrator
  • Apply the same faculty-sensitive approaches that worked so well when he was a dean.
  • Not lie and would also represent the faculty to the administration instead of only the administration towards the faculty. Also, he needs to remember not all faculty are 9-month faculty.
  • is supposed to be the advocate for the faculty. Research and look at how many full time faculty are qualifying for public assistance and even food stamps. The provost should bring equity to salaries especially to those full time faculty who are only making in the $30’s and $40’s ranges who are carrying heavier class loads, being asked to do more with no increase in pay like fund raise, research, publish and increased class sizes. Equity in salaries is needed between faculty members within departments and throughout the individual colleges. look at individual faculty credentials, what we are being asked to do, and provide the comparable salary. Truly, when administrators are getting tens of thousands of dollars in increases and faculty members’ salaries in the mid $30’s and $40’s remain stagnant for years, a living wage is a real issue. Dig deep look at the details and question what is going on with salary administration in departments and colleges.
  • simply be more honest about the fact that he is not an advocate of the faculty.
  • Listen to faculty and drop the drive to impose unnecessary post tenure review.
  • RETIRE!! totally useless.
  • resign forthwith along with President Kelly. Provost Perry spends his time and effort in recruiting large number of highly paid administrators and creating new positions to take care of his own favorites from the College of Science. He has the least concern for the faculty at- large, who are the life line for FAU and toil every day to give their best to the FAU student community. FAU will be far better served by Provost Perry’s resignation forthwith.
  • He need to show academic leadership. He should audit all the new hires and how they use their start up packages
    Faculty their getting pressure from all over the angles: For instance post tenure review that we do not have a problem
    Faculty are teaching office hours, preparing new courses to develop new programs, field trips, visiting high schools to promote FAU most times paying the gas
    applying for funding, writing proposals preparing the budget because the department budget coordinator does not know simple algebra, writing the budget justufucation do everything and also uploading the project to grants era………….Anything else?
  • Everyone loves and appreciates Gary Perry for his efforts as faculty, as a researcher, and as an instructor for many years. However, Gary has proven to be an ineffectual leader during his tenure as Dean and now as Provost. Departments and other units have suffered remarkable degrees of attrition under his watch, and when these units have complained or asked for help, he has either ignored or rejected these requests. If there is a plan that Gary has for development in Jupiter, Davie or Boca, it has never been explained. Gary suffers from the disease of wanting to be liked by all. In these times, FAU needs true leadership in order to make difficult decisions regarding our future; unfortunately for FAU Gary Perry is not able to perform as needed.
  • to inform the faculty why his staff at the provost office yelling at them.
    Do not allow the VP of research to make decisions for the university
    he should ask all the high pay faculty to justify their salary
  • Allow (force) Diane Alperin to retire before she does any more damage. FAU is an overly bureaucratic, centralized, nit-picky organization thanks to her.
  • a disappointment, though he would be better but this year showed his true colors,
  • Disappointing leader
    Put academics first over sports at FAU
    care about quality education and faculty, be better administrators.
  • Great Provost.
  • Dr. Perry has high ambitions for FAU which I applaud but the way he goes about achieving them sometimes inadvertently impacts those who are trying to do their best..
  • Provost Perry must understand and appreciate that effective and sustainable governance is bottom up at least as often as it is top own. As a longtime FAU faculty member and FAU’s CAO, it is Provost Perry’s responsibility to ensure that major decisions are made collectively. It is his responsibility to get buy-in from faculty and to represent students.
  • Actually show an interest in, and provide leadership for, academic policies rather than fixate on administrative metrics. After all, the job title does include “chief academic officer.” He continues FAU’s long-standing tradition of a provost and chief academic officer who shows little interest in academic affairs.
  • Keep faculty informed
  • Go back to science. Rumor has it he was liked there
  • Remove Dean Coltman from her position as dean. Treat all faculty equally, not just your friends. Ensure that policies and guidelines are regularly reviewed and updated. Ensure the faculty that you support us, and that are our equal and not our enemy. Stop consulting the university attorneys all the time. Tell deans to tell chairs to treat all faculty with respect, as peers, and to be fair to everyone.
  • Be more decisive.
  • Stop drinking the Kool Aid that Kelly has brought with him.
  • Consult with faculty. Listen to faculty. Be more aware of the needs of students and faculty. Not think he knows the answer before there is discussion.
  • Returned to faculty or left
  • Join the Trump Campaign
  • GET RAISES FOR FACULTY NOW
    stop closing the university for football and other non academic reasons
    Stop pushing this annual eval that was never approved by UFF or FS
    Stop pushing this SPE that is not fair nor approved by UFF or FS
    Does he ever go to Davie or Jupiter and meet with faculty or show he cares?
    Does not respond to emails by faculty
    Does not meet with faculty
    He allows for his Dean in the COE with no backbone who allows her chairs to be bullies to faculty and students
    FAU should not think their flag is flying very high, we have dropped to the lowest level of mediocrity with poor leaders at all levels
    Morale is at the all time lowest in 30 years, we have not received any raises now in like 4 years, FAU is the worst
    If the Provost cared he would visit all colleges and have more presence, he allows for poor leaders to run colleges and faculty to be demoralized by bully leaders in departments, these 360 evaluations are not true reflections of leaders
    Every year each admin at FAU should be evaluated by all faculty, not just the UFF eval, but university evals with votes of confidence for all Deans and Chairs

  • continue to do what he’s doing
  • go back to faculty and not continue to sell out
  • Replace him with somebody’ with vision and who is faculty friendly.
  • Ensure faculty have timely access to all relevant documentation – especially the post-tenure review document.
  • He should harness his own potential to do more than play metric number games; it is demeaning to all to reduce the academy to the facsimile of education via these numbers games. True, a provost can do little about the external political field but it need not govern everything he says and does; what are the opportunities for affirming the growth and development of students as well rounded persons, not just obedient job drones or STEM stars? There is a great deal of unexploited talent here, and yet all I see these days is white men funding and building their own castles and careers, and a lot of the quiet, important work that we should be doing being done in spite of it all, without stardom, notice or reward, or falling by the wayside. Self-promoters will self promote, but it is the job of the provost to see the importance of all the rest, and put some of his great energy into it.
  • The memo to review and punish potentially under-performing tenured professors set a very, very bad tone and undermined our trust in Gary.
  • Retire at home instead of in his office
  • Provost Platt has worked smartly and tirelessly during his tenure as Provost. He appears to be a master in identifying critical problems and taking the right actions to solve them. His collegiality is impressive and most appreciated.
  • be the same faculty-oriented, standards-directed, fair administrator he was when he was dean of science. We need more tenure-track faculty. We cannot direct all of our resources to pillars and platforms. Faculty compensation cannot continue to drop, if we are to regain our status in the system.
  • Allocate new faculty lines in a more timely manner, so that faculty searches can take place within the normal time frame rather than after other universities have already made their hires.
  • act like a provost rather than a staff member. He doesn’t have any ideas of his own except for building an elaborate golden parachute for his post-provost years. We aren’t sure if he is an empty suit or if he is not able/willing to be a partner to the president.
  • take a course in the First Amendment & act accordingly (and not just in the Jim Tracy case)
  • Take a more active role in academic matters. He appears smothered by the president.
  • Quit and go back to faculty. May be he can learn what faculty do.
  • Need to strategize how to make faculty salaries as completive as others (i.e. UF and FSU).
  • step down; quit being an autocrat; quit appointing cronies to administrative positions
  • Support better faculty salaries and benefits. Work more collaboratively with UFF.
  • GO back to science
  • respond to workload requests, emails, faculty line requests….. the turn around time is too long for things that should be addressed.
  • No raises in many years, needs to do more
    Be visible in all colleges and campuses
    Improve leadership in all colleges
    COE has no leadership and chairs are bullies
    Improve staff treatment toward faculty and students
    Listen to faculty better
    Stop pushing mediocrity, get UFF and FS approval before pushing all these new eval systems
    You do not seem to really care about raising us up
  • Make decisions in a timely manner. Don’t sit on the fence.
  • Resign.
  • hold a search for a new outside dean for the College of Arts and Letters
  • I think Gary has done a terrific job, but honestly it’s time for Bob Zoeller to step down as UFF chair….he’s been an impediment to this year’s negotiations and needs to resign….
  • GO back to science, where it is rumored he did a good job, At this point, he is also doing nothing but acting as a mouthpiece for a board and president who really dislike faculty. As a Provost, that is a conflict of interest, not to mention a sad state of affairs. His communications are nasty and ill-informed, and he seems to have no sense or doesn’t care about the role of faculty in the University and how to recruit and keep them. It would seem like he just wants to keep his job and collect his substantial salary. A sad state of affairs.

