Great Expectations: First Board meeting of the fall semester addresses key issues

The first Southern University System Board meeting of the Fall 2015 semester took place August 28 on the second floor of the J.S. Clark Administration Building. Among the many discussions that took place among board members, a few of the most prominent include the new endowed professorships of Dr. Revathi Hines, Gkuoqiang Li, Ph. D, and Patrick Mensah, Ph. D.
Hines, a professor in the College of Social Behavioral Sciences, along with Li and Mensah, both professors in the College of Engineering and Computer Sciences, received 5,000 salary supplements.
As endowed professors, they are expected to deliver an annual address to the faculty and public, and furnish the university with annual reports of academic activities and accomplishments undertaken during the period that the professorship is held, amongst other things.
Attorney Tony Clayton requested to establish a policy for the number of hours that would determine full time employment for faculty members, as he discussed the salary of an unnamed professor. Clayton argued for the reevaluation of this particular faculty member’s salary, as he teaches only two courses, and receives approximately 180,000 dollars, while maintaining a full-time job at a local law firm.
Interim Chancellor of the Southern University Law Center John Pierre explained the situation as one of circumstance, a result of an approval made by former System President Ronald Mason to allot outgoing chancellors 80 percent of their salary. Pierre also noted that he did not want Southern to become a “farm club” for other law schools.
“When you have a law school on your campus, it is an expensive investment,” stated Pierre, who also corrected Clayton’s usage of the word “forced” when referring to faculty members who took participated in the early retirement incentive plan.
The plan revolved around the impending budget cuts the Law Center would face, aided by the idea that some tenured faculty members who were considering retirement in the near future would do so at the moment, freeing positions in order to save money. The participants will receive 33 and one third percent of their salaries in installments over the course of three years. The intention is to leave these positions vacant prior to the Fall semester of 2018, with an exception if a position is deemed vital between then and now.
“The faculty members who decided to take an early retirement were not forced,” explained Pierre.
Another major development in the course of the meeting was the arrival of Southern University at New Orleans Student Government Association President Brian Alexander. Alexander spoke of what he felt to be a “lack of genuine responsiveness to concerns facing the students of SUNO” by the Board. Alexander also alleged that international students were wrongfully awarded scholarships, but did not reveal his sources for fear of retaliation.
“When word got out that I would be coming before the board, I received an average of 30 calls within a half-hour from the chancellor and people who work for the chancellor,” stated Alexander.
Chancellor Victor Ukpolo had no response.
The next board meeting is scheduled for Friday, September 25 on the Baton Rouge campus.