UT: THE EYES OF TFA ARE UPON YOU!

UTMB AND UT HISTORY OF ATTACKS ON TENURE

Click below for a historical perspective of the U.T. System's systematic weakening of tenure written by Dr. Charles Zucker, former Executive Director, Texas Faculty Association.  (The current director is Tom Johnson.)

http://txfacassn.typepad.com/utmb_galveston_chapter_te/files/ut_system_tenure_busting_070223.pdf

For a quick overview of the UTMB tenure crisis, click on the link below to take you to the article that held top billing on the blog for months:

http://txfacassn.typepad.com/utmb_galveston_chapter_te/2007/04/tenure_under_at.html

UTMB administration used claims of a financial crisis to justify its attack on tenure through the new School of Medicine faculty compensation plan.  The link below leads to an article that debunks the claims of poverty put forward by administration:

http://txfacassn.typepad.com/utmb_galveston_chapter_te/2007/01/tales_to_look_f.html

And for readers who need a smoking gun to be convinced, something is sure enough smoking here:

http://txfacassn.typepad.com/utmb_galveston_chapter_te/2006/08/utmb_administra.html

VIDEO: "MY BOSS WAS A BULLY"

Ever work for one of these people?

http://video.on.nytimes.com/index.jsp?auto_band=x&rf=sv&fr_story=b78120f498b3867a44a488d52536052b53fb9775

AN OPEN LETTER TO UTMB DEAN OF SCHOOL OF NURSING DR. WATSON

Dear Dr. Watson:

It's not too late to win back your faculty, but you've got to change course. I know the university has given you a coach, and I've even seen a newsletter you recently put out. It looks downright snappy. But not your coach, not your newsletter, and not advice from fellow administrators, given their track record, is going to help you in this crisis.  What will?  Getting back to real leadership basics. 

First, you have got to stop destroying your own credibility.  A few months ago, you claimed that people had the "misconception" that they had to be at the campus pretty much from 8 AM to 5 PM, Monday thru Friday.  Your faculty knew it wasn't a misconception.  You gave one of my grievants a letter pretty much chaining her to her office door.  After it became a public discussion, you came out with another memo that said it may have been that way before, but not now.  You should have begun with that last memo rather than being flushed out and losing credibility. 

You did it again when you claimed that you were never informed about faculty concerns that led to the current crisis.  Your faculty knew better, and every responsibility-dodging denial you issue only degrades trust and credibility.  Come clean with your faculty, Dean Watson, even when it hurts.  You'll win their respect. 

You've also got to learn to really share the governance of the School of Nursing with your faculty, even the ones--particularly the ones--who don't tell you that you're doing a great job.  Sycophants are poor mirrors, reflecting the image they think you want to see, distorting reality. Surround yourself with lots of different folks and get a real reflection of what you're doing.

You spoke about reconciliation the other day even as you sprang a reorganization plan on your faculty for which you gave them zero input.  I hear that at least one of the new associate deans you unilaterally appointed is nearly universally disliked.  Talking about reconciliation in the face of such one-sided authority is meaningless. Your actions speak much louder than words. 

Historically, UTMB administrators deny problems and bully those whom they perceive as failing to goose-step with them.  Deceit is viewed as a management tool.  (Case in point: Administrators were talking about cutting tenured faculty salaries to run them off back in 2006.

Download parisi_re_reduce_salaries_060622.pdf

Now, were they going to say to tenured faculty, "I'm cutting your salary to run you off"?  Of course not.) This is your chance to change that, Dean Watson. Opportunities spring from adversity, and this is your opportunity to really lead.   

It won't be easy.  You'll have to listen to--and really hear--some unpleasant things, and you'll be making yourself vulnerable to some extent. You'll have to act with your faculty to correct problems.   

Your faculty will love you for it. More importantly, they'll quit talking to me and start talking to you. Find a nice, big table, sit down with your faculty, and say, "Ok, we're in one helluva fix.  How do we get out?"   

You can do this, Pam.

MORE ON UT AUSTIN MEDICAL CAMPUS

Please see "UT Medical Branch Official Expands on Austin Medical School Proposal," in today's on-line edition of the Austin American-Statesman.  An excerpt:

Dr. T. Samuel Shomaker, who also heads Central Texas Institute, a group of Austin-area leaders supporting academic education and research, said UT System regents are considering a small, research-based medical school affiliated with the UT Southwestern Medical School at Dallas that would have about 50 students in each class for a total of 200 students. Another 350 would be residents and other physician graduates who would be in training as doctors.

HOW CAN UTMB PROVOST ACT ON POST-TENURE REVIEW CASES?

With Dr. Callender's appointing School of Medicine Dean Garland Anderson as UTMB Provost, one has to think about what the good provost could be called to act upon.  At other universities, the provost often gets into the act for tenure and post-tenure reviews.  Of course, deans almost always get involved, and Dr. Anderson also still serves as the SOM dean.

Unfortunately, Dr. Anderson, who began working at UTMB long before the legislature passed the post-tenure review law, never went through the post-tenure review process, even before he replaced former Dean Parisi in 2006.  (Although the law does not provide for an exception, administrators generally cut themselves a lot of slack on the post-tenure review process, even though they are equally fond of giving themselves tenure.)  In short, either somebody made a conscious decision NOT to put him through the process and he went along with it, or he slipped through the cracks and didn't remind anyone.  Either way, there would seem to be a credibility problem for the good provost/dean when it comes to tenure issues. Clearly, Texas law was not followed.   

Click on the link below to see the list of administrators who had and had not undergone the post-tenure review process as of the time the Blogmeister requested the information:

Download som_administrator_posttenure_review_070628.pdf   

So, rather than wait until it comes up, the Blogmeister thought he would alert UTMB officials, not to mention those who might be reviewed by the provost someday, to the issue.  Let's have a little talk about integrity someday, too. . . .   

THE FRUITS OF DENIAL: UTMB OPHTHALMOLOGY AND PEDIATRICS

The Blogmeister, not so long ago, went 'round and 'round with UTMB administration over Ophthalmology's treatment of a couple of faculty members.  These people met with a solid wall of denial for the most part.  The problem with denial, however, is that those doing the denying don't do anything to fix the problem, either.  So let's see how well it works.  Let's look at the latest YouCount! survey and see how Ophthalmology has fared over the past year.  Click the link below to see the largest differences between this year's survey and last year's for Ophthalmology:

Download oph_diff_2007.pdf

The quality of medical care, as assessed by the department's own people, fell 27 points in one year, and employee motivation is just over half of what it was last year. I hear that resident matches really stink this year, too. 