Additional comments about Provost GARY PERRY:

  • Get back to the basics as to how a Provost should support faculty – across the campus, not just a few premier programs!
  • he is a cool guy
  • He can be secretive in his decision making. Some think he isa puppet on a string.
  • I am disappointed that he has not been able to address issues of excellence and fairness among the administrators in our college.
  • The post-tenure evaluation memo eroded our trust in Gary.
  • His initial actions on post tenure review were most revealing. When someone shows you that he or she is a disgrace to the profession, I believe it.
  • Reduce the teaching load in the COE and CON.
  • Dr. Perry lost my respect when he attempted to institute a post-tenure review that broke the very meaning of tenure. He cavalierly dismissed faculty concerns during an early Faculty senate meeting in the Fall. This has made many of us look for jobs elsewhere. Even though the policy seems to be defeated, at least in its most insidious form, the administration still remains, cooking up other hair-brained schemes to disenfranchise its faculty– such as a moronic new criteria system that has not been vetted by faculty or gone through any type of official approval process. The early version of the post-tenure review was revealing in how it offered a window on how the administration views us: incompetent, unworthy, and needing a strong stick to keep us in line. This is clearly reflected in the years of minimal-to-no-raises we received.
  • The fight over the SPE was really eye-opening for me. I was shocked at how much the administration, seemingly led by Provost Perry, tried to take that process out of the hands of faculty governance. Moreover, they seemed far more interested in firing people and punishing bad professors than they were in rewarding good professors.
  • He should post all the administrators resume on line
  • He should have external searches for deans or chairs positions
  • Still has no clue, so he clings to Diane Alperin.
  • does not email back
    does not meet with faculty
    doesn’t really seem to care about faculty really
    too much ego it all went to his head.
    He allows too for a lot of poor administration below him, weak deans and chairs who really are incompetent running units being bad examples of leadership to students and faculty.
    Faculty deserve better than this.
    His assoc provosts are all kiss ups and were never really even professors or have been true academics ever themselves.
  • The Provost and president should allow all faculty to evaluate all admin every year with votes of confidence, we should be able to evaluate chairs, assoc. deans, deans, elearning dir and staff, assoc provosts, provost, president, not just the UFF eval,
    E-learning is a joke at FAU, the dir and staff are inconsiderate of faculty and students holding meetings on holy days like Good Friday and when we are off contract on May 13. E-learning needs to practice what they preach, they are not models for how to best teach online
    Morale has gone way down this year, no raises in many years
    No presence from admin supporting faculty
    Admin cannot be taken seriously, they are allowing a lot of bully chairs to treat students and faculty poorly
    The sad thing about FAU is that the admin are jealous, envious, and insecure and have to constantly push all these new eval systems and SPE on faculty, if admin could do half of what professors do here, professors are publishing, doing research, grants, getting awards, and doing so much, while admin. do little other than be jealous of faculty so to then push more stringent evals. on them. Admin need to stop with their insecurities and live up to high standards and respect faculty more and do more for them who are producing.
    If the admin really cared about effective leadership and rising to the top, they would institute a policy for allow faculty to evaluate every single admin in the university from chairs, to assoc deans, deans, directors, asso. provots, elearning, etc.
    It is obvious that admin at FAU are extremely insecure, jealous, and envious of the successes of the FAU faculty and that is why they are doing all they do with all these evals. for faculty.
    Admin. here are only pushing faculty to move on to other jobs. A real brain drain.
  • He is cool and he is okay
  • Provost Perry focuses too much of his attention of the small number of FAU faculty who are incompetent extremists. The vast majority of FAU faculty are highly accomplished, competent, pragmatic professionals with a deep understanding of the realities of contemporary academe. Give us more credit, Provost Perry. After all, we – the faculty and students – ARE the university. Open your eyes to the majority of your subordinates who are doing their jobs extraordinarily well, and stop patronizing us. Let’s work together to move our university forward.
  • The Provost has done an excellent job of improving our ranking within the state of Florida, but it seems to be somewhat at the expense of the Faculty.
  • Just keeping his job… if he knows what a provost does, he certainly hasn’t shown it.
  • The improved ranking of FAU was a major achievement
  • The situation with post-tenure review and comments about certain professors need to be fired is still unsettling even though it appears that the current post-tenure review is more inline with what both parties agreed to.
    I give them credit for being able to solve the metrics problem.
  • The provost seems to prefer a top-down style of administration which is not really in the spirit of shared governance with the faculty.
  • I don’t trust him.
  • My main concern about both the leadership of both the Provost and the President is that it is not clear that they are willing to invest in and support faculty that have been here for a number of years as opposed to just focusing resources on bringing in new people to develop the pillars.
  • He severely biased the faculty evaluation system. Who ever heard of an evaluation system without the words “very good”? This is academic dishonesty of the highest order,
    All of this to justify lower faculty raises.
  • I still think he is capable of being an excellent provost. He isn’t being one now.
  • Gary should be commended for working and playing a major role in the plan that led to our gaining back funding from the state and getting off the “bad list”
  • This is someone who had a good reputation and even related to faculty before taking this position. He is know known only for sending inappropriate memos that contradict good practice and are obviously borne out of higher-up administrative hostility to the faculty. Which is to say, he is not doing the job of a Provost. He seems to be now against shared governance and acts as another mouthpiece for a hostile President and Board, in a way that suggests that he is more interested in keeping his job than taking a position that would make sense for faculty and for the University.
  • At many public universities throughout the country it is common for Faculty to teach 3 courses per year. The plan to make each course 18% of teaching load would be disastrous for research at FAU and would have Faculty here teaching about 3 courses per semester, 2-3 times more than many other institutions.
  • Can’t get anything done. Why no deans hired except internal???? Lowering academic standards to play the metrics game. Has quadruped staff in the office. Can’t make a decision. Paperwork takes forever since it has to go through so many layers in provosts office to give new associate provosts something to do. No vision
  • I think the man is smart, but is clueless about representative bodies and processes and procedures.
  • He started out good the first year and now has become one of the worst Provosts
    Seems to be too busy to address faculty concerns
  • A visionary leader who promotes academic growth
  • Gary Perry has publicly belittled the faculty and appears ignorant of the importance of a liberal education.
  • Distorting faculty evaluations by changing the criteria was poorly conceived and represents a lack of good faith. who ever heard of an evaluation without the words “very good” or “excellent”.
  • Nice guy, but way out of his league. An accidental provost, which is often the way at FAU. Not an academic leader. Doesn’t seem to inspire the deans. Doesn’t seem to have an agenda. Mostly reactive. Can’t be sure how much of that is Perry and how much is Kelly.
  • Mediocre at best. Talks a lot and trusts on inertia for decisions. Very far away from faculty. It is almost like he has forgotten how to be a faculty.
  • He has really grown into the role. Every time I hear him speak he’s able to justify decisions rationally and clearly.
    He gets a lot of flak, but he’s there making the tough decisions. I truly believe he has the university’s best interest
    at heart.
  • Mediocre at best.
  • His comments (lies) in faculty senate concerning the faculty committee meeting with the president on merit is an embarassment worse than any MJ put on the University. Flat out lied to senate.
  • With the disaster of trying to introduce post-tenure review, Perry made his feelings about faculty clear, and nullified his earlier promises of support to faculty. He does not have faculty’s best interests at heart even a little.
  • Gary Perry was a star in a committee we once participated in, on Strategic Plan. His indefatigable efforts made us the best University in Florida!
    Please introduce more Eminent Scholarships: Some Colleges have several Eminent Scholars, some none. Please recognize EXISTING faculty members’ EXCELLENCE

FAU would be better served if President JOHN KELLY would:

  • Be fair with everyone =, not only favors administrative staff, where his friends are.
  • Remember the faculty are the workers who deliver the programs and interact with the students directly. Any actions that are directed from the president’s office are viewed as coming from the faculty. It is critical to keep us informed and fight to get us out of the worst paid faculty status.
  • Return to North Carolina
  • Search for funding for academic programs and not just for sports. The emphasis should be on supporting students and not only athletes.
  • Look at the Administrators to Faculty ratio at FAU and possible introduce some corrections to that. After all, university is primarily an education and research institution, not a scaled model of the government.
    Recognize that some programs at FAU are not as big as other ones, but even a smaller ones are important. That race for the number of students (probably dictated by the state) is definitely not the best approach to education.
    Give faculty raises…. really….. faculty are overworked and had no raises for how long now? Yes, economic situation and all that. Which, by the way, did not preclude administrators from getting their raises. How much did they get – faculty do not know. What president can do? Be TRANSPARENT about all these issues. Clear and transparent. Otherwise the reputation will dwindle down quickly.
  • Involve the provost in decision making even more.
  • 1) provost external search
    2) respect existing faculty
    3) fair evaluation of college deans and center directors
    4) Respect and talk to the faculty.
  • Research goals (primarily amount of funding dollars awarded to FAU) are not being met by the general faculty. The general faculty are too burdened by heavy course loads and lack of research assistance. Therefore, bringing in the “high flyers” (think neuroscience as an example) has become a strategy to raise the overall amounts of research dollar production to the university. This 2-tier system – general faculty vs. high flyers is simply unfair. General faculty need more time and resources to conduct research if the overall reputation of the university is to improve. A few premier programs may get some regional attention but if this universities reputation as a whole is to improve, Kelly must do more to support research efforts among the general faculty and not rely so much on buying the high flyers to meet research goals.
  • Treat FAU as an academic institution, not a workforce development program.
  • rethink his vision of what a university should be, and follow up his platitudes with actions.
  • Outsource himself to a cheaper and leaner two-bit snake oil salesman. At least save us some money.
  • Not try to turn FAU into Clemson .
  • Pay more attention to the safety and structure of facilities than in beautification of grounds. Respect all disciplines. Work in good faith with the union. (This is a year where the faculty has demonstrated they deserve better by the ranking the university received. Years and years of administrators making more and more money and in a year where recognition should go to faculty, the administration again doesn’t make up for years of acting in bad faith through withholding reasonable raises by giving faculty a decent raise. The college I am in has faculty salaries at 83.5 percent of the comparable schools (Oklahoma mean).)
  • Leave FAU
  • President Kelly is creating a bigger and bigger gap between administration and faculty. His methods are divisive. He asked to meet with all faculty to discuss how FAU can be improved, but faculty were instructed not to bring up the issue of salaries. He would better serve FAU if he looked at the lowest paid faculty and spoke to them about what they do for the university and see how they are struggling to make ends meet, understand the self perceptions and the feelings of worth by the university, look at their credentials, make an honest, concerted effort to bring them to a live-able wage let alone to the same salaries as other members of their departments and colleges. President Kelly needs to hear the experiences of these faculty members and what they been being told/offered by administrators.
  • consult the faculty who are being affected by change prior to instituting change (that is a basic rule of Change Theory and Community Health).

    BE HONEST in sharing work done by the union representatives; we are not without understanding; we perceive what he is trying to do in demeaning the union. He would get much further (and more importantly, so would the university community) if he respected rather thandespised the union. I have worked as a nurse at a hospital with a union, and the atmosphere between employees and administration was much healthier and collaborative because we were not looked on as being “the enemy” which we feel like we are here. It is sad.

  • Raise more money and stay out of academic issues
  • John Kelly wants to increase research funding but needs to supply resources to do this. Allowing tenure earning faculty to teach less courses to have time to focus on research and publications.
  • Justify FAU community regarding the new hires with big salaries.
    It would be good if he will treat the faculty with respect
    He should not create clusters among faculties
  • Dr. Kelly demonstrates extreme favoritism to the College of Medicine. This is demoralizing to other colleges.
  • President Kelly should work harder to unify his vision for the future of FAU with our universities small number of traditional strengths. Let’s not forget our commitment to our regional constituents. Most importantly, let’s not forget that among the most important elements of FAU’s mission is our commitment to providing higher education to individuals who do not have the luxury of being full-time students. Time to degree varies based on one’s enrollment status, and we need to remain committed to serving area students who are working their butts off to make their way through university one or two courses at a time.
  • Bank less on the success of the football team.
  • send the VP of research back to the north (Delaware). Where is he?
    repair all the unhealthy bathrooms on campus.
    Ask the people that he brought with him to do not act like “ Big Shots”
    Say hello to FAU Staff and treat them with respect

  • Seek professional help to deal with his football fetish. Change his fundraising priorities.
  • Resign or step down
    stop the hypocrisy
    stop the mediocrity
    STOP closing the university early so much for sports, this is so unacceptable.
    Fire the president, Board members, and provost!
  • Thank you, President Kelly for your leadership
  • The worst choice for a president for FAU
    He needs to go back and be a groundskeeper and manager of grounds and maintenance, he has no business being a president of a big university, he is completely incompetent.
    We need a true leader, this is a kiss up type of leader who moved his way to the top, but was never a true academic
    What a huge disappointment for FAU to have someone so incompetent as this guy as a leaders
  • Promote all colleges in the university, not just a few
  • Listen to the faculty. Stop consulting the FAU attorneys all the time. Consider appointing a Provost for the Faculty, who is NOT Diane Alperin.
  • Worked more closely with Union representatives. They are the voice of the faulty.
    I would like to see monies and academic benefits and rewards (like professional development opportunities) for adjunct faculty.
  • He should stop behave like a Hollywood star. He should place all the staffs that he hired recently on line
    Could he please explain to us what is Dr. Flynn responsibilities? Dr. Flynn is invisible like the President
    New hires receiving huge start packages Did they bring anything back? Dr. Kelly should promote the development of the university and let the faculty that their getting loose offers to go and not giving them higher salaries
  • submit his resignation immediately for creating two classes among the existing faculty (research/ teaching) nurturing an inner circle of highly paid administrators, favorites, and friends with total indifference towards the faculty. He lives in isolation from the faculty and the hallmark of his administrative style reveals his arrogance and disrespect towards the faculty. He promotes favoritism to selective faculty under the disguise of promoting research and creates a class distinction among the faculty. He did not care about the legitimate faculty salary increases for the past more than two years. FAU deserves a more humane leadership with a genuine interest in promoting research and serving the community.
  • resign
  • Hold his word and support faculty.
  • GO back to developing strip malls
  • Care about something other than administrative metrics. The metrics are important, but they are not the only thing that is important. Has not communicated any sense of the university community’s mission at a time when universities are being changed.
  • Be on the side of faculty just a bit more.
  • Involve faculty in governance – real governance, not just appearance of involvement.
  • Offer reasonable pay raises to faculty who are performing at or above expectations.
  • …would not only listen to the VP for Research but also to the Provost and Deans.
  • refocus the university on academics. He should end the movement toward “Florida Athletic University,” spotlighted by a hopelessly inadequate, unpleasant athletic director being a vice-president. He should put his money where his mouth is, and present to the Trustees a plan to bring our salaries up to the level of our peer group–USF, UCF, FIU–we belong at the top of the group, even if the previous administration didn’t believe it. He needs to raise money for academics, not just athletics. He needs to recruit a new vice president who can replace both Dorothy Russell (due to retire soon) and Stacy Volnick (who did a good job as head of Business Services, and should go back to doing that good job).
  • Reward the loyalty and hard work of long-time faculty by making their pay at least equal to that of new hires.
  • Study up and watch his tongue; on the subjects of diversity and faculty governance, a more obtuse person has not led this university, and it is just insulting. Look around and see where the money goes and how the demographics are changing, and who is being exploited on the way.
    At least pretend we want international students for something besides their money.
    At least pretend that these incoherent “strategic” pillars and platforms are meant to advance us all and not just a few white male turfbuilders.
  • Concentrate on being more student & faculty-friendly. Reduce the pay inequality.
  • Pay less lip service to making the University better and actually MAKE the University better by implementing better working conditions.
  • Share the wealth- the greater funding is in large part due to the success of the faculty. Thus, the increased funding for FAU should largely be given back to faculty in the form of higher raises and increased benefits (like full tuition exemption for dependents).
  • Support the “traditional” colleges and departments rather than the “pillars” and “platforms
  • Negotiate for more faculty support to achieve the high standards of performance he expects and what faculty wants to do. For example, teaching .>100 students and be expected to obtain federal funding is not possible within the 40 hour workweek.
  • Keep up the excellent work. My family and I love living here and I love working here. Keep FAU on the upward trajectory.
  • resign and go somewhere else
  • Listen and respond fairly to the faculty.
    Promote equitable salaries for the faculty.
  • GO back to from whence he came and build condos
  • Go back to the real south
  • Continue to bring FAU forward. As a result of his leadership, I am proud to be a faculty member at FAU: It’s been a long time since I felt proud to be at FAU. I see many key strategic improvements as we move forward under President Kelly’s leadership.
  • He worked to push the FAU Board of directors to promote academic excellence by supporting the faculty more vigorously. Faculty members are the workers that deliver the metrics the university is judged upon. Even the most effective faculty are demoralized by the lack of salary and merit increases.
  • Get raises now for faculty
    Get Market equity
    Get merit pay
    Stop the bully chairs and apathetic deans from ruining this university
    Be present at all colleges and campuses all the time
    Stop cancelling and closing the university for football this is the first year of this, it is wrong
    Put academics first and foremost in this university
    Give full summer pay for two classes at 12.5%
  • Be fired.
  • …respect faculty in his actions and not empty words. He has created a top heavy administration at the expense of faculty. He does not stand up to the board in support of faculty.
  • Consider students’ future earnings less and focus more on the whole person and the transformative potential of a university education. In the long term, that would benefit FAU (and all our students) considerably more than continuing on our current path.
  • Spend time walking across the campus. Remember Frank Brogan? Hardly anybody sees him.
  • Abide by academic freedom and faculty governance standards and stop continuing the corporatization of higher education. His focus on football over faculty and quality education, his emphasis on STEM to the detriment of other disciplines, his focus on profiting from faculty and student innovations/inventions, as well as his support for giving administrators raises while allowing the university to continue to under-pay full-time faculty and increasingly rely on adjuncts and other contingent faculty to educate students is part of the broader trend of what’s wrong with higher education today. I worry that he’s all style and no substance and that he doesn’t really have faculty and student interests front and center. It’s not entirely his fault that the state and, sadly, most other states are trying to replace higher ed with a corporate model, but it’s very concerning. I was hopeful he’d be a good president when he first started, but I’m not so sure anymore. I guess he’s better than what we had before, but he hasn’t met my expectations for good, inspiring leadership.
  • Let the provost run the academic side of the university with little or no interference.
  • step down; quit manipulating others.
  • Need to strategize how to make faculty salaries as completive as others (i.e. UF and FSU).
  • Be seen in public.
  • Put his money where his mouth is.
  • Recognize the importance of all constituencies, including faculty and students, and not just politicians and wealthy local donors;
    demonstrate leadership by returning his bonus until the Board of Trustees acknowledges the contributions of all university employees.