The captain can either admit the ship is sinking and start bailing, or he can tell everyone nothing is wrong right up until the ship goes under.  So far, UTMB appears to prefer the latter in this case.

Now, why dredge this up?  Because history is repeating itself.  The Blogmeister has locked horns with UTMB administration over big problems in Pediatrics.  Again, administration is issuing its denials.  Now, I don't have Pediatrics' YouCount! 2008 surveys yet.  I got Ophthalmology's on-line, but neither I nor some people I asked to try could open the link on the UTMB site for Pediatrics' report.  Ok.  It's coming via my Public Info request anyway.  Once I get it, I'll have my baseline, and then we'll see if Pediatrics goes the way of Ophthalmology or if management will be smart enough to act this time.

Any bets? 

UTMB SCHOOL OF NURSING POST-ANDERSON FACULTY MEETING

The School of Nursing faculty, the stripes on their backs still smarting from the Provost's tongue lashing last week, had a tense faculty meeting with Dean Pamela Watson yesterday, 5/7/08.  Everyone tried to sit quietly and ignore the proverbial elephant in the room, but they ended up grabbing it by the tail and giving it a good yank.  (Leadership 101: Conflicts have a way of resurfacing until they're truly resolved rather than suppressed.) 

First, the good dean finally revealed her secret plan, the plan faculty had no input with (shared governance? open communication?).  The plan involves 3 major changes:

1. Ph.D. Director Dr. Alice Hill will now report directly to the dean.  She used to report to the ill-fated Dr. Lucke, whose bridge back has effectively been burned. 
2. A new position was created and filled by Dr. Trish Richard: Associate Dean for Baccalaureate Programs.
3. Another new position was created and filled by Dr. Kate Fiandt: Associate Dean for Practice/Graduate Programs.

The two new associate deans tag-teamed an upbeat little talk, saying their goals were open communication, a balanced workload, and faculty promotion and progression.  They said their strategies will be to listen to everyone, mentor folks, manage enrollment (120 students last year to 45 this fall, the Blogmeister hears), emphasize faculty retention (that had better include locking the door) and recruitment. 

The dean asked for questions and was met with utter silence. (There's some of that open communication management has fostered!) The good dean then filled the void by suggesting that the faculty needed time to digest the changes.

Then things really got interesting.

A faculty member acknowledged the dean's efforts and stated that she would like to support her.  She then stated her concern over last week's display by Dr. Anderson and his high-powered entourage.  This faculty member stated that she felt Dr. Anderson was unprofessional and demeaning.  The dean's response? "When people bring things outside the School of Nursing, this is what happens," or words to that effect. 

One of the people who went to Anderson said that she felt that the chain of command had been followed, since they did, in fact, take their concerns to Watson.  The dean demurred on that point and asked how anyone could believe the chain was followed.  The faculty member responded, "We brought our concerns to you, and you did nothing, so we went to the Provost."  Incredibly, the dean said, "I disagree that I was made aware of the concerns--that is your perception."  Readers are invited to click here to see Faculty Assembly Chair Tina Cuellar sounding the alarm months ago. (Of course, this e-mail could just be the Blogmeister's perception.) The SON has also had a facilitator brought in from HR to work on relations between faculty and administration, and when that didn't work, an outside facilitator was eventually brought in.  The faculty has also--twice--sent the dean an "Issues and Concerns" document outlining areas that need improvement in the School of Nursing.  Yep, it's just the faculty's perception that they communicated with the dean.

As that famous line from the movie Cool Hand Luke says best, "What we got here is . . . failure to communicate."  Communication, however, involves a sender and a receiver.  Now just where, gentle reader, did the process break down, with the sender or the receiver? 

Great meeting, Dean Watson!   

YOUCOUNT SURVEYS: IS ADMINISTRATION SHARING?

Last year, the Blogmeister ran a poll and asked if readers working at UTMB were ever shown the results of their departments' YouCount! survey.  51% reported that they were not.  I've posted another poll in the sidebar to the right and ask that employees participate again. Let's see if UTMB's performance has improved any.

BLOGMEISTER ON THE ROAD TODAY

The Blogmeister will be in Houston today.  Check back tomorrow for new postings.

UTMB WINS BURNING PANTS AWARD FOR EQUAL OPPORTUNITY

It has been a while since the Blogmeister presented the coveted "Burning Pants Award," but UTMB Human Resources has earned it by doing such a fine job carrying administration's water during the Nesti retaliation "investigation." 

Nesti went to UTMB's Equal Opportunity office back in 2004 to complain about Pediatrics' advertising for a faculty member but hiring a young, male for director of the Pediatrics Intensive Care Unit, thereby denying her, an older female, the opportunity to even apply.  So, when she filed a retaliation complaint this year, one would think that Melvin Williams, the guy still listed in the directory as the "Director, Equal Opportunity and Diversity," would oversee the investigation.

Nope. 

Guess again.

The HR employee assigned to the case does NOT work for Williams.  She works for an equally powerless middle manager, who works for Kathy Shingleton, the director of HR. 

UTMB took Mr. Williams out of the loop back in 2006, as readers may recall.  Why?  Well, they never gave the Blogmeister a reason, but Mr. Williams' office found in favor of Dr. Nesti when she complained in 2004.  It's 2008 now, however, and Human Resources, that bastion of investigative prowess and integrity, found against Dr. Nesti despite the mountains of documentation that clearly show she outperforms her colleague in every category and that her "bad luck," culminating in her nonrenewal this year, started after she complained in 2004. So, the Blogmeister's guess is that they removed Mr. Williams because he wasn't, as administrators across the nation love to say, "a team player." He actually looked at the facts.    

UTMB wants to have its cake and eat it, too.  It wants an African-American listed as the Equal Opportunity Officer on its website (as of today), but UTMB's lily-white upper management tier has stripped away that African-American's power to actually enforce equal opportunity.

And now, UTMB Human Resources, for superior deception in the area of Equal Opportunity, the Blogmeister proudly presents you with the first "Burning Pants Award" for 2008!

Congratulations. I hope you're proud of yourselves.   

NEW SHARING FEATURE ON THE BLOG

See something on the blog you'd like to share? Then click on the "ShareThis" button at the bottom of each post. Now you can send the link to a friend or colleague via e-mail, send the post to social websites like Technorati and MySpace, or even post the article to another blog.  Don't keep it to yourself: spread the good news!

UTMB PEDIATRICS MANAGEMENT AND ACCOUNTABILITY

Obviously, multiple complaints, particularly when management failed to act when complaints first surfaced, don't seem to matter to Pediatrics management when it comes to Dr. Nesti's colleague.  Click here to see former Pediatrics Chair Lawrence Stanberry's e-mail to Vice Chair Chris Turley discussing a "second" incident involving the colleague.  Note the date of the e-mail: April 27, 2006. 