  • stop overselling what FAU can be and start looking at what FAU actually is. Overpromising is dangerous to those of us who will be left behind when he leaves for the next job. Kelly wants to be strategic and to focus FAU’s resources and “brand,” and the faculty want to support him in many of his ambitions, but he spends too much time on the “shock and awe” and too little time on the basics of what makes a regional university strong.
  • Get his next job quickly
  • Would pay more attention to faculty needs and be impartial about meeting faculty needs.
  • He has done many under handed things
    We do not trust him now
    Should be fired along with BOT and Provost
    Get higher raises yearly for faculty
    Improve leadership
    Stop closing the campus for football and sports
    Focus on academics
    Be more visible
    Work better with UFF to support faculty and students
    Morale is the lowest now due to his ego driven poor leadership
  • realize that hiring a few stars is not the best approach to building a stronger FAU. Focus more on the entire faculty.
  • Make sure all his faculty got raises
  • Please introduce more Eminent Scholarships: Some Colleges have several Eminent Scholars, some none. Please recognize EXISTING faculty members’ EXCELLENCE. He met with 57 departments! Great achievement! Please now meet individual faculty! Please change the names of streets at FAU into those of Archimedes, Einstein, Pasteur, Darwin, Freud and others! Please make murals on each building: see please Miami’s Wndwood district!
    Thanks for coming to FAU!
    Please introduce 5,000 bonuses for faculty!
  • Resign.
  • Go develop a mall somewhere in Mississippi

Additional comments about President JOHN KELLY:

  • Very unfair administrator, creating division among staff.
  • Faculty and staff give FAU much more than a 40 hour week.
  • He is a visionary and I appreciate that.
  • See above
  • Is not visible to the faculty and staff. He is performing in any event as a Hollywood star and he is hiring right and left.
    All the big directors and should provide their resume on line to justify their high salary
  • He needs to realize that many faculty cannot support themselves and/or family on a low wage 9 month salary – in this geographical area. Therefore, faculty must take on additional courses to teach over the summer months leaving little to no time for research. Many faculty who are unable to obtain FAU teaching assignments over the summer, must resort to obtaining outside employment (such as teaching online courses for other universities) to make ends meet. How can FAU faculty compete for research dollars with tier 1 schools who have much lighter teaching loads and pay a decent wage?
  • I thought the previous President hit the low-water mark, but this one is far more damaging. He kooks totally clueless, and has no academic leadership abilities. He surrounds himself with a useless Provost and other Y sayers. The arbitrary assignment of pillars and hiring of faculty not connected to the departments undercuts the foundations of academic operations, and depletes good programs from support. The refusal to increase faculty salary has alienated the base, and the morale looks all-time low.
  • Typical and ambitious.
  • Be considerated with falculty not only with administration. Do not put faculty against UFF
  • His disingenuousness is only matched by his mediocrity of thought. I would like to know what the costs were for the rebranding campaign of “Unbridled Ambition,” which seems to more adequately reflect the administration’s own stance to getting bonuses and raises for themselves than actually improving the university. The website claims that unbridled ambition is the “ultimate in possibility thinking.” Seriously, who comes up with phrases like this? Also, maybe having a blue eyed, white girl looking like she is going to bite one’s head off might not be the smartest image to project at a racially diverse college?

    This guy continues to fumble the ball on all levels: trying to get rid of tenure through the post-tenure review process, imposing new assessment criteria on faculty that has not been vetted by us, reducing the diversity of working-class students on campus by succumbing to the pressures of the metrics that are geared to only having a middle-class student body that can meet them, closing down campus for a losing football team.

    Memo to President Kelly: This is not Clemson, so please stop trying to remake it in its image.

  • The President’s recent statements about collective bargaining were shockingly misleading. Although he claimed credit for offering faculty family leave, he neglected to mention that he did not put that policy in place, nor does that policy extend to all faculty. 12 month faculty, for example, are excluded from many of the benefits he touts. Moreover, his misrepresentation about compensation and the position of the UFF in collective bargaining are deeply disappointing.
  • Football isn’t important. Take care of your facilities. Pay your faculty. Don’t lie. Keep raising money.
  • I appreciate him being here and wanting FAU to succeed. I urge him to consider how much of it is sincere, and how much of it is for self-glorification. He has the air of a politician, not a leader, but I suppose that is an effective tactic for fundraising here in Boca Raton.
  • He talks a good game and put on a good act. But since his honeymoon period here at FAU is over; he is a different person. He seems to be more interested in media coverage; at least he is visible.
  • It seems as if President Kelly lives in a world separate from the academic side of the university.
  • He needs time
    Mary Sanders was a leader
  • Should work through his Deans more and respect their opinions,
  • President Kelly has made great strides in improving the standing of FAU within the SUS. This year it even looks like we will get raises of between 1 and 3%. This after years of no raises or periodic, stifling merit bonuses. The faculty salaries are so low by national standards and this latest raise will do little to improve this embarrassment. As a research-active FAU faculty member for the past 10 years, my primary incentive for writing for extramural funding to support my research, is that grant success will make me competitive for a faculty position at other universities that more highly value the efforts of effective, successful faculty members.
  • Where are our raises for the past 4 years?
    Why do you get big raises and bonuses for you and your admin, but faculty get jack?
    What is very sad about FAU in recent years is that they have allowed the kiss up types who are the most incompetent become all the leaders in the university, but none of them have ever been tenured, taught, promoted, published, won awards, done real research, we have the cream of the crop outstanding faculty and all the leaders who could never make it as a scholar running the place, this is the real problem with FAU now, mediocrity rules with pathetic leadership in all areas of the university, all the kiss ups are the ones in position of power, but they are clueless and egomaniacs,
    Why are all the leaders at FAU so insecure and incompetent?
    It seems like most leaders and admin at FAU are jealous and envious of the success of faculty here at FAU. None of them could ever do what faculty do, they got where they are by kissing ass.
  • The president allows anything goes here, admin at all levels are out of control pushing evals on faculty and allowing very bad treatment toward faculty
    The president should institute an evaluation system for every admin. that faculty can evaluate like elearning, assoc povosts, directors, deans, assoc. deans, etc.
    FAU should not be proud of how low they fly their flag, the institution has drop to an all time low level, mediocrity is the rule here, admin. are so weak here.
    The sad thing about FAU is that the admin are jealous, envious, and insecure and have to constantly push all these new eval systems and SPE on faculty, if admin could do half of what professors do here, professors are publishing, doing research, grants, getting awards, and doing so much, while admin. do little other than be jealous of faculty so to then push more stringent evals. on them. admin need to stop with their insecurities and live up to high standards and respect faculty more and do more for them who are producing.
    Hypocrisy at its best with this one
  • He needs to start making some changes to the old school administrators, and to get the College of Engineering working with the Division of Research
  • Amazing how he can talk out of both sides of his mouth at the same time. He lied, makes things up, jokes with the Board and ignores faculty while he pretends to be doing something. Advancement of FAU in the metrics was a statistics play, which faculty know. He is not fooling anyone.
  • Many bathrooms in various buildings are in terrible condiitons
  • He hired Dr. Flynn and I am wondering about this decision. Dr. Flynn does not talk to the faculty either. I am not sure if he can bring the SRO in a different level.
    I-sense????? what is this? Any money after two years?
  • Along with the Provost has done a great job of improving our ranking within the state of Florida, but it seems to be somewhat at the expense of the Faculty. One area of concern that I have is that he has hired a very large number of Clemson cronies at extremely high salaries, when their CVs are anything but ordinary (and in some cases quite underwhelming). This is doing serious damage to the morale of existing faculty.
  • I am very pleased with our tied for first position ranking.
  • His actions and many of his words reveal his contempt for faculty.
  • President Kelly needs to bond better with faculty. I don’t feel like he really appreciates how hard most of us work. There has been too much focus on having stricter ways to evaluate us and not enough on how to reward us for our efforts. Also, it has been taking far too long for him to agree to a salary increase despite the fact that the cost of living has gone way up since the last increase.

    We have to publish a lot of research in addition to having heavy teaching loads (compared to other research universities that have 2/2s). We get very little money for travel – not even enough to cover one conference if you add up registration fees, airfare, and hotel. We wind up getting our research and FAUs name out there on our own dime — and in some colleges here at FAU we have very low pay — like half the salary of professors in some departments.

    I do like the way President Kelly is focusing on student engagement and creating a sense of campus community — and I hope he continues to find new and creative ways to do so.

    I am very worried about the new high GPA that is required for freshman to get into FAU. Looking back to when I was in high school I am not sure I would even qualify for the new standards — and I graduated with a class rank of 13 out a class of about 300. I think it is important to have high standards but I feel the new standards are too high — and it will lead to lower enrollment or just more state college transfers with lower GPAs than all the poor rejected applicants who did not meet the original cut off.

    I think it is tacky how he refers to his wife as a first lady…sorry but it is how I feel

  • The faculty at FAU have not had a raise in 8 years. We really need the President to be our advocate with the Board of Trustee’s. The University needs to meet national pay averages to maintain quality.
  • He severely biased the faculty evaluation system. Who ever heard of an evaluation system without the words “very good”? All of this to justify lower faculty raises.

    He is willing to spend $300,000 to bring a Nobel prize winner to campus for a few weeks. But for the faculty who do the work every day of educating our students and communicating ideas through research, and who have devoted their careers to FAU, he offers nothing and fights everything.

  • It not very well informed and gets many facts wrong.
  • Bringing FAU up to the top of the SUS ranking this year is a terrific accomplishment.
  • He is one of the worst presidents after MJ Saunders.
    GET RAISES FOR FACULTY, GOING ON 4 YEARS WITHOUT ANY RAISE
    We have the lowest paid professors in the SUS of FL.
    Not present or visiting all colleges and campuses regularly
    Kelly is out of touch
    He seems like a campus manager, not an academic or true scholar
    Be realistic about FAU it is more or a teaching university
    Stop trying to push tier 1 university, FL will not allow that many other than UF and FS
    Gov. Scott should fire the president and provost and dismiss all of the board of trustee members at FAU, there is too much corruption and ineffectiveness here
    UFF is the only group that do anything
    We need all new leadership at FAU again in all colleges, departments, Provost, and president
    Taking a $40K bonus when faculty have not received a raise in 4 years looks very bad for the president
    Giving raises of almost $2000000 last year to admin when faculty now have not received a raise in 4 years looks very bad,
    Professors need to strike against this admin and board of trustees
    Governor Scott needs to replace the BOT and president and provost
    leadership stinks here
    Morale is the lowest
    All a bunch of do nothings
    He should be ashamed of himself

  • NO respect for faculty.only cares about manipulating metrics to look good and hiring more administration. Morale of staff and faculty at all time low. He lies, plays with the truth and is a poor represenation of a college faculty president. The faculty trusted him, he let us down.
  • He’s a huge disappointment, an empty figurehead. He made a ton of promises when he interviewed, all of which were quickly forgotten.
    He doesn’t give a damn about faculty or students; it’s all about his own petty kingdom. He’s had ample time to demonstrate what he wants
    to do and it’s clear that we’re heading in the wrong direction. Pillars and platforms; are you kidding me?
  • My main concern about both the leadership of both the Provost and the President is that it is not clear that they are willing to invest in and support faculty that have been here for a number of years as opposed to just focusing resources on bringing in new people to develop the pillars.
  • Kelly is surprisingly uninformed about the way scholars work.
  • This is a President who had a lot to say when being interviewed for the job and in the performance tactics of visiting departments. Unfortunately, they were all patent lies. He does not like faculty, and worked against trying to solve serious faculty problems like renumeration (he promised he would work on that), while saying that he wanted to only admit better students and directed and admitted the largest freshman class in FAU’s history, most of whom are simply unprepared for college. He works in tandem work the Board against the faculty and against students. He has no experience in running an academic operation and it shows. Perhaps he could just build another retail park. His use of money for athletics instead of academics is standard operating procedure for administrators who have no knowledge of, and no interest in, academia. He is just another nightmare intent on a race to the bottom.
  • He meets with our department faculty 1-1/2 years ago (11/14) and when asked about raises says “I’m working on it”. Nothing since, not a word. All talk, no action. Has no interest in faculty, only interest is increasing the size of his administration. He was happy to tell us and thank us that we tied for #1. More talk, no action. Also campus beautification is obviously more important to him. I was happy to see a new president after our last, but now I see we have actually gone down hill! He has done a wonderful job lowering faculty moral.
  • There seems to be a preference for hiring cronies from Clemson, usually at much higher salaries than most people promoted from within FAU are receiving, even when the track record of the new hires isn’t as good. This has the serious potential for creating an atmosphere of frustration and resentment.
  • Has lowered academic standard to curry favor with governors and board. Totally into the destruction of a university as an academic place, now it is just get the students a piece of paper. Lied about improvements to the BOG…. We all know that without Fs and D’s the GPA will go up! Has only raised money for athletics. Has no respect for faculty and people who preceded him. Claims credit for other people’s work as if he alone educates every student. Some of us see the real man who can’t even keep up with his daily mail and runs around accusing his staff. Why are the police at his home all the time???
  • MORE MONEY MUST GO TO ACADEMICS, NOT ADMINISTRATION AND ATHLETICS!
  • All hat, no cattle.
  • President Kelly has so many layers of gatekeepers that it is practically impossible for faculty’s opinions and suggestions to penetrate. The President should consider instituting monthly open house meetings, to which faculty can register and be given the opportunity to deliver five minutes speeches.
    There is no visible evidence that the President is trying to strengthen the local political base of FAU. Is he really trying to reach out to the Broward and Palm Beach Jewish communities?
  • He not only is responsible TO the Board of Trustees, he also is responsible FOR the faculty. With responsibility comes obligation. He seems not to understand this fundamental relationship, nor the distinction between running a business as a manager and administering a public university as a colleague.
  • As a faculty member at a university, I have read books about governance and followed closely the performance of the presidents of the schools I have attended. I have been disappointed at President Kelly’s lack of support for best teaching practices and his lack of concern for the rank-and-file student of middling ability who comes to college without strong ambitions or a clear idea of what a university education can do for him.
  • President Kelly must be reminded that the academy is more than STEM and to not turn his back on other disciplines.
  • He is very good at external communication. he needs to work on his internal relationships.
  • Reduce the faculty teaching load in the COE and CON.
  • I give them credit for being able to solve the metrics problem.
  • Dr. Kelly is responsible for quite a dramatic turnaround at FAU, after years of leadership that ranged between mediocre and incompetent. He deserves a great deal of credit, and I believe that under his stewardship FAU is headed in the right direction. My reservations concern his decision to invest heavily in athletics — only a small percentage of the student body will have access to the extraordinarily expensive facilities he has committed the university to building — and his apparently hostile attitude to the union.
  • President Kelly has poor communication skills and has brought the University national disrepute. His arrogance and divisive style have undermined morale. He treats the faculty with contempt and encourages subordinates to give members of his family special treatment. His only interest appears to be impressing wealthy (and largely ignorant) trustees and donors. He has hoodwinked Anthony Barbar and squandered donations from Jeffrey Feingold, Bobby Campbell, and the Schmidt family on vanity projects.
  • Stepped into a tough situation. Doing his best.
  • I have been here a long time and have seen many University presidents. I have NEVER seen one with such a confrontational approach toward the faculty union. They are in constant conflict and it should not be that way. I am not a union member, but I see this as an obvious reflection of President Kelly’s contempt for the faculty.

    Changing the performance criteria was not done in good faith (see above with respect to The Provost).

    There is a local firm, Owl Tutoring, that has apparently hacked into university websites. This puts our grading records, and the university’s reputation, at risk. He knows, but is doing nothing. We need to maintain academic integrity while boosting retention. Otherwise our reputation will suffer. He apparently doesn’t see that.

  • More interested in sports than making this FAU a high profile University. Don’t self congratulate yourself. Let others do it.
  • A $50 million practice field? Call it an academic center if you like, it’s a practice field that will benefit 1% of our student body. Donations that would have gone to students are diverted to this project. In a best-case scenario, FAU will go 8-4 and play in a Dec. 22 no-name bowl game against an equally irrelevant football team. How does that justify a $70 million stadium & $50 million practice field? I thought that the BOT was made up of business people, I guess not.
  • This is a guy who came in promising to fix problems with student recruitment and faculty salaries, et al, and then immediately proceeded to recruit the largest class of unprepared students in the University’s history and fight against long deserved raises for faculty. He lied is way through the interview process and clearly has no interest in academia. He is a developer, and a nasty one at that. Why do we keep on getting these losers? We have a Board that hates academia, hates faculty and couldn’t care less about students. As one recent television program described the Tea Party of which most of these people are members, “they are the American Taliban.

FAU would be better served if Dean HEATHER COLTMAN would:

  • Remove her from this position as well as the Associate Deans.
  • Do mot have favorites as chairs. Some of them are incompetent.
  • invest more effort in understanding the parts of the College unrelated to the performing arts.
  • Nothing. No one needs or wants her
  • depend less on her associate deans.
  • Review policies and procedures more carefully.
  • Remain in her position for many years.
  • step down as dean. She is so incompetent that puts the college faculty at great risk. She is unfair and biased. She should stop coming to governance meetings, should not be on committees that evaluate research proposals, and should open the college budget to review by each department because there’s widespread opinion that she treats her friends much better financially than others. She is widely considered corrupt because of this.
  • Go practice Piano somewhere (else)
  • Should not be afraid of making waves.
  • stop being so patient with the slackers and whiners and dead wood who oppose her every initiative. I appreciate her respect for disagreement and her tolerance of criticism, but I wish she was able/willing to say, “off with their heads.” On balance, though, I suppose we are better off with a dean who is tolerant of critics than with an authoritarian dean. I admire her ability to focus on what’s great about the faculty rather than on what’s a problem.
  • Watch the impression she creates, which is not as professional as she actually is.
  • Quit her job and go far far away.
  • Publicly support her faculty and not just try to impress Barbara Schmidt and Carolyn Kelly.
  • persuade the provost to give us new lines!
  • resign
  • Carry on.
  • Dean Coltman is an effective leader who would have even greater success if FAU’s upper administration had greater respect for the mission of the College of Arts + Letters. She struggles agains the STEM-oriented biases of the university’s higher-level administrators. Especially as Dean Coltman develops effective strategies for advocating for the arts and letters in a STEM-focused culture, she has a responsibility to develop the leadership potential of promising faculty in her college. The College of Arts and Letters will only thrive (and our disciplines will only thrive) if strong deans take the initiative to mentor emerging leaders. Arts + Letters needs a formal leadership development program.
  • GO practice somewhere else

Additional comments about Dean HEATHER COLTMAN:

  • Still cannot rely on her to be a strong enough advocate for the liberal arts. Cannot say that she and her team inspires a lot of confidence. She wants desperately to be liked, but may not understand that she can earn that respect and trust by trying to understand and to care about parts of the College less familiar to her.
  • She is a good person who is somewhat out of her depth. If she doesn’t have a completely reactionary administration breathing down her neck like the Saunders regime did in the past, she attempts to cobble together the scraps thrown to Arts and Letters in a productive fashion. She has little to no vision, but she makes due and attempts to reward her faculty in the albeit limiting ways the overall university imposes.
  • Dean Coltman is a good advocate for the college. She works to attract and receive donations to support research in the college.
  • The most corrupt and biased Dean and Associate Dean group imaginable. The entire Dean group needs to go.
  • Completely, utterly corrupt. Money goes to her friends and chairs; has no idea of what higher education does except act as a bank for herself.
  • Should rethink her executive team.
  • Dean Coltman has been a unifying force in the college. She is transparent, fair, unbiased, and a strong advocate for A&L programs.
  • This is a Dean who is openly corrupt and her appointment shows that importance our Provost shows towards the liberal arts. She operates only in her own interests, dealing money like cards to her friends and clients. She obviously has no knowledge of the humanities and social sciences, and even very little of the preforming and visual arts. She s convenient for an administration who would prefer the humanities and social sciences disappear, and with no vision and no interests beyond he own enrichment, she is perfect for the current state of operations at FAU. It is a shame that Karma is hard to prove.
  • I really like Dean Coltman, and I think she’s doing the best she can in a difficult higher ed climate right now. She really does seem to have the faculty’s and students’ best interests at heart.
  • Nice to have someone who looks at the data before making a decision. A welcome change from past administrations. She has brought the college back to life, focusing on what’s best in the faculty’s work and steering clear of the favoritism and factionalism of prior administrations. Smart and effective, and also very authentic.
  • She is a very angry person
  • likely doing the best she can in an impossible situation.
  • She seems to be doing a good job. Very honest and open.
  • Dean Coltman is a capable leader and consensus builder.
  • The college has its first capable and committed dean in decades. Finally, optimism in A&L!
  • Very likable. Brave. On it.
  • This is a completely corrupt administrator who only rewards her friends and minions and on top of that, knows absolutely nothing about academic or arts and letters. She has publicly voiced opposition to free speech and attacks faculty who try to make comments on her administrative managers, the Chairs. Chairs have now gotten used to hiding behind her shirttails as they ruin their departments and alienate their faculty. She is the prime mover in making sure she is taken care of, and her distribution of college resources are an easy way to see what direction she flys. Corrupt bullies are becoming the norm in the FAU administration as it rushes to the bottom, and she is the perfect symbol of how to destroy education while benefiting oneself and friends

FAU would be better served if Dean DANIEL GROPPER would:

  • Pay closer attention to issues of inequity within the College of Business and worry less about asking overworked, underpaid instructors to raise money for the COB to spend on initiatives other than equitable pay.
  • Retire or get fired. Not student or faculty-friendly. Has created a corrosive culture and toxic environment. Incredibly poor fund-raiser. Has a few pet projects & people. One of the worst deans I have seen.
  • looked at his entire staff (faculty and administration) and to see who is paid the least and why. Look at his faculty’s credentials and contributions and award them equitably. Realize he has faculty who qualify for food stamps and Obamacare, and make the changes needed to pays. Quit asking for more from faculty and giving less, actually nothing, in return. Use the college’s discretionary money more on the faculty, especially those who are lowest paid, for once to bring us to a fair wage. Talk to the the faculty to determine our needs, worries, fears, frustrations. Show some commitment to your faculty and learn about us, our credentials, our contributions. Look at the discrepancies of pay between faculty members within departments and across the COB and bring some equity to salaries, not to mention, how we are the lowest paid among the nation and the other state schools in Florida.
  • Be more transparent in the department chair hiring process. Also, if he would raise more money from alumni and large companies/firms.
  • He needs to follow his own procedures and not give Distinguished Research Fellow awards to faculty without four years as Associate Professors. Also, faculty whose teaching is evaluated as “needs improvement” by their chair and have to be counseled by other faculty in a formal department meeting about how to structure and grade their courses should not be considered “distinguished”. Such awards and violations of procedures undermine faculty morale.
  • Get involved and champion higher standards placed on undergraduate students–attendance, engagement, preparation, commitment, motivation to excel, and the like. The COB has far too many lackluster undergraduate students who adhere to truly low standards that appear to be widely accepted across our student body. Recognizing that the sole emphasis at FAU is on graduating inept students, Dean Gropper faces a near impossible challenge here. Maybe an effective approach can be found in positive reinforcement incentives, programs, recognition, and student interaction with the Dean and faculty.
  • Actually consider the faculty input he receives and stop making unilateral decisions against faculty wishes.
  • Keep up the excellent work. People love working in the COB. It is a drama-free low politics school with happy professors, administrators and (most important) students!

Additional comments about Dean DANIEL GROPPER:

  • Dean Gropper is very personable and approachable. He values people’s strengths and show appreciation for their efforts.
  • Promotes and rewards cronyism. A big bore. Talks too much about how great he is. Poor administrative skills. At best average professional credentials.
  • Phony, inauthentic & full of baloney. Talks big, delivers little to nothing!
  • He has done an admirable job of increasing incentives for faculty research. He is an excellent communicator and advocate for his faculty. He has a strong sense of commitment to making this place better. Basically, we could not do any better at this point in our development as a College than having him as Dean. We are extremely lucky he came here.
  • Dean Gropper appears to be aggressive and effective in aligning the COB with AACSB standards.
  • Needs to try to be a bit less verbose.

FAU would be better served if Interim Dean WESLEY HAWKINS would:

  • Stop abusing people. And stop lying. And seek some inner source of integrity, which is noticeably lacking.
  • Start a new dean search in August 2016. This includes strongly discourage internal/FAU applications to this position, search committee chair from CDSI faculty, no more than two CDSI administrators on the committee, and a competent committee that understands the academic job market and how to engage faculty in the search process.

Additional comments about Interim Dean WESLEY HAWKINS:

  • Nepotism is a stain on both the college and the provost’s office. A real legitimacy problem.
    He sent out a very bizarre email to college faculty pouting about the College faculty meeting and promising not to attend because he had some disagreement with someone about something? Hardly the mark of leadership. We need a new dean search; this time let’s hope the provost’s office doesn’t sabotage it.
  • First we all are aware that come fall 2016 or before that he is going to be announced as Dean instead of Interim Dean. I will hold other comments!
  • Good job for a one/two-years interim dean. Thank you.
  • Dean Hawkins is a breath of fresh air and optimism. He has actually said thank you to actual faculty members for actual concrete things, not just as a public relations term of art. How unusual that is.

FAU would be better served if Dean VALERIE BRISTOR would:

  • presented a positive image of the college, actively promoted the college, took action to support faculty
  • Value scholarship and integrity more.
    Stop providing cover for an out-of-control chair.
    Appoint new associate deans.
  • Provide more direction and concrete supervision for the department chairs. They currently have too much freedom in decision making.
    See conflict as an opportunity for growth and positive outcomes, instead of avoiding conflict.
  • Show stronger advocacy for the college’s mission, and stronger leadership in making decisions that are aligned with a progressive education agenda at the university, regional, and state level.
  • revamp the administrative system within the college. Since chair & ass. dean became lifetime appointments, the exec comm doesn’t follow through on anything. There are major scholars in the college being held back by a mediocre exec comm.

    Stop making chairs out of the least accomplished faculty members. In place of accomplishment we get ego and self-congratulation from people blind to how 2nd rate their performances are. They become complacent & lazy, going through the motions instead of building the college up.

    Stop focusing on style over substance. Wonderful personalities don’t necessarily equate to competence.

  • retire
    respond to emails
    care
    stop the madness
    address the bullies in her admin
    get faculty who are respected in her admin.
    stop playing favorites
    too many inequalities in the COE
  • She is really nice.
    She seems to really care.
    She is not good at emailing back to you or responding to emails and concerns.
    She puts on good parties and events with good high end food.
    She seems to allow her staff and admin to treat students and faculty poorly.
    There is a lot of unprofessional behavior coming out of her admin wings.
    She has her own agenda with her big grant trying to push things through using her powers.
    Dr. B needs more of a spine to stop the negativity and evil dooers from ruining the morale in the COE
    she allows anything goes here not intervening to stop all the bullying, Emery and Ridener are so mean and nasty to students and faculty creating a lot of problems in the COE, their bullying and egos are out of control in the way they treat people
    A lot of the admin in the COE are insecure and jealous of the successes of the faculty and this comes out in them walking on them and treating them disrespectfully due to their own insecurities.
    Leadership is lacking
    There is a lot of unprofessional behavior coming from admin. in the COE

  • step down; quit self-promotion; quit supporting rogue behavior of chair Ridener; cut down her travel schedule and attend to college matters.
  • Enhance the faculty research productivity.
  • Get raises for all faculty to match OS CIP in areas
    Have a backbone and stop your chairs from being bullies treating faculty and students poorly
    3 out of 4 or the COE Dean’s assist/assoc deans have never been professors or gone through P&T kissing up to these positions without qualifications
    The asst deans are weak and not present, many lack skills like using technology or having a scholarly background of research and scholarship professionally
    The dean allows here secretaries in the COE to treat faculty poorly
    The COE secretaries make a lot of mistakes toward faculty
    The COE secretaries have too much attitude and do not treat students and faculty respectfully
    Coe secretaries are very little help to faculty as they give too much attitude or not willing to help us
    Stop the bullying in the COE from top admin and chairs toward students and faculty
    The Dean needs to implement evals for all admin, like assit/assoc deans, secretaries, chairs, the dean by faculty
    Dean Bristor needs to put a vote of confidence on the chair evaluations each year for all chairs
    Too much favoritism
    Not all departments receive fair and equal travel monies and prof. dev monies, some do not receive any at all
    The dean allows for too much mediocrity in the COE

  • be replaced with a dean with vision, more backbone, and does not show favoritism.
  • keep working for faculty
  • Good person and nice heart
    She needs to get better raises for faculty
    She needs to stand up to the bully chairs that try to run the COE
    Care more, actions speak louder than words
    In a rut
    Have staff better support faculty without making so many errors or giving so much attitude
    It may be time for a change in leadership
    There are too many kiss ups in the COE, most admin are not qualified and only moved up rank because they kiss up
    Very low morale
  • Better market our programs, there are billboards for other colleges (Business and Nursing) all over South Florida and our programs are dropping in enrollment with no marketing.
    We also need a stronger connection to our neighboring school districts, there are grants being executed from other state colleges in our own districts, which means there are potential needs from our schools that we are not addressing.
  • Have better university support when situations are beyond her control . Legal issues with harmful, email writing faculty must be solved by this university.
  • provide leadership not lip service