Now, click the link below to see Stanberry's handwritten comments on the colleague's eval.  Note the date on the eval, some five months AFTER the second incident surfaced.  Stanberry dubs this guy an "outstanding citizen." 

Download colleague_eval_fy06.PDF

The Blogmeister has already published documentation about his treatment of residents (2007 360 evals), which Stanberry comments on as well, via an earlier post. 

As the saying goes, if this is their outstanding citizen, I'd hate to see a bad one! And UTMB administration, complicit in allowing the department to nonrenew Dr. Nesti while PROMOTING this colleague, has pronounced itself clean.  Oh yeah.   

COMMENTS FROM A DEPARTING PEDIATRICS PHYSICIAN

This guy wasn't a happy camper.

Download azamsexton_070226.PDF

PUSHING NESTI'S COLLEAGUE WHILE PUSHING NESTI OUT

The zeal with which Pediatrics management promotes Dr. Frances Nesti's colleague, someone she outperforms in virtually every category, and simultaneously gives her the boot, is hard for the Blogmeister to fathom.  The series of e-mails linked below reveals the department, once again, pushing hard to promote the colleague to the consternation of those outside of Pediatrics this time.  In this case, Pediatrics Vice Chair Chris Turley wanted a board-certified emergency physician to work under the non-certified, less-qualified, but oh-so-favored junior colleague.  See for yourself and note what the physician Turley is corresponding with finally demands. Clearly, Turley's desires don't make any sense to him.

Download zachariahturley_pacc_071211_redact.PDF

GILMAN DEFENDS UT SOUTHWESTERN SPENDING

Please see "UT Southwestern VP Serves Local Media Some Whine and 'Poppycock'" in the 5/1/08 on-line edition of the Dallas Observer.  An excerpt:

A couple of weeks back, we pointed your attention to an essay in the subscription-only Chronicle of Philanthropy, in which Pablo Eisenberg, a senior fellow at the Georgetown University Public Policy Institute, insisted that the Dallas media hadn't gone far enough in their reporting on UT Southwestern Medical Center's treatment of its VIPs. Well, today, UT Southwestern -- specifically, Alfred G. Gilman, its executive vice president for academic affairs and provost -- replies with a 1,742-word defense and dismissal.

MORE ON THE UTMB SCHOOL OF NURSING MEETING WITH PROVOST

Reports have been flowing in all night. This meeting, when you get right down to it, represents why conflict is so prevalent at UTMB. 

• Provost Anderson didn't ask anyone for a single question.  He asked the questions and provided the answers.  His world was self-contained.  He wasn't asking for input or feedback or trying to work things out.  He was directing.
• Administration tried to keep the outside world from seeing what they were doing.  As soon as they arrived, the provost shut down a remote link used by faculty who could not physically attend, saying he didn't want anything leaving the room.
• The rest of administration lined up behind him.  It turns out there were three others in the room: Dr. Callender, who, between the Nesti case and this business, has come out of the closet; an attorney from Legal Affairs, and then one other person who remains unidentified, although speculation is that the third individual was from Human Resources. Apparently, nobody felt like introductions were necessary.
• Administration was capitalizing on fear.  Legal Affairs had no business going to something like this.  The attorney didn't speak.  The lawyer just sat there as an implied threat.

So what did the good provost say? According to reports, he said the following as he took himself through his bizarre little question and answer session in front of an appalled audience:

• First, the good provost specifically fingered the group of faculty that stepped forward on behalf of the 39 petitioners. He asked himself if there was a group of faculty who wanted the dean fired, and then replied to himself that the master's faculty wanted the dean fired.
• He claimed that the master's faculty liked Dean Fenton better, but the school was dysfunctional when Fenton was in charge. 
• He asked himself if things were better under Fenton, and then offered himself e-mails and reports that purported to show they were not. (Faculty have complained to the Blogmeister that he was going thru his "data" so fast that nobody had time to really look at it or digest it.)
• The YouCount survey had vitriolic comments about SON workload and pay.
• The YouCount survey showed decreased engagement scores for the master's team.  (And this is the way you increase it, Garland?)
• He claimed to himself that turnover was higher under Fenton.
• He asked himself if Watson should be removed, and then answered that she should not, that she is doing a great job!
• He asked himself if Kathy Lucke should be reinstated and then answered himself that she should not. 
• He asked himself if Dr. Watson could do better and then answered himself that Randle P. White from Duke is now coaching her. 
• For his coup de grace, he asked himself, "Where do we go from here?"  His answer to himself?  "Everyone needs to step forward and support the dean or look for a new job." 

As he finished talking to himself, he announced that everyone would be required to attend a reconciliation day.  (This sounds an awful lot like one of those North Vietnamese re-education camps people had to go to after the war over there.  Now, Garland, true reconciliation is something that happens inside one's heart.  Certainly it's not something that occurs as a result of threats.  Holding a termination or nonrenewal to someone's head and threatening to pull the trigger will solve nothing.)

The faculty filed out in stunned silence. 

You betcha: the SON crisis is all better now.   

PROVOST ATTEMPTS TO SLAP DOWN UTMB SCHOOL OF NURSING UNREST

Reports are coming in that Provost Garland Anderson, with no less than President Callender in attendance, really put on the freewheeling discussion today when he met with the School of Nursing faculty over the current crisis over the faculty workload and the Lucke nonrenewal.  Coming armed with a PowerPoint presentation, he asked himself questions and then answered himself (questions and answers on the slides).  It all boiled down to, according to reports, everything at the School of Nursing is just fine, and those faculty who don't like it can just leave. 

Well, fellas, that's what they've been doing, all 34 of them so far (not to mention about the same number of staff, I'm told), with a fair number in the line-up to leave in coming months.  In fact, after your sensational, slap-down performance today, I would imagine the queue at the exit door just got longer. 

Good luck getting competitive replacements for these faculty.  Word's out. 

The Blogmeister will have a more detailed report on this episode later.

And finally, "Et tu, David?" We've been waiting for you to show your stripes for some time now. 

 

NESTI CASE MOVING TO NEXT STAGE

After--incredibly--having her retaliation complaint rejected by UTMB, Dr. Nesti is moving on to simply appealing her nonrenewal to the Chief Academic Officer, Dr. Pamela Watson, Dean of the School of Nursing.  This is the last stop in UTMB's questionable procedures, and the last chance for the institution to engage in some real risk management, which would be to do the right thing by Dr. Nesti and offer her a contract.  (Simply denying everything in the face of such overwhelming evidence only ensures the conflict will live on.) Her appointment with Dean Watson is Thursday, May 15th, at 10:00 AM. The Blogmeister will, of course, report how things go.   

GENDER DISCRIMINATION AND RETALIATION AT JOHNS HOPKINS

UTMB officials should take a hard, really hard look at an article published today in The Maryland Daily Record titled "Doctor Sues Hopkins for Bias."  See the excerpt below.  An interesting point in the article is that Hopkins' own documentation reveals a bias.  Gosh, UTMB has documentation like that, too. 

After she complained, Fischer alleges, Colombani started working to have her removed or force her to leave.

She claims he would make false accusations against her, one of which led to a verbal confrontation in which Colombani “leaned over and screamed at Dr. Fischer asking why she would never ‘cry like a normal woman,’” according to the complaint.

Things escalated to the point that, after securing a National Institutes of Health grant for research, she was denied lab space and her rounds were increased so she had less time to devote to it, the lawsuit says. And, when she went through an in-house employee assistance program, Fischer claims the counselor divulged what was said at the meetings.

As a result, Fischer said she was later ordered to undergo treatment for “personality disorder.” Fischer said she objected to the implication, but attended the sessions as ordered.

“Defendants’ strategy is a classic example of the repugnant tactic of suggesting that a woman who complains of gender-based discrimination, bullying and harassment must be mentally unstable,” the lawsuit reads.

Fischer also contends that she sought help from Freischlag, but nothing was remedied. She claims that Freischlag initially said she would support her, but in the end sided with Colombani in the effort to force her to leave.

YOUCOUNT AND SON EVAL OF ADMINISTRATORS ON THE WAY

The following is the text of a Public Information Act request recently sent to UTMB:

From: GEORGE REAMY [mailto:georgereamy@yahoo.com]
Sent: Tuesday, April 22, 2008 9:33 AM
To: Kelso, James D.
Cc: Wilson, Becky M.
Subject: Texas Public Information Act Request

Dear Mr. Kelso:

In accordance with the Texas Public Information Act, please provide the following public records:

1. The 2008 YouCount survey results for each department in the School of Medicine and the School of Nursing.  Also, please provide any overall reports for these two schools and the School of Allied Health Sciences.  It is my understanding that these reports already exist electronically, which is how they were provided to me last year.  I request, therefore, electronic rather than paper records. Please contact me if you are unable to provide these records in either .pdf or Microsoft Word format so we can work out compatibility issues.

2. Any 2008 evaluation of School of Nursing administrators performed by faculty. If this evaluation exists electronically, I request an electronic copy of these records, as well.  Please contact me if you are unable to provide these records in either .pdf or Microsoft Word format so we can work out compatibility issues.

Questions concerning this request may be directed to me via e-mail or via telephone at (254) [number redacted].  Hard-copy correspondence may be addressed to me at [address redacted] Lorena, TX 76655. 

Thanks for your assistance.

Sincerely,

--George W. Reamy

A MESSAGE FOR UTMB HUMAN RESOURCES

The ol' Blogmeister doesn't expect this post to mean anything to anyone other than a few folks in HR and the School of Nursing.  Forgive me for being so cryptic here:  "Coordinator II."  Do the right thing this time.

Do you really wonder why even classified staff are leaving the School of Nursing like frightened patrons from a burning theater?

LUCKE'S ANNOUNCEMENTS OF HER NONRENEWAL

We've heard a lot in the comments about Lucke's e-mails to both faculty and students announcing her nonrenewal, more or less refusing to go along with the dean's proposal that she tell everyone that she is stepping down at the end of the year to focus on scholarship.  For those who have not seen these e-mails, they are linked below:

Download lucke_080313_17.PDF

An offer to keep things hush-hush such as the dean's can be seen two ways, actually.  Sure enough, it does keep things low-key for someone who's looking for another job, but it also helps preserve the appearance that nothing is wrong at the school. It takes grit to do what Lucke did and tell the truth about her nonrenewal.  Although some have posted disagreeing with the notion of informing the students that she was asked to step down, the Blogmeister fails to see how the e-mail linked above would leave them emotionally scarred. 

Lucke has created a dialog, one that needed to occur.  UTMB administration can either embrace the conflict, work things out, and emerge with a much stronger School of Nursing, or it can try to change nothing, crush the dissent and the dissenters, and ensure that the conflict lives on to surface again and again. 

UTMB PEDIATRICS CHAIR STANBERRY ON DR. NESTI

Dr. Nesti's whole world began to turn sour after she complained in 2004 about Pediatrics' advertising for one position and pulling the ol' switch-a-roo and hiring a director instead, denying her an opportunity to even apply. Back when Melvin Williams was in charge of such things (UTMB administrators have since stripped him of this authority), his office found in favor of Nesti then, and she was eventually made a co-director with her young, male, and--compared to her--relatively inexperienced colleague. 

Of course, a couple of years later the department decided to dismantle the arrangement and advertised for a new PICU director, this time making sure Dr. Nesti had an opportunity to apply.  Clearly, the department was merely covering itself.  Check out the interview sheet linked below:

Download nesti_director_eval_stanberry_redacted.PDF

Let's take this evaluation and Stanberry's marks and comments category by category. 

• Clinical Experience and Competence: Stanberry rates her as "good."  Before she complained, she was rated "Olympian" in an official evaluation.  This woman carried the PICU virtually alone for three years, and they're tossing her with the same consideration I'd give to a used paper towel. 
• Research Experience/Productivity: Nesti was 75% clinical and only 5% research.  What did they expect from her?  Nonetheless, she produced work and recently had an abstract accepted for a poster discussion at the International Congress for the Society of Critical Care Medicine.  This will be the subject of a later post; however, her department failed to provide consideration on the work schedule when she requested it several months prior to the conference, and she was unable to attend. Could it be that her department didn't like the topic, which covered PICU quality assurance efforts and patient mortality rates? See the following link:

Download stanberrynesti_re_abstract.PDF 

• Current/Potential Research Funding.  See the discussion above.  Now, her colleague has the impressive total of three publications, and he is NOT first author on any of them, but he has been made a director of two different divisions. See his skinny CV linked below:

Download colleage_cv_0801.PDF 

• Professionalism/Communication Skills: Holy moly! They're sending e-mails back and forth about her colleague's unprofessional behavior and anger! As for not working well with department leadership, she complained about the hiring practices of the fellow marking her here--her chair. 
• Teaching Experience/Productivity:  He says, "Meeting teaching obligations."  The residents, however, are effusive with their praise for her, in stark contrast to their comments about the colleague.
• Overall Rating: Note that Stanberry uses the "not a good fit" routine here, the same excuse he gave Nesti when he gave her the bad news about her nonrenewal.  Note also that he places the responsibility for the poor working relationship with her colleague squarely on her, when Stanberry clearly knew by this time that her colleague had some big-time issues with staff and residents.  Click on the link below to see one of 'em, an allegation for which one of UTMB's investigations found "no conclusive evidence" regarding sexual harassment.  Pay particular attention to the description the resident gives of the colleague's treatment of Nesti. 

Download colleague_behavior_resident_redacted.PDF 

Indeed, just 3 weeks prior to writing the above interview eval on Nesti, Stanberry had sent an e-mail discussing what he should do about her colleague's poor behavior and anger problems. The Blogmeister has her colleague's evaluations and such, and not a word about his behavioral issues or unprofessional conduct crept onto anything I've seen that would prevent them from retaining and promoting him. The double-standard is there for anyone to see. The really sad part of all this is that HR knew all about this stuff regarding Nesti's colleague (see the names on the resident complaint linked above), and, at least on paper, HR did the retaliation investigation.   

UTMB's April 21 decision against my complainant is simply incomprehensible.   

NOTES ON OCT 2007 MEETING WITH DR. LUCKE

The document linked below, titled "Meeting Summary," was used by Dr. Watson to record a meeting with Dr. Lucke on October 16, 2007. Readers should note the bullet concerning salaries and workload.

Download planning_notes_for_oct_mtg.PDF

SURPRISE! UTMB FINDS ITSELF INNOCENT OF RETALIATION

Despite that gargantuan pile of Pediatrics' own documentation showing that my complainant, Dr. Frances Nesti, outperforms her counterpart in Pediatrics, despite that fact that Dr. Nesti has beautiful 360 evals compared to her counterpart, despite the fact that nobody is sending her to be coached for anger issues and unprofessional behavior like her counterpart, and despite a dozen other areas I could mention compared to her counterpart, UTMB's "hear no evil, see no evil" process is giving the nod to the nonrenewal of Dr. Nesti, it would appear. Please click on the image below:

   

I'm not sure why I'm so angry about this; it's not like I didn't expect exactly this sort of outcome from UTMB administration.  With no hearing panel involved, UTMB looks at itself, finds nothing wrong, and tries to shoo what it sees as a troublemaker away.  When this complaint first got underway, in fact, it was clearly headed toward a preordained outcome when I discovered that the Star Chamber "investigator" was not going to allow us to submit new documentation or review the documentation submitted by Pediatrics.  Moreover, they weren't going to do anything about the retaliation even if they found in my complainant's favor.  I fired off a complaint to HR Director Kathy Shingleton, and they backed off of that ridiculous stance, but, apparently, not the preordained outcome. They just put a little more window-dressing on it.  I can't begin to describe my disappointment or Dr. Nesti's disappointment.

We still have to appeal the nonrenewal itself to the Chief Academic Officer, one Dean Pam Watson.  We're not holding our breath for that one, either. That complaint is a one-stop shop.  Watson is the alpha and omega for the whole nonrenewal appeal process.  When and if she turns us down, we'll assess our options.

Meanwhile, I've compiled a list of links to this case for those of you who might like to look at the history of the case, the lopsided nature of Dr. Nesti's performance compared to her counterpart's, and just how irrational UTMB's latest decision, merely a continuation of the retaliation taken against Dr. Nesti in our view, really is. I really thought that, perhaps, under Callender, something would change. 

This ain't over until TFA says it's over.

Feb. 7, 2008 - First mention of case:

http://txfacassn.typepad.com/utmb_galveston_chapter_te/2008/02/new-grievance-c.html

Feb 27, 2008 - Nesti not allowed to grieve

http://txfacassn.typepad.com/utmb_galveston_chapter_te/2008/02/utmb-grievant-c.html

March 7, 2008 - Update regarding turn for the worse

http://txfacassn.typepad.com/utmb_galveston_chapter_te/2008/03/complaint-updat.html

March 12, 2008 - Another complaint initiated

http://txfacassn.typepad.com/utmb_galveston_chapter_te/2008/03/pediatrics-facu.html

March 17, 2008 - Denial of access to grievance process:

http://txfacassn.typepad.com/utmb_galveston_chapter_te/2008/03/a-self-serving.html

March 19, 2008 - More on denial of access to grievance process

http://txfacassn.typepad.com/utmb_galveston_chapter_te/2008/03/denying-faculty.html

March 31, 2008: "A Peek Behind Retaliation's Curtain"

http://txfacassn.typepad.com/utmb_galveston_chapter_te/2008/03/a-peek-behind-r.html

April 7, 2008 - Colleague's documented anger issues

http://txfacassn.typepad.com/utmb_galveston_chapter_te/2008/04/07/index.html

April 10, 2008 - Case update

http://txfacassn.typepad.com/utmb_galveston_chapter_te/2008/04/utmb-pediatrics.html

April 17, 2008 - Complaint entering final phase

http://txfacassn.typepad.com/utmb_galveston_chapter_te/2008/04/pediatrics-reta.html

April 20, 2008 - 360 Eval Comparison

http://txfacassn.typepad.com/utmb_galveston_chapter_te/2008/04/another-peek-be.html

April 21, 2008 - Pediatrics failed to act on complaint about colleague

http://txfacassn.typepad.com/utmb_galveston_chapter_te/2008/04/utmb-pediatri-1.html

April 22, 2008 - Comparison of Productivity

http://txfacassn.typepad.com/utmb_galveston_chapter_te/2008/04/comparison-of-p.html

April 22, 2008 - Nonrenewal & not a good "fit":

http://txfacassn.typepad.com/utmb_galveston_chapter_te/2008/04/deans-notes-and.html

April 25, 2008 - "Olympian" performance v. unprofessional behavior:

http://txfacassn.typepad.com/utmb_galveston_chapter_te/2008/04/more-on-pediatr.html

MORE ON PEDIATRICS NONRENEWAL AND RETALIATION COMPLAINT

Before the Blogmeister's complainant approached UTMB Human Resources about Pediatrics' questionable hiring practices, her performance was described as "Olympian" in an official, department annual evaluation.  (See link below.)

Download complainant_eval_fy02.PDF

Of course, she's being nonrenewed nowadays.  On the other hand, check out management's Olympian efforts on behalf on my complainant's colleague.  They hooked him up with President Stobo's coach.  Look at the addressees on the e-mail, as well.  It's not like management--at the highest levels--wasn't aware of the problem with this guy even before Pediatrics nonrenewed my complainant. 

Download colleague_behavior.PDF

UTMB administrators can still make it right.  The question is, however, will they? My complainant continues to await their decision.

KLEBE DENIED TENURE AGAIN IN 2008 POST-TENURE REVIEW

What follows are several documents involving the post-tenure review case of Dr. Robert J. Klebe.  As readers may recall, Dr. Klebe has been the focus of UTHSC San Antonio administration's attention for some time now, and he is suing UT and UTHSC SA for age discrimination, retaliation, and deprivation of property rights as a result.  The actions he alleges were taken against him are shocking, and the court documents outlining those actions are posted on the blog.  These latest documents, correspondence between his chair and a member of the Post-Tenure Evaluation Committee, Klebe and his Post-Tenure Evaluation Committee, and Klebe and a higher, university-level PTEC committee, also shed light on his situation.  To say the least, they make interesting reading:

An exchange between his interim chair and a member of the PTEC

Download klebe_email_exchange_re_ptec.pdf

Dr. Klebe's letter to the 2008 committee

Download klebe_post_tenure_review_2008.doc

The 2008 committee's denial of tenure yet again 

Download klebe_ptec2008_evaluation.pdf

And, finally, the text of an e-mail from Klebe to a university-level committee

From: Klebe, Robert J
Sent: Monday, April 21, 2008 4:28 PM
To: Chiang, Theresa Y
Cc: 'John Judge'; ' willmann.jr@idworld.net '
Subject: Klebe Appeal of departmental PTEC decision
Importance: High

Dear Dr. Chiang,

            I request an appeal of the recent decision by my departmental Post Tenure Evaluation Committee (PTEC).  I have appended my credentials submitted to the Departmental PTEC (Post Tenure Review (2008).doc) and the letters I received from PTEC Chairman William W. Morgan (PTEC-2008 evaluation.pdf) 

            As indicated in my credentials, I have taught in four courses including major commitments of time in teaching both Medical Microscopic Anatomy and Dental Microscopic Anatomy.  I have taught in the Medical School course for about 10 years and have taught in the Dental School course for about 6 years.  Over the last two years, I have nearly doubled my time commitment to the Medical School course.  I have also prepared five didactic lectures for Occupational Gross Anatomy and one didactic lecture for Dental Microscopic Anatomy.  My departmental PTEC found that my teaching credentials were satisfactory. 

I might add that my teaching credentials compare favorably to many others in this department whose major activity is teaching.  While I have not received a satisfactory evaluation by my departmental PTEC, others who devote large amounts of their time to teaching have all received satisfactory ratings during post tenure review even though they have far less to show in research than I do.  This is not fair.            

            Unfortunately, the departmental PTEC found that my Service and Research commitment were not satisfactory.  Regarding my Service commitment, please note that I served on several NIH Study Sections over the last two years and was on the University BioSafety Committee and the UT System BioSafety Committee during 2006.  I also volunteered for at least 3 university committees during each of the last 3 years and was not selected to serve on any of these committees. The committees I volunteered for were all non-political in nature (Parking, Library, Medical Student Admissions, etc.).  Thus, I did serve on two committees and volunteered for many more.  I hope you will not hold me responsible for not being selected to serve on many university committees.  All I can do is volunteer.   My attempt to perform service to the university has been blocked by the UTHSCSA Administration itself and I cannot be held responsible to these actions by the Administration. 

            Regarding Research, I have produced 7 manuscripts over the last 2 years of which 4 were published and one will be published in May 2008 (Post Tenure Review.doc).  I am the senior author of 3 of these publications.  My research commitment is comparable to most faculty members in my department and far exceeds the output of those faculty members who have a major Teaching commitment, like mine.  Indeed, my research output exceeds at least two of the members of my departmental PTEC . . . and the research output of many other faculty members in this department.  This fact can be easily demonstrated and will be demonstrated in upcoming Federal Court proceedings. 

As I state in my credentials, I have a grant ready for submission to the NIH; however, this grant involves my inkjet printer inventions which have been mishandled by the university.  I produced the actual printed version of the grant for my departmental PTEC.  I hope you will not hold me responsible for the mishandling of my inventions by the Administration. 

            I also appeal my departmental PTEC evaluation due to the fact that the departmental PTEC was improperly constituted (see PTEC selection 2008.pdf).  I have appended documents obtained from the Texas State Attorney General’s Office each of which is Bates stamped with a D followed by several numbers in the lower right hand corner (see PTEC selection 2008.pdf).  Dr. Christi Walter, my interim chairperson, asked Dr. [name redacted] to recuse herself from my evaluation.  Dr. [name redacted] was an elected member of the departmental PTEC and its Chairperson.  Dr. [name redacted] did her Ph.D. dissertation with me in the late 1970’s and we have not had a collaborative paper in over 25 years.  There was no reason that Dr. [name redacted] could not continue to serve as Chairperson of the departmental PTEC.  The membership of the departmental PTEC has also been selected in an undemocratic fashion since those who are candidates for the PTEC are handpicked by my interim chairperson.  While there are approximately 25 tenured members of this department, only a few are chosen as PTEC candidates (see PTEC ballot in PTEC selection 2008.pdf).  Lastly, the choice of departmental PTEC members is not done by a secret ballot but rather by an email ballot where the vote of every voter is known to the Administration (see PTEC selection 2008.pdf).  Members of the PTEC are also chosen with only a few votes rather than a majority of the faculty. 

            Since my credentials equal or exceed the credentials of many others in my department who receive favorable evaluations during post tenure review and since my departmental PTEC was chosen by undemocratic means, I ask the University PTEC to declare null and void the evaluation of my recent departmental PTEC.

            Thank you for your consideration of this important matter.

            Robert J. Klebe,

Professor

Department of Cellular and Structural Biology

Compose Email: ' willmann.jr@idworld.net '

Add to Contacts

THE LUCKE NONRENEWAL: WHY IT IS IMPORTANT

While the Blogmeister recognizes that some will trivialize or cast aspersions as to why I'm following the Lucke nonrenewal so closely, I want others to clearly understand why I feel this is so important.  This story isn't about any individual; it's about conditions at the UTMB School of Nursing in particular and the tools used by administrators to impose their will on faculty, in general. 

The faculty at the School of Nursing have been laboring under a tremendous workload for some time now.  For whatever reason, the workload issue wasn't being addressed effectively, and the problem just continued to fester. As I stated in a previous post, it became a powder keg just waiting for a spark.  That spark came in the form of the nonrenewal of a sympathetic associate dean, Dr. Kathy Lucke.  It's a story worth telling and of interest to a public concerned about the welfare of UTMB's SON. 

The use of nonrenewal is the Blogmeister's second motivation for watching this story unfold so closely.  To put it bluntly, nonrenewal, paired with the legal fiction that surrounds it, is a tool used by many administrators to hide cowardice and, in some cases, illegal motivations of their own.  I'm not saying that this is what is happening at the School of Nursing in the current situation, but readers can see for themselves in UTMB's own documentation that administrators do not have to explain themselves.

How does cowardice get into the mix, you ask?  Some administrators just don't have the intestinal fortitude to face staff and faculty and tell them what they take issue with and then counsel them on the actions that would win their approval. 

Instead, they just bushwhack unsuspecting employees with a nonrenewal. Then, of course, there's illegal and/or unethical motivations such as discrimination, retaliation, or just plain ol' hidden agendas. Don't particularly like Asians?  Well then, just nonrenew a couple every once in a while until they're gone.  Jealous of the research one of your faculty is doing, Mr. Chair? Nonrenew her and don't give a second thought to consequences or academic freedom. 

According to the legal fiction employed by the state, nonrenewal is not an adverse action since people finish up their contracts.  The damage, however, to people's careers and the institution remains, regardless of the party line.  Nonrenewal is destructive precisely because administrators do not have to explain themselves.  Nobody should ever get a blank check like that.

Finally, faculty governance is emerging as an issue in the UTMB SON.  The dean has a plan for reorganizing the school that she has yet to share with faculty.  It would seem that such an important action would necessarily involve faculty input and assistance, yet the dean, to date, has not shared her plan with them.  The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools recently visited UTMB.  One of the criteria for accreditation is that faculty share in the governance of the university.  Dr. Watson, of all people, knows this since she coordinated UTMB's entire SACS accreditation preparations this time around, yet she's the one withholding information from her faculty.  Puzzling, to say the least.  By the way, reorganization is also a tool sometimes used by administrators to eliminate positions and, therefore, the people filling those positions.  The Blogmeister will be watching closely to see if anyone gets reorganized off the campus, and, if so, who they are.  One hopes that the nine faculty who approached the Provost about the Lucke nonrenewal don't find themselves "reorganized." 

No, the School of Nursing crisis is a story much more important than Dean Watson or any other individual, for that matter.  It's about the health of Texas education.      

COMPARISON OF PEDIATRICS FACULTY EFFORT TRACKING SHEETS

Over the weekend, the Blogmeister posted the 360 evals the residents completed on my older, female Pediatrics complainant and her young, male colleague.  Now let's take a look at their Faculty Effort Tracking Sheets and see how they compare.  Since they've nonrenewed my complainant while promoting the relatively young man, let's compare FY07, when they were co-directors of the same division.  Note their allocated clinical effort was identical: 75%, yet my complainant runs circles around this guy's productivity. 

• She produced 4,050 RVUs to his 3202. 
• She met the "lag day" requirement with a score of 100% 7 months compared to his 3.  Her low score was a 91; his was an 80. 
• Her salary + benefits recovery percentage for the year was 68%.  His was 56%.
• Then there's department citizenship.  She attended 3 BAPS when only 2 were required.  He attended none. 
• She attended 100% of grand rounds; he attended 58% (the standard was 60%).
• She attended 100% of faculty meetings; he attended 63% (the standard was 75%). 
• She met clinical practice standards for the three quarters reflected on the sheet; he met standards for only two quarters. 

They're nonrenewing her; they promoted him.

Read it and weep:

Download copy_of_fac_act_sheets_07.PDF

WATSON ON NONRENEWAL MEETING WITH LUCKE

Please click on the link below to read Dr. Watson's account of her nonrenewal meeting with Dr. Lucke.  Dr. Lucke stood up for herself if Watson's notes are any indication.

Download watsonlucke_meeting_notes0001.PDF 

DON'T FORGET "RECENT COMMENTS" BOX

Readers are commenting on various blog posts, and if you're trying to follow them, you could be experiencing some difficulty tracking down which posts have new comments.  The Blogmeister, however, has made it easy for you!  Just go to the "Recent Comments" box appearing in the sidebar to the right.  It lists the last 10 comments, regardless of the post they refer to.  This feature makes it easy to follow, say, the ongoing discussion concerning the Lucke nonrenewal. 

DEAN'S NOTES AND DRAFT LETTER: PREPARING TO NONRENEW LUCKE

The documents linked below represent a part of Dean Watson's preparations prior to nonrenewing Associate Dean Kathy Lucke.  Readers are particularly invited to check out her comments (no doubt echoing Legal Affairs' party line) concerning the act of nonrenewal itself. 

"I am not required to provide an explanation; this is not a nonrenewal for cause-'It is simply not working.'"

This is basically the lame party line handed to my Pediatrics complainant when the chair told her she wasn't a good "fit." 

Legally, nonrenewal is not a negative personnel action; someone's contract just isn't renewed.  They get to finish out their contract, so what's the harm, right?  People sure feel terminated, though.  In practice, many administrators hide behind this big loophole in management accountability so they don't have to explain anything or justify anything. Heaven help them if they ever have to justify what they do to people.  Finally, please note that we haven't even begun to explore the relationship of nonrenewals to tenure and due process in this posting.  We're just talking about nonrenewal in isolation. 

Download watson_nonrenewal_notes_re_lucke.PDF   

UTMB PEDIATRICS FAILED TO TAKE ACTION TO PREVENT HOSTILE ENVIRONMENT

As readers will note in the linked incident report, management did absolutely NOTHING regarding this individual's behavior when it was first reported.  The chair says so in his own words. Nothing. (Apparently, UTMB officials didn't bother to follow up either.) Bear in mind that Pediatrics is keeping this guy and running off my complainant. Meanwhile, my complainant waits while UTMB mulls over what it should do about HER. 

Download stanberryturley_2nd_inc_060427_redacted.PDF

Oh, and by the way, in response to the linked report, UTMB did one of its investigations and found "no conclusive evidence that UTMB's Sexual Harassment Policy (Policy 3.2.4 Sexual Harassment and Misconduct) had been violated. . . ."   

ANOTHER PEEK BEHIND RETALIATION'S CURTAIN

While the Blogmeister's complainant awaits a decision from UTMB Human Resources and Legal Affairs, let's take another look at what my complainant has had to deal with.  Linked below are the 360 evaluations completed by Pediatrics residents on my complainant and her colleague.  Note that my complainant is ABOVE her peers' average marks in EVERY category.  Note that her colleague falls BELOW the peer averages in EVERY category and way below my complainant's, yet she is being nonrenewed while they keep and even promote him.  Check out the comments, as well.  Obviously, Pediatrics wants residents fanning out across the state and nation with really swell memories of their experiences at UTMB.  Finally, note the date of the evaluations.  This stuff isn't ancient history.  They were completed in August of 2007, late last year. It just staggers the imagination.   

Download 360_evals_residents_redacted.PDF 

WATSON AND LUCKE ON NON-TENURE WORKLOAD

Is it the Blogmeister's imagination, or does this exchange seem strained?

Download watsonlucke_wkload_080110.PDF 

AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN ON NEW MEDICAL SCHOOL

Please see "An Air of Certainty Concerning an Austin Medical School" in the 4/18/08 on-line edition of the Austin American-Statesman.  An excerpt:

I attended the luncheon and placed a call afterward to Kenneth Shine, the executive vice chancellor for health affairs for the University of Texas System, who also attended. Shine is the system’s point man on its deliberations about establishing a medical school. I asked Shine whether Barnett and Watson knew something I didn’t know.

"WOMENHEALTH" PICKS UP A NEW ANGLE ON UT SOUTHWESTERN STORY

Please see "Everything That Rises Must Converge: University of Texas High-Living Executives and Eli Lilly's Marketing of Zyprexa" in the 4/17/08 edition of Womenhealth on-line. An excerpt:

So a director of Eli Lilly that was accused of responsibility for the company’s poor performance, poor performance which presumably included its mis-marketing of Zyprexa, also turns out to be responsible for the management of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, currently under fire for maintaining an “A-list” of favored patients, and letting its top executives live the high life on donated funds, practices that go against its mission.

DEAN SAYS LUCKE CONDUCTING "CAMPAIGN" IN JANUARY

Please click on the link below to see an e-mail forwarded by Dean Watson to UTMB Human Resources Director Kathy Shingleton.  Dr. Lucke was praising faculty and telling them how proud she was to be a part of UTMB.

Download watsonshingleton_080111.PDF 

KLEBE V. UT/UTHSC SAN ANTONIO: COURT ORDERS HEARING

Dr. Robert Klebe's legal team will face off against UT and UTHSC (talk about David v. Goliath!) on April 23, 2008, to try and force UT to come up with the documents his team is asking for.  As readers may recall, UT has been a bit evasive in that regard.  Click on the link below to see the court order:

Download klebe_hearing_on_all_pending_matters_april_23_2008.pdf

LUCKE NON-RENEWAL LETTER

When the School of Nursing controversy first kicked-off, the Blogmeister heard the grapevine transmitting information, but I didn't know how accurate it was.  It turns out that, in this instance, the grapevine was right on target concerning the provisions of Dr. Lucke's nonrenewal:

Download letter_of_nonrenewal.PDF 

PEDIATRICS RETALIATION COMPLAINT ENTERING FINAL PHASE

The Blogmeister reckons UTMB Human Resources (no doubt with Legal Affairs' able assistance) will issue a decision before too terribly long concerning the retaliation complaint by the older, female physician in Pediatrics.  She turned in her response to Pediatrics' pitiful pile of documentation yesterday.  Her response was hindered by the inability to take copies of the documentation with her, but the vast majority, if not all, of the records presented to her was "molehill into mountain" stuff. HR has no hard and fast date by which it's required to respond, but it largely has what it needs now. 

My complainant outshines her counterpart in revenue production, collections, 360 evaluations, department citizenship, research, and the list goes on and on and on like that.  And nobody's sending HER for help with anger and unprofessional behavior. No, they're just sending her out the door. We'll find out if UTMB's anti-retaliation policy has any teeth or is merely window-dressing pretty quickly now.

SON PETITION AND COVER LETTER

Attached is the text of the cover letter and petition presented to UTMB School of Nursing Dean Pam Watson.  The names of the signers have been redacted since so many of them are looking to bail out nowadays. 

Download copy_of_son_petition.PDF

The Blogmeister understands that the dean attended a faculty meeting yesterday at which discussing the Lucke situation was not allowed (in fact Lucke herself was specifically shut down) nor was any discussion allowed of a plan for a school reorganization she mentioned.  My source told me that the dean said she wasn't at liberty to discuss the plan.  If that's the case, then she hasn't learned much about empowered faculty and shared governance as a result of all this. Ultimately, as the maxim goes, those who govern do so by the consent of the governed. 

95% of UTMB SON FACULTY UNHAPPY?

Contrary to the public postings by those more sympathetic toward UTMB School of Nursing Dean Pam Watson to the effect that the current crisis is the result of the grousing of a few faculty, a private e-mail from one faculty member to the dean said that 95% of the faculty were unhappy.  Now, gentle readers, which do you believe: the public postings or the private communication? The faculty member's e-mail is linked below:

Download unknownwatson_080315.PDF 

Note where this e-mail ended up, as well.

UT SOUTHWESTERN SCANDAL ATTRACTING NATIONAL ATTENTION

Please see "A Texas Scandal Raises Questions about Non-Profit Hospitals" in the Chronicle of Philanthropy.  It'll cost you $10 to read the whole article if you don't already subscribe, but it's worth the read. An excerpt:

Robert S. Riggs, an intrepid reporter for the CBS affiliate station in Dallas, ruffled a lot of feathers among Dallas's social and financial elite with his investigative coverage of fund-raising and management controversies at the University of Texas's Southwestern Medical Center.

It may be that only this sort of outside attention will make state officials pay attention.  As far as the Blogmeister can tell, nobody in an official capacity is doing squat about our money.

SCHOOL OF NURSING MANAGEMENT HAD PLENTY OF NOTICE FOR UNREST

UTMB School of Nursing management had an outright warning concerning the current crisis.  Here's an e-mail from Ernestine Cuellar to Dean Watson back in September 2007.  She notes salary inequity, workload inequity, and gender inequity. Note her question, "Would it be possible to address these feelings before there is a mass exodus or explosion?" She goes on to note that "They are beyond sweeping under the carpet." It doesn't get any more explicit than that. 

Download cuellarwatson_070917_redacted.PDF

KLEBE V. UT SYSTEM AND UTHSC SAN ANTONIO UPDATE

Dr. Robert Klebe's legal team is having difficulty getting UT to produce documentation.  As readers may recall from previous postings, Dr. Klebe is suing UT and UT Health Science Center San Antonio for age discrimination, retaliation, and deprivation of property rights.  Want to see what you can expect when you sue UT?  Click on the two links below.  Some of the revelations are astounding. 

Download amndmtc_fm.pdf

Download amndmtcapdx_fm.pdf