Additional comments about Dean VALERIE BRISTOR:

  • During the spate of anonymous letters, the dean did not act to support the faculty. By her inaction, the reputations of senior and new faculty was smeared, faculty felt threatened and unsafe, and abandoned.
  • Some of the depts. in the COE are stagnant, with little innovation. The potential of the college is higher than what’s being realized.
  • I like her and thinks she cares.
    She has been in this position quite some time, maybe it is time for a change.
    She needs an assoc. dean or asst in Boca to address a lot of issues that she never has time for or to do or meet with, she cannot do it all so should have an assoc. dean.
    Thank you Valerie for the new 3/2 load that is coming in the fall.
    WE need triple the money for travel if they want us to present and do more research.
    Not all departments have equal access or equal treatment of resources
    Get rid of all departments and chairs, start fresh
    Get more raises and funding for faculty to do more research
    It is time for a change!
    I love Dr. B as a person!
    I like that she is open about her faith
    She is a real sweetheart
  • she needs to respond better to emails and faculty concerns
    make things more fair for all faculty
    She does not show real and true leadership in how she handles business in the COE
    Instead of taking a stand, she waits and does not do anything about problems hoping they will just go away
    She needs to place a “vote of confidence” clause for every admin in the COE, we need to be able to evaluate all assoc and assit deans, chairs, and directors every year.
    We all keep hoping she will get better, but every year she gets worse, when will the Provost improve the leadership in this college?
    She does not take her role seriously enough

  • She is unable to discipline / correct chairs who bully their faculty.
    This year has been especially bad for multiple departments/ faculty members in the college; the lack of leadership is largely to blame.
  • She is a caring, compassionate and honest leader and tries her best for everyone in the COE. Her leadership is grounded in the history of the COE.
  • The grant was not handled well. She works for faculty, but also allows a lot of things in the college to not be transparent. Some really bad chairs in the college are getting a free ride. Dean is fair, many chairs are not fair.
  • Reduce the teaching load from 3/3 to 2/2.
  • Allowing CCEI to control the agenda this year, was a detriment to the entire college.
  • Dean Bristor does an excellent job of leading a very large college. She is also very accessible and effective at communicating with everyone — from students to faculty.
  • The flag flies at half staff in the COE, mediocrity reins here
    We need new blood and a change of guard
    How much longer are we going to have to put up with weak leadership and bully chairs?
    when will the Provost appoint a better dean?
    We need to clean house in the COE
    Morale is very low
    It is not an enjoyable place to work in anymore
    Tired of the bullies here
    the 360 evals in the COE are a joke
    The COE needs all new leaders
    the COE has gone to hell
    Dr. Bristor has made the COE not a nice place to come to work for any more
    Pay more for summer pay
    Get raises for all faculty

FAU would be better served if Dean JEFFREY BULLER would:

  • Spend more time at the Honors College being a Dean.
  • Retain him.
  • Please please leave
  • If he would stop promoting his side career as a motivational speaker. If he would spend less time on the road promoting that career and would spend more time at the college.

Additional comments about Dean JEFFREY BULLER:

  • Why do we have a separate Honors College anyways? All it does is double counts courses. But, that way, university can create more administrative positions. BTW, FAU have one of the WORST faculty to Administrators ration in the nation.
  • Congrats Jeffrey on a great run. It is good that you have chosen your time to return to faculty. You were a great dean!
  • the nightmare is almost over.
  • Buller does not over manage the faculty. Some would prefer a more proactive style; there might be room for improvement.

FAU would be better served if Dean MOHAMMAD ILLYAS would:

  • Step down and allow new people to lead. He has been in that position for the past 15 years (in Deans office), with no accomplishments, no improvements in the college. Ilyas employs two other associate deans (Dr. ZIlouchian and Dr. Mahfuz) who are clueless and have been hanging around for the past 15 years again. No improvement in enrollment of graduate programs, no research funding increase after Dr. Mahfuz took leadership. Deans office needs to be revamped.
  • Realize that his time is up and he should hand over to someone who is not been part of the current Deans office
  • Train, or fire or do something with his IT staff. it is impossible to do anything with dudes that they are writing 2 pages email to explain why the cannot do it
    Too much lunches and meetings.. Budget coordinators in the department after so many years in the office it is really difficult to submit anything without mistakes.
  • Stop Jason from I-sense acting like a king. This is ridiculous. He needs to ask Dr. Mafhuz to step down because I can do the same job even better than hi, Copy and paste of NSF opportunities does not justify his salary.
    Train CEGE’s budget coordinator to do her job better more efficient and without mistakes.
    Improve collegiality and post all the associate deans CV online.
    Why a few faculty in Engineering earning high salaries. Please Justify. It is not fair an associate professors in the college to earn huge salaries just to travel or to be involve with the pillars
    Hire CEGES ex chairs in the deans office.
  • I think the entire DEANS office team needs to step down and pave way for new team. The three (Illyas, ZIlouchian and Mahfuz) are there just doing nothing. College has not seen any improvement.
  • We hope that the next dean will be one that can be trusted by faculty and staff. He/she should be transparent; truthful; caring; unbiased in favor of a certain religion; doesn’t change his/her mind frequently; keeps promises; not a micro-manager; truly encourages open discussions without any kind of retribution. The next dean should be one that understands that focusing on pleasing the upper administration is far from enough to qualify for a good dean.
  • continue to serve as Dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Science
  • Take his naps at home
  • resign immediately. Dean Ilyas has inflicted irreparable damage to the college vision and image over the past more than 10 years through his calculated and preplanned administrative actions based entirely on his religious beliefs.. The college senior level administrators have all been appointed by him based on his religion without any consideration for talents from the college faculty. Besides the college leadership promotes and recruits new faculty and graduate students based mostly on religion without any consideration for merit. This practice has been going on over several years and the present upper administration ( Provost Perry and President Kelly) do not seem to care about the college interest.
  • step down along with his buddies – Zilouchian and Mahfuz. They do nothing and have been there for the past 15 years, especially Illyas and Zilouchian. We need a leader not a place holder.
  • Continue as a dean few more years
  • Resign immediately and take his associate deans with him.
  • Dean Illyas is an excellent leader who is working hard to improve the work environment for everyone and uplift college’s standing in research and academics. I would like to thank you for your continuous support for faculty, staff, and students
  • Take a firm stand against the upper administrators, who try to micromanage operations, and wreck the institution.
  • Ask Dr. Mahfouz to step down. Maybe is a good chef but He is not good for the associate dean of research position. Ask the IT group to work more efficient, creative,problem solvers, etc.
    Departments suffer because of the staff. Is a budget coordinator in the college than for a $10 k proposal she needs 2 weeks to put a budget together. Always is confused and she is confusing anyone else in the department college and FAU in general. Please Save us
    She is not efficient, She is the Queen of mistakes and she is using faculty and other staff time to be able to complete her work.
    You can not do research if you do not have IT and staff support.
  • Dr. Ilyas is a wonderful individual but sometimes he is taking one year to make decisions and the decisions are not the best for the college.
    Associate Dean for research has an attitude. He does not know how to bring the college research in a different level. Not a clue outside NSF.
    Departments needs help. Budget coordinator in one particular department is always confused. not efficient at all. many mistakes and average proposal submission is more than three weeks usually with mistakes. it is worthy it to mention that the faculty preparing everything even the budget.
  • Most unfortunately, dean does not treat all faculty on the same scale: it is unhealthy for college to have the dean choosing the two associate deans based upon faith, and yes-men; committee should be appointed which makes choices of the associate deans. He also reduced the entrance requirements for the graduate students acceptance, thus we have weak students from certain parts of the world.

Additional comments about Dean MOHAMMAD ILLYAS:

  • No leadership. Stupid fundraising stunts (for $500, color my hair with orange). No initiatives. Status quo. the upper administration needs to wake up and change the entire College of Engineering Deans office leadership. Totally useless leader and co-leaders (assoc. deans).
  • Ilyas and Zilouchian have been in the Engineering Deans office for 15 years or more so nothing is going to change while they remain in the Deans Office. Unfortunately the college is desperately in need of new leadership initiatives as evidenced by the faculty preoccupation with 2% salary increase this semester. If that is their biggest concern then they have no direction and that is the problem. Ocean Energy and Ocean Engineering used to be the highlight of the college, but now both programs are stalled. The same leadership approach is being used in Bio-Engineering, and so it will also fail due to bickering faculty members unless someone steps in to take out of Ilyas’s hands.
  • He is a nice person that he is trying to change the college. The college needs an external person as the provost office.
  • He has no leadership
  • The dean must understand that religion cannot and shouldn’t play any role in making decisions. For instance, when there are clearly more qualified candidates for an associate dean position, the dean should not choose the less qualified; also college criteria for choosing students for university awards must be clear and the most qualified should be selected.
  • Dr. Ilyas is an outstanding leader who has been working very hard to promote the College. He is professional, fair, organized and positive. He has been maintaining an open-door policy and goes out of the way to keep the faculty engaged and motivated.
  • The Dean seems to be hell-bent on maintaining the status quo at all costs,, “never rock the boat”, “never take a risk” appears to be his motto. Most of the Associate Deans on his Executive Committee have been in office forever (since the last decade) – the leadership is stale.
  • Dr. Ilyas is a cool person. Is his term ends This coming November?
    I think that Dr. Ilyas needs new associate dean for research
  • The worst administrator and leader. College will remain the same as it has been for past 20 years. It is time for a change.
    Step down Ilyas
    Step down Illyas.
  • Excellent dean. Wise and compassionate.
  • Dr. Ilyas should be praised for the steps that he has been taking for growth of the College, in areas such as Bioengineering and Environmental Engineering.
  • Very decent fair leader.
  • he is a wonderful individual much better than Dr. Stevens that he run the college like the college was his property.
  • I was very optimistic when Dean Ilyas was formally promoted to Dean. However, I have to say that I’ve been a little disappointed with the College’s progress this year. The bright spot is an increase in research activity, but apart from that things seem to have stagnated in favor of the status quo. Faculty initiatives and even some important administrative paperwork seems to stall when they reach the Dean’s Office, as many things just get sit until deadlines past or people give up. Most of the Dean’s executive committee members have held the same offices for around a decade. It’s a bit worrisome that no new administrators, with potentially new ideas, are being groomed to learn what it takes to effectively run a College.
  • He needs to ask all the new hires with big start up for a progress update through the chairs and/or Dr. mahfouz. He needs to raise the bar for promotion and tenure. Do we have term limits for Deans and/or Chairs? is Dr. Ilyas term ends next November?
    Good Luck Dean Ilyas
  • It is disturbing that university administration did not yet change the dean of engineering, who is either associate dean or the dean for over 15 years, without increasing the visibility of the college.

FAU would be better served if Dean CAROL HIXON would:

  • Hixson should resign.
  • She just got here. Give her a chance.
  • Be given the appropriate resources to do her job, as well a good facility. She really is fighting an uphill battle.
  • Be given more resources to fix what has become a visual eyesore and potentially hazardous library building (on Boca campus)
  • Please have the library open 24/7 for 365 days.

Additional comments about Dean CAROL HIXON:

  • Library is still functioning, Interlibrary loan service works great. I guess it is a plus for Dean Carol Nixon. On the other hand, subscriptions to certain journals are being cancelled, even those online. BTW, does our libraries have a status of a college? I mean, a purpose of the library is to keep book inventory and to supply faculty and students with the items required. Do we have any curriculum in the library? In library studies perhaps, but that might be housed in the college of Arts and letters or Education…. Why do we need a DEAN of libraries? Would’t a Director be enough? Or it’s just a way to create one more administrative position at FAU?
  • Mean spirited, micro-manager, has a temper, disrespectful, does not listen to diverse opinions, has a closed door policy, is narrow minded, is disorganized, and creates chaos.
  • Because she’s new, Dean Hixson is still unproven on many of these factors. However, she’s doing the right things so far. Honestly, the facility and staff she has is weighing her down. She’s solicits a lot of feedback and allows for governance. The previous administration dug such a deep hole for her. Carol Hixson has an ideal attitude for a person in her position. We just need to see if she can put the attitude into practice or if there is simply too much deficit.
  • Has done a lot in a short time
  • The Interlibrary Loans division is in very poor shape. More often than not faculty requests are simply ignored.
    I recently tried the online “ask a librarian” option. Nobody e-mailed back to me.
    Some important reference books that I recall using in my research back in the 1980s and 1990s are no longer on the shelves. These are either lost or sold by the library for used book sellers.
    Dean Dixon should adopt and articulate a plan for modernizing the library, and make such plan known to the faculty.
  • I haven’t seen enough of Dean Hixon, since she’s new to the university, to make much of a judgment. I have a positive impression of her, though, and I hope she gets the funding she needs to undertake the ambitious and necessary changes she plans to make to the library to bring it into the 21st century and better meet the needs of faculty and students (as long as she keeps the real books!).
  • Dean Hixson is fairly new to FAU and the Libraries. I would give her more time before evaluating her properly as we seem to be in a transitional period.

FAU would be better served if Dean MARLAINE SMITH would:

  • Be more visible to faculty other then in meetings and social events. , encourage assistant and associate deans to be more visible to faculty outside of meetings and social events. Leaders never walk around 3rd floor to check in with faculty. Assistant and Associate Deans support a hierarchy structure , they all sit together at Faculty Assembly, most meetings they are involved in do not really value faculty input. Decisions are made by them prior to the meeting and they just want faculty to approve.
  • The College of Nursing administration has become more bureaucratic, controlling, and competitive (the latter is not all bad).
    Faculty confusion over changes in expectations and evaluation, dismay at the increased bureaucracy and increased stress from high demands for bringing in funding with assistance that is more critical than helpful has had an adverse effect on the college over the last year or two. Academic freedom is endangered when people are ordered to change or abandon their research ideas, break up research teams and change the course of their scholarship altogether. This is not the same Dr. Smith that so effectively took over from Dr. Boykin several years ago.
  • Be more FAU-oriented rather than Nursing-College possessive.
  • Should foster better control on faculty course scheduling. Do not foster a “who-moved-the-cheese” approach to performance appraisals. Become more sensitive to favoritism shown towards faculty who graduated from FAU’s program vs. outside faulty hires. Obtain a better understanding of research pressures and teaching loads.
  • continue doing what she is doing!
  • Provide more teaching support – like TAs
  • I do not know this Dean, but whether because of her or in spite of her the nursing school seems to be very well run.
  • Abide by faculty governance by-laws and caring philosophical foundation

Additional comments about Dean MARLAINE SMITH:

  • There have been a few internal conflicts that I felt Dean Smith could have been a bit more involved in resolving. However, overall, I feel she has been a good administrator.
  • She is a caring nurse leader who has made a difference at FAU, in the community, the state, and the nation. Her faculty feel supported. The students have commented that she is someone who exemplifies the philosophy here at the college of nursing when they have gone to her with issues. She acknowledges our successes and encourages us in our failures, creating a supportive environment.. She is always quick to respond and constantly seeks-and listens- to faculty input. She is a politician when she has to be, but even then she is sincere. President Kelly would do well to model her style of leadership.
  • Dean Marlaine Smith is highly respected and impartial. She leads the college to achieve high standards. Under her leadership, the college’s reputation and outcomes have improved tremendously. It is a pleasure to work with her.
  • Love her
  • Delegates too much to other Administrators in CEL-CON

FAU would be better served if Interim Dean JANET BLANKS would:

  • be retained as the permanent Dean
  • She has played her role in holding things together, but shows limited real leadership
  • Quit.
  • be hired permanently in the position
  • Janet has done a great job as interim dean. It would be great to see what she could do if hired permanently.

Additional comments about Interim Dean JANET BLANKS:

  • Deserves the thanks of everyone in the college for stepping up when needed.
  • Interim Dean Blanks is a great advocate for her faculty.
  • The worst Dean Science has had. Way over her head. Does not have a clue nor projects any vision. Complete lack of response to faculty’s E mail. Arrogant.
  • Incompetent and. Clueless.
  • Dr Blanks was recruited to step in as Interim Dean while the COS conducted a national search for a permanent Dean. To the best of my knowledge she has done a good job in this temporary position. She is no doubt busy but able to meet with individual faculty as required.
  • She’s a fresh breeze of air. In less than a year she has transformed the college. There is more collegiality; faculty have hopes and dreams again; there is excitement and progress. We absolutely need to keep her. Looking at the slate of jokers they’re interviewing for permanent dean is nauseating. Give us Janet!
  • I have appreciated Dean Blanks’ efforts as interim Dean. Although her position is interim and it feels as if the college has been somewhat on hold awaiting the hire of a permanent dean, I feel that Dean Blanks has been thoughtful and willing to consider varied viewpoints, and I value that in a Dean.

FAU would be better served if Assistant Dean JOEL HERBST would:

  • ALL faculty, including permanent status employees, should receive annual raises.
  • Consult faculty/staff before making decisions.
    Make decisions that benefit the entire student population, not only a select few who bring good PR.

  • The old previous one used to be better and more visible and doing more for the COE and community
  • Align the Henderson school faculty with the focus of FAU faculty and student research focus. There is a huge disconnect; we have lost the lab school promise.
  • Promote a collaborative, supportive atmosphere. Lead by respecting faculty and staff instead of leading by fear.
  • leave bargaining committee
  • Fight for raises for permanent status teachers
  • Leave – his absence/presence would not make it a bit of difference.
  • 1. learn and use faculty governance
    2. appreciate the efforts of all of the FAUS faculty and compensate ALL of the faculty
    3. be willing to listen to those who do not share his opinions
    4. understand the power of collective leadership

Additional comments about Assistant Dean JOEL HERBST:

  • Get back to link faculty in the COE to the lab school to do more research and events together, bring us all together
  • We really hardly ever see him.
  • Joel Herbst is overly concerned with the future (raising money for a new elementary school) while neglecting the present (A.D. Henderson/Fau High School’s day to day operation, the importance of maintaining/building a positive school culture, and current students’ education).
    Joel Herbst is a strong and effective leader who might be mislead by his ineffective, overpopulated leadership team.
  • He is an outstanding leader who can be counted on. We are fortunate to have him working at FAU!
  • Nobody knows him or what he does. He is a sheep, a follower, and does not lead in causes that matter in progressive education.
  • Morale of the faculty and staff is extremely low. We fear for our jobs even if we know we are excellent teachers. Rules and procedures are bent depending on his needs. I would not feel safe going to him about certain concerns. Employees are trying to keep a low profile and not stir the pot. Very Machiavellian.
  • Obviously, Dr. Herbst believes in top down management. The faculty knows little about the decisions he makes. He creates positions and hires the people he wants to fill the positions. He has eliminated all music and art programs from the middle school program. His main interests are his own children’s needs and creating an environment that discourages innovation and creativity.
